Humility is the most desired value by the Torah. Moshe Rabeinu (Moses) is praised as being the most humble person in the world. In this story, we see what true humility is. Suffice it to say, the holy Rebbe Reb Mailich devoted his whole life to the service of the Allmighty. But he was convinced that he was not really a Tzadik (righteous man). Now see how deeply he was convinced of his own detractions! Once, in the midst of a long, heavy silence, his student, the Koznitzer Maggid, Rebbe Yisrael, laughed. Seeing the perplexity on the faces of his disciples, he explained what had happened. "Just now, my holy mentor, Rebbe Reb Mailich, departed from this world. " So, you may ask, is that reason to laugh? He continued, "The angels brought him to the Heavenly Court. When asked if he had prayed (in his lifetime), he said, no. Did you learn Torah? No! So, they said, you must be taken to Hell! The angels wisked him off to...the garden of Eden. Upon arriving, he looked at the surrounding and exclaimed, 'What a sweet Creator we have! If this is what Hell looks like, what could the garden of Eden be like?' That is why I laughed!
Similary, Rebbe Yisrael from Ruzhin, once mentioned that Rebbe Reb Mailich has been now sitting fify years in the garden of Eden with his head between his knees, and he can't understand why they put him there!
So we see to what degrees of humility a mortal can reach. We also see how the eyes of the big Rebbes, besides seeing whatever they wanted to in this world, saw even what was going on in the heavenly worlds of the souls.
(Rebbe Reb Meilich's famous book)
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