A New Israeli Commentary on Pirkei Avot

Sefaria · Mishnah > Modern Commentary on Mishnah · 18 sections

Introduction.2
This tractate is called by the name, Tractate Avot (Fathers) or Pirkei Avot (The Chapters of the Fathers). It is already mentioned by this name in the Babylonian Talmud, which says (in Aramaic), "Anyone who wants to be pious should observe... the words of [Tractate] Avot" (Bava Kamma 30a). The commentaries are divided about the understanding of this name. Some say that the Fathers being spoken about here are the spiritual fathers of Judaism; meaning those Sages and men of understanding who laid its foundations in the post-Biblical period, starting from the Men of the First Assembly (see about them at the beginning of the Tractate) and ending with the last of the Tannaim (early teachers), that designed the Mishnah in the form we have in front of us. According to another opinion, the "Fathers," spoken about here are the foundational principles of the life of the religious-ethical spirit, general principles in the light of which it is recommended that one walk. But perhaps it is possible to combine the two understandings and say that Tractate Avot includes the foundations of a proper life, according to how the founders of post-Biblical Jewish society put them together.
Introduction.3
It must be admitted that Tractate Avot did not make a big impression on the literature of the Sages, may their memory be blessed (Chazal), in the Talmud and Midrash that would be created over the first six hundred years of the Common Era. It also did not even earn systematic treatment in either Talmud, unlike most other tractates in the Mishnah. Nevertheless, a great change in this matter occurred in the days of the Geonim in eighth- or ninth-century Babylonia, when they followed the practice of publicly reading Tractate Avot year after year, according to many different customs. Some read it - and even read it until the present day - one chapter at a time on the Shabbats between Pesach and Rosh Hashanah. And there were others that sufficed with its public reading on the six Shabbats between Pesach and Shavuot, as a preparation for the holiday of the giving of the Torah. (Pirkei Avot probably received its name from the custom of dividing it into chapters for the sake of its [public] reading.) There is room to suppose that this custom was born from the dispute that existed between the Jewish leaders of the time and the Karaites, who conceded to the holiness of the written Torah but nevertheless refused to take on the yoke of the oral Torah upon themselves. In response, the practice was established to read - particularly in preparation for the holiday of the giving of the written Torah - the tractate that emphasizes the importance of the oral Torah, its students, its designers and its unbroken chain of transmission from one generation to another. In any event, from that time onwards, Tractate Avot took up a place of honor in the world of Judaism: It appears in almost every prayer book printed throughout the Jewish world. Hundreds of commentaries on it have been written, both in the East and West. From the Middle Ages, and especially in the Modern Period, Tractate Avot has also been translated into many languages. It has been - and is - used as a basis for branches of research in linguistics, Jewish history, biographical studies of the Sages mentioned in the tractate, theology, philosophy, and especially ethics. Many of its sayings have made their way into belle lettres and even into common speech, such that they have become an ironclad possession. They are widely used by many Hebrew speakers, sometimes without knowing that they are quoting from Tractate Avot.
_.1.1.1
The first large unit that opens the Tractate Avot (chapters 1-2) points to the transmission of the legacy of the Oral Torah from generation to generation, from Moses to Rabban Gamliel, the son of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, the editor of the Mishna. In the transmission of an oral Torah (in parallel with the transmission of a written Torah), special care must be taken to maintain a continuous and reliable chain of delivery, and the Mishna before us seeks to indicate the beginning of this chain.
_.1.1.2
...Moses received the Torah from Sinai. As told in the Book of Exodus, chapter 19 onwards. This is a written Torah, but also the principles of its interpretation, ancient halachic traditions whose roots have disappeared (and therefore they are called "Halacha to Moses of Sinai"), and especially with the permission given to each and every generation to read the sacred biblical text and discover new ideas and answers to questions that arise over time.
_.1.1.3
...and handed over to Joshua. Already in the Torah, Joshua is presented as the faithful disciple of Moses and his successor (Exodus 33:11). From the verb 'message' the word 'tradition' is also derived, the transmission of which is from generation to generation is spoken of here.
_.1.1.4
...And Joshua to the elders. These elders are mentioned in the Book of Joshua (24:30): 'And Israel worshipped the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders, who extended the days after Joshua.' According to the Sages, these elders lived many days after Joshua (and the meaning of "days" in the Bible is: years), and they preserved what they received from him for generations to come. In the Tractate of the Pirke de Avos Nathan (Version 1,1) it is explicitly stated that 'judges received from elders ... Prophets received from judges,' and so did the judges – such as Deborah, Gideon, Yiftach, and Samson – as a link in the transmission of the oral law. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the priests are absent from this list, and it is possible that there are things in Go: the priesthood is dynastic, passing from father to son, while the elders, prophets and especially the wise gain their status thanks to their knowledge and personality. The Pirke of the Avos seeks to emphasize this point.
_.1.1.5
...and elders to the prophets. This, of course, refers to the prophets mentioned in the Bible, both prophets whose words were preserved for us (such as Isaiah and Amos) and other prophets who only remembered their names or deeds (such as Samuel the prophet at the end of the period of the judges or Gad and Nathan in the days of David). The last of the prophets – the feasts of Zechariah and Malachi – were already active during the Second Temple period.
_.1.1.6
and prophets from Sarva to the members of the Great Knesset. By this name, the tradition calls a group of sages who served as the supreme religious institution of the Jewish people during the Second Temple period (from the 5th century to the 2nd century BCE or so [for this group, see also the following Mishna])....
_.1.1.7
...They said three things. The article of the members of the Great Knesset, like many articles in The Tractate of the Fathers, consists of three parts and is clearly aimed at the world of the sages: judges, teachers and halachic authorities. And it is worth remembering that many of the wise men fulfilled these three roles at the same time.
_.1.1.8
Woe moderates in law. An instruction is to the judges, who will not rush to reach a conclusive verdict. Moderation – patiently listening to all the witnesses, checking their credibility, cross-checking information, reading precedents and reflecting and studying the subject at hand – is a good measure and worthy of every judge.
_.1.1.9
and put up students a lot. Teaching is for teachers or those who head learning and teaching systems, such as a school or a beit midrash. Anyone who opens the doors of schools and seminaries for welfare risks entering students who are weak, or those who are not worthy of studying. On the face of it, it would have been worthwhile for him to wonder about the merits of every previous student who would bring him closer to the world of study, and to accept only the most talented. But this article favors quantity, even where it conflicts with quality, all in order to increase Torah in Israel.
_.1.1.10
And make a sigh to the Torah. It is a directive to legislators and halachic authorities not to reach, with regard to the application of the commandments of the Torah and its laws, to the limit that the law permits. It is always better to put up a reservation (i.e., a fence) that moves the person away from reaching the very edge, so that he does not fail. On Sage, see also below C, 17.
_.1.1.11
All the instructions before us were originally directed to the world of the wise, but they can easily be translated into the world of each and every person: he must not rush and make judgments, he deserves to spread his knowledge in every field and to anyone who requests them, and if he hedges himself with reservations – he will not encounter things in which he has no interest.
_.1.1.12
...'Students a lot' or education only for elites?
_.1.1.13
...This question has always been before teachers, educators, school principals or any other person engaged in education and teaching. Who will we gather into the classroom? 'Many students' (i.e., many students) or only outstanding students? It turns out that this question already preoccupied Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel, in the first century CE, 'that Beit Shammai says: There is no man but for those who are wise and poor and the son of fathers and rich, and Beit Hillel say: Every man sleeps' (Avot Derbi Nathan, Version 1,3). The people of Beit Shammai set four strict criteria for selecting the students to be taught the Mishna (which is the main teaching material of their time): intellectual skills ('wise'), character traits ('humble'), family attribution ('son of ancestors') and excellent economic status ('rich'). Beit Shammai therefore provides an institution for excellence whose wealth, family ties and skills – both in character traits and in learning skills – They are the highest. This is an institution of elites designed to train new elites. Beit Hillel, on the other hand, states that every person should be taught, regardless of any socioeconomic and personality data. There is no entrance exam to this beit midrash. And Beit Hillel (ibid.) goes on to explain its assertion: 'That many criminals were in Israel and approached the Talmud Torah, and righteous and kosher people came out of them.' This beit midrash relies on its ability to educate every person and to bring out of its walls, if not brilliant 'sages', at least people with proper character traits: 'righteous, righteous and kosher'. Even a criminal, believers in Beit Hillel, can get closer to the Torah, be educated according to her way of being and become a different person. If we don't allow him to enter the beit midrash, we will lose him forever.
_.1.5.14
The mishnah says, "And the poor should be members of your household." And some explain it as being involved with the indigent, people lacking property who need support and assistance. But behold, it is fitting to note several manuscripts of Tractate Avot which actually speak about anavim [instead of aniim] here, meaning particularly humble people. That is it is these people that are worthwhile bringing close into one's home. It is [thus] clarified that this, too, is a possible understanding of the word aniim [usually understood to mean the poor]. And see, for example, the verse in the book of Proverbs (16:19), the written version [ktiv] of which is: Better to be humble and among the aniim, whereas the read version [ktiv] of it is, anavim. (And we have explained things in that spirit.) That said, the version of R. Yose ben Yochanan's statement which is brought down in the tractate, Avot DeRabbi Natan, is [also] of interest — "And the poor should be members of your household, and teach humility to the members of your household." And according to that, the mishnah is demanding the education of the members of the household in the path of humility, and it is not speaking about guests of this or any other type which are to come into [the home]."As opposed to all this, Rambam understands that, "And the poor should be members of your household," is instructing a person to offer the poor and the destitute the possibility of finding their livelihood, by way of their working in his house: The Sages commanded that the poor and orphans should be [part of] a person's household instead of [using] slaves... Since anyone who who uses many slaves adds sin and iniquity to the world each day. But if the poor are of his household [instead], he increases merits and [the performance of] commandments each day. (Mishneh Torah, Gifts to the Poor 10:17) Regardless, according to all of the explanations, Yose ben Yochanan seeks to make certain that those present in the house will be fit for this, whether because of their [humble] character and personality, or whether because of their financial situation that calls for it.
_.5.10.9
The Torah states explicitly that the people of the town were “very wicked sinners against God.” In our our classic texts there are many stories that describe their evil hearts. Among other things, we hear about the sins of pride, arrogance, exploitation of the weak, and gratuitous cruelty. The Tosefta Sanhedrin (13:8) states that the people of Sodom do not have a share in the world-to-come. They were wicked to each other, and sinned in engaging in forbidden relations against God, in extremely pagan worship and murder. There is also a story told about the “Sodom bed” where overnight guests to the town were to sleep. They would stretch out people that were two short and cut off the legs of people that were too tall (BT Sanhedrin 109b.) They acted this way to appear to be impartial to all people; in actuality, this was gratuitous cruelty.
_.6.6.14
Behold, you have learned, "Whoever reports a saying in the name of he who said it brings redemption to the world. As it is stated (Esther 2:22), 'And Esther reported it to the king in the name of Mordecai.'" (Megillah 15a:20) Esther informed Ahasuerus in the name of Mordekhai about the plan of Bigtan and Teresh to kill him. The thing was recorded in the book of Chronicles of the Kings of Persia and Media, which was the book that Ahasuerus read when his sleep would not come (Esther 6:1). It was that event that began the redemption of the Jewish people from the decree of annihilation against them advised by Haman.

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