Igrot Kodesh · Letter 161 — Rambam on Pride: Reconciling Total Rejection with the Scholar's Self-Assurance

By the grace of Hashem,

Tuesday, 27 Tammuz 5704,

To the great Rav and chassid*, scholarly and Hashem-fearing, Rav A. E.,[1]

I greet you and bless you,

I reply to your letter of Wednesday of Parshas Chukas:

A) You consider that there is no opposition between the opinion that totally rejects every mark of pride and the one that counsels a little for the scholar.[2] You wonder whether such is not the opinion of the Rambam.

You will consult the Hagahos Maimoniyos, establishing that such an opposition does indeed exist.

Likewise, in his commentary on the Mishnah*, the Rambam resolutely condemns pride, and one can conclude that he makes, from this point of view, no difference between the scholar and other men.

B) The references I cited in my letter bore solely on the formulation of the Gemara*. I have just learned that the Sdei Chemed evokes this subject, but it is not in my possession and I cannot therefore consult it.

Rabbi Menachem Schneerson,

Director of the Executive Committee

Notes:

(1) Rav Avraham Eliyahu Axelrod.

(2) See, on this subject, letter no. 149 and the previous letter.