Pirke Avot: The Sayings Of The Jewish Fathers Part 3

SAYINGS OF THE FATHERS

_One of the following chapters is read on each Sabbath from the Sabbath after Pa.s.sover until the Sabbath before New Year._

All Israel (1) have a portion in the world to come, and it is said, "And thy people shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land (2) for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified" (3).

(1) This does not mean that Israel alone, to the exclusion of other nations, will have a portion in the future world. On the future world ([olam haba]), see [Chapter II], n. 21. "The pious of all nations have a portion in the world to come"

(_Tosefta Sanhedrin_, chap. XII; Maimonides, in _Mishneh Torah_, I, _Hilchot Teshubah_, iii, 5) sums up the Rabbinic opinion.

(2) _I.e._, the land of everlasting life.

(3) _Sanhedrin_, X (XI), 1; Isaiah lx, 21. This pa.s.sage is recited before each chapter.

CHAPTER I

1. Moses received the _Torah_ (4) from Sinai (5), and handed it down to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders (6), and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets delivered it to the men of the Great Synagogue (7). They said three things, "Be deliberate in judgment; raise up many disciples; and make a fence about the _Torah_" (8).

(4) The word _Torah_ is usually translated by "law," but it means rather "teaching," "instruction" of any kind, or "doctrine." This term is generally used to designate the _Five Books of Moses_ or the _Pentateuch_, called the "written law" ([torah shebichtav]), but it is also employed as a designation of the whole of the Old Testament. Besides the "written law," according to tradition, there was also communicated to Moses, on Mt. Sinai, the "oral law" ([torah she'b'al peh]), supplementing the former and other laws and maxims, and explaining it. This "oral law" was handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, but subsequently, after the destruction of the second Temple, it was committed to writing, and const.i.tutes the _Mishnah_, the _Talmud_, and the _Midrashim_. The "oral law" develops, illuminates, and comments upon the "written law." Here, _Torah_ means the "oral law," which Moses communicated to Joshua, Joshua, in turn, to the elders, and so on. See Taylor, _Sayings of the Jewish Fathers_, p. 105 _et seq._, and 134-135; Friedlander, _The Jewish Religion_, p. 136 _et seq._; _Jewish Encyclopedia_, arts. _Law and Oral Law;_ Schechter, _Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology_, Chapter VIII; Strack, _Einleitung_, pp. 9-10, and Herford, _Pharisaism_, chapter on "the Theory of Torah," p. 57 _et seq._

(5) _I.e._, from G.o.d. Compare the expression [halacha l'moshe misinai], "the law to Moses from Sinai (G.o.d)," _Peah_, II, 6, _Eduyot_, VIII, 7, etc.

(6) The elders were the wise men who were the members of the supreme national tribunal. See Joshua XXIV, 31.

(7) The Great Synagogue, whose establishment, after the return from Babylonian captivity, tradition attributes to Ezra the Scribe, consisted of 120 men, who comprised the highest judicial tribunal, and who occupied a position in the early days of the Temple similar to that of the later _Sanhedrin_.

The historical foundation of this tradition is Nehemiah VIII-X, in which is recounted the solemn acceptance of the Law by a great a.s.sembly of the people. The men of the Great Synagogue appear here in _Abot_ as the depositaries of the tradition of the _Torah_, coming in the chain between the last prophets and the earliest scribes. From this chapter and other Rabbinical sources, we gather that the men of the Great Synagogue const.i.tuted a sort of college of teachers, one of the last survivors being Simon, the Just (Chapter I, 2).

Their work was to interpret, teach, and develop the _Torah_, and to them were ascribed all kinds of legal enactments. They inst.i.tuted the _Shemoneh Esrah_ (the Eighteen Benedictions) and other prayers, and cast the entire ritual into definite shape. They admitted _Proverbs_, the _Song of Songs_, and _Ecclesiastes_ into the Old Testament canon. A number of modern scholars, notably Kuenen, are of the opinion that this body never existed in the form represented by Jewish tradition (see Schurer, _History_, I, ii, pp. 354-355). On the controversy regarding the existence of the Great Synagogue see Schechter, _Studies_, II, 105-106. Consult Taylor, _ibid._, pp. 110-111; Graetz, _History of the Jews_, vol. I, p. 381, 394, vol. II, p. 19. For further bibliography, see Strack, _Spruche_, p. 11. See especially Herford, _Pharisaism_. pp.

18-28.

(8) Take measures to prevent the breaking of any of the divine precepts. Thereby, certain things which are in themselves lawful are prohibited in order to enforce the observance of things the doing of which is unlawful. Compare Leviticus XVIII, 30, "make a _mishmeret_ to my _mishmeret_" (_Yabamot_, 21a), and _Abot_, III, 17, "the _Ma.s.sorah_ is a fence to the _Torah_."

2. Simon, the Just (9), was of the last survivors of the Great Synagogue. He used to say, "Upon three things the world rests: upon the _Torah_, upon the Temple service (10), and upon the doing of acts of kindness" (11).

(9) Simon, the Just, son of Onias, was high-priest about 300 B.C.E. See Josephus, _Antiquities_, XII, ii, 5. Consult Sammter, _Mischnaioth Ordnung Zeraim_ (Berlin, 1887), _Introduction_, pp. 10-22; Meilziner, _Introduction to the Talmud_, pp. 22-39; the _Jewish Encyclopedia_, and Strack, _Einleitung_, p. 82 _et seq._, for the lives of the authorities mentioned in _Abot_ and for bibliographies.

(10) Cf. _Nedarim_, 32b, "Great is the _Torah_, for if it did not exist, the heaven and the earth would have no permanence."

_Abodah_ is the service and sacrifice of the Temple which was then standing. After the destruction of the Temple, this word was used to designate the service of prayer. It is used in one of the benedictions after the reading of the _Haftarah_: _al ha-torah we-al ha-abodah_, "for the law and for the divine service," see _Prayer-book_, ed. Singer, p. 149. See Friedlander, _ibid._, p. 413 _et seq._

(11) [g'milut chasadim] "benevolence," "the doing of kindnesses," consists of practical deeds of personal service, as visiting the sick, burying the dead, comforting mourners, peacemaking, etc. It is greater than [tzedakah] "charity" in its narrower sense, as benevolence may be shown to the rich as well as to the poor. See Friedlander, _ibid._, pp. 301-305.

On this verse, see Herford, _ibid._, p. 22 _et seq._

3. Antigonus of Soko (12) received (the tradition) from Simon, the Just. He used to say, "Be not like hirelings who work for their master for the sake of receiving recompense; but be like servants who minister to their master without any thought of receiving a reward; and let the fear of Heaven (13) be upon you."

(12) According to _Abot de-Rabbi Natan_, Chapter V, ed.

Schechter, p. 26, Antigonus had two disciples, Zadok and Boethos, from whom arose the Sadducees and the heretical sect of Boethusians, from their misinterpretation of this verse, both denying the doctrines of immortality of the soul and resurrection. Se Kohut, _The Ethics of the Fathers_, p. 43; Schurer, _History_, II, ii. p. 29 _et seq._; Geiger, _Judaism and Its History_, p. 99 _et seq._; and _Jewish Encyclopedia_, arts. _Boethusians_ and _Sadducees_.

(13) "The fear of Heaven" does not mean dread of punishment, but rather awe at the greatness and might of G.o.d, and is identical with love and service (see Deuteronomy, VI, 13 and X, 12). It is produced by following out the practices ordained in the _Torah_ (Maimonides, _Guide for the Perplexed_, ed. Friedlander, p. 392). Consult Friedlander, _Jewish Religion_, pp. 273-274, the _Jewish Encyclopedia_, art. _Fear of G.o.d_, and Schechter, _Aspects_, p. 72.

4. Jose, the son of Joezer, of Zeredah, and Jose, the son of Jochanan (14), of Jerusalem received (the tradition) from them (15). Jose, the son of Joezer, of Zeredah said, "Let thy house be a meeting-place for the wise; cover thyself with the dust of their feet (16), and drink in their words with thirst."

(14) In _Chagigah_, II, 2, we are told that when two leading teachers are named in the _Mishnah_ as having received the _Torah_, they const.i.tute a "pair" ([zug]), the first being the president([nasi]), and the second the vice-president ([av beit din]) of the _Sanhedrin_. There were five pairs of such teachers, flourishing between 170 and 30 B.C.E., the first being Jose b. Joezer and Jose b. Jochanan, and the last being Hillel and Shammai. See Frankel, _Monatschrift_, 1852, pp.

405-421, Mielziner, _Introduction_, pp. 22-23, and Strack, _Spruche_, p. 13.

(15) Some texts read "from him" ([mimenu]). "From them" must refer to disciples of Antigonus whose sayings have been lost.

(16) It was the custom of pupils to sit at the feet of their teachers.

5. Jose, the son of Jochanan, of Jerusalem said, "Let thy house be open wide; let the poor be members of thy household, and engage not in much gossip with woman." This applies to one's own wife; how much more (17), then, to the wife of one's neighbor? Hence the sages say, "Whoso engages in much gossip with woman brings evil upon himself, neglects the study of the _Torah_, and will in the end inherit _gehinnom_" (18).

(17) On the _kalwa-chomer_, "a conclusion _a minori ad majus_," see Meilziner, _Introduction to the Talmud_, p. 130 _et seq._, and Strack, _Einleitung in den Talmud_, p. 120.

Cf. Chapter VI, 3. The equivalent biblical expression is [af ki].

(18) [gey-hinim (gimil-yud hey-nun-yud-mem(sofit))], [gei ben-hinim], a glen south of Jerusalem where Moloch was worshipped, whence a place where the wicked were punished in the hereafter; "h.e.l.l, being the opposite of 'the Garden of Eden,'" "paradise." Cf. chapter V, 22 and 23. See Friedlander, _Jewish Religion_, p. 223.

6. Joshua, the son of Perachyah, and Nittai, the Arbelite, received (the tradition) from them. Joshua, the son of Perachyah, said, "Provide thyself with a teacher, and possess thyself of a companion (19); and judge every man in the scale of merit."

(19) A fellow-student.

7. Nittai, the Arbelite, said, "Keep aloof from a bad neighbor (20); a.s.sociate not with the wicked, and abandon not the belief in retribution" (21).

(20) Cf. chapter II, 14.

(21) This may mean either that one must not imagine that punishment for evil deeds will not befall him, or when punishment has been meted out, one must not despair of the good.

8. Judah, the son of Tabbi, and Simeon, the son of Shatach (22), received (the tradition) from them. Judah, the son of Tabbi, said, "(In the judge's office) act not the counsel's part (23); while the litigants are standing before thee, let them be regarded by thee as guilty, but when they are departed from thy presence, regard them as innocent, the verdict having been acquiesced in by them."

(22) Lived about 104-69 B.C.E. He was a leader of the Pharisees at the time of Alexander Jannaeus.

(23) A judge should be strictly impartial.

9. Simeon, the son of Shatach, said, "Be very searching in the examination of witnesses (24), and be guarded in thy words, lest through them they learn to lie."

(24) It is related that the son of Simeon b. Shatach was innocently condemned to death, because the witnesses were not carefully cross-questioned.

10. Shemaiah and Abtalion (25) received (the tradition) from them.

Shemaiah said, "Love work; hate lordship (26); and seek no intimacy with the ruling power" (27).

(25) Lived about the middle of the first century B.C.E.

(26) "Woe to leadership, for it buries those who possess it."

(_Pesachim_, 87b).