I am continuing the Pirkei Avot project after a respite of over a year and a half. I had discontinued it because I felt that I had no legitimacy in commenting on Pirkei Avot until I studied more Torah and Talmud, and because there were no comments. I thought I was writing in a vacuum. Then last week I got an e-mail from Jay Lavine, asking why I stopped. When I told him, he responded that although it is important to have insight from people who are learned in Torah into the texts, there is also a tradition of Torah Umadda, the admixture of Torah and secular insight. I have also been reading the parsha of the week, and studying Talmud with local rabbis, so I feel that I have learned some Torah since I discontinued the project. I also noticed that although there were no comments posted, there were many page views. So because of Jay's encouragement, I am picking up again where I left off.
Pirkei Avot 2:5
"Hillel said: Do not separate yourself from the community; do not believe in yourself until the day you die; do not judge your fellow until you have reached his place; do not make a statement that cannot be easily understood on the ground that it will be understood eventually; and do not say 'When I am free I will study,' for perhaps you will not become free."
Hillel's five statements demand separate attention before we think about what they have in common. The statement not to separate ourselves from the community reminds us of the essentially communal aspect of Judaism: we received the Law and became a people when we stood together at Sinai: all of us, not just the ones who were physically alive at the time. We experienced Jewish history together, from the exodus from Egypt, to the building of the mishkan, to the building, and destruction of the Temple, and the rebuilding of the Temple and the second destruction of the Temple, to the diaspora, the Holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel. We pray in minyanim, and celebrate the holidays in congregations. The covenant is with the people of Israel, even though we are called upon to observe the mitzvot individually.
The second statement is confusing: why should we not believe in ourselves? One of the greatest sins in the Torah is the sin of the scouts, who did not believe that they could prevail against the inhabitants of the land to which G-d had brought them. We are told in the tradition that each man should carry two pieces of paper in his pockets: one that says "I am dust and ashes" and a second that says "For me the world was made." So what could Hillel mean? Although we are made in the image of G-d, unlike G-d, we are imperfect, intellectually and morally. If we believe in ourselves, we become inflexible, unable to examine our thoughts and actions, because we cannot imagine that our past thoughts and actions could be wrong or even improved on. Why are we allowed to believe in ourselves when we die? Because at that point we stand on the precipice of having no more thoughts and actions in this world that could be improved upon, and what we would be believing in is not the imperfect thoughts and actions of a living person in this world, but the perfect soul that is left.
The third statement, that we should not judge our fellow until we have reached his place, is also based in humility, but kindness as well. We are all limited by our experiences, and judging others who have had different experiences involves the kind of intellectual and moral arrogance against which we are warned in the second instruction. Elsewhere in Pirkei Avot we are told to judge on the side of merit. When we judge others, we take on the role of G-d, who has complete knowledge, or of judges, who must apply their experience in accordance with laws which are designed to balance the circumstances of the individual and the interests of the community. To do so without having shared their experiences is an offense against humility in ourselves and kindness to others.
The fourth statement, that we should not make a statement that cannot be easily understood on the ground that it will be understood eventually, resonates both of the first statement, that we should not separate ourselves from the community, the second statement, that we should not believe in ourselves until we die, and of the prohibition against placing a stumbling block in front of the blind. A statement that cannot be easily understood is a failed communication with the community; it separates the speaker, who understands it, from the community, which doesn't. It comes from the arrogance of believing in one's own superiority, since the speaker assumes that others are not capable of understanding it now, but someday someone will come along who will be smart enough to understand it. It also risks misleading others, who may misunderstand it.
The fifth statement, that we should not put off studying because we don't have time, at first seems out of place. What does it have to do with the themes of connecting ourselves to the community, personal humility and kindness? The answer is that study of Torah and Talmud is the meta-mitzvah, because it contains all the others, both literally, because the Torah contains all the mitzvot, and pedagogically, because we can learn how to internalize the mitzvot by studying. One who studies Torah and Talmud will internalize his connection to the community, personal humility and kindness.
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