Likutay Moharan - Torah-teaching 130

130 - If Greater Than His Fellow His Inclination Is Greater Than Him

“If someone is greater than his fellow, his inclination is greater than him.” (Sukkah 52a)

Through humility he is saved from licentiousness and merits the preservation of the covenant, as our sages taught (Sotah 4b). One who is haughty ultimately stumbles in the matter of a married woman, as it is written: “And the married woman snares a precious soul.” (Proverbs 6:26). This connects with the verse: “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all people.” (Numbers 12:3), immediately following the verse: “And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses.” They spoke about the Cushite woman that he had taken—“Cushite” being a term denoting beauty (Sifri; Rashi; see Chizkuni)—and they did not believe true separation was possible. The Torah responded by stating: “Now the man Moses was very humble…”, teaching that through his supreme humility he achieved true separation and had no base union at all. This is likewise explained in Sanhedrin 19b.

The strength of Joseph lay in the humility of Boaz; the strength of Boaz lay in that of Palti ben Laish—demonstrating that greatness depends on humility. Someone grandeurs himself above his fellow: his inclination is proportionally greater—that inclination dominates him in the urge toward licentiousness. As the Zohar teaches (Vayikra 15b), the essence of the evil inclination is to reveal nakedness.