Pirke Avot: The Sayings Of The Jewish Fathers Part 4

(27) That is, Rome. Avoid office seeking.

11. Abtalion said, "Ye sages, be heedful of your words, lest ye incur the penalty of exile and be exiled to a place of evil waters, and the disciples who come after you drink thereof and die, and the Heavenly Name be profaned" (28).

(28) Scholars must be careful in their teachings, lest their disciples misinterpret their words, and thus adopt false doctrines, as was the case with the disciples of Antigonus of Soko (_Supra_, n. 12). "Evil waters" may stand for evil doctrines or evil people. When a teacher went into banishment, he was usually followed by his disciples.

Departure from the law is equivalent to death.

12. Hillel and Shammai (29) received (the tradition) from them.

Hillel said, "Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace (30), loving mankind and drawing them night to the _Torah_"

(31). 13. He used to say, "A name made great is a name destroyed (32); he who does not increase (his knowledge) decreases (it); and he who does not study deserves to die; and he who makes a worldly use of the crown (of the _Torah_) shall waste away." 14. He used to say, "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I care for myself only, what am I? (33). And if not now, when?"

(29) Hillel and Shammai, the most renowned of the "pairs"

([zugot]), lived about 100 years before the destruction of the Temple. Each was the founder of a school, _Bet Hillel_ and _Bet Shammai_, being generally opposed to one another in the interpretation of the _Torah_. Hillel was the embodiment of humility, gentleness, and kindness; Shammai was irritable, and lacked gentleness and patience. The former's most celebrated saying is, "What is hateful to thee do not do unto thy fellow man; this is the whole _Torah_, the rest is mere commentary."

See Bacher, _Agada der Tanaiten_; Schurer, _History_, I, ii, p. 359 _et seq._; Myers, _story of the Jewish People_, I, p.

136 _et seq._; geiger, _Judaism and its History_, p. 113 _et seq._

(30) Psalm XXIV, 15: "Seek peace and pursue it."

(31) Draw men to the _Torah_ by good example, not by endeavoring to make converts.

(32) He who seeks a name loses fame.

(33) Be self-reliant, but not selfish.

15. Shammai said, "Set a fixed time for thy (study of) _Torah;_ say little and do much (34); and receive all men with a cheerful countenance."

(34) Or "promise little." Be like Abraham, who promised only bread, but brought a "calf tender and good" (Genesis XVIII, 5 and 7).

16. Rabban (35) Gamaliel said, "Provide thyself with a teacher; be quit of doubt (36); and accustom not thyself to give t.i.thes (37) by a conjectural estimate."

(35) "Our teacher," "our master," a t.i.tle given only to the presidents of the _Sanhendrin_, Gamaliel being the first to be thus known. Gamaliel was a grandson of Hillel and a teacher of Paul. See Strack, _Einleitung_, p. 85.

(36) Establish over you the authority of a teacher, to hold you from the clutch of doubt (Kohut).

(37) There were three kinds of t.i.thes (the tenth part of anything): (a) "the first t.i.the" (_maaser rishon), given to the Lebites; "the second t.i.the" (_maaser sheni_), taken to Jerusalem and consumed there by the owner and his family; and (c) the t.i.the paid to the poor (_maaser ani_). See Leviticus XXVII, 30 _et seq._, Numbers XVIII, 21-24, and Deuteronomy XIV, 22-29; also _Tractates Maasrot_ and _Maaser Sheni_ of the _Mishnah_. Consult Babbs, _The Law of t.i.thes_.

17. Simeon (38) his son, said, "All my days I have grown up amongst the wise, and I have found nothing better for man than silence (39); not learning but doing is the chief thing (40); and whoso multiplies words causes sin" (41).

(38) Simeon beg Gamaliel I lived at the time of the war with Rome. See Josephus, _Jewish Wars_, IV, 3, 9.

(39) Cf. chapter III, 17.

(40) Where words fail, deeds tell. _Non scholae sed vitae_.

(41) Cf. Proverbs X, 19.

18. Rabban Simeon, the son of Gamaliel (42) said, "By three things is the world preserved (43); by truth, by judgment, and by peace, as it is said, 'Judge ye the truth and the judgment of peace in your gates'"

(44).

(42) Rabban Simeon II, son of Gamaliel II (80-115 C.E.) and grandson of Simeon (verse 17).

(43) Cf. chapter I, 2. _Torah_, Temple service, and benevolence are the foundations and, at the same time, the aims of the world. Truth, judgment, and peace maintain the world's permanency.

(44) Zechariah VIII, 16.

Rabbi Chanania (45), the son of Akas.h.i.+a, said, "The Holy One, blessed be He, was pleased to make Israel worthy; wherefore He gave them a copious _Torah_ and many commandments, as it is said, 'It pleased the Lord, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the _Torah_ and make it honorable'" (46).

(45) This saying did not belong originally to _Abot_, but was taken from _Makkot_, III, 16. According to Goldschmidt, it was introduced into the _Mishnah_ from the separate editions, and then found its way into the Talmudical texts of _Abot_.

This verse is recited at the end of each chapter. See Rawicz, _Commentor des Maimonides_, p. 114, n. 1.

(46) Isaiah, xlii, 21.

CHAPTER II

All Israel have a portion in the world to come, and it is said, "And thy people shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified".

1. Rabbi (1) said, "which is the right course that a man should choose for himself? (2) That which is a pride to him who pursues it and which also brings him honor from mankind. Be as scrupulous about a light precept as about a grave one, for thou knowest not the grant of reward for each precept. Reckon the loss incurred by the fulfilment of a precept against the reward secured by its observance (3), and the gain gotten by a transgression against the loss it involves. Consider three things, that thou mayest not come within the power of sin (4).

Know what is above thee--a seeing eye, and a hearing ear, and all thy deeds written in a book" (5).

(1) Rabbi Judah (135-220 C.E.), son of Simeon (chapter I, 18), was known as "Rabbi," as a mark of distinction, owing to the fact that he was the chief reviser and compiler of the _Mishnah_. Earlier compilers of the _Mishnah_ had been Hillel, Akiba, and R. Meir. Rabbi Judah was also known as _Rabbenu_ (our Master), _ha-Nasi_ (the Prince), and _ha-Kodesh_ (the Holy). He is said to have died[*] on the day that Akiba met his death at the hands of the Romans. See Danziger, _Jewish Forerunners of Christianity_, pp. 242-274, Myers, _Story of the Jewish People_, I, 210-222, and Strack, _Einleitung in den Talmud_, p. 96. [* a prior owner of the source text annotated it by crossing out "died" and writing in "been born".]

(2) Maimonides interprets this verse as meaning to pursue a medium course between two equally bad extremes, the _too much_ and the _too little_. On this subject, see his celebrated fourth chapter of the _Shemonah Perakim_ (_The Eight Chapters_) on the "mean"; ed. Gorfinkle, p. 54, _et seq._

(3) _I.e._, the loss in this world as against the reward in the future world. On the Rabbinic idea of reward and punishment, see Schechter, _Aspects_, pp. 162-163, and Herford, _Pharisaism_, p. 267 _et seq._

(4) Cf. chapter III, 1. No deeds, great or small, are lost sight of by G.o.d.

(5) On the divine books or book, see Exodus x.x.xII, 35.

Malachi III, 16, and Daniel VII, 10, etc. The heavenly "Book of Life" is prominently mentioned in the ritual of the New Year and the Day of Atonement, especially in the celebrated prayer, _U-netanneh Tokef_ of Rabbi Amnon of Mayence. The New Year's greeting, "May you be inscribed for a happy year!" is evidence of the popularity of the idea of a divine book in which the fate of a man is written. See the _Jewish Encyclopedia_, art. _Book of Life_.

2. Rabban Gamaliel, the son of Rabbi Judah, the Prince, said, "Excellent is the study of _Torah_ combined with some worldly pursuit (6), for the effort demanded by them both makes sin to be forgotten.

All study of _Torah_ without work must at length be futile, and leads to sin (7). Let all who are employed with the congregation act with them for Heaven's sake, for then the merit of their fathers sustains them, and their righteousness endures for ever (8). And as for you (G.o.d will then say), 'I account you worthy of great reward, as if you had wrought it all yourselves.' 3. Be on your guard against the ruling power (9); for they who exercise it draw no man near to them except for their own interests; appearing as friends when it is to their own advantage, they stand not by a man in the hour of his need."

4. He used to say, "Do His will as if it were thy will. Nullify thy will before His will, that He may nullify the will of others before thy will."

(6) The expression _Talmud Torah_ (lit., "study of the Law") means the study of all sacred learning. The word _Torah_, here, is to be construed in its broadest sense. See chapter I, n. 4. Such study was one of the duties to which no limit was fixed (_Peah_ I, 1). The expression [derech eretz] means "good manners" (chapter III, 21), or "worldly business," or "care" (chapter III, 6), according to the context. Study combined with some trade or profession is, according to R.

Gamaliel, the proper thing. See chapter IV, n. 24.

(7) Cf. _Kiddus.h.i.+n_, 29a, "He who does not teach his son a trade teaches him to be a thief."

(8) In every community, the work and goodness of past generations live in the present, and the good that the community does in the present will live on in the future. On the "merit of the fathers" ([z'chut avot]), see Schechter, _Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology_, chapter XII, especially pp. 175-177, where this pa.s.sage is quoted.

(9) This verse is directed toward the leaders of the community. Cf. above, chapter I, 10.

5. Hillel (10) said, "Separate not thyself from the congregation (11); trust not in thyself until the day of thy death (12); judge not thy neighbor until thou art come into his place; and say not anything which cannot be understood at once, in the hope that it will be understood in the end (13); neither say, 'When I have leisure I will study'; perchance thou wilt have no leisure." 6. He used to say, "An empty-headed man cannot be a sin-fearing man, nor can an ignorant person (14) be pious, nor can a shamefaced man (15) learn, nor a pa.s.sionate man (16) teach, nor can one who is engaged overmuch in business grow wise (17). In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man" (18). 7. Moreover, he once saw a skull floating on the surface of the water. He said to it, "Because thou didst drown (others) they have drowned thee, and at the last they that drowned thee shall themselves be drowned" (19). 8. He used to say, "The more flesh, the more works; the more property, the more anxiety; the more women, the more witchcraft; the more maid-servants, the more lewdness; the more men-servants, the more robbery; the more _Torah_, the more life (20); the more schooling, the more wisdom; the more counsel, the more understanding; the more charity, the more peace. He who has acquired a good name has acquired it for himself; he who has acquired for himself words of _Torah_ has acquired for himself life in the world to come" (21).