Elijah on Humility and Sharing the Burden of the Community

Abba Elijah, may he be remembered for good and for blessing, said: I call heaven and earth to witness concerning myself, that any disciple of the wise who reads and studies for the sake of Heaven, and eats of his own and enjoys his own and does not enjoy that of the public, of him Scripture says, "Happy is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, happy shall you be, and it shall be well with you" (Psalms 128:1-2), and it says, "How fair and how pleasant you are, O love, in delights" (Song of Songs 7:7). A person should always be humble in Torah and in good deeds and in the fear of Heaven, with his father and his mother, with his teacher and his wife and with his children and with the members of his household and his neighbors, and with those near and far, and even with a gentile in the marketplace, so that he may be beloved above and pleasant below and acceptable to people, and may fill his days and his years with a good name. For when a person is humble in Torah and in good deeds, then his wife fears him, and so do the members of his household and his neighbors and his relatives, and even the gentiles fear him, as it is said, "And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of the LORD is called upon you, and they shall be afraid of you" (Deuteronomy 28:10). And so too a person should not see the multitude dwelling in trouble and say, I will go and eat and drink, and peace be upon my soul; for if he does so, of him Scripture says, "And behold, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine: let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (Isaiah 22:13). What is written after it? "And it was revealed in my ears by the LORD of hosts: Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you until you die" (Isaiah 22:14). Up to here is the measure of the middling; but as for the measure of the wicked, what does it say? "Come, they say, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink, and tomorrow shall be as this day, great beyond measure" (Isaiah 56:12). And after it, what is written? "The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart, and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come" (Isaiah 57:1). For at the time when the multitude is dwelling in trouble and the individual separates himself from them, the two ministering angels who accompany a person from the synagogue and from the house of study to his home say of him: that man who separates himself from the community -- let him not merit to see the consolation of the community. Come and see and learn from the ways of Moses our teacher, peace be upon him, as it is said, "But Moses' hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat upon it" (Exodus 17:12). Now did Moses our teacher not have a cushion and a bolster to sit upon? Rather, Moses said in his mind: Since Israel are dwelling in trouble, I too will be with them in trouble. From here they said: happy is the one who afflicts himself together with the community, for they give him much reward from heaven on that account. Happy is the one who sets himself like an ox to the yoke and like a donkey to the burden and like a heifer plowing in the field, as it is said, "Happy are you who sow beside all waters" (Isaiah 32:20). What is "beside all waters"? These are the words of the Torah, which are likened to water. And if a person has read the Torah, let him also read the Prophets; and if he has read the Prophets, let him also read the Writings; if he has read the Writings, let him also study Mishnah, laws, midrash, and aggadot; and let him increase in sitting in study and decrease in commerce. Then immediately the holy spirit rests upon him, and he is a son of the world to come, as it is said, "The spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and His word was upon my tongue" (2 Samuel 23:2). At that moment the Holy One, blessed be He, says: This world and the world to come are Mine and yours; the Temple is Mine and yours, and so forth. Therefore it is written immediately after it, "The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me: He who rules over men must be righteous, ruling in the fear of God" (2 Samuel 23:3). David the king said: I will declare the greatness and the might and the kingship of the King of kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, for every single day a person is formed, and every single day a person is born, and every day a person lives, and every single day a person dies, and every single day the spirit of a person is taken from him and given to the Owner of the deposit, and every single day a person is sustained like an infant nursing at his mother's breasts; and all is according to the fruit of his deeds. One time our Rabbis were sitting in the house of study and saying: Elijah, from where does he come? Some of them would say that he comes from the seed of Rachel, and some of them would say that he comes from the tribe of Gad, and some of them would say that he comes from the seed of Leah. And while they were sitting and occupying themselves with this, Elijah, may he be remembered for good and for blessing, came and stood before them and said to them: My masters, why are you troubling yourselves over this? I come only from the seed of Rachel. Rabbi Yose said: One time I was walking in a great walled city of the province, and I saw [a Caesar who was riding, etc.] the chief, who was riding on a very fine horse, and all the great ones of that place were with him. And the chief saw a certain young girl, a daughter of Israel, stricken with boils and cast onto a refuse heap. When the chief saw her, immediately the chief came down from the horse and bowed down to her. Immediately all the great officers grew angry at him and said to him: To this despised one you bow down? Immediately he said to them: Let it not be evil in your eyes, for all the great ones of the kingdom of the nations are destined to bow down to them, as it is said, "Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you" (Isaiah 49:7), and it says, "And their seed shall be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed whom the LORD has blessed" (Isaiah 61:9).