Avos 2:4

בס״ד

אבות ב:ד

        

He used to teach: Do His will as if it were your own, so that He can make your will His own; Abandon your own will in favor of His, so that the will of others may be abandoned in favor of your own. Hillel says: Do not separate yourself from the community; do not be overconfident until the day you die; Do not judge your friend until you experience his situation; Do not say things that shouldn’t be heard, for they will eventually be known; And do not say, “When I have time I’ll learn” — for you may not have time.

הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עֲשֵׂה רְצוֹנוֹ כִרְצוֹנְךָ, כְּדֵי שֶׁיַּעֲשֶׂה רְצוֹנְךָ כִרְצוֹנוֹ. בַּטֵּל רְצוֹנְךָ מִפְּנֵי רְצוֹנוֹ, כְּדֵי שֶׁיְּבַטֵּל רְצוֹן אֲחֵרִים מִפְּנֵי רְצוֹנֶךָ. הִלֵּל אוֹמֵר, אַל תִּפְרֹשׁ מִן הַצִּבּוּר, וְאַל תַּאֲמִין בְּעַצְמְךָ עַד יוֹם מוֹתְךָ, וְאַל תָּדִין אֶת חֲבֵרְךָ עַד שֶׁתַּגִּיעַ לִמְקוֹמוֹ, וְאַל תֹּאמַר דָּבָר שֶׁאִי אֶפְשָׁר לִשְׁמֹעַ, שֶׁסּוֹפוֹ לְהִשָּׁמַע. וְאַל תֹּאמַר לִכְשֶׁאִפָּנֶה אֶשְׁנֶה, שֶׁמָּא לֹא תִפָּנֶה:

        The first part of the mishnah concludes the words of Rabban Gamliel III.  The second part begins a new section, on the teachings of Hillel, that continues through Avos 2:7.  But which Hillel is it?

        It may seem obvious that the mishnah is speaking about Hillel the Elder (1:12-15).  But some hand-written copies of the Mishnah from the Middle Ages refer here to “Rabbi Hillel” a grandson of Rabbi, who was Nasi around the year 300.  Rabbi Yom Tov Heller, in his mishnah commentary, Tosfos Yom Tov, believes that the reference to “Rabbi Hillel” is a mistake.  An ancient copyist of the Mishnah — let’s call him “Reb Ploni” — was disturbed to find Hillel (who died about the year 20) following Rabban Gamliel (who died around 250) in the chain of tradition.  So Reb Ploni “improved” his version by making it refer to the more recent Rabbi Hillel.

        To make things more confusing, the versions of the Mishnah used by Rambam, Midrash Shmuel and others list Hillel’s teaching as a separate mishnah with its own number.  But if you look in the usual printed copies of the Mishnah, you’ll find Hillel’s teaching included here as I’ve presented it.

        These sorts of differences are pretty common throughout the Mishnah and Talmud.  They remind us that, even though the Oral Torah of the Sages comes from Sinai, the medieval manuscripts that serve as the basis of the printed versions in our modern books are often affected by human frailty.  The oldest hand-copied versions of the Mishnah probably listed Rabban Gamliel’s and Hillel’s statements together.  Reb Ploni thought this was confusing because it offended his sense of history.  So he copied “Rabbi Hillel” into his version. Another copyist — ok, “Reb Almoni” — was confused (it is confusing!) to find teachings of Rabban Gamliel and Hillel in the same mishnah.  So he separated them.  Both versions continued to be passed down by later copyists.  And later printers of the Mishnah preserved them.  Go figure!

        Now we can focus on what these teachings mean!  Rabban Gamliel’s advice about submitting our private desires to the will of HaShem is a perfect summary of all of his teachings.  He has tried to point out the importance of seeing through what is obvious or most immediately in front of our noses.  Well, what is more immediately in front of our noses than our own desires?  In many ways the whole history of idolatry is about people worshipping their own desires and mistaking them for the will of HaShem.  Rabban Gamliel teaches us to be very suspicious of our own desires and to measure them against the standards set before us in the Written and Oral Torah.  In this way our life as Jews is a perpetual attempt to retrain our desires so that we ultimately will for ourselves the pattern of life that the Torah holds out as a goal.  The result will be the eventual closure of the yawning gap between ourselves and HaShem.

        But if this is Rabban Gamliel’s point, the conclusion of his statement seems a bit odd.  Why should we do HaShem’s will so he will nullify the will of others? One common interpretation is that in return for our loyalty to Him, HaShem will overturn the desires of our enemies.  Perhaps, but this doesn’t seem to be in the spirit of this particular teaching.  Rabbi Ovadiah of Bertinora offers a good solution: “I have heard that the phrase ‘the will of others’ is actually a euphemism designed to protect HaShem’s honor.  The real point is that we hope that He will nullify His own will.”  That is: when we successfully transform ourselves into expressions of Torah, the apparent gap between our own desires and those of HaShem is overcome.

        The mishnah now returns us to the wisdom of Hillel the Elder.  He offers five “thou shalt nots” designed to shape our attitudes towards ourselves, to other people, and to HaShem.

        First: we must not deny our social responsibilities.  The Tiferes Yiroel finds 5 aspects of this teaching and I’ll try to summarize them: 1. don’t become alienated from communal teachers; 2. don’t be apathetic about decisions the community must face; 3. don’t be numb to communal tragedies;4. don’t exclude the needs of others from your personal prayers; 5. if you are a communal leader, don’t act like you’re some kind of royalty!

        Second: we can never rest on our laurels.  As Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, the founder of the Mussar movement taught, the greatest danger for “frum” Jews is the assumption that being “frum” will protect you from sin.  The very desire to be “frum” can be a sign of self-importance, and the lifestyle of Frumkeit often leads to self-satisfaction and criticism of the ways of other Jews.  The Talmud’s greatest example of smug piety is that of Yohanan the Kohen Gadol, who served as High Priest for 80 years, yet ended his days as a Tzedoki (Sadducee), denying the Torah of the Sages (Berakhos 29a).

        Third: don’t pass judgement on anyone unless you yourself have done a better job in the same situation.  Who hasn’t violated this precept of Hillel?  The Midrash Shmuel finds a deep connection between this teaching and the one we’ve just learned.  He sees Hillel’s teaching as an allusion to spiritual arrogance: “Don’t judge your friend as a sinner who is destined for Gehinnom, for perhaps he has already done teshuvah prior to his death.  Then, when you ‘experience his situation’ at the time of your own death, you might find him numbered among the Tzaddikim, while you are too far away even to hear kiddush !”

        Fourth: avoid saying anything in private that you wouldn’t want to be responsible for in public.  As the Tiferes Yisroel puts it: “The walls have ears, and the birds of the air will carry the voice!”  We commonly say foolish or cruel things about people we really care about as a way of ventilating our feelings. The problem is that sometimes our comments find their way to those people we spoke about, often in crueler form than we meant them.  The result is shame, pain, and often lost love.  Relationships of love are built on trust; once we can no longer trust those we love to protect our dignity, love itself begins to die.  And we are all the losers.

        Fifth: don’t upset the balance between Torah-study and the pressures of derech eretz.  We need both, but if you keep putting off your study of Torah for a convenient time, you’ll never find the time.  The pressure of the material world takes on an absolute reality and turns Torah into a “hobby.”  But Torah is not our hobby; it is the source of our life.  Regular immersion in a pattern of Torah study is the key to our ability to see past the short term pressures of life and see our long term lives from HaShem’s point of view.  This point of Hillel’s is probably what inspired the teaching of Rabban Gamliel at Avos 2:2.

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Avos 2:3

בס״ד

אבות ב:ג

Be careful of ruling authorities, For they only get close to people for ulterior motives. They will appear like your friend when it serves their purposes, But they won’t stand by you in times of trouble.

הֱווּ זְהִירִין בָּרָשׁוּת, שֶׁאֵין מְקָרְבִין לוֹ לָאָדָם אֶלָּא לְצֹרֶךְ עַצְמָן. נִרְאִין כְּאוֹהֲבִין בִּשְׁעַת הֲנָאָתָן, וְאֵין עוֹמְדִין לוֹ לָאָדָם בִּשְׁעַת דָּחְקוֹ:

        The teaching of Rabban Gamliel III continues.  His feelings of mistrust of the ruling authorities recall those of Shammaya in Avos 1:10.  In his own day, Shammaya had the Jewish Hasmoneans in mind; but Rabban Gamliel is certainly thinking about the Romans.  This is surprising, though, since Rabban Gamliel’s own father, Rabbi, was famous for his friendships with Roman emperors!

        What accounts for Rabban Gamliel’s apparent rejection of his father’s recipe for success?  It probably has to do with how seriously Rabban Gamliel takes Rabbi’s insistence that we must learn to see past one sort of “reality” to discern what’s really going on behind it.

        For American Jews it is common to take our comfortable place in society as a “given” supported by the power of the Government.  Based upon his own experience that a friendly Government today might yield to an unfriendly one tomorrow, Rabban Gamliel teaches us to be skeptical even of our political successes.  “Worldly” power and influence are fleeting.  Our real security is drawn “from another Source” (Esther 4:15), and must be based on our ability to see past temporary comforts to the foundations of Torah upon which we ultimately rely.

        

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Avos 2:2

בס״ד

אבות ב:ב

        

Rabban Gamliel, the son of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi says: Torah-study goes best with a worldly occupation, for labor in both blots out the thought of wickedness; And any Torah unaccompanied by work will eventually be wasted and arouse wickedness; And all who toil for the community, should toil for the sake of Heaven — for the merits of their ancestors works in their favor, and their righteousness stands forever. “And as for you, I pile up rewards for you as if you had done it all by yourself!”

רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל בְּנוֹ שֶׁל רַבִּי יְהוּדָה הַנָּשִׂיא אוֹמֵר, יָפֶה תַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה עִם דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ, שֶׁיְּגִיעַת שְׁנֵיהֶם מְשַׁכַּחַת עָוֹן. וְכָל תּוֹרָה שֶׁאֵין עִמָּהּ מְלָאכָה, סוֹפָהּ בְּטֵלָה וְגוֹרֶרֶת עָוֹן. וְכָל הָעֲמֵלִים עִם הַצִּבּוּר, יִהְיוּ עֲמֵלִים עִמָּהֶם לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, שֶׁזְּכוּת אֲבוֹתָם מְסַיַּעְתָּן וְצִדְקָתָם עוֹמֶדֶת לָעַד. וְאַתֶּם, מַעֲלֶה אֲנִי עֲלֵיכֶם שָׂכָר הַרְבֵּה כְּאִלּוּ עֲשִׂיתֶם:

        You’ll recall from our discussion of Avos 2:1 that Rabban Gamliel III inherited the office of Nasi from his father in around 220. He is the last Nasi mentioned in the Mishnah.  Like his father, Rabban Gamliel was very concerned with training Jews to take the “real world” seriously even as they see past it to the “realer world” revealed in the life of Torah and mitzvahs.  Each teaching in this mishnah is about the importance of this ability to see two worlds in one.

        First of all, he teaches that Torah-study is incomplete without derech eretz.  It is possible that Rabban Gamliel is using the familiar meaning of derech eretz as “proper behavior,” as the Tiferes Yisrael insists.  This would mean that Torah-study without proper moral behavior is a waste of time and leads to the sin of arrogance. Yet Rashi, Rambam, and most other meforshim interpret this ambiguous Hebrew phrase as “worldly occupation,” that is, engagement with the work of survival.  Rabban Gamliel’s point is that a Jew needs to create a balanced view of reality, to see the spiritual reality of the Torah in the midst of immersion in the material reality of daily cares.  Study of Torah is not an escape from the world, but training for making the world a place of  kedushah, holiness.

        One of the greatest Torah scholars in recent history, the Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna (also known as the Gra), spent his entire life in exclusive study of Torah, leaving worldly cares to his wife.  Yet his own comment on this mishnah seems to be highly self-critical.  He points out that Rabban Gamliel’s teaching is in fact based upon a statement of King Solomon: “Great is wisdom with the labor of producing an inheritance” (Qoheles 7:11).  It’s as if the Gra is saying that, despite his own example, the Torah itself requires its students to engage the world and its concerns.

        This interpretation is pretty likely, considering what Rabban Gamliel says in the rest of the mishnah.  Study of Torah must be accompanied by melakhah ("work") or it will be wasted and perverted. This is an even stronger statement than the first one.  Not only is Torah incomplete without worldly labor, but it can even be a negative force. For example, Torah study can be a self-indulgent enjoyment of pleasure if it comes at the expense of the suffering of those dependent upon us for their well-being.  Only through the hard work of the body in providing a livelihood for one’s children and loved ones does study of Torah find its real fulfillment.

        Rabban Gamliel’s third teaching pushes this point even further. The obligation of combining Torah and work extends beyond the support of one’s family to one’s entire community.  When doing the work of the community — supporting a shul, collecting tzedakah, tending the mikvah, preparing meals for mourners or new mothers, and so on — our eyes should always be trained on the spiritual value of our worldly activity.  Even more, the time taken away from Torah-study is made up for by the service to the descendants of Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov, whose closeness to HaShem still serves us in our own attempts to become a holy community.  While our own labors may not by themselves ever meet all the community’s needs, and our study of Torah may suffer in the short term, our devotion is very precious in the eyes of HaShem.  Note the words that Rabban Gamliel ascribes to HaShem in the last line of the mishnah!

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Avos 2:1

בס״ד

אבות ב:א

        

Rabbi says: Which is the straight path a person should choose?  Whichever a person respects and draws respect from others; And be as diligent about a minor commandment as you are about a major commandment, for you never know the ultimate consequence of a commandment; And you should consider the cost of performing a commandment in relation to what it brings you, and what you gain from a transgression in relation to the harm it brings; And if you consider three things, you won’t fall into transgression: know what is above you - a sharp eye; and a listening ear; and all your actions are written in a book.

רַבִּי אוֹמֵר, אֵיזוֹהִי דֶרֶךְ יְשָׁרָה שֶׁיָּבֹר לוֹ הָאָדָם, כֹּל שֶׁהִיא תִפְאֶרֶת לְעוֹשֶׂיהָ וְתִפְאֶרֶת לוֹ מִן הָאָדָם. וֶהֱוֵי זָהִיר בְּמִצְוָה קַלָּה כְבַחֲמוּרָה, שֶׁאֵין אַתָּה יוֹדֵעַ מַתַּן שְׂכָרָן שֶׁל מִצְוֹת. וֶהֱוֵי מְחַשֵּׁב הֶפְסֵד מִצְוָה כְּנֶגֶד שְׂכָרָהּ, וּשְׂכַר עֲבֵרָה כְנֶגֶד הֶפְסֵדָהּ. וְהִסְתַּכֵּל בִּשְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים וְאִי אַתָּה בָא לִידֵי עֲבֵרָה, דַּע מַה לְּמַעְלָה מִמְּךָ, עַיִן רוֹאָה וְאֹזֶן שׁוֹמַעַת, וְכָל מַעֲשֶׂיךָ בַסֵּפֶר נִכְתָּבִין:

        Whenever the Mishnah or Talmud transmits the teachings of “Rabbi”, we are learning the teachings of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi.  He served as the official political and religious leader of the Jews for nearly half a century before his death in or around 220.  He wielded enormous power among his own people and also was on intimate terms with Roman officials.  The Talmud tells many stories about his philosophical debates with a Roman Emperor named “Antoninus.”  This is probably Emperor Caracalla, who granted all the Jews Roman citizenship in 224.  You can find some typical examples of Rabbi’s disputes with Antoninus in Bavli Sanhedrin 91 a-b.

        But Rabbi’s worldly status is not the reason why the Talmud remembers Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi as Rabbenu HaKadosh, “Our Holy Rabbi.”  His greatest achievement was to gather the selected Torah-traditions of the Sages into a single collection organized by topics.  This collection is the Shishah Sidrei Mishnah, the Six Orders of the Mishnah.  While earlier Sages, such as Rabbi Aqiva, had attempted to draw together all of the Torah tradition for their students, the collection of Rabbi was so comprehensive and well-organized that it soon became the study-text in the yeshivahs of Eretz Israel and Bavel.  The Tosefta is a collection of halakhas that parallels and supplements Rabbi’s Mishnah, while both the Talmud Yerushalmi and the Talmud Bavli use it as their basic halakhic source.  Even though no-one today poskins halakhah on the basis of the Mishnah alone, there is no halakhic idea that does not have a foundation in Rabbi’s Mishnah.

        When we look at Rabbi’s teachings in this mishnah, something should surprise us.  Of his four statements, only two focus on the fulfillment of halakhic obligations.  These are the middle two teachings, about diligence in performing ALL mitzvahs and about ignoring the worldly costs of performing any of them.  But the first and last teachings are, strictly speaking, about the attitude we should bring to our fulfillment of mitzvahs.

        What does Rabbi mean when he tells us that we should choose a way of life that we respect and that draws respect from others?  What could he mean other than a life lived in response to HaShem through obedience to His ways?  The Tiferet Yisrael points out that this is included in Rabbi’s statement, but only as the basic starting point.  Our bare-bones observance of halakhah is itself only a skeleton of Yiddishkeit if it is not given flesh by the cultivation of personal traits of character and hygiene that signal to others the beauty and dignity found in the ways of Torah.  A person who keeps the mitzvahs ofkashrus perfectly, for example, but is impatient with others or violates common standards of public decency that have no halakhic source, shows disrespect for Torah as well as for her or himself.  That person will, obviously, find no respect among others.  Nor will such a person attract others to the values of Torah.  So the “straight path” we should choose is a way of being among people that displays our connection to Torah and brings honor to Torah through us.

        Rabbi’s message in this first teaching is connected to the message of his last teaching in this mishnah.  The first teaching admits that the effect of our Torah observance upon those observing us is something we need to be aware of.  This last one goes further in the same direction — there is a part of halakhic observance which can tempt us to perform mitzvahs for selfish motives rather than inner devotion.  It is not hard to perform any number ofmitzvahs that are easily noticed by others — long tzitzis, for example, or exaggerated types of praying — primarily as efforts to shape our image in others’ eyes.  Rabbi here reminds us that the only eyes that matter are those of HaShem, and the only ears that matter are His, for it is our image in HIS Book that defines who we really are.  And He is not fooled by exaggerated exercises in piety that have no inner dimension to them.

        It is in the context of these general teachings about the impact of ourmitzvahs on others that we can understand Rabbi’s second and third teachings about the value of mitzvahs.  As Rambam and other meforshim point out, the Torah itself seems to rank commandments in terms of importance.  Violations of some commandments, for example, are more severe than violations of others, and so forth!  So what point is Rabbi making when he says we should perform all mitzvahs as if they were of equal value?  The point comes in his final expression — we never know the consequence of ANY mitzvah, either on our own relationship to HaShem or on those among whom we fulfill our obligations.

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Avos 1:17

בס״ד

אבות א:יז

Shimon, his son, says: I’ve grown up among Sages my entire life, and have found that — Nothing is better for a body than silence; Good deeds are better than fancy explanations; And whoever babbles on invites sin.

שִׁמְעוֹן בְּנוֹ אוֹמֵר, כָּל יָמַי גָּדַלְתִּי בֵין הַחֲכָמִים, וְלֹא מָצָאתִי לַגּוּף טוֹב אֶלָּא שְׁתִיקָה. וְלֹא הַמִּדְרָשׁ הוּא הָעִקָּר, אֶלָּא הַמַּעֲשֶׂה. וְכָל הַמַּרְבֶּה דְבָרִים, מֵבִיא חֵטְא:

        Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel I was killed during the war that led to the Temple’s destruction.  He is not to be confused with his grandson, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel II (see the next mishnah), who helped reconstruct the Sages’ traditions after the Bar Kokhba wars.

        Like many Sages, Rabban Shimon was very aware of the power of words and the danger of misusing them.  His three comments build on each other.  Silence in the presence of Sages is a precondition for learning.  By listening without interruption we absorb their teachings and learn how to embody them.  We learn how to act properly, and don’t need lots of excuses for our failure to use our knowledge wisely.  And the more we make excuses, the more we trap ourselves in our own failures.  When we have the merit of living our lives among true embodiments of Torah, silent study of their actions and emulation of their attitudes is better than lots of talk without devoted practice.

        This mishnah on the value of silence inspired Rambam to write a wonderful essay on the 5 kinds of language.  The first is language that we are commanded to use — such as Torah-study.  The second is prohibited language — such as false oaths and gossip.  The third is language that we should avoid because it is useless — tall tales and idle chatter.  The fourth is praiseworthy language — language that encourages moral reflection and personal growth.  The fifth is optional language — whatever is necessary to conduct the business of life without entering into gossip, idle talk, and so on.

        Under the category of praiseworthy language, Rambam includes songs that might be sung at simkhas after a few l’khayyims — as long as they are tasteful and lead the emotions towards love and admiration of HaShem.  He points out that in his own day, some Rabbis opposed the singing of songs in secular languages.  In contrast, he rules that if a secular song leads one toward the Torah, it is much better than a Hebrew song that does not.  In fact, Rambam is firmly against using Hebrew for secular songs altogether, since Hebrew is lashon hakodesh.

        I always wonder what he’d say about the beautiful songs of Naomi Shemer or the poem of Rakhel, Eli, Eli.  Translated, it goes like this:

My God, My God,

May these things forever be —

The shore and the sea,

The rush of the waters,

The clap of the thunder,

And the prayers of human beings.

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Avos 1:16

בס״ד

אבות א:טז

רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עֲשֵׂה לְךָ רַב, וְהִסְתַּלֵּק מִן הַסָּפֵק, וְאַל תַּרְבֶּה לְעַשֵּׂר אֹמָדוֹת:

:Rabban Gamliel says ;Make for yourself a teacher ;Avoid doubt .And don’t pay your holy offerings by guesswork

        

        Rabban Gamliel the Elder — Hillel’s grandson — repeats the advice of Yehoshua ben Perahya (1:6), with a new twist.  What is the relationship between finding a teacher and avoiding doubt?  Some meforshim follow Rashi and Rambam.  They explain that, in times when tradition is disrupted, it’s important to follow a single authoritative teacher without question.  This is the likely peshat.  But there is another possibility suggested by the Midrash Shmuel.

        He wonders: “Perhaps this Master saw that, from this time onward, the Pairs would cease, disputes would grow and doubts would increase.  For this reason he taught that a person must use his own initiative and become his own teacher, to teach himself to overcome his own doubts — make yourself into a Master!”  Few of us can follow this advice, for who of us has truly learned enough to become our own Rabbi?   Yet there is an important lesson here: the cure for doubt in Yiddishkeit is not retreat from study and learning, but deeper immersion in Torah.  If you cannot guide yourself in study, then make sure to make someone teach you!

        Now what sort of doubts did Rabban Gamliel have in mind?  These days, we tend to think of “big picture” doubts — is the Torah REALLY from Sinai?  Is the world REALLY under HaShem’s loving guidance?  Rabban Gamliel’s last teaching points us in a different direction.  The doubts he has in mind concern our halakhic obligations, particularly for supporting the poor.  According to the Torah, holy offerings from Eretz Yisroel’s agricultural produce have to be carefully calculated in specific percentages (the details are found in the Mishnah’s tractates Terumos and Maaseros) and offered to those who have no share in the wealth of the Land — Kohanim, Leviim, and the poor.   To avoid the possibility of being in doubt, it’s best to tithe with a careful measure rather than by guessing.  We can extend this rule to all kinds of tzedakah.  We have to return to the community the full measure of the blessings we have received from HaShem.

        We can summarize this mishnah’s point very simply.  The way to overcome “big picture” doubts is to renew our commitment to halakhic standards of behavior.  By resolving the “halakhic doubt” we reinforce our ability to feel our connections to HaShem through His Torah and through His Creation.

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Avos 1:12-15

בס״ד

אבות א:יב-טו

Hillel and Shammai accepted the gift of Torah from them. Hillel says: Be among Aharon’s disciples, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and drawing them close to Torah. He used to teach: A person who puffs up his reputation loses it; whoever does not add, detracts; whoever doesn’t learn deserves a death sentence;  and whoever exploits the Crown of Torah will come to nothing. He used to teach: If I’m not my own person, who will become one for me?  But if I’m self-absorbed, what am I?  And if I don’t start now, then when? Shammai says: Make your Torah-study a discipline; say little, but do a lot; and greet everyone cheerfully.

הִלֵּל וְשַׁמַּאי קִבְּלוּ מֵהֶם. הִלֵּל אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי מִתַּלְמִידָיו שֶׁל אַהֲרֹן, אוֹהֵב שָׁלוֹם וְרוֹדֵף שָׁלוֹם, אוֹהֵב אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת וּמְקָרְבָן לַתּוֹרָה: הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, נָגֵד שְׁמָא, אָבֵד שְׁמֵהּ. וּדְלֹא מוֹסִיף, יָסֵף. וּדְלֹא יָלֵיף, קְטָלָא חַיָּב. וּדְאִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בְּתָגָא, חָלֵף: הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, אִם אֵין אֲנִי לִי, מִי לִי. וּכְשֶׁאֲנִי לְעַצְמִי, מָה אֲנִי. וְאִם לֹא עַכְשָׁיו, אֵימָתָי: שַׁמַּאי אוֹמֵר, עֲשֵׂה תוֹרָתְךָ קֶבַע. אֱמֹר מְעַט וַעֲשֵׂה הַרְבֵּה, וֶהֱוֵי מְקַבֵּל אֶת כָּל הָאָדָם בְּסֵבֶר פָּנִים יָפוֹת:

        

        With Hillel and Shammai the age of the pairs came to an end.  They lived under the domination of King Herod and his heirs (from about 37 BCE until about 20 CE).  Herod was called “King”, but he actually was a lackey for the Roman governors who really ruled the Jewish people in their land.  Herod is remembered mostly for ambitious building projects, such as his restoration of the Temple, and for murdering various family members in order to secure his hold on power.  During and after his reign, Jewish life was disrupted by social friction and religious tension.  Many movements arose proclaiming that one or another prophet or leader would bring about the coming of Mashiakh.  The movement of Jesus (Yeshua of Nazareth) was among them.  The most important result of this social chaos was the Destruction of the Beis HaMikdash in the year 70.

        From that day to this, Torah has been transmitted in a situation of Golus, or Exile.  After the deaths of Hillel and Shammai, the social pressures that affected all Jews even had their effect on Torah scholars.  Disciples ceased to serve their Masters with proper devotion and began to confuse authentic traditions with their own attempts to interpret them.  The result was that “disputes multiplied in Israel so that it seemed like there were two Torahs” (Tosefta Sanhedrin 7:1).  To this day we can never be sure how to distinguish “Torah from Sinai” from “personal opinion.”  The most important criterion is to trust those whose lives are perfect models of morality and loyalty to Judaism.  Even if their Torah is not “literally” from Sinai, it will come from hearts that seek HaShem’s voice.  For that reason alone they will guide us to a way of life that will prepare us to hear genuine Torah from Sinai in the Days of Redemption.

        One result of the chaotic Herodian times is that, after the leadership of Hillel and Shammai, the office of Av Beis Din seems to have been abolished.  From Avos 1:16 until the end of Chapter 2 we find only the teachings of individual Sages who functioned as Nasi under increasingly difficult conditions.

This is the order of the Nesi’im:

        Rabban Gamliel the Elder (1:16) was Hillel’s grandson, who served as Nasi until his death (about 50 CE), when the post was taken by his son,Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel I (1:17).  Rabban Shimon was Nasi until his own death, during the War of Liberation against Rome that ended with the Destruction of the Temple in 70.

        Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai (whose teachings are recorded in Avos 2:8) took over the role of Nasi until his death in the year 80.  Although he was the only Nasi not descended from Hillel, he was perhaps the most important until the rise of the editor of the Mishnah, Rabbi Yehudah the Nasi himself.  Rabban Yohanan founded the Vineyard at Yavneh, the yeshiva that for two generations represented the world’s only school for Torah study.  If Torah study has survived to our own day, it is largely due to the hashgakhah of HaShem and the toil of Rabban Yohanan.

        Rabban Gamliel II, the son of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel I, took over form Rabban Yohanan.  Our chapter of Avos transmits no teaching in his name, a sign of how difficult the study of Torah was in this period of persecution after the Temple’s destruction.  But he spent a generation keeping the tradition of Torah alive in the Vineyard of Yavneh until the disastrous Bar Kokhba rebellion of 132-135.

        His son, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel II (Avos 1:18) re-founded Torah education in the town of Usha afterwards, and served as Nasi from 140-170.  His son, Rabban Yehudah HaNasi, had the learning and authority to select those teachings of the Sages that would be preserved in the Mishnah.  His teaching is recorded in Avos 2:1, where we’ll have more to say about him.  The words of his son, Rabban Gamliel ben Rabbi Yehuda, are transmitted in 2:2-4.  The line of Nesi’im descended from Hillel continued until 425 CE, but Avos takes us only up to the time of its own editing, shortly after Rabbi’s death (about 220CE).

        Well — enough of history!  Let’s get back to the teachings of Hillel and Shammai.  In view of the times in which they taught, it is no surprise that both Hillel and Shammai stressed virtues that encourage peace and order.  Rabbi Yisroel Lifschitz, author of Tiferes Yisrael, points out that Hillel’s teachings all concern the pursuit of peace through the middah of humility in thought, word, and deed.  So, for example, our imitation of Aharon should include the mental trait of loving peace, the habit of bringing about peace through our conversations with others, and direct actions that bring people to knowledge of the Torah and its way of life — thought, word, and deed.

        

Hillel’s teaching at 1:13 expands on his approach to humility.  Stop advertising yourself!  You didn’t create yourself — you’ve only used the gifts that HaShem gave you!  And don’t relax in your studies of Torah if you’ve learned it all!  If you’re not adding to your knowledge of Torah, you might as well be forgetting what you’ve already learned and losing your footing in the stream of Torah.  And, finally — if you use the Crown of Torah to magnify yourself in status or wealth, you’re defiling Torah!  Torah was given to create real community among people — not to serve people in pursuing power over others!

        Hillel’s motto at 1:14 is probably his most famous and mysterious teaching.  It’s all about the careful balance between self-respect (“who will be for me?”) and self-glorification (“what am I?”).  True humility requires self-respect, since we must respect the special gifts that HaShem invested in our creation.  Yet, we can’t glorify ourselves to the degree that our fascination with our own image blinds us to the fact that it is HaShem’s Image in us that we share with everyone else.  And if you don’t figure this out now — when will you be a mentch!?

        Finally, we reach Shammai’s teaching.  Like Hillel’s, it is about the cultivation of humility.  Submit yourself to a daily study habit as a way of reminding you of the real source of your blessings.  Keep quiet and do what’s right, instead of blowing off a lot of steam and doing nothing!  Finally, the greatest test of humility — can you greet EVERYONE with love and respect, no matter what you privately think of them?  More importantly — can you realize that your own opinion of people must take account of the fact that they are one of HaShem’s beloved creations?  A person who truly lives Shammai’s philosophy will translate the experience of diligent Torah study into acts of tzedakah that are offered without the thought of one’s own self-interest.

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