Rabbi Elazar ben Shimon and the prophet Elijah once met on the road, and the Talmud preserves a strange and vivid account of what happened next. Elijah was traveling in disguise — as he often did, appearing as an ordinary man to test the character of those he encountered.
Rabbi Elazar, fresh from the study house and swollen with pride in his learning, was riding a donkey along the riverbank. He saw a man who was, by all appearances, repulsive — ugly, dirty, and lowly. "How ugly you are!" Rabbi Elazar called out. "Are all the people of your town as ugly as you?"
The man replied: "I don't know. But perhaps you should go to the Craftsman who made me and tell Him: 'How ugly is this vessel You have made.'"
Rabbi Elazar was struck to his core. He realized instantly what he had done — he had insulted a creation of God, which was the same as insulting the Creator. He dismounted from his donkey, prostrated himself before the man, and begged forgiveness.
The man refused to forgive him. Rabbi Elazar followed him all the way to his town, walking behind him in the dust, pleading. The townspeople came out and were astonished to see the great sage groveling before a simple man. When they heard what had happened, they begged the man to forgive Rabbi Elazar, and eventually he relented — but only partially.
The Talmud records that Rabbi Elazar learned from this encounter a lesson he never forgot: "A person should always be as flexible as a reed, not as rigid as a cedar." Humility begins with how you look at the people you consider beneath you.