Avos 4:15

בס׳ד

אבות ד:טו

Rabbi Yannai says: Our hands do not shape a wicked person’s peace of mind; And not even the righteous person’s suffering. Rabbi Matya ben Heresh says: Be the first one to offer a greeting to others; And be the tail to lions rather than the head of foxes.

רַבִּי יַנַּאי אוֹמֵר, אֵין בְּיָדֵינוּ לֹא מִשַּׁלְוַת הָרְשָׁעִים וְאַף לֹא מִיִּסּוּרֵי הַצַּדִּיקִים. רַבִּי מַתְיָא בֶן חָרָשׁ אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי מַקְדִּים בִּשְׁלוֹם כָּל אָדָם.  וֶהֱוֵי זָנָב לָאֲרָיוֹת, וְאַל תְּהִי רֹאשׁ לַשּׁוּעָלִים.

        Rabbi Yannai is known only from this mishnah.  Since he is paired with Rabbi Matya ben Heresh, who studied in the Vineyard of Yavneh, he may come from the same generation.

        Rabbi Yannai’s teaching poses a fundamental challenge to any attempt to use some sort of moral recipe to interpret our fortunes or of those around us. Yes, we believe in the ultimate justice of HaShem that will reward loyalty to HaShem and punish violations of His will. But HaShem’s vision is not ours, and we cannot measure His actions by our partial system of accounting.

        In fact, the precise meaning of Rabbi Yannai’s advice is itself subject to debate.  He uses the very evocative Hebrew expression, ayn biyadenu, “we haven’t in our hands”.  This has given rise to many interpretations.  Most often the phrase is assumed to mean something like “we can’t account for” or “we don’t understand” why the wicked prosper or the righteous suffer. Some meforshim, however, understand ayn biyadenu to mean “we do not experience” either the peace of the wicked nor the suffering of the righteous. That is, in this era of Exile, we cannot assume that our suffering is a sign of our righteousness nor that our well-being is proof that we are wicked. That is, not only can’t we use a simple moral measuring stick to label the people around us, but we can’t even be sure what our own experience reveals about HaShem’s evaluation of our actions. Ultimately, we are in God’s hands, and the meaning of what He sends us is not for us to define.  The translation I offer suggests how each of these interpretations can be joined together.

        In contrast to this eternal puzzle, Rabbi Matya offers some straightforward recipes indeed!  Here he balances the need to treat all people as moral equals with the corresponding importance of associating with people who can elevate you beyond your current spiritual standing.  His advice about greeting others is obvious: the simple offer of a sincere shalom aleichem breaks down barriers of status and wealth and helps create the sense of community and common-purpose that truly nourishes the spiritual life.  On the other hand, it is important to be constantly aware of one’s need for growth and development.  In order to appreciate the metaphor of “tails” and “heads” we have to remember something about lions and foxes.  Lions find their nourishment  in their lonely hunt, bringing down game through their own efforts.  Foxes, on the other hand, are known as raiders, swiping chickens from their coops.  Better to be the least among spiritual “lions” who are forging their own unique paths in the life of Torah than be the most adept among the spiritual “foxes”, whose spiritual livelihood is swiped from the attainments of others.

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Avos 4:14

בס׳ד

אבות ד:יד

Rabbi Nehorai says: Exile yourself to a place of Torah, And don’t expect it to come looking for you - or that your friends will master it for you. And “don’t rely on your own insight” (Mishlei 3:5).

רַבִּי נְהוֹרַאי אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי גוֹלֶה לִמְקוֹם תּוֹרָה, וְאַל תֹּאמַר שֶׁהִיא תָבֹא אַחֲרֶיךָ, שֶׁחֲבֵרֶיךָ יְקַיְּמוּהָ בְיָדֶךָ. וְאֶל בִּינָתְךָ אַל תִּשָּׁעֵן (משלי ג):

        This is one of Rabbi Nehorai’s rare appearances in the Mishnah as a whole.  He seems to have been a colleague of Rabbi Yehudah at Usha.  Rabbi Nehorai’s name is an indication of his nature.  Nehorai is Aramaic for “Illuminator”, and it sounds very much like the Aramaic word for Torah, oraisa, which illuminates the mind.  Rabbi Nehorai, in fact, seems to have been very much the “Torah Extremist”.  In Mishnah Kiddushin 4:14 he says: “I will avoid any form of worldly craft and will teach my son nothing but Torah, for a person enjoys its benefits in This World, while the principle remains waiting for him in the Coming World.  And no other craft works this way - if you become sick, or aged, or otherwise unable to work, you die of starvation.  But not with Torah!  Rather, it preserves you from all evil in your youth, and offers you hope in your old age.”

        Rabbi Nehorai’s advice to “exile yourself” to a place where Torah is taught might seem to apply only to people who live in a place where no one can teach Torah.  If Torah is taught down the street or across town, should you still travel far to learn?  And a second question pops up from this one: How can you be in “exile” in a place of Torah?

        Let’s deal with the second first.  The word used in this mishnah for “exile” is goleh.  Why didn’t Rabbi Nehorai simply say lekh, “go to a place of Torah”, the way HaShem commands Avraham Avinu, lekh lechah me-artzekhah, “go out from your land”?  The specific word goleh has, I think, a special significance.  A simple change of vowels throws a whole new meaning on Rabbi Nehorai’s point. If you pronounce the word this way - galeh - the phrase means: “reveal yourself in a place of Torah.”  That is, go where Torah is taught and open your heart to it, learn to receive it, keep none of yourself closed to it.

        If we look at it this way, we’ll see why it is important to study Torah far away even if instruction might be close to home.  As the Tiferes Yisroel points out, separation from home for the purpose of study creates a psychological break with your familiar identity.  The loss of the familiar faces, smells, and activities of home makes you rethink your own identity and re-examine some taken-for-granted aspects of your life.  Now that your normal sense of self is thrown a bit into question, you’ll be in a better position to let the light of Torah penetrate more deeply into your mind, heart, and will.  The transforming power of Torah will be enhanced by your greater receptivity to its truth.  In this way “exile” becomes “self-discovery”.   And no one - not even your best friends - can make that discovery for you.

       As Solomon teaches us in his proverbs, “fill yourself up with Torah, so as to fulfill your destiny!” .

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Avos 4:13

בס׳ד

אבות ד:יג

Rabbi Yehudah says: Be very careful in learning, for a careless error in learning is regarded as intentional. Rabbi Shimon says: There are three Crowns - The Crown of Torah, The Crown of Priesthood, And the Crown of Royalty. But the Crown of a Good Reputation surpasses them all.

רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי זָהִיר בַּתַּלְמוּד, שֶׁשִּׁגְגַת תַּלְמוּד עוֹלָה זָדוֹן. רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר, שְׁלשָׁה כְתָרִים הֵם, כֶּתֶר תּוֹרָה וְכֶתֶר כְּהֻנָּה וְכֶתֶר מַלְכוּת, וְכֶתֶר שֵׁם טוֹב עוֹלֶה עַל גַּבֵּיהֶן:

        It is very fitting that Rabbi Yehudah bar Ilai and Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai (who last appeared in Avos 3:3) share this mishnah.  Both were among the stellar disciples of Rabbi Aqiva.  Rabbi Yehudah is one of the most frequently mentioned Sages in the Mishnah, his halakhic rulings covering virtually every topic.  The Talmud (Sanhedrin 86a) regards him as the main compiler of the midrash Sifra, a Tannaitic midrash on Vayikra.

        Rabbi Yehudah’s caution about care in studying echoes the advice of Hillel’s teacher, Avtalion (Avos 1:11), and Rabbi Ishmael ben Rabbi Yose (Avos 4:7).  Rabbi Yehudah’s concern is that careless study habits will yield an inexact knowledge of the halakhic and theological dimensions of Torah.  The problem, though, does not end with your imperfect knowledge.  Especially if you are respected as a teacher, people will take your half-baked observations seriously and be misled about matters that have a deep impact upon their performance of mitzvahs and their larger conceptions of the spiritual possibilities of Yiddishkeit.  This is why a “careless error” is treated like an intentional sin. Misleading people about Torah can lead to public desecration of HaShem’s name - and whoever causes the public to sin denies himself a claim to the Future World (Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:2). The moral of the story: if you want to shoot from the hip, make sure you’re the only one within firing range!

        Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai’s teaching about Crowns reminds us of the words of Rabbi Tzadok and Hillel at Avos 4:5.  There we were told that the Crown of Torah is an adornment, not a tool for enhancing your own wealth or privilege. Rabbi Shimon now goes further.  HaShem has provided Israel with three institutions that represent His Presence among them.  There are, however, important distinctions between the Crown of Torah, on the one hand, and the Crowns of Priesthood and Royalty on the other.  First, the Crown of Torah is available to any Jew who cares to learn and grow in Torah.  The Crowns of Priesthood and Royalty, by contrast, can be acquired only by birth into the kohanim or by birth into the lineage of David.  The Crown of Torah, therefore, takes precedence in order, coming first in Rabbi Shimon’s enumeration.  The second point also explains why the Crown of Torah takes precedence in the order of Crowns.  The Crowns of Priesthood and Royalty are dependent upon the presence of the Bes HaMikdash and the Malkhus Bes David (the Davidic Kingdom).  While we pray for their restoration in the Messianic future, the only Crown continuously available to us is the Crown of Torah.

        Rabbi Shimon’s final comment introduces a new wrinkle into the story.  In what sense does a “Good Reputation” surpass all these other Crowns?  The point is NOT that a good name is more important than these divine gifts to Israel. Rather, all of them come to nothing if the person wearing any of these Crowns is undeserving.  The talmid hakham whose behavior makes people wonder about his morals, loses the Crown of Torah no matter how many tough passages of Tosfos he can explain.  The High Priest or the King who publicly show themselves to be haughty or cruel bring their own reign to ruin and, through that, bring ruin to all Israel.

        Rabbi Shimon’s list of three Crowns is explained very beautifully in midrash Shmos Rabbah (parshas Terumah, 34:3) as a reference to holy objects in the Inner Sanctuary:

“The Crown of Royalty - this refers to the Table, of which it is said: ‘a diadem (zer) of gold shall surround it’ (Shmos 25:24).  The Crown of Priesthood - this refers to the Incense Altar, of which it is said: ‘a diadem of gold shall surround it’ (Shmos 30:3).  And the Crown of Torah - this is the Ark, of which it is written: ‘a golden diadem’ (Shmos 25:11).  Now why are they spelled as zar, but pronounced zer? To teach you that if a person is worthy of any of these they become his diadem (zer); but if not they become alien (zar) to him!  And why is it written of the two of them ‘you shall make for it’, while of the Crown of Torah it is written, ‘you shall place upon it’?  Only to teach you that the Crown of Torah is elevated above the others.  If a person is worthy of the Crown of Torah it is as if he had acquired the others.”

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Avos 4:12

בס׳ד

אבות ד:יב

Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua says: May the honor of your disciple be as precious to you as your own; And the honor of your friend like the awe of your Master; And the awe of your Master like the awe of Heaven.

רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן שַׁמּוּעַ אוֹמֵר, יְהִי כְבוֹד תַּלְמִידְךָ חָבִיב עָלֶיךָ כְּשֶׁלְּךָ, וּכְבוֹד חֲבֵרְךָ כְּמוֹרָא רַבְּךָ, וּמוֹרָא רַבְּךָ כְּמוֹרָא שָׁמָיִם:

        Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua was the last of the ten Sages of Yavneh martyred during the Hadrianic persecutions of the Torah scholars.  In order to understand his particular concern for honoring others, it might be helpful to learn a little about his death, as is described in the midrash Eleh Ezkarah.

“On that day he was 105 years old and from his childhood until his old age he had never listened to an idle conversation.  Nor had he entered into conflict with his friends in word or deed.  And he was humble and modest of spirit, spending 80 years in daily fasting.

And the day he was killed was Yom Kippur.  His disciples came to him and said: Our Master!  What do you see?  He replied: I see angelic beings carrying the couch of Rabbi Yehudah ben Damma.  And that of Rabbi Aqiva next to his.  And they are disputing halakhic questions with each other.  The disciples asked: Who’s moderating the disputes? He answered: Rabbi Ishmael.  They asked: Who’s winning?  He answered: Rabbi Aqiva, for he has given all his strength to the study of Torah!

He continued: My sons!  I see further that the souls of all the Tzaddikim are being purified in the Waters of Shiloakh in order to enter today the Heavenly Academy and hear the explanations of Rabbi Aqiva who is expounding all the matters of Yom Kippur.  And every single angelic being is bringing a golden throne to each Tzaddik to sit upon in purity.

At that moment, Caesar ordered his execution. Then a Voice from Heaven rang out: Blessed is Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua, who was pure in life and whose soul departed in purity!”

        The purity that Rabbi Elazar cared so much about was bound up with his complete ability to abandon his own honor in order to do honor to others.  As he saw it, this was the way to implement the mitzvah of “loving your neighbor as yourself.”  Notice this key point: that you should give honor to those beneath you in a way that you yourself feel is due you.  Now what if, like Rabbi Elazar, you are so humble that you forego your own honor?  Does that mean that you DON’T honor others?  Obviously not.  Your freedom from self-honor is the very thing that frees you up to honor others as Creatures of HaShem.  It is not the person’s worldly status you honor as much as the way that person fulfills a particular divinely-appointed Destiny in the world.  We have seen a similar point of view taught by Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus (Avos 2:10) and Shimon ben Azai (Avos 4:3).

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Avos 4:11

בס׳ד

אבות ד:יא

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: Anyone who performs a single mitzvah creates for himself a single Defender; And anyone who commits a single transgression creates for himself a single Accuser. Repentance and good deeds are a shield against retribution. Rabbi Yohanan the Sandal Maker says: Every gathering in the Name of Heaven is destined to endure; But those not in the Name of Heaven are not destined to endure.

רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר בֶּן יַעֲקֹב אוֹמֵר, הָעוֹשֶׂה מִצְוָה אַחַת, קוֹנֶה לוֹ פְרַקְלִיט אֶחָד. וְהָעוֹבֵר עֲבֵרָה אַחַת, קוֹנֶה לוֹ קַטֵּגוֹר אֶחָד. תְּשׁוּבָה וּמַעֲשִׂים טוֹבִים, כִּתְרִיס בִּפְנֵי הַפֻּרְעָנוּת. רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן הַסַּנְדְּלָר אוֹמֵר, כָּל כְּנֵסִיָּה שֶׁהִיא לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, סוֹפָהּ לְהִתְקַיֵּם. וְשֶׁאֵינָהּ לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, אֵין סוֹפָהּ לְהִתְקַיֵּם:

        Both Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov and his colleague, Rabbi Yohanan the Sandal Maker, were students of Rabbi Aqiva in the last years of the Vineyard at Yavneh.

        Like many students of Rabbi Aqiva, the complex problem of human freedom formed a major topic for Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov. His teaching here reminds us that the patterns of living we establish for ourselves direct us toward certain experiences and sensitize us to certain realities.  Our choices are free but, paradoxically, the effects of our choices can control us for good or ill.  The kind of person we become depends upon the choices we make regarding comprehensive paths of life.

        This is especially so regarding mitzvahs.  Although we never know the ultimate purpose of a mitzvah, we do know that it is our obligation to perform it. A life of consistent engagement with mitzvahs, however, has an impact over and above our obligation to perform them.  The discipline of performance sharpens our sensibilities to the Divine Order that penetrates our own world. Performing mitzvahs with genuine devotion is part of a process by which we transform ourselves through our own efforts into people genuinely capable of responding to holiness.

        This, I think, is what Rabbi Eliezer has in mind by “Defenders” and “Accusers.”  All of our actions - good ones and bad ones - create in us dispositions to continue in one or the other direction.  Each act, that is, is not only the result of previous actions, but a force that generates further actions.  The dispositions generated  by a mitzvah generate a tendency to perform others, while those generated by a willful transgression create a tendency in the opposite direction. Jewish living is a kind of interior struggle with these opposing forces as we seek to create in ourselves the overall drive to continue in the path of mitzvahs.  In this struggle, we work out our freedom.

        The Tiferes Yisroel has a beautiful drashah that illustrates this point in reference to the dream of Yaakov Avinu about the angels ascending and descending a ladder whose foot was on Earth but whose top reached the Heavens: “As Yaakov Avinu left the home of his righteous ancestors for the home of the Wicked Lavan, he saw a ladder planted in the Earth.  This stands for the body.  And the top reaching to the Heavens stands for the soul.  And the angels of God ascending and descending are a person’s psychological powers. We have it in our power to devote them to Heaven and elevate them, or to bring them low…For this reason we must be careful in the ‘house of Lavan’, for these angels can become either Defenders or Accusers, and from them proceed good things or bad things.”  We ourselves create our Defenders and Accusers by the choices we make.

        Are we entirely at the mercy of the effects of our actions?  Rabbi Eliezer thinks not.  This is the point of his observation that teshuvah and good deeds can “shield” us from the effects of our past actions.  As we say on Yom Kippur: uteshuvah, utefillah, utzedakah maavirin es roas hagezerah (and repentance, and prayer, and and charity avert the harshness of the decree). Teshuvah is the ultimate assertion of our freedom from the inertia of our past actions. We can freely choose it at any moment and reorient our lives.  Without it, we continue in the course our previous actions have determined. It’s important to pay attention, finally, to Rabbi Eliezer’s choice of words. He doesn’t say that teshuvah totally prevents retribution. Rather, it is a shield, protecting us from the devastation that our acts might otherwise deserve, from the “harshness of the decree”.  We do live with the consequences of ALL our actions, but a reorientation towards HaShem in teshuvah gives us the strength to live through the tough after-effects of our previous decisions.

        Rabbi Yohanan the Sandal Maker’s teaching appears at first to be obvious. We might think: OF COURSE, gatherings devoted to honoring the Name of Heaven will succeed while those gathered in opposition to HaShem will fail! Why does this even need to be mentioned?  It needs to be mentioned for a very simple reason.  Not every gathering that claims to be devoted to the service of HaShem is REALLY motivated by that purpose.

        As the Tosfos Yom Tov points out, gatherings of organizations claiming to further and enhance the life of Torah can often be occasions for giving empty honors and status to those who form and run them.  So the real point of Rabbi Yohanan’s teaching is to force us to reflect upon the relation of our community’s EXPRESSED motives to those that REALLY motivate it.  This issue can be a very painful one, and it is often very hard to go “against the stream” of an organization or community and point out the way it’s profession of kashrus can mask self-serving ends.  Later on, in Avos 5:17, we’ll study a concrete example of this problem in the distinction between the motives of the disciples of Hillel and Shammai versus those of Korakh and his gang.

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Avos 4:10

בס׳ד

אבות ד:י

Rabbi Meir says: Minimize business and busy yourself with Torah; And be humble of spirit before all people; And if you waste time in the study of Torah, all sorts of time-wasters will arise to distract you; And if you labor in the study of Torah, He has a great reward to give you.

רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי מְמַעֵט בְּעֵסֶק, וַעֲסֹק בַּתּוֹרָה. וֶהֱוֵי שְׁפַל רוּחַ בִּפְנֵי כָל אָדָם. וְאִם בָּטַלְתָּ מִן הַתּוֹרָה, יֶשׁ לְךָ בְטֵלִים הַרְבֵּה כְנֶגְדָּךְ. וְאִם עָמַלְתָּ בַתּוֹרָה, יֶשׁ לוֹ שָׂכָר הַרְבֵּה לִתֶּן לָךְ:

        Rabbi Meir, the great memorizer of Torah (Avos 3:8), offers here a clue to the source of his own powers.

        First, he carved out a key portion of each day for his studies, minimizing his engagement in the world of matter in order to clear his mind for the world of spirit.

        Second, he trained his mind to be receptive to the Torah’s words by training his character to be receptive to the wisdom of other people. By turning himself into a container of wisdom rather than a noisy rattle, he prepared his mind to be a kind of clay that could retain the impressions of Torah.

        Rabbi Meir closes with some practical advice.  If you waste your study time, don’t suppose that you’ll somehow have more time for other things. Rather, each moment of wasted study deprives you of the placidity and centeredness you need to excel generally.  If you let distractions ruin your concentration on Torah, you’ll lose the discipline to focus elsewhere.  By contrast, the more time spent with Torah, the more you are energized for other pursuits, and the more you are likely to see them to a rewarding conclusion.

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Avos 4:9

בס׳ד

אבות ד:ט

Rabbi Yonasan says: Whoever fulfills the Torah in poverty will eventually fulfill it in wealth; And whoever violates it in wealth will eventually violate it in poverty.

רַבִּי יוֹנָתָן אוֹמֵר, כָּל הַמְקַיֵּם אֶת הַתּוֹרָה מֵעֹנִי,סוֹפוֹ לְקַיְּמָהּ מֵעשֶׁר. וְכָל הַמְבַטֵּל אֶת הַתּוֹרָה מֵעשֶׁר,סוֹפוֹ לְבַטְּלָהּ מֵעֹנִי:

        If this mishnah is the teaching of Rabbi Yonasan who was the student of Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha, then it is a bit out of place chronologically among all these Ushan masters.  On the other hand, the Avos d’Rabbi Noson (B, 35) transmits a longer version of this teaching in the name of Rabbi Yonason ben Rabbi Yose.  This would place him in the same generation as the other Sages mentioned here. In any case, his teaching makes a good fit with others we have just studied on the honor of Torah.

        The Midrash Shmuel begins his comments on this mishnah with an obvious point.  Don’t we all know of people who remain poor despite diligent devotion to Torah?  And what about all the wealthy people whose wealth only increases despite their neglect of Talmud Torah?  One solution, of course, is that Rabbi Yonasan is thinking about the way behavior in THIS world shapes our destiny in the Coming World.  As we learn in Mishnah Peah 1:1, we eat the fruits of our behavior (good or evil) in this world, while the principle (reward or punishment) awaits us in the next.  So here: study of Torah in worldly poverty will be rewarded with a prominent place in the Heavenly Yeshivah, while neglect of Torah in worldly wealth will receive its appropriate compensation after death.

        Another interpretation offered in Midrash Shmuel strikes me as particularly helpful because it doesn’t place the entire burden of our actions on a future world.  According to him, Rabbi Yonasan is referring to our own intellectual capacities and our responsibilities to use them as fully as possible.  Therefore, a person of limited intellect who “studies Torah in intellectual poverty” will in the end be rewarded by richness of insight commensurate to whatever talents and effort he has invested.  Similarly, a gifted person who neglects Torah will in the end be intellectually impoverished by that neglect.  So, in either case, the reward for Torah study is directly related to your effort, NOT to your native intellectual gifts.

        As I mentioned already, the Avos d’Rabbi Noson transmits this teaching of Rabbi Yonasan in a longer version.  I’ll include below those portions which do not appear in our mishnah:

“Rabbi Yonasan ben Rabbi Yose says: One who learns Torah even though pressed for time, will ultimately learn it in leisure.  But one who ignores Torah in leisure will ultimately ignore it while pressed for time…One who studies Torah for his own advantage will ultimately forget it.  And one who willfully forgets his Torah in his youth is destined to pine for it in his old age.”

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