Avos 1:2

בס״ד

אבות א:ב

Shimon the Tzaddik was one of the last members of the Great Community. He used to teach: The world exists because of three things - - Because of the Torah, Because of service to HaShem And because of generous sharing.

שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק הָיָה מִשְּׁיָרֵי כְנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עַל שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד, עַל הַתּוֹרָה וְעַל הָעֲבוֹדָה  וְעַל גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים:

        Shimon the Tzaddik was a High Priest in the Temple in Yerushalayim.  He lived in a very difficult time, when the Greek general, Alexander the Great, was conquering the entire Middle East.  Nation after nation was falling to Greek power; many were also deeply impressed by Greek wisdom and science and tried to imitate it.

        Shimon is called one of the last members of the Great Community because he lived at a time when the unity of Israel was beginning to shatter, for many Jews saw the Greeks as the wave of the future.  He saw that the Torah given to Moshe was in danger of being forgotten.  The gemara (Bavli Yoma 69b) tells a story about the greatness of Shimon the Tzaddik.  When Alexander was conquering the Land of Israel, Shimon the Tzaddik put on his High Priestly robes and marched out of Yerushalayim to greet the King.  When Alexander saw Shimon, he fell to the ground and kissed it.  His soldiers asked Alexander: “Why do you kiss the ground in front of this Jew?”  Alexander said: “In his face I can see the glory of HaShem!”  

        Shimon’s holiness was so much a part of him, that even a pagan King saw HaShem through him.  This raises a good question.  If Alexander could see the holiness of Shimon the Tzaddik, why is it that Shimon was unable to keep all Israel loyal to HaShem and His Torah?   One of the mysteries of Jewish history is that Klal Yisriel often ignores its most cherished possessions even though other nations see the beauty of the Torah.  Shimon the Tzaddik’s teaching takes account of this situation.

        He taught that the world was created (literally, “stands”, ״עומד״) so that three realities could come into being.

        The first reality is the Torah itself.  The world exists to provide a setting in which people may come to know HaShem through His gift of Torah.

        Second:  the world came into being so that those who received Torah could offer thanks to the One who gave it.  Shimon the Tzaddik, who was a High Priest, was thinking about the sacrifices in the Temple when he taught this.    The Temple was HaShem’s house and His Presence could be met in the Holy of Holies on each Yom Kippur.  Shimon the Tzaddik had been in that Holy of Holies.  Within the Holy of Holies, on the very spot which had contained the Ark of the Covenant, was the Foundation Stone.  The Foundation Stone was the spot from which the Universe came into being.  Shimon the Tzaddik knew of the power found there; he had been at the center of Existence.  And he knew that the world existed only in order to provide a dwelling place for HaShem’s Presence, a dwelling place created and sheltered by Israel’s loving service.

        But Shimon the Tzaddik also knew that the Temple would one day be destroyed by the Romans; he knew that Israel would not always be able to shelter the power of HaShem in its midst.  He knew that even without the Temple, Israel’s loving service of HaShem in the form of prayer and mitzvahs would be just as effective in bringing Israel to the very spot through which the Universe came into existence.  That spot, in our day, is in the human heart, in the empty space we create, through prayer, for the continuing Presence of HaShem.

        The third point of creating the world was so that human beings could imitate within it the nature of HaShem.  This is the trait of generous sharing.  That is, one whole point of creation is to bring the qualities of HaShem into the human world of people taking care of each other and anticipating each other’s needs.  Shimon the Tzaddik believed that if Israel studied Torah and performed the divine service in the form of sacrifice and prayer, that this would automatically lead to generous sharing.  Why?  Because Torah and mitzvahs would lead people to see the face of HaShem in each other, just as the pagan Alexander had seen it in Shimon himself.

        In other words: generous sharing is possible when we realize that everyone is a bearer of HaShem’s Image.  It is so easy to give to HaShem, but often so hard to give to strangers or people we’re angry with.  But to be worthy of the gift of the world, we need to learn how to see HaShem’s face wherever we see a human face.

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