Musar for Sotah 79:14
רב נחמן אמר מהכא (דברי הימים א כח, ב) ויקם המלך דוד על רגליו ויאמר שמעוני אחי ועמי אם אחי למה עמי ואם עמי למה אחי אמר רבי אלעזר אמר להם דוד לישראל אם אתם שומעין לי אחי אתם ואם לאו עמי אתם ואני רודה אתכם במקל
R. Isaac said: Let respect for the congregation be always upon thee; for behold, the kohanim had their faces towards the people and their backs towards the <i>Shechinah</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the Ark in which the Torah-Scrolls are kept. ');"><sup>12</sup></span>
Mesilat Yesharim
Likewise Rabbi Abahu, despite his great humility, found that he had not yet reached the point where he may be fittingly called a humble person, as our sages told: "Rabbi Abahu said: At first I used to think that I was humble; but when I saw R. Abba of Akko offer one explanation and his interpreter offer another [to the audience] and he was not bothered, I considered that I was not humble" (Sotah 40a).
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