When we got the call to specify the prayer or sentence or liturgical phrase that meant the most to us in the whole prayerbook, I immediately had one on my tongue. It is in the last prayer (Elohai N’tzor) of almost every Amidah – weekdays, Sabbath, and holidays. In Hebrew it is a simple 4-word phrase: “V’nafshi ke-afar lacol tihyeh”. “And my soul like dust to all shall be”. It is a plea for humility, in much more graphic and memorable terms than “May I be humble….”.

In the circles in which I have studied and worked (chiefly great universities and the World Bank), intellectual arrogance is a constant threat and temptation, and I have not exactly been immune to its charms. Even in such august places, I have found many people to be fools, oddly enough especially among those who got in the way of my theories, projects, and programs. My arrogance often made life and work easier, as few feeling public mockery and ridicule for obstructionism want to take that course again. But this approach undoubtedly hurt feelings, and even worse, in some cases the “fools” were probably right, and I and my people were the real fools. On a practical level, remember what happened to the last American politician who called her opponents “deplorables”. Praying for humility will not work quickly – I am a testament to that – but it may gradually nudge us over to a more accepting and civil disposition.