Avos 5:22

בס׳ד

אבות ה:כב

Ben Bag-Bag says: Turn it every which way, for everything is in it; And meditate on it; And grow old with it; And never abandon it - For there is nothing better than it. Ben Heh-Heh says: The pain brings the gain.

בֶּן בַּג בַּג אוֹמֵר, הֲפֹךְ בָּהּ וַהֲפֹךְ בָּהּ, דְּכֹלָּא בָהּ. וּבָהּ תֶּחֱזֵי, וְסִיב וּבְלֵה בָהּ, וּמִנַּהּ לֹא תָזוּעַ, שֶׁאֵין לְךָ מִדָּה טוֹבָה הֵימֶנָּה: בֶּן הֵא הֵא אוֹמֵר, לְפוּם צַעֲרָא אַגְרָא:

        A lot of mystery surrounds the identities of the final two Sages of Mishnah Avos.  The gemara (Bavli Kiddushin 10b) mentions a Sage named Yohanan ben Bag-Bag who studied in the Vineyard at Yavneh. Perhaps he is identical to the ben Bag-Bag of our mishnah.  The Tosfos (to Bavli Hagigah 9b), reports that both ben Bag-Bag and ben Heh-Heh were converts, and that their names are codes for their converted status.  “Heh-Heh” stands for the letter Heh added to the names of Avram and Sarai when they finally entered the covenant with HaShem. And the numerical value of “Bag-Bag” equals 5 + 5, which is equal to Heh + Heh.  This is what the tradition transmits about these Sages, and I have nothing better to offer.

        Their teachings, however, are certainly appropriate summaries of the teachings of Mishnah Avos.  Ben Bag-Bag delivers a loving poem to the endless depths of Torah, a hymn to a life lived before the outpouring of HaShem’s infinite wisdom into the language of His people, Israel.

        And as for ben Heh-Heh, he shows us how the values of arduous Torah study contrast with our own contemporary Hellenism of physical culture.  On every gymnasium wall in America you can find the legend: “No pain, No gain”. Now you know where it comes from, and what it REALLY means!  The difficult labor of working our own minds and bodies into the world of the Torah results in a transformation that changes us and all with whom we have relations. The pain is finite, but the gain sustains us in This World and in the Coming Future.

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Seliqa Lan Massekhes Avos

We Have Completed Mishnah Avos!

Hadran Alakh Massekhes Avos

We Honor You, Mishnah Avos!

Hadrakh Alan Massekhes Avos

You Honor Us, Mishnah Avos!