Avos 5:7

בס׳ד

אבות ה:ז

Seven are the traits of a bumpkin and seven of a Sage: A Sage never speaks in the presence of one wiser: He does not interrupt his friend’s speaking; He’s in no hurry to reply; He asks the right question and replies appropriately; He discusses first things first and last things last; If he doesn’t know he says: I don’t know; And he accepts the truth. And it is just the opposite with a bumpkin.

שִׁבְעָה דְבָרִים בַּגֹּלֶם וְשִׁבְעָה בֶחָכָם. חָכָם אֵינוֹ מְדַבֵּר בִּפְנֵי מִי שֶׁהוּא גָדוֹל מִמֶּנּוּ בְחָכְמָה וּבְמִנְיָן, וְאֵינוֹ נִכְנָס לְתוֹךְ דִּבְרֵי חֲבֵרוֹ, וְאֵינוֹ נִבְהָל לְהָשִׁיב, שׁוֹאֵל כָּעִנְיָן וּמֵשִׁיב כַּהֲלָכָה, וְאוֹמֵר עַל רִאשׁוֹן רִאשׁוֹן וְעַל אַחֲרוֹן אַחֲרוֹן, וְעַל מַה שֶּׁלֹּא שָׁמַע, אוֹמֵר לֹא שָׁמָעְתִּי, וּמוֹדֶה עַל הָאֱמֶת. וְחִלּוּפֵיהֶן בַּגֹּלֶם:

        The Hebrew word for “bumpkin” is golem.  Both Rashi and Rambam agree that the word is a metaphor drawn from the potter’s art. It refers to a vessel that has been shaped from its primal clay, but has yet to be fully fired and prepared for use.  In human terms, the golem is a person whose intellectual and moral traits are partially formed - but he still needs some work.  That’s why I’ve chosen the word “bumpkin”.  It conveys the idea of a person who has potential, but hasn’t yet been taken in hand by a proper teacher.  The mishnah compares such a person to the most finely-crafted of all human “vessels”, the hakham, or Sage, whose natural human capacities have been shaped and refined by discipleship to a Torah master.

        The difference between the bumpkin and the Sage extends to the entire range of social behavior, but it appears immediately in the way each approaches the life of ideas.  The mishnah, therefore, describes the key traits that distinguish a Sage’s approach to learning from that of a bumpkin.

        Both versions of Avos d’Rabbi Noson (A,37 and B,40) identify each of the Sage’s traits with specific historical personalities.  Moshe Rebbenu is the model of a person who never speaks in the presence of a wiser colleague.  As Avos d’Rabbi Noson points out (A,37): It is written: “And Aharon reported all the things that HaShem had spoken to Moshe, who had performed the signs before the people” (Shmos 4:30).  Now, who was more worthy to have spoken - Moshe or Aharon?  Surely, it is Moshe, for he heard God Himself, while Aharon had only heard from Moshe!  Nevertheless, this is what Moshe said: “Should I speak when my older brother is standing before me?” Therefore, he invited Aharon to speak.

        Although Aharon was the lesser figure in learning than Moshe, he was particularly careful not to interrupt others.  This quality was displayed most fully in the interchange between Aharon and his brother following the death of Aharon’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, before the Altar. Moshe was angry that Aharon had not eaten certain sacrifices in the Mishkan as instructed.  According to Avos d’Rabbi Noson (A,37)” Aharon remained silent until Moshe finished speaking and didn’t say: “Oh, cut it short, Moshe!”  But later he explained, “Shall we offer it today, seeing that we have yet to bury our dead and are thus disqualified from eating offerings?”  As we see here, Aharon let his brother have his say in public, but then took him aside privately to fill him in on some crucial information.

        The model of a person who assesses a situation accurately before speaking out is the often overlooked companion of Iov, Elihu the Buzite (Avos d’Rabbi Noson B,40), who replied to Iov: “I am young and you are very old.  This is why I restrained myself and did not offer you my opinion” (Iov 32:6).

        Yehudah, the articulate brother of Yosef, is Avos d’Rabbi Noson’s example of the Sage who always keeps to the point of the discussion (B,40).  The key incident in his life was the way he stepped forward to allay Yaakov’s fears about bringing Binyamin with him to see Yosef in Egypt: “Send the boy in my care, and let us go, so that we may live and not die.  I myself will guarantee his safety. You may hold me responsible if I do not bring him back safely” (Bereshis 43:8-9).  In this speech, Yehudah anticipated his father’s concerns and addressed them cogently and directly.

        The person of ordered mind who responds to each issue in its proper order is exemplified, according to Avos d’Rabbi Noson (B,40), by Yitzhak’s wife, Rivkah.  For when Avraham’s servant came to Besuel’s home to find a wife for Avraham’s son, he asked Rivkah: “Whose daughter are you?  Is there room in your father’s household for us to sleep?”  And she replied: “I am Besuel’s daughter…And there is both straw and fodder, as well as a place to sleep” (Bereshis 24:23-25).  Notice that this mention of Rivkah as a model of clear-mindedness clearly assumes that women are as capable as men in intellectual pursuits associated with Talmud Torah.  This has often been overlooked in the frum world.  In our day, its truth is being rediscovered to the benefit of the entire Jewish world.

        It is something of a surprise to find the Sages listing a woman as a model of intellectual virtue.  It is even more of a surprise to find them pointing beyond Am Yisrael for the model of the person who is honest about the limits of his knowledge.  But this is exactly what Avos d’Rabbi Noson (B,40) tells us.  It cites the dialogue between Yaakov and the men of Haran when Yaakov first enters town in search of a wife: And Yaakov said: “My brothers!  Where are you from?”  And they said: “We are from Haran.”  And he said to them: “Do you know Lavan ben Nahor?”  And they said: “We know him.”  And he said to them: “Is he well?”  And they said: “He’s well.”  (Bereshis 29:4-6). And if you want further information, “here’s his daughter Rachel coming with the sheep” (Bereshis 4:6).  The Rabbis have added the italicized words into the biblical story in order to stress that the men of Haran didn’t want to pass off any information that couldn’t be gotten from Rachel herself.

        Finally, who is a model of a person who accepts the truth, no matter where it might lead?  The Sages offer us another surprise: HaShem himself (Avos d’Rabbi Noson B,40)!  Of HaShem, we read: “The daughters of Tzelofkhod have spoken the truth!” (Bamidbar 27:7), and “The tribe of the sons of Yosef have spoken the truth” (Bamidbar 36:5), and “And HaShem said, I have pardoned you because of what you said!” (Bamidbar 14:20).  So, ultimately, the model of truthfulness is God.  In being truthful, we imitate Him.

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