The Hebrew word for character traits is מדות which means measures. What connection is there between character traits and measures? The answer is that there is no character trait that is inherently bad.It’s all about how they are measured. One has to figure out how to use a trait, how much of it to use, and when to use it.
For instance גאוה, feeling exalted is considered the worst of all traits when those feelings cause a person to become conceited. But the Talmud states that a Torah scholar has to have a certain amount of that feeling to stand up for his own honor when he is disrespected because he represents Torah. He has to weigh how and when to apply this.
ענוה, humility, is considered the finest of all qualities and the key to attaining the greatest spiritual accomplishments. But if one shirks a responsibility because they feel unworthy to do it, that may be misplaced humility. Rather a person should feel exalted and confident to do what needs to get done.
We have an example of weighing how to apply a character trait in this week’s parsha.
וְעָשִׂיתָ צִּיץ זָהָב טָהוֹר וּפִתַּחְתָּ עָלָיו פִּתּוּחֵי חֹתָם קֹדֶשׁ ה’׃
You shall make a frontlet (called Tzitz) of pure gold and engrave on it the seal inscription: ‘Holy to the LORD’. (28:36)
The Talmud teaches that each one of the בגדי כהונה, the Priestly garments, atoned for different misdeeds. The Tzitz atoned for acts of chutzpah (brazenness). Regarding this trait Mishna Avot states:
יְהוּדָה בֶן תֵּימָא אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי עַז כַּנָּמֵר…… לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹן אָבִיךָ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמָיִם.
Be brazen like a leopard […] to do the will of your Father in Heaven. (5:20)
Rambam (Maimonedes) in his commentary to Avot explains that although brazenness (chutzpah) is typically a negative trait (as is stated later in that same Mishna, see below) there are times to use it in the service of Hashem such as being ready to boldly and publicly stand up to the wicked.
This is why, writes Chatam Sofer (the preeminent leader of Judaism in the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the first part of the 19th century), engraved on the tzitz were the words “Holy to the Lord” to bear to mind that chutzpah, the trait the Tzitz atones for, can be and should be (when necessary) sanctified to the service of Hashem.
Now the Mishna continues:
הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עַז פָּנִים לְגֵיהִנֹּם, וּבֹשֶׁת פָּנִים לְגַן עֵדֶן. יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ ד’ אֱלֹקינוּ שֶׁתִּבְנֶה עִירְךָ בִּמְהֵרָה בְיָמֵינוּ וְתֵן חֶלְקֵנוּ בְתוֹרָתֶךָ:
The brazen one is headed for Gehinnom (the opposite of the Garden of Eden) and the shameful one for the Garden of Eden. May it be the will, O Lord our God, that your city be rebuilt speedily in our days and set our portion in the studying of your Torah.
What is this prayer doing here? Ketav Sofer (Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Sofer, son of Chatam Sofer) offers an explanation that carries a very important lesson in human nature. Once a person acts brazenly, even for the right reason, they can become brazen. Once a person gets involved in a trait that is typically negative they are treading a fine line between using it appropriately and inappropriately. For example, contending publicly against the wicked takes chutzpah. One must be careful that they don’t because of this gain a propensity towards chutzpah and use it in the wrong way. That doesn’t excuse a person from doing the correct thing but it places great responsibility upon that person to be very careful of any negative reprucussions.
Therefore the Mishna concludes with a prayer. If even brazenness made, “Holy to the Lord,” can have negative results, we pray that the Temple be rebuilt with the return of the Tzitz and the return of its power of atonement for misplaced chutzpah.
Shabbat Shalom!
Yitzchak