Torah Community Connections

Week 135 - Monday - 24 June 2002

PIRKEI AVOT: CHAPTER 3: MISHNA 16

He used to say: All is given on pledge, and a net is spread over all the living. The store is open; the storekeeper extends credit, the ledger is open and the hand writes: all who wish to borrow, may come and borrow; but the collectors make their continual rounds each day, and collect their dues from man with his consent or without it, for they have solid ground on which to depend; the judgement is a judgement of truth; and all is prepared for the banquet.

Kehati

Our Mishnah brings another saying of Rabbi Akiva, which illustrates his previous utterance with a parable drawn from everyday life.

He - Rabbi Akiva, used to say: All is given on pledge - man is accountable for all his affairs in this world; in time to come all debts will be collected from him, and he will be punished for his sins, and a net is spread over all the living - there is no escaping from it, as it is written (Eccl. 9:12): "For man also knows not his time, like the fish that are taken in an evil net... even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time."

The store is open - for man to acquire all that his heart desires; and he can freely enjoy the world and its pleasures; the storekeeper extends credit -God grants credit to everyone without demanding immediate payment, as we learned in the previous Mishnah, that the world is judged with grace, God being long-suffering even towards the wicked, and governing the world by the standard of mercy, but the ledger is open and the hand writes - although He extends credit and is patient, everything is entered in a chronicle to ensure that the debt is collected in due time without remission; all who wish to borrow may come and borrow - as we learned in the previous Mishnah, that free choice is granted, and man is master of his actions.

But the collectors make their continual rounds each day - as the storekeeper's agents, they call from time to time to exact payment; this is an allusion to the ills and misfortunes which afflict man, and collect their dues from man with his consent - sometimes a man may remember his offence and accept his chastisement, as David said (Ps. 119:75): "I know, 0 Lord, that Your judgements are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me," or without it -occasionally man forgets his misconduct and repudiates the Divine judgement as the arbitrary punishment of an innocent person; for they have solid ground on which to depend - however, the agents of the heavenly court may be trusted, since everything is entered in the files.

The judgement is a judgement of truth - God does not exact more than His due, as we read (Av. Zar 3a): ~'God does not deal tyrannically with His creatures", and all is prepared for the banquet - both the righteous and the wicked have a share in the world-to-come after their debt has been collected from them (Bartenura), as we learned (Mishnah Sanh. 10:1): 'All Israel have a portion in the world-to-come, as it is written (Is. 60:21): 'Your people shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever.'" Alternatively, the parable tells us that just as a person's meal consists of what he contrived to purchase and bring home... so too in the world-to-come, the souls will find a banquet prepared from what they managed to acquire in this world... (Hameiri).

PIRKEI AVOT: CHAPTER 3: MISHNAH 17

Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah said: Where there is no Torah, there is no proper behavior, where there is no proper behavior, there is no Torah. Where there is no wisdom, there is no fear (of God); where there is no fear (of God), there is no wisdom. Where there is no understanding, there is no knowledge; where there is no knowledge there is no understanding. Where there is no meal, there is no Torah, where there is no Torah, there is no meal. He used to say: He whose wisdom surpasses his deeds, to what is he compared? To a tree whose branches are abundant, but whose roots are few, and the wind comes and uproots it and overturns it, as it is written (Jer. 17:6): "For he shall be like a tamarisk in the desert, and shall not see when good comes; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited." But he whose deeds surpass his wisdom, to what is he compared? To a tree whose branches are few, but whose roots are abundant; even if all the winds of the world come and blow upon it, they cannot move it from its place, as it is written (Jer. 17:8): "For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, and its foliage shall be luxuriant; and shall not be anxious in the year of drought; neither shall it cease from yielding fruit."

Kehati

Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah was one of the outstanding Sages of Yavneh. His wisdom, noble lineage (he was the tenth generation from Ezra the Scribe) and his wealth brought him to the Presidency when Rabban Gamliel, who had slighted Rabbi Yehoshua, was removed from office. Even after Rabbi Yehoshua's conciliation and Rabban Gamliel's reinstatement, Rabbi Eleazar continued to exercise a measure of authority. Thus, Rabban Gamliel would preach at the Academy on two consecutive Shabbatot, while Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah lectured on the third Shabbat, (see Ber. 27b). The day of Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah's ascension to the Presidency was marked in the annals of the Mishnah, and the Talmud often refers to it as "that same day," being "the day on which the Tractate Eduyot was formulated and there remained no obscure Halakhah in the Bet Hamidrash that was not fully explained" (Ber. 28a). Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, in recounting the praises of the Sages, compared Eleazar ben Azaryah to a spice-peddler’s basket: "When a Torah scholar came to him and asked him questions concerning the Bible, he answered him; concerning the Mishnah, he answered him; about the Midrash, he answered him; about the halakhot, he answered him; about the aggadot he answered him. Thus he would leave full of profit and blessing" (Avot de Rabbi Natan, Chapt. 18).

Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah said: Where there is no Torah – whoever remains ignorant of Judaism's Biblical and Rabbinic scholarship and has not exposed himself to the spirit of it’s authoritative exponents, there is no proper behavior -- such a person will lack a firm moral and social foundation; where there is no proper behavior -- a person whose moral and social conduct is objectionable, there is no Torah -- his scholarship is worthless, because he profanes the Torah by his repulsive behavior. According to the Mahzor Vitri, if a person lacks the necessary culture to act properly, his Torah learning will not avail him, nor will he retain it.

Where there is no wisdom -- to comprehend the majesty of God there is no fear (of God) - though he seeks to be religious, his efforts will not mature; devoid of the necessary knowledge he will not know how to avoid sin, as we learned (above, Chapt. 2, Mishnah 5): An ignoramus cannot fear sin; where there is no fear (of God), there is no wisdom -- divorced from its ultimate religious goal, scholarship does not endure, as we learned (above, Mishnah 9): He whose wisdom takes precedence over his fear of sin, his wisdom does not endure (see our explanation there); where there is no understanding, there is no knowledge -- whoever fails to grasp the principles underlying his subject matter and what they logically entail, will not know how to explain the subject; where there is no knowledge there is no understanding -- if he does not recognize the reason for his subject of study, he evidently does not understand it sufficiently. Da'at - knowledge, spells rational insight into a situation; binah - understanding, denotes the power of logical inference, though without rational comprehension of the subject in question (Bartenura); it is through understanding that man attains knowledge. Where there is no meal there is no Torah -- with an empty stomach, man cannot concentrate on study; where there is no Torah there is no meal -- whoever does not study Torah, does not deserve to earn a livelihood; for the Torah alone constitutes life's justification

He - Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah, used to say: He whose wisdom surpasses his deeds - who studies Torah but does not practice it, to what is he compared? To a tree whose branches are abundant but whose roots are few – the performance of mitzvot denotes a person's roots, while the intellect is symbolized by the branches, and the wind comes and uproots it and overturns it - because it is not firmly anchored in the ground; similarly wisdom that exceeds one's deeds does not endure, as explained above (Mishnah 9), as it is written (Jer. 17:5-6) - "Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord, for he shall be like a tamarisk in the desert a desolate, leafless tree in the wilderness, and shall not see when good comes, - even in the rainy season it does not improve, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness - scorched by the heat of the blazing desert sun, a salt land soil which does not produce any vegetation, as if sown with salt, and not inhabited -unable to sustain any settlement."

But he whose deeds surpass his wisdom -- whose foremost preoccupation is the performance of good deeds, to what is he compared? To a tree whose branches are few but whose roots are abundant; even if all the winds of the world come and blow upon it, they cannot move it from its place - so a man who performs good deeds and is imbued with the fear of Heaven will not fall victim to alien doctrines and influences as it is written (Jer. 17:8) - "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord... For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, and its foliage shall be luxuriant; and shall not be anxious in the year of drought - for it can depend on irrigation from the river to sustain it, neither shall it cease from yielding fruit - lack of rain will not affect its produce."

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