Wise in His Own Eyes

“Have you seen a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” Opening “Have you seen a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” This verse is hard for us. How can there be more hope for a fool than for a wise man? The fool does not know. He does not understand. He does not grasp. And still he is better off than a person with a good mind? Where is the fairness here? Where is the logic? But a whole world of wisdom lies hidden between these words. Whoever listens will hear it. Three Levels When it comes to knowledge and wisdom, people fall into three groups. The first is the simple, sincere person. He knows that he does not know. Because he knows this, he is an open vessel. He asks. He listens. He takes in. There is room in him for light to come from outside, because he has not filled the vessel with his own hands. He is the “fool” of the verse. This is not an insult. It is a description: a person who knows where he stands. The second is the truly wise person. He also knows that he does not know, but for the opposite reason. Because he understands so deeply, he comes to see that Hashem’s wisdom has no end and no limit. He sees that his own mind is nothing at all compared to the Infinite. He too is an open vessel. He is open for a deep, thought-out reason, but he is open. The third is the one who is “wise in his own eyes.” He is the dangerous one. His mind is not the mind of a fool, and it is not the mind of a wise man. He is in the middle. He has enough to feel full, but not enough to see how empty he really is. He has built himself a world of ideas. He has found an intellectual comfort zone and settled down inside it. He has “arrived.” He “understands.” And at that very moment, the door closes. The Wall Inside Here is the new insight. The great barrier is not ignorance, and it is not deep wisdom. The real danger is a middling mind. It is enough to make a person pleased with himself, but not enough to see itself for what it is. In the language of Hasidic teaching, this is the subtle ego. The coarse ego of ignorance is easy to see, and a person can fight it. But an ego born from wisdom is very hard for a person to even notice. It is coated with a layer of “I understand” and “I already know this.” Korah, who rebelled against Moses, was no ignorant man. He was “clever.” That is exactly why he would not listen. Naaman, the great army general, was no fool. He was a man of intelligence, and that is exactly why he was almost not saved. Only when he humbled himself and went down into the Jordan River did his healing come. The man who is “wise in his own eyes” is not necessarily a bad person. He is a person who got stuck. His limited mind has become a fortress. Inside, he feels safe. From outside, no one can reach him. A Word to the Hasidic Reader: “I Already Get It” These things must be said openly to our brothers, the young married man and the Hasidic working man: You have studied the Tanya, the classic book of Hasidic thought. You have heard Hasidic discourses. You have a clever insight for every subject. You know what it means to set the self aside, what love of Hashem is, what simple sincerity is. And sometimes, in the middle of your study, a subtle feeling rises in your heart: “I already know this.” That feeling is the danger. The goal of studying Hasidic teaching is not to collect knowledge that you can stand behind. Its goal is to bring a person to set the self aside. Wisdom that gives birth to ego is not holy wisdom, even if it is the hidden, mystical wisdom of the Torah. And we must be careful to tell the difference. The “middle” person we are speaking of here is not the “in-between person” of the Tanya. That person is a constant fighter who never rests for a moment. We mean the person who has stopped growing and settled into his comfort, who thinks he has reached his resting place. Closing: Doing the Work This is the right way: come to every study session, every prayer and every talk with a spiritual mentor as an “empty vessel.” Not empty because you know nothing, but empty of yourself. Come with the question “What do I still not know?” and not with the statement “This I already knew.” The fool asks. The truly wise man asks. Only the one who is “wise in his own eyes” does not ask. And here is one simple question, asked honestly, deep inside: Am I still asking?