DEUT151 The Biblical verse, "I stood between God and you" (this verse) was interpreted by a hasidic master to mean that the "I," the ego, often stands between God and us, obstructing the divine – human relationship. (Quoted in Martin Buber, Tales of the Hasidim, Early Masters, p. 149). Indeed, many authors of Jewish ethical works considered the ego to be a potential obstacle, not only to one's relationship with God, but to any and all relationships. It is no wonder, therefore, that arrogance is considered a dangerous moral vice, obstructive in the formation of relationships, and replete with destructive potentialities. For example, in his talmudic commentary, Samuel Edels ("Maharsha") wrote that just as humility is the most exalted moral virtue, pride is the most dangerous moral vice. Commentary to Talmud, Sanhedrin 88b. The medieval Spanish scholar, Jonah Gorandi, describes human arrogance as the primary cause of most sins. Commentary on Ethics of the Fathers, 4;4, 60. Midrashic literature characterizes the flood generation, the Tower of Babel generation, and the inhabitants of the wicked city of Sodom as arrogant, linking their arrogance to their destruction. Seder Eliyahu Rabbah, chap. 29, p. 158. According to a midrashic source, unbridled pride is a threat to the very existence of the world. Ibid., chap. 16, p. 74. "Pride precedes destruction and a haughty spirit goes before a fall." Says Proverbs (16:18).