Greatness and Humility

In the incident with Miriam speaking Lashon Hara against her brother, Moshe Rabbeinu, we learn a great deal about Moshe’s greatness. The Netivot Shalom points out that the Torah’s description of Moshe is connected with the words, ותמונת ה׳ יביט, that he was able to see the picture of Hashem. In other words, no human being ever knew G-d as intimately as Moshe did. The effect of learning of Hashem’s greatness, caused Moshe to be more and more humble. The more he understood, the smaller he felt. Despite his incredible achievements and his dismantling of Egypt, his focus was constantly at G-d’s greatness, and his own vulnerability as a human being. This shows the foolishness of those individuals who allow themselves to be conceited and arrogant. How could someone boast about anything when everything in life is so tentative. The conclusion of this episode clearly teaches that the greater the person, the more humble he is. And the more egotistical a person is, the smaller he is.