Low Self Esteem

Rabbi Twerski makes an interesting observation about self esteem and the spies. When they gave their evil report about Eretz Yisrael, they said that the inhabitants were such giants that we appeared to them as חגבים, grasshoppers. They also said, וכן היינו בעיניהם, “and so were we in their eyes.”

This last statement demonstrated how the spies perceived themselves. Rabbi Twerski wrote that the way you think about yourself, is how you “think” others see you.

To put it bluntly, if you see yourself as a loser, or lacking worthiness, this very well could be the way others will treat you. A Jew must carry himself in a dignified manner. If you want others to respect you, then you must begin by respecting yourself.

The bottom line is that it is essential that we learn not to act with רגש, our emotions, as they can play harmful tricks on us. It is far better to act with שכל, our intellect, so that we can objectively avoid the pitfalls of low self esteem.

The spies taught us just how destructive low self esteem can be.