וענותך תרבני

The מידה of ענוה can be difficult to define. It is sometimes more easily identified by the fruit it bears than by its root.

As we try to comprehend the core of the מידה it is worthwhile to consider that ענוה is a מידה of הקב''ה and is included in the directive of והלכת בדרכיו.

It might be difficult to think of ה׳ as an עניו, perhaps because we tend to associate the מידה so tightly with the idea of its possessor having shortcomings. One might be inclined to suggest that the term ענוה that we find in the גמרא and מדרשים describing ה׳ refers to an entirely different concept and is not meant to be understood as the מידה of ענוה as it is used regarding the human trait. However it becomes clear from the way that the ראשונים and אחרונים treat the matter that ה׳’s מידה of ענוה is meant to be directly related to and learned from just as we relate to and learn from His מדות of חסד, אמת and רחמים as mandated through מה הוא אף אתה.

In ספר כד הקמח, after referencing a series of מדרשים that portray ‘ה’s מידה of ענוה, lרבינו בחיי says outright that we are commanded to achieve ענוה as part of the מצוה of והלכת בדרכיו.

In the סדר ויכוח edition of  ספר מסילת ישרים, when expounding upon the פסוק of "מה ה' אלוקיך שואל מעמך", the רמח"ל specifies the מידה of ענוה under the category of ‘ללכת בכל דרכיו’.

The גמרא in (31a) מסכת מגילה states:

 כל מקום שאתה מוצא גבורתו של הקב"ה אתה מוצא ענוותנותו

 …דבר זה כתוב בתורה ושנוי בנביאים ומשולש בכתובים

The מאירי on this גמרא says ‘וילמד אדם ממדת קונו’.

The רמב"ם brings this גמרא in his פירוש on the מְאֹד מְאֹד הֱוֵי שְׁפַל רוּחַ - משנה.

The (מדרש רבה בראשית (1:12 shows us that the very first words of the תורה teach us Hashem’s ענוה in that Hashem didn’t put His name before His title as the בורא עולם as is the common practice among human rulers. Instead of saying “אלקים ברא בראשית” the תורה says “בראשית ברא אלקים”

At the culmination of creation Hashem says "נעשה אדם בצלמנו" — Let us make man in our image. רש"י says that from here we learn Hashem’s ענוה in that He consulted the מלאכים regarding creation of man. The next Rashi points out that Hashem wanted to teach us this lesson in ענוה and דרך ארץ despite the opening it leaves for מינים to claim that it was not Hashem alone who created man.

The אלתר מסלבודקא expounds upon this idea and explains that although the language of נעשה אדם leaves an opening for misinterpretation, which could result in a misguided belief in the oneness of Hashem, if the תורה were to not teach us this lesson and not show us Hashem’s ענוה, that too would result in a misguided recognition of Hashem, because our recognition of Hashem is only through a recognition of his מדות. 

As we see from the אלתר, a failure to recognize Hashem’s ענוה would in fact be a shortcoming in our אמונה.