Avos 4:5

בס׳ד

אבות ד:ה

Rabbi Ishmael his son says: One who learns in order to teach receives the strength to learn and to teach; But one who learns in order to do, receives the strength to learn and to teach, to observe and to do. Rabbi Tzadok says: Do not use them like a crown to elevate yourself, nor like a spade to dig with. And this is what Hillel used to teach: One who makes use of the Crown is doomed. Learn from this: whoever enjoys material benefits from words of Torah might as well take his own life.

רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל בְּנוֹ אוֹמֵר, הַלּוֹמֵד תּוֹרָה עַל מְנָת לְלַמֵּד, מַסְפִּיקִין בְּיָדוֹ לִלְמֹד וּלְלַמֵּד. וְהַלּוֹמֵד עַל מְנָת לַעֲשׂוֹת, מַסְפִּיקִין בְּיָדוֹ לִלְמֹד וּלְלַמֵּד לִשְׁמֹר וְלַעֲשׂוֹת. רַבִּי צָדוֹק אוֹמֵר, אַל תַּעֲשֵׂם עֲטָרָה לְהִתְגַּדֵּל בָּהֶם, וְלֹא קַרְדֹּם לַחְפֹּר בָּהֶם. וְכָךְ הָיָה הִלֵּל אוֹמֵר, וּדְאִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בְּתָגָא, חָלָף. הָא לָמַדְתָּ, כָּל הַנֶּהֱנֶה מִדִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה, נוֹטֵל חַיָּיו מִן הָעוֹלָם:

        Some medieval copies of this mishnah attribute the first teaching to Rabbi Ishmael ben Rabbi Yose, whose teachings appear at Avos 4:7-8.  But we’re probably dealing here with the teachings of Rabbi Ishmael ben Rabbi Yohanan ben Baroka.  Both he and Rabbi Tzadok, who shares this mishnah with him, studied at the Yavnean academy. Their teachings about the worldly use of Torah knowledge are so closely interconnected that their statements read like a kind of commentary one after the other.

        Rabbi Ishmael points out that we can learn Torah for a variety of motives. But it seems that, in his opinion, a person whose learning is motivated solely by the desire to teach Torah is less praiseworthy than one motivated by the desire to practice Torah.  This is, at first glance, an odd view.  Isn’t it a mitzvah to teach Torah?  Isn’t teaching Torah part of doing Torah?  Rabbi Ovadiah of Bertinora explains this issue drawing upon the gemara’s report of the differing motives of the Babylonian Sages, Rabbah and Abaye (Rosh Hashanah 18a).

        Rabbah devoted all his time to learning and teaching, but showed little interest in engaging people outside his teaching role.  He was interested in people only to the degree that they gratified his need to teach.  A person with such motives is certainly rewarded - he is given the strength to learn and teach, since he is indeed engaged in a mitzvah.  But his reward is still less than a person like Abaye, whose primary concern in learning Torah was to embody it as richly as possible.  In addition to his teaching, Abaye took an enormous interest in the entire lives of his students, helping them out in a variety of ways.  He was totally present for them, even when they were not engaged in learning.  Moreover, he busied himself with the lives and needs of simple people who could never hope to become his students. Accordingly, the effort he put into the lives of his disciples energized him, enriching his studies.

        Rabbi Tzadok’s teaching continues and develops Rabbi Ishmael’s thought.  It seems to me, actually, that only the first statement is actually his.  The second, in the name of Hillel, is not Rabbi Tzadok’s words, but an authentic teaching of Hillel’s, since it is quoted in Aramaic.  The third statement is a summary made by a student who is reflecting on the first two statements.

        Now let’s see how these statements build upon each other.  Rabbi Tzadok himself refers, of course, to words of Torah.  The Crown of Torah - keser Torah (we’ll meet it again in Avos 4:13) - is given by HaShem for the transformation of human lives.  It was not given so that those commissioned to transmit Torah should gain honor - a “crown” - from their position, or, even worse, use their positions to enrich themselves.  That’s what the image of a “spade to dig with” refers to.

        Hillel’s teaching is now brought in to support Rabbi Tzadok’s position.  It makes the same point in the name of the authoritative pioneer of the Oral Torah and goes even further.  Those who do use the Torah to enhance their status or enrich themselves will in fact bring disaster upon themselves.  Our third statement is introduced by the phrase, “learn from this” (ha lamadeta), which always indicates that a deduction from an earlier teaching is about to be presented.  The deduction now restates what we have just learned.  In case we were too dense to know what is meant by “making use of the Crown” or “a spade to dig with”, we are told what’s what!

        While this teaching is not transmitted as an halakhic rule, it is nevertheless embedded deeply in halakhic practice.  Ancient Sages did not take payment for their teaching, and judges were not paid for their rulings.  Rather, they received a “compensation for loss of income” (sekhar batalah) that made up for what they might have earned in another occupation during the time they spent teaching or judging. Since medieval times, when the Rabbinate became a professional career funded by community donations, the understanding has been that the Rabbi’s salary compensates him for his loss of earnings in another occupation he might have chosen.  But he is not paid to teach Torah, give shiurim, or answer shayles.

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