Pirkei Avot 2:7
"He also saw a skull floating on the water, he said to it: 'Because you drowned others, they drowned you; and those who drowned you will be drowned eventually.'"
This perek is as difficult as it is short. The apparent message is that G-d makes perfect justice in the world. Hillel states without knowledge of the circumstances that the dead person whose skull floats on the water drowned others, and was drowned as punishment for the offense, and those who drowned him will be drowned eventually. This is very jarring. Surely, millions of people died, sometimes at the hands of others, who did not "drown" others. It is perhaps easier to accept the possibility that people who "drown" others will be drowned eventually. But what of the victims of the Holocaust? The babies who were thrown into the fires or went into the gas chambers in their mothers arms? Who did they "drown"?
The only way to understand this is not as a universal rule, but rather an observation about injustice on earth. Hillel is saying that ruthlessness creates enemies, who will exact their revenge, and that this imperfect human reaction is an instrument of Divine justice. Mussolini and Hitler made enemies through their ruthlessness, who worked for their undoing. Lesser malefactors also make enemies by their harmful acts, who lead to their undoing. As in Chad Gadya and the course of Jewish history, the slaughters and the slave drivers are brought low, and the Jewish people, with G-d's help, survive and continue long after the slaughterers and the slave drivers are forgotten. This does not mean that everyone who dies brought it on himself; in fact, the most holy people die. But we must be aware that Divine justice does not permit evil to go unpunished in the long run. Humans are the instruments of His justice.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Pirkei Avot 2:6
"He used to say: A boor cannot be fearful of sin; an unlearned person cannot be scrupulously pious; the bashful person cannot learn, and the quick, impatient person cannot teach; anyone excessively occupied in business cannot become a scholar; and in a place where there are no leaders, strive to be a leader."
The previous mishnah, 2:5, deals with how to behave to others in the community, i.e., engage with the community, cultivate humility, do not be judgmental and communicate clearly. Even the admonition to make time for study presumes that the reader is occupied in this world. This mishnah, 2:6, explains the benefits of study, and then teaches the attitude that one must bring to it, and the actions that one must take for it to be effective. The first two verses teach that the study of Torah refines character; since a boor cannot be fearful of sin and an unlearned person cannot be scrupulously pious, learning gives the ability to be fearful of sin and to be pious, thereby improving our character. But the next two verses admonish that study does not automatically guarantee learning: the bashful cannot learn and the impatient cannot teach. Just as character is improved by learning, so certain character traits are necessary to learn and to teach (and in chevruta, teaching is a way of learning). Finally, in the last two verses, Hillel calls us to action, as he often does at the end of his mishnayot. We must carve out time from our occupations (which we learned in mishnah 2:2, are also meritorious) for study, and we must lead where others do not lead (from the context, this must be understood to refer to leading in study). Taken together, the message is powerful: learning builds character, but to learn, we must subordinate our timidity and impatience to the value of learning, and we must make time to study and obtain a leader in our study, or in the absence of one, become one.
"He used to say: A boor cannot be fearful of sin; an unlearned person cannot be scrupulously pious; the bashful person cannot learn, and the quick, impatient person cannot teach; anyone excessively occupied in business cannot become a scholar; and in a place where there are no leaders, strive to be a leader."
The previous mishnah, 2:5, deals with how to behave to others in the community, i.e., engage with the community, cultivate humility, do not be judgmental and communicate clearly. Even the admonition to make time for study presumes that the reader is occupied in this world. This mishnah, 2:6, explains the benefits of study, and then teaches the attitude that one must bring to it, and the actions that one must take for it to be effective. The first two verses teach that the study of Torah refines character; since a boor cannot be fearful of sin and an unlearned person cannot be scrupulously pious, learning gives the ability to be fearful of sin and to be pious, thereby improving our character. But the next two verses admonish that study does not automatically guarantee learning: the bashful cannot learn and the impatient cannot teach. Just as character is improved by learning, so certain character traits are necessary to learn and to teach (and in chevruta, teaching is a way of learning). Finally, in the last two verses, Hillel calls us to action, as he often does at the end of his mishnayot. We must carve out time from our occupations (which we learned in mishnah 2:2, are also meritorious) for study, and we must lead where others do not lead (from the context, this must be understood to refer to leading in study). Taken together, the message is powerful: learning builds character, but to learn, we must subordinate our timidity and impatience to the value of learning, and we must make time to study and obtain a leader in our study, or in the absence of one, become one.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Pirkei Avot 2:5
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.
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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