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Week 139 - Monday - 22 July 2002

PIRKEI AVOT: CHAPTER 6: MISHNAH 9

Rabbi Yose ben Kisma said: Once I was walking along the way, when a man met me, and greeted me 'Shalom'. I answered him 'Shalom'. He said to me: Rabbi, where do you come from? I said to him: I come from a great city of sages and scholars. Said he to me: Rabbi, do you wish to dwell with us in our place? I will give you a million golden dinars and precious stones and pearls. I said to him: My son, if you gave me all the silver and gold and precious stones and pearls in the world, I would not dwell anywhere except in a place of Torah; for in the hour of man's departure, neither silver nor gold nor precious stones and pearls accompany him, but Torah and good deeds alone, as it is written (Prov. 6:22): "When you walk, it shall lead you; when you lie down, it shall watch over you; and when you awaken, it shall be your talk." When you walk, it shall lead you - in this world; when you lie down, it shall watch over you - in the grave; and when you awaken, it shall be your talk - in the hereafter. And likewise it is written in the book of Psalms by David, King of Israel (Ps. 119:72): "The Torah of Your mouth is better for me than thousands of gold and silver." And it says (Hag. 2:8): "Mine is the silver, and Mine is the gold, says the Lord of Hosts."

Kehati

Rabbi Yose ben Kisma was a contemporary of Rabbi Hanina ben Tradyon. Although he was one of the outstanding scholars of his generation and taught Torah at Kesarin, in the north of Eretz Israel. little has been recorded of his teachings and wisdom. During the Bar Kochba revolt, he was among the moderates - advocating not to rebel against Rome in her prime hour (Avodah Zorah 18a - his confrontation with Rabbi Haninah ben Tradyon).

Rabbi Yose ben Kisma said: Once I was walking along the way, when a man met me - It does not say: 'I met a man,' because Rabbi Yose did not notice that person until the latter called out 'Shalom'; for had he seen him, he would have greeted him first, as is the custom of the learned and pious, to greet everyone first (Midrash Sh'muel); and greeted me 'Shalom'. I answered him 'Shalom'.-He said to me: Rabbi, where do you come from? I said to him: I come from a great city of sages and scholars. Said he to me: Rabbi, do you wish to dwell with us in our place? to serve as our rabbi and teacher. I will give you a million golden dinars and precious stones and pearls - i.e., whatever terms you request shall be granted to you.

I said to him: My son, if you gave me all the silver and gold and precious stones and pearls in the world, I would not dwell anywhere except in a place of Torah - as Rabbi Nehorai said (above, Chapt. 4:14): "Go into voluntary exile to a place of Torah, and do not say that it will come after you;" for in the hour of man's departure, neither silver nor gold nor precious stones and pearls accompany him, but Torah and good deeds alone, as it is written: "When you walk, it shall lead you; when you lie down, it shall watch over you; and when you awaken, it shall be your talk." When you walk, it shall lead you" - in this world - because the Torah guides and illuminates a man, that he might not go astray and endanger himself in his wanderings throughout life; "when you lie down, it shall watch over you" - in the grave - it will protect you from worms and maggots; and when you awaken, it shall be your talk - in the hereafter - i,e. at the time of the Resurrection of the Dead it will reveal to you all its mysteries as though in a conversation.

And likewise it is written in the Book of Psalms by David, King of Israel - who was fully aware of the value of silver and gold: "The Torah of Your mouth is better for me than thousands of gold and silver." And it says: "Mine is the silver, and Mine is the gold, says the Lord of Hosts'' - therefore, if God wills it, He will grant me of His gold and silver in my present location, and I need not depart from a place of Torah for the sake of material gain.

PIRKEI AVOT: CHAPTER 6: MISHNAH 10

Five possessions did the Holy One, blessed be He, adopt in His world, and these are they: The Torah is one possession; heaven and earth, one possession; Abraham, one possession; Israel, one possession; the Temple, one possession. Whence do we know that the Torah is one possession? As it is written (Prov. 8:22): "The Lord adopted me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old." Whence do we know that heaven and earth are one possession? As it is written (Is. 66:1): "Thus says the Lord: The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool; where is the house that you can build for me? And where is the place that can be My resting place?" And it says (Ps. 104:24): "How manifold are Your works, O Lord! In wisdom have You made them all; the earth is full of Your possessions." Whence do we know that Abraham is one possession? As it is written (Gen. 14:19): "And he blessed him and said: Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth." Whence do we know that Israel is one possession? As it is written (Ex. 15:16): "...till Your people pass over, O, Lord, till the people pass over that You have possessed." And it says (Ps. 16:3): "As for the holy people who are upon earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all My delight." Whence do we know that the Temple is one possession? As it is said(Ex. 15:17): "The Sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established (lit. possessed - tr.)." And it says (Ps. 78:54): "And He brought them to the realm of His sanctuary; to the mountain, which His right hand had won (lit. possessed -tr.)."

Kehati

Five - especial possessions did the Holy One, blessed be He, adopt in His world - they are called possessions, i.e. valuable articles for which a man would pay a high price and these are they: The Torah is one possession; heaven and earth, one possession; Abraham, one possession; Israel, one possession; the Temple, one possession. Whence do we know that the Torah is one possession As it is written: "The Lord adopted (lit. possessed - tr.) me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old" - the Torah here declares itself to have been God's possession even before the world was created; thus also in Avot de Rabbi Natan (Chapt. 31): "Rabbi Eliezer, the son of Rabbi Yose the Galilean says: Nine hundred and seventy-four generations before the world was created, the Torah had already been written, and it lay in God's lap, singing hymns in the company of the ministering angels."

Whence do we know that heaven and earth are one possession? As it is written: "Thus says the Lord: The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool; where is the house that you can build for Me? And where is the place that can be My resting place?" - since God chose them to serve as His "throne" and "footstool," they are: evidently His valued possessions.

And it says: "How manifold are Your works, O Lord! In wisdom have You made them all; the earth is full of Your possessions" - i.e., the earth, which is Your possession (kinyanekha) is full of Your works, all of which you have made in wisdom; and if the earth, referred to as God's footstool, constitutes a possession, then all the more so the heaven, which serves as the Divine throne (Midrash Sh'muel).

Whence do we know that Abraham is one possession? As it is written "And He blessed him and said: Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth" - this verse recounts the praises of Abraham, for whose sake the heaven and the earth were created, as the Midrash notes (Bereshit Rabbah 12): "These are the generations of the heaven and of the earth when they were created - (Gen. 2:4); instead of created, read (for Abraham). Accordingly, "Possessor of heaven and earth" refers to Abraham. who possesses them, since they were created for his sake. Now, seeing that the heaven and earth are God's special possession, as explained above, then all the more so Abraham. for whose benefit they were created, must be a special possession of the Lord (ibid ).

Whence do we know that Israel is one possession? As it is written: "Till Your people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over that You have possessed" - hence Israel denotes a special possession. And it says: "As for the holy people who are upon earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all My delight" - this verse informs us that the Jews, even when not perfectly righteous, are still the possession of God, not on account of their own virtue and uprightness. but rather on account of their ancestors who are buried in the Land of Israel, in whom God delights, and for their sake He rejoices also in the Jewish people (ibid.).

Whence do we know that the Temple is one possession? As it is said: "The Sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established (lit. possessed - tr.)" - the Mekhilta relates that the Temple is especially valued in that it was created, symbolically speaking, with "both hands" of God. whereas the world was created with only "one hand," as it is written (Is. 48:13): "Yea, My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has spread out the heavens." This is meant to convey that the world was designed to function solely on the basis of natural law, whereas in the Temple, God also treats us to miracles that are supernatural (Emunat Sh'muel). Moreover, since heaven and earth are called a possession, how much more so the Temple, whose value is greater than theirs. And it says: "And He brought them to the realm of His sanctuary; to the mountain, which His right hand had won (lit. possessed - tr.)" - this verse teaches us furthermore, that even when the Temple has ceased to exist and Mount Moriah is but a bleak and desolate mountain, even then it remains the possession of God.

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