Q:
There’s a frum boy who suffers from an inferiority complex. What should he do about it?
A:
I don’t know exactly what you mean by that, but you do have to know the following: An inferiority complex is nothing wrong at all – he should be happy with it. If you feel inferior, that’s wonderful – you’re an anav.
The only trouble is if you’re unhappy with it; if you’re unsatisfied with the inferiority complex then you’re not an anav. You really want kavod; you’d like to be a blustering gibor, that everybody should look up to you and praise you and it hurts you that you don’t have the boldness. That kind of inferiority complex you’re asking about? So we say, learn mussar and learn how silly it is, how useless it is to be a bigshot. Learn mussar and you’ll realize how lucky you are that you’re a baishan, a bashful fellow. בושת פנים לגן עדן – If a person is bashful, he’s a candidate for Gan Eden (Avos 5:20). Do you know how many sins he is spared? It’s the fellow who is bold and not ashamed, that’s the one who can fall into every kind of aveirah, every temptation. But a man who is bashful, he is protected from very many temptations.
TAPE # 502 (April 1984)
