Suffering from acute embarrassment and upset at the Sages who were present but said nothing, Bar Kamtza decided to tell the Roman authorities that the Jews were rebelling against them. To bolster his claim, Bar Kamtza told them that they should send a sacrifice to the Temple. He predicted the Jews would reject it, thus demonstrating their disrespect.
The authorities agreed, sending a proper unblemished animal to the Temple, but Bar Kamtza cut the animal’s lip, causing a minor blemish that disqualified the animal as a sacrifice for the Temple but was not considered a blemish in the eyes of the Romans. When seeing the animal, the Sages were prepared to accept it, but R. Zechariah advised against it arguing that people will say “we offer sacrifices that possess blemishes.”
The Sages then thought they should perhaps sentence Bar Kamtza to death lest he tell the Roman authorities that their sacrifice was rejected, but R. Zechariah again advised against it, arguing that people will say “someone who maims a korban is subject to the death penalty.”
They, therefore, rejected the sacrifice and let Bar Kamtza go on his way. He, of course, then cited this incident as proof of the Jew’s rebellious attitude toward the authorities, which set in motion the chain of events that led to the Temple’s destruction.
But the anavah discussed in Pirkei Avot is of a different kind; it is of realizing one’s insignificance in relation to G-d, and even in relation to one’s fellow man. And yet, at the same time, one has to comprehend how much must be accomplished to satisfy Heaven’s requirements, as well as to treat one’s fellow man with the utmost of respect.
Indeed, Miriam was punished for discussing with Aaron the complicated domestic life of Moshe and Zipporah, which was a result if Moshe’s unique sanctity. None of what was discussed was untrue, yet Hashem, Himself, took umbrage.
Numbers 12:3 states: “Ve’ha’ish moshe anav me’od, mi’kal ha’adam asher al pnei ha’adamah – Now the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth.” It was precisely the characteristic of anivut, humility, which allowed Moshe to rise to the highest pinnacle of humanity and to be both the receiver and transmitter of Hashem’s holy Torah to the Jewish Nation. Perhaps the term “Avot – Fathers,” the name we use to refer to this tractate, is a reference to Moshe, who served as the father of the Bnei Yisrael, their teacher, advocate, redeemer, and loving and long-suffering guide throughout their long sojourn and journey in the wilderness on their way to the Holy Land.
Anivut is a characteristic we should strive for. Indeed, if it is achieved, a person is on his way to becoming a true vessel of Torah. That should be our goal as we approach the festival of Shavuot.