Avos 4:20

בס׳ד

אבות ד:כ

Elisha ben Avuyah says: What do you have when you teach a child? Ink written on smooth paper. What do you have when you teach an old person? Ink written on rough paper. Rabbi Yose ben Rabbi Yehudah of Kfar HaBavli says: What is it like to learn from youngsters? It’s like eating sour grapes and drinking wine right from the press. What is it like to learn from elders? It’s like eating ripe grapes and drinking aged wine. Rabbi says: Don’t examine the jug; look at what’s inside.  There are new jugs filled with aged wine, and old ones that don’t even have new wine.

אֱלִישָׁע בֶּן אֲבוּיָה אוֹמֵר, הַלּוֹמֵד יֶלֶד לְמַה הוּא דוֹמֶה, לִדְיוֹ כְתוּבָה עַל נְיָר חָדָשׁ. וְהַלּוֹמֵד זָקֵן לְמַה הוּא דוֹמֶה, לִדְיוֹ כְתוּבָה עַל נְיָר מָחוּק. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בַר יְהוּדָה אִישׁ כְּפַר הַבַּבְלִי אוֹמֵר, הַלּוֹמֵד מִן הַקְּטַנִּים לְמַה הוּא דוֹמֶה, לְאֹכֵל עֲנָבִים קֵהוֹת וְשׁוֹתֶה יַיִן מִגִּתּוֹ. וְהַלּוֹמֵד מִן הַזְּקֵנִים לְמַה הוּא דוֹמֶה, לְאֹכֵל עֲנָבִים בְּשֵׁלוֹת וְשׁוֹתֶה יַיִן יָשָׁן. רַבִּי אוֹמֵר, אַל תִּסְתַּכֵּל בַּקַּנְקַן, אֶלָּא בְמַה שֶּׁיֶּשׁ בּוֹ. יֵשׁ קַנְקַן חָדָשׁ מָלֵא יָשָׁן, וְיָשָׁן שֶׁאֲפִלּוּ חָדָשׁ אֵין בּוֹ:

        These three teachings form a kind of debate about the virtue of youth or age from the perspective of Torah-learning.  Elishah ben Avuyah values youth’s impressionability and freshness, while Rabbi Yose praises age’s perspective and depth of experience.  Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, for his part, argues that one can predict nothing from youth or age - rather everything depends upon the native skills, desire and insight of the student.

        Elishah ben Avuyah (also known as Akher, “the Unmentionable One”) is the notorious Sage who, after entering the “Orchard” of esoteric visions with Rabbi Aqiva (Avos 3:13-16), Shimon ben Zoma (Avos 4:1), and Shimon ben Azai (Avos 4:2), “cut down the saplings” (Bavli Hagigah 14a).  That is, he not only lost his own commitment to the way of Torah, but he attempted to destroy that of his disciples as well.  Rabbi Meir was the most famous of Elisha’s disciples.  He rejected his Master’s path, but remained personally loyal to him, trying until the Master’s death to bring him to the point of teshuvah.  The mishnah here makes no mention of his rabbinic title either.

        Elisha’s teaching is psychologically astute.  Things learned while young stay with you; they are “inscribed” in your memory and remain clear for easy retrieval.  The opposite holds for things learned in old age.  The information never sets properly and recall is always a bit fuzzy.  I have often thought of this teaching when bemoaning my own late discovery of the beauty of Torah.  I can remember the words to dozens of songs I heard on the radio as a kid, and still remember the batting averages of long-dead baseball players in this or that season. But I can barely remember even the gist of a gemara or mishnah that I studied yesterday!  What a waste of memory!  What a tragedy that so many Jews, deprived of serious Torah education in their childhood, share this situation.

        Rabbi Yose ben Rabbi Yehudah doesn’t really disagree with Elisha, but he points out another aspect of the issue.  True enough, the young may learn rapidly and retain what they learn.  But from whom would you rather LEARN?  From a person whose book-learning, however scattered, has simmered and seasoned in life’s struggles and joys, or from a person who can remember everything but, through inexperience, understands very little in depth?  As soon as you ask the question, you know the answer.

        Rabbi’s position responds to both of his predecessors.  As we say in English, “you can’t tell a book by its cover”.  Similarly, you can’t predict insight and depth on the sole basis of age.  A young teacher (“a new jug”) might have insight way beyond her years.  Combined with the advantage of acute memory, her teaching will therefore offer extraordinary range and depth.  On the other hand, not every “old jug” has much to offer.  The point? - evaluate teachers with your ears, not with your eyes.

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