Pirkei Avot 1:11
"Avtalyon said: Sages, be careful with your words lest you deserve to be exiled and are exiled to a place of bad waters. The students who come after you will drink of these waters and die, and G-d's Name will be desecrated."
This is a puzzling mishna. First we must unravel the metaphor: what is the "place of bad waters" to which the sages who "deserve to be exiled" because of their careless words are exiled? Since it is a place where the students who drink of these waters will die, and G-d's Name will be desecrated, it sounds like a place where doctrines that desecrate G-d's Name are taught. Although we can't tell what these teachings are, they are not teachings that are intentionally blasphemous; rather, it is a place to which sages are exiled when they are careless with their words. It is a place where false teachings are passed off as part of the transmitted tradition, and where students die metaphorically because they receive teachings that are not true to what has been passed down from Sinai, through the generations of prophets and scholars.
There is a great sense here that the teachings of Torah have a very specific, intentional meaning. Today we tend to see any interpretation of the text encouraged, as if Torah speaks to all in different ways, and what is to be taken from it is subjective. This mishna says that there is a true sense of the text, and it must be imparted by careful sages.
There is also a sense that the reason that careless words are so harmful is not just the words themselves, but rather the effect that they have in "exiling" sages from the community of faithful transmitters of the tradition. Separation from the community leaves the careless sages unmoored from the salutary effects of the community of sages who are more faithful to the tradition. This concept resonates with the earlier verses that urge us to find a good teacher and to sit at the feet of sages. The connectedness to other sages helps even the wise stay faithful to the true sense of the teachings, and avoid "bad waters".
Monday, November 19, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
"Shemaya and Avtalyon received the transmission from them [the previous generation of scholars, listed in Mishna 8]. Shemaya said: Love work, despise high position, and do not become too close to the authorities."
The central tenet of this mishna is the advice to "love work". The Hebrew word used for work is "melacha," the kind of creative work which is prohibited on Shabbat. In America there is a saying that some people live to work and others work to live, and it is usually used by people who count themselves among the latter, who think the former are obsessive. This mishna, and I would argue, traditional Judaism, rejects the dichotomy. This mishna suggests that we should love our creative work. This is at odds with the idea that there is something obsessive about placing a high priority on one's work, and also with the idea that work is just a means toward the end of living. Rather, the mishna suggests that there is something virtuous in work for it's own sake. If we reflect on the fact that "melacha" is what is prohibited to be done on Shabbat, and why it is prohibited-to mimic the Creator's rest after creating the universe, we get an inkling of why we should love "melacha": it is our equivalent to the act of creating the universe. Through our creative work, we imitate the act of the Creator in creating the universe in irreversibly reshaping the world. This view ennobles us as little creators and shapers of the world, as opposed to the view in the saying that reduces us to atoms whose only value is our personal pleasure.
The two remaining admonitions in this mishna follow logically from the first, and explain it. If our creative work is the source of our self-actualization, high position really distracts from it by placing emphasis on the recognition of those authorities who conferred the high position, presumably for their own selfish reasons. Similarly, one who becomes too close to the authorities becomes corrupted by them, to the extent that he diverts his talents to pleasing the authorities, instead of maximizing the quality of his creative work.
The central tenet of this mishna is the advice to "love work". The Hebrew word used for work is "melacha," the kind of creative work which is prohibited on Shabbat. In America there is a saying that some people live to work and others work to live, and it is usually used by people who count themselves among the latter, who think the former are obsessive. This mishna, and I would argue, traditional Judaism, rejects the dichotomy. This mishna suggests that we should love our creative work. This is at odds with the idea that there is something obsessive about placing a high priority on one's work, and also with the idea that work is just a means toward the end of living. Rather, the mishna suggests that there is something virtuous in work for it's own sake. If we reflect on the fact that "melacha" is what is prohibited to be done on Shabbat, and why it is prohibited-to mimic the Creator's rest after creating the universe, we get an inkling of why we should love "melacha": it is our equivalent to the act of creating the universe. Through our creative work, we imitate the act of the Creator in creating the universe in irreversibly reshaping the world. This view ennobles us as little creators and shapers of the world, as opposed to the view in the saying that reduces us to atoms whose only value is our personal pleasure.
The two remaining admonitions in this mishna follow logically from the first, and explain it. If our creative work is the source of our self-actualization, high position really distracts from it by placing emphasis on the recognition of those authorities who conferred the high position, presumably for their own selfish reasons. Similarly, one who becomes too close to the authorities becomes corrupted by them, to the extent that he diverts his talents to pleasing the authorities, instead of maximizing the quality of his creative work.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Pirkei Avot 1:9
"Shimon ben (son of) Shatach said: Examine witnesses thoroughly and be careful with your words lest through them they learn to lie."
One one level this is advice to judges. As such, it makes sense: to determined the truth, a judge must ask many questions, in a way that doesn't reveal the answers he suspects.
But it seems to me that this mishna is not just about advice to judges. We are all judges of hundreds of questions, issues and challenges that arise daily, and the people we interact with daily are witnesses of events that are the basis for our decisions and our actions. On this level, this mishna is about how to interact with others and how to live. By the questions we ask, and the way we ask them, we learn about the world and those around us. When we come to life with preconceived notions and fail to inquire earnestly about the problems and decisions we face, we live errantly. To live seriously, we must be aware of those around us, and learn from them, and take our decisions in our daily lives as seriously as judges take their decisions. There is a point to this: living justly every day, to the best of our ability, matters, perhaps as much as anything else.
"Shimon ben (son of) Shatach said: Examine witnesses thoroughly and be careful with your words lest through them they learn to lie."
One one level this is advice to judges. As such, it makes sense: to determined the truth, a judge must ask many questions, in a way that doesn't reveal the answers he suspects.
But it seems to me that this mishna is not just about advice to judges. We are all judges of hundreds of questions, issues and challenges that arise daily, and the people we interact with daily are witnesses of events that are the basis for our decisions and our actions. On this level, this mishna is about how to interact with others and how to live. By the questions we ask, and the way we ask them, we learn about the world and those around us. When we come to life with preconceived notions and fail to inquire earnestly about the problems and decisions we face, we live errantly. To live seriously, we must be aware of those around us, and learn from them, and take our decisions in our daily lives as seriously as judges take their decisions. There is a point to this: living justly every day, to the best of our ability, matters, perhaps as much as anything else.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Pirkei Avot 1:8
Yehuda ben (son of) Tabbai and Shimon ben Shatach received the transmission from them [the previous generation of scholars, listed in Mishna 6]. Yehuda ben Tabbai said: Do not act as an adviser among the judges. When the litigants are standing before you they should be in your eyes as guilty. When they are dismissed from before you they should be in your eyes as innocent, provided they have accepted the decision.
This mishna seems at first to be jarring. Why should a judge view both litigants as guilty, when one of them might be innocent or righteous? We are advised elsewhere in the Pirkei Avot to judge on the side of merit. Why should we view both litigants as innocent after we may have proclaimed one to be guilty? The mishna makes sense if we understand it as a description of the perspective of the Divine: above the fray, aware of the foibles of men and women in the actual world, yet loving them. In our humanity, we all have our self-centered perspective that colors our view and our actions. The "adviser," like a lawyer, advocates for one, but even that one is seeking his own personal benefit, because that is an essential attribute of humanity. The Divine perspective, seeing that, knows that each person is "guilty" of being an atom, a small part of the universe, pursuing its own self-interest above all else. We all distort the truth by seeing it from the only perspective from which we can. The judge must see it from a higher, objective reality above the perspective of the litigants. Yet once the judgment is rendered and the litigants accept it, they adopt the perspective of the judge: universal truth, not their own, personal perspective. The awareness that there is a perspective above our personal perspective is the awareness of the Divine perspective, and thereby, the awareness of the Divine. Judges can imitate it when they perform their function at the highest level, although they remain human. We can perceive an aspect of the Divine when read and understand the meaning of this mishna.
Yehuda ben (son of) Tabbai and Shimon ben Shatach received the transmission from them [the previous generation of scholars, listed in Mishna 6]. Yehuda ben Tabbai said: Do not act as an adviser among the judges. When the litigants are standing before you they should be in your eyes as guilty. When they are dismissed from before you they should be in your eyes as innocent, provided they have accepted the decision.
This mishna seems at first to be jarring. Why should a judge view both litigants as guilty, when one of them might be innocent or righteous? We are advised elsewhere in the Pirkei Avot to judge on the side of merit. Why should we view both litigants as innocent after we may have proclaimed one to be guilty? The mishna makes sense if we understand it as a description of the perspective of the Divine: above the fray, aware of the foibles of men and women in the actual world, yet loving them. In our humanity, we all have our self-centered perspective that colors our view and our actions. The "adviser," like a lawyer, advocates for one, but even that one is seeking his own personal benefit, because that is an essential attribute of humanity. The Divine perspective, seeing that, knows that each person is "guilty" of being an atom, a small part of the universe, pursuing its own self-interest above all else. We all distort the truth by seeing it from the only perspective from which we can. The judge must see it from a higher, objective reality above the perspective of the litigants. Yet once the judgment is rendered and the litigants accept it, they adopt the perspective of the judge: universal truth, not their own, personal perspective. The awareness that there is a perspective above our personal perspective is the awareness of the Divine perspective, and thereby, the awareness of the Divine. Judges can imitate it when they perform their function at the highest level, although they remain human. We can perceive an aspect of the Divine when read and understand the meaning of this mishna.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Pirkei Avot 1:7
"Nittai of Arbel said, distance yourself from a bad neighbor, do not befriend a wicked person, and do not despair of punishment."
After all the previous passages advising us how to live rightly, in accordance with Torah, we come upon this passage that recognizes the problem of evil; people who not only do not attempt to live rightly, but choose, for whatever reason, to act badly. Nittai recognizes that such people can be all around us: neighbors and people we encounter in daily life. His advice to distance yourself from them can be contrasted with John Milton's opinion in Areopagitica: "I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race, where that immortal garland is to run for, not without dust and heat. Assuredly, we bring not innocence into the world, we bring impurity much rather; that which purifies us is trial, and trial is by what is contrary. That virtue which is but a youngling in the contemplation of evil, and knows not the utmost that vice promises to her followers, and rejects it, is but a blank virtue, not a pure; her whiteness is but an excremental whiteness; which was the reason why our sage and serious poet Spenser...describing true temperance under the person of Guion, brings him in with his palmer through the cave of Mammon, and the bower of earthly bliss, that he might see and know, and yet abstain." Nittai's advice also seems contrary to the calling to Jews to be "ohr l'goyim," a light to the nations.
The opposition of these two views of virtue is truly one of the fundamental issues in the understanding of virtue. One views virtue as a quality that is developed by study and imitation of the virtuous, because it is a priori derived from Torah. The second views virtue as a quality which is developed through adversity, and therefore developed a posteriori from experience. Undoubtedly, the first must be the quintessentially Jewish view, since the commandments of Torah are the only source of virtue, and as we are told in Netzavim, G-d rewards following the commandments and punishes violating them. The other view bases virtue on the qualities of moral strength of the man; the Latin root of virtue is "vir," or man. In the Jewish view, the vices of the wicked can be imparted to us if we have excessive contact with them, whereas in Milton's view, contact with the wicked provides "trial," which purifies us. In the Jewish view, we can be "ohr l'goyim" only by nurturing our yetzer tov, our good inclination, by study and imitation of the virtuous, and then providing an example to others, and G-d provides further motivation to others by exacting retribution on the wicked.
"Nittai of Arbel said, distance yourself from a bad neighbor, do not befriend a wicked person, and do not despair of punishment."
After all the previous passages advising us how to live rightly, in accordance with Torah, we come upon this passage that recognizes the problem of evil; people who not only do not attempt to live rightly, but choose, for whatever reason, to act badly. Nittai recognizes that such people can be all around us: neighbors and people we encounter in daily life. His advice to distance yourself from them can be contrasted with John Milton's opinion in Areopagitica: "I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race, where that immortal garland is to run for, not without dust and heat. Assuredly, we bring not innocence into the world, we bring impurity much rather; that which purifies us is trial, and trial is by what is contrary. That virtue which is but a youngling in the contemplation of evil, and knows not the utmost that vice promises to her followers, and rejects it, is but a blank virtue, not a pure; her whiteness is but an excremental whiteness; which was the reason why our sage and serious poet Spenser...describing true temperance under the person of Guion, brings him in with his palmer through the cave of Mammon, and the bower of earthly bliss, that he might see and know, and yet abstain." Nittai's advice also seems contrary to the calling to Jews to be "ohr l'goyim," a light to the nations.
The opposition of these two views of virtue is truly one of the fundamental issues in the understanding of virtue. One views virtue as a quality that is developed by study and imitation of the virtuous, because it is a priori derived from Torah. The second views virtue as a quality which is developed through adversity, and therefore developed a posteriori from experience. Undoubtedly, the first must be the quintessentially Jewish view, since the commandments of Torah are the only source of virtue, and as we are told in Netzavim, G-d rewards following the commandments and punishes violating them. The other view bases virtue on the qualities of moral strength of the man; the Latin root of virtue is "vir," or man. In the Jewish view, the vices of the wicked can be imparted to us if we have excessive contact with them, whereas in Milton's view, contact with the wicked provides "trial," which purifies us. In the Jewish view, we can be "ohr l'goyim" only by nurturing our yetzer tov, our good inclination, by study and imitation of the virtuous, and then providing an example to others, and G-d provides further motivation to others by exacting retribution on the wicked.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Pirkei Avot 1:6
"Yehoshua ben (son of) Perachia and Nittai of Arbel received the transmission from them [the rabbis of Mishna 4]. Yehoshua ben Perachia said: Make for yourself a rabbi, acquire for yourself a friend, and judge every person favorably."
The underlying subject of this mishna is how to live. What do making for yourself a rabbi, acquiring for yourself a friend and judging every person favorably have in common? It is making right choices in everyday life. A rabbi knows the law and the priorities among the mitzvot, and how they apply practically to everyday life, and a rabbi that we make for ourself will come to know us as well. A friend can know us, and our strengths and weaknesses, and help us make decisions and sort out our priorities by helping us see ourselves and our choices from another perspective. Judging others favorably acknowledges the difficulty of applying the mitzvot to the myriad of daily choices we are faced with, and the possibility that the other person may be trying to do so.
There are four premises implicit in this mishna: first, that we are ethical beings, who ought to, and want to act ethically or in accordance with halacha; second, that it is not always obvious how to do so; living ethically or halachically requires knowledge and thoughtfulness; and third, that living ethically or halachically requires the assistance of others, who know the law, and who know us; and fourth, that others may be trying to live ethically or halachically as well.
There are further implications from these premises. First, that anyone, Jew or gentile, can choose to live ethically or not. The art of living ethically is difficult, and requires assistance of others, but is clearly meritorious. Second, that ethical living for a Jew is defined by reference to Torah, which is why we are advised to take a rabbi for ourselves. Third, that we act ethically or halachically by looking for the best in others. What this means is to love others, for love is essentially favorable interpretation of the loved one. Loving others inclines us to act ethically or halachically toward them. Love is the meta-mitzvah in our relationships with other people, because it inclines us to perform other miztvot toward others. Of course, halacha also contains mitzvot in our relationship to God, but God in his infinite wisdom commands us to treat others with love.
The underlying subject of this mishna is how to live. What do making for yourself a rabbi, acquiring for yourself a friend and judging every person favorably have in common? It is making right choices in everyday life. A rabbi knows the law and the priorities among the mitzvot, and how they apply practically to everyday life, and a rabbi that we make for ourself will come to know us as well. A friend can know us, and our strengths and weaknesses, and help us make decisions and sort out our priorities by helping us see ourselves and our choices from another perspective. Judging others favorably acknowledges the difficulty of applying the mitzvot to the myriad of daily choices we are faced with, and the possibility that the other person may be trying to do so.
There are four premises implicit in this mishna: first, that we are ethical beings, who ought to, and want to act ethically or in accordance with halacha; second, that it is not always obvious how to do so; living ethically or halachically requires knowledge and thoughtfulness; and third, that living ethically or halachically requires the assistance of others, who know the law, and who know us; and fourth, that others may be trying to live ethically or halachically as well.
There are further implications from these premises. First, that anyone, Jew or gentile, can choose to live ethically or not. The art of living ethically is difficult, and requires assistance of others, but is clearly meritorious. Second, that ethical living for a Jew is defined by reference to Torah, which is why we are advised to take a rabbi for ourselves. Third, that we act ethically or halachically by looking for the best in others. What this means is to love others, for love is essentially favorable interpretation of the loved one. Loving others inclines us to act ethically or halachically toward them. Love is the meta-mitzvah in our relationships with other people, because it inclines us to perform other miztvot toward others. Of course, halacha also contains mitzvot in our relationship to God, but God in his infinite wisdom commands us to treat others with love.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
"Yossi ben (son of) Yochanan of Jerusalem said: Let your house be open wide, let the poor be members of your household, and do not chatter excessively with women. This was said regarding one's own wife, certainly with another's wife. Based on this the Sages have said, one who chatters excessively with women causes evil to himself, wastes time from Torah study, and will eventually inherit Gehenna."
This verse is an intellectual roller coaster. The beginning wrenches us from the message of transmission of the Torah (sitting in the dust of the sages' feet and drinking in their words) to g'milut chasidim-acts of lovingkindness. The implication is that the teachings of Torah, and perhaps the purpose of the teachings of Torah, are to lead to acts of lovingkindness. The other implication is that the poor have wisdom and dignity, as do the sages.
But then suddenly, the topic turns to something that seems totally unrelated, and even archaic: "...and do not chatter excessively with women." What possible connection does this have to the previous text? And how jarring, in this world where there are women rabbis, who wear kippot and tallitot, in synagogues where men do not! Are we to skip this section, and dismiss it as archaic? I prefer not to, trusting in the timeless wisdom of the text, or at least curious enough about what the text has to say to examine it further, to try to squeeze the meaning from it. The clues to the meaning of the text are in the words "chatter excessively," which appear twice, and the phrase "wastes time from Torah study." The text is acknowledging the power of the charm that women have over men, that can distract men from the study of Torah and the pursuit of spiritual improvement. It is not so much a statement about women, who are revered in the texts, as it is about the weakness of men. The words "chatter excessively" imply relating to women on the basis of their attractiveness and charm, as opposed to the more spiritual bonds between men and women. Even the work "excessively" allows for some leeway in relating to women on the basis of their charm, as long as it is not excessive. The bottom line is that at the end of the day, we must return to Torah, and to the primacy of the spiritual over the physical.
This verse is an intellectual roller coaster. The beginning wrenches us from the message of transmission of the Torah (sitting in the dust of the sages' feet and drinking in their words) to g'milut chasidim-acts of lovingkindness. The implication is that the teachings of Torah, and perhaps the purpose of the teachings of Torah, are to lead to acts of lovingkindness. The other implication is that the poor have wisdom and dignity, as do the sages.
But then suddenly, the topic turns to something that seems totally unrelated, and even archaic: "...and do not chatter excessively with women." What possible connection does this have to the previous text? And how jarring, in this world where there are women rabbis, who wear kippot and tallitot, in synagogues where men do not! Are we to skip this section, and dismiss it as archaic? I prefer not to, trusting in the timeless wisdom of the text, or at least curious enough about what the text has to say to examine it further, to try to squeeze the meaning from it. The clues to the meaning of the text are in the words "chatter excessively," which appear twice, and the phrase "wastes time from Torah study." The text is acknowledging the power of the charm that women have over men, that can distract men from the study of Torah and the pursuit of spiritual improvement. It is not so much a statement about women, who are revered in the texts, as it is about the weakness of men. The words "chatter excessively" imply relating to women on the basis of their attractiveness and charm, as opposed to the more spiritual bonds between men and women. Even the work "excessively" allows for some leeway in relating to women on the basis of their charm, as long as it is not excessive. The bottom line is that at the end of the day, we must return to Torah, and to the primacy of the spiritual over the physical.
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