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Week 134 - Shabbat - 22 June 2002

PIRKEI AVOT: CHAPTER 3: MISHNAH 12

Rabbi Yishmael said: Be swift towards a superior, and kindly to the young, and receive every man cheerfully.

Kehati

Rabbi Yishmael was a colleague and an opponent of the views of Rabbi Akiva. His first teachers may well have included Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananyah, who, the Gemara relates (Git. 58a), ransomed him as a child from a prison in Rome. He also studied under Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Nehunyah ben Hakanah. From the latter he learned the rule of Biblical exposition known as klal ufrat (determining the relationship between a general statement and the specific detail contained in one verse - tr.). In the present Mishnah, Rabbi Yishmael counsels a respectful and a cheerful disposition towards all men. This also extended to non-Jews, as related in the Jerusalem Talmud (Ber. 8): Once a gentile met Rabbi Yishmael and blessed him (i.e., greeted him). He answered him: Of such as you it is written "and those who bless you will be blessed" (Gen. 27:29).

Rabbi Yishmael said: Be swift towards a superior - act promptly to serve and oblige the person who occupies an important and honored position, and kindly to the young - literally, towards blackness i.e., towards a young person whose hair is still black. Although you are not required to compromise your self-respect, you should treat him with patience and moderation; and receive every man cheerfully - old or young, learned or unlettered, every person should be accorded a cheerful reception. In Rambam's opinion, this goes even beyond Shammai's counsel (above Chap. 1:15), to "receive every man with a cheerful countenance." Alternatively, it is rendered: Be swift from the outset (the Hebrew rosh - head, denotes either leader, or beginning - tr.) - to satisfy the will of your Creator promptly while you are still young, and pleasing in old age - when your face is already "darkened" with age (associating blackness with the worn face rather than youthful hair - tr.) - be also pleasing to G-d (Rashi, Bartenura).

PIRKEI AVOT: CHAPTER 3: MISHNAH 13

Rabbi Akiva said: Jesting and lightheadedness accustom a man to lewdness; tradition is a fence to the Torah; tithes are a fence to wealth; vows are a fence to abstinence; a fence to wisdom is silence.

Kehati

Rabbi Akiva's paramount scholarship and wisdom is reflected in the following Rabbinic utterance (Yerushalmi, Sotah 9:10): "After the death of Yose ben Yoezer, true scholarship ceased; and no genuine scholar arose until the advent of Rabbi Akiva." Unable to draw on an impressive lineage (Ber. 27b), his fame rested on a striking record of personal attainments, much like a sapling sprouting from a lowly seed that by its own potency grew into a mighty cedar. He was revered for his Torah scholarship and wisdom during his lifetime, and his fame spread from one end of the world to the other (Yev. 16a). He died the death of a martyr for the sanctification of G-d and His Torah. His most distinguished teachers were Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua. He also served Rabbi Nahum of Gamzo, and accepted the latter's ribui umiut (amplification and limitation) principle of expounding the Torah. Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, in recounting the praises of the Sages, called Rabbi Akiva "otzar balum - a packed store-house of knowledge." He was compared to "a worker who went out with his basket; finding wheat, he put it in; finding barley, he put it in; finding spelt, he put it in... as soon as he returned home, he sorted them out - the wheat, the barley, and the spelt .. Such was the practice of Rabbi Akiva, who thus rendered the whole Torah into a combination of rings" (Avot de Rabbi Natan), i.e., he arranged all the topics of the Halakhah according to their subject-matter, and he molded the whole Torah into a chain whose rings and links were firmly interlocked (Rambam, Sefer Hama'or). In our Mishnah, Rabbi Akiva lists five “fences” designed to keep man away from sin.

Rabbi Akiva said: Jesting and lightheadedness - frivolous merriment, idle talk and empty chatter, accustom a man to lewdness - they pave the way to immorality; "but gravity and a reverent disposition are a fence to debauchery, for this Mishnah's single theme is the process of restraint" (Rabbenu Yonah). Rabbi Akiva here avoids the metaphor 'fence' employed in the other clauses of this Mishnah to forestall the impression that a serious and reverent attitude are proper for the saintly alone, while jesting and lightheadedness could be admissible in ordinary people. Rabbi Akiva, therefore, stresses that jesting and lightheadedness are negative qualities, which lead to moral depravity, and must therefore be shunned by all (Magen Avot).

Tradition is a fence to the Torah - the Oral Torah handed down from one generation to another, is a fence to the Written Torah. Without the oral tradition we would fail to understand the message and obligations issuing from the Scriptures, and the Torah would then resemble an abandoned vineyard, open to unrestrained abuse and violation. Alternatively, "tradition" - massoret, here used in the technical sense, refers to the massoretic tradition of the Sages concerning the correct spelling in the Torah, determining the number of words and letters, etc. This, too, provides a fence to the Torah without which its unity would have lapsed, as variant versions superseded one another, with self-styled experts editing and recasting the text according to their own whims.

Tithes are a fence to wealth - by virtue of giving the prescribed tithes, man is blessed with wealth, granted to him for his own enjoyment, as it is written (Deut. 14:22): "asser te'aser - you shall surely tithe," which the Sages rendered homiletically as "asser - you shall tithe, bishvil shetitasher - so that you may become wealthy," (Ta'an. 9a). Similarly, (Midrash Mishlei 11): If you see a man dispensing his money to charity, know that he actually profits by it, as it is written (Prov. 11:24): "There is one who scatters (his earnings - tr.) and yet increases (his possessions - tr.)," and it is also written (Mal. 3:10): "Bring the whole tithe into the store-house... and try Me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open unto you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall be more than sufficiency."

Vows are a fence to abstinence - when a man chooses to forgo even that which is permitted, so as to avoid transgressing that which is actually prohibited, but does not trust his will power, he may take a vow to fortify his decision. Such vows are calculated to stimulate the virtue of self restraint. However, for the ordinary mortal, it is better not to undertake vows at all, for should he decide to perform a certain mitzvah with the help of an oath, he may be tempted to violate the vow as well. Only, if one is already rooted in self-restraint, and naturally acts beyond the requirements of the law, then vows may be effective in conquering temptation.

A fence to wisdom is silence - i.e., limiting oneself even in casual conversation, which should be cut down to a minimum (Bartenura, and see our comment on the virtue of silence, above in Chap. 1:17). Midrash Shmuel explains that Rabbi Akiva placed silence at the end of the clause rather than opening with it, as in the case of the other fences, to emphasize the unique quality of silence in regard to wisdom as against the other cases, where alternative fences besides the ones mentioned might be entertained. Thus, wealth may be gained in other ways than by giving tithes. Wisdom, however, is preserved solely by the vigilance of silence, as it is written (Prov. 17:27-8): "He that spares his words has knowledge... and he that shuts his lips is a man of understanding."

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