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Week 136 - Friday - 5 July 2002

PIRKEI AVOT: CHAPTER 4: MISHNAH 20

Elisha ben Avuyah said: He who learns as a child, what is he like? Like ink written on new paper. And he who learns as an old man, what is he like? Like ink written on blotted paper. Rabbi Yose bar Yehuda of Kefar haBavli said: He who learns from the young, what is he like? Like one who eats unripe grapes and drinks wine from his winepress. And he who learns from the aged, what is he like? Like one who eats ripe grapes and drinks old wine. Rabbi said: Do not look at the jar, but at what is in it; there are new jars full of old wine, and old jars which do not contain even new wine.

Kehati

As mentioned earlier above (Chapt. 4, Mishnah 10), Elisha ben Avuyah, the teacher of Rabbi Meir, was one of the four Sages who "entered into paradise," to study the mysteries of Creation and of the Divine Chariot, and ultimately he went astray and became a heretic (see Hag. 14b). He was thenceforth referred to as Aher, the Other. Nevertheless, Rabbi Meir did not desert him and continued learning Torah from him, as our sages noted (ibid. 15b): "Having found a pomegranate, Rabbi Meir ate the contents and threw away the peel.” Rabbi Meir was very fond of his master, and hoped to return him to the right path. The Jerusalem Talmud (Hag 2:1) relates: When Elisha ben Avuyah was about to die, Rabbi Meir came to visit him and urged upon him to repent. Asked Elisha: And if I repent, will I be accepted? Answered Rabbi Meir: It is written (Ps. 90:3): “you turn man back to contrition and say: ‘Return you sons of men.'" Up to the very last flicker of life repentance is accepted. Thereupon, Elisha wept and his soul departed. And Rabbi Meir rejoiced in his heart, saying: It seems that my master passed away in the act of repentance.

Elisha ben Avuyah said: He who learns as a child - imbibing the Torah when young, what is he like? Like ink written on new paper - where the letters are clear and do not easily rub off; thus, the lessons of childhood imprint themselves on the mind and are not easily forgotten.

And he who learns as an old man-when already in decline what is he like? Like ink written on blotted paper - from which the original letters were erased to make room for repeated use; the writing is then blurred, difficult to decipher and easily rubs off. Thus, learning at an advanced age is absorbed with difficulty and is readily forgotten. Avot de Rabbi Natan elaborates: "He who studies Torah in his childhood, absorbs its text into his blood and it emerges from his mouth comprehensibly; but the one who studies Torah in his old age, does not absorb its text into his blood and it does not emerge from his mouth comprehensibly” In the view of the hakhmai hamussar (teachers of ethics) the pursuit of scholarship in one's youth is compared to inscribing in stone; whereas the pursuit of scholarship in one's old age is compared to inscribing in sand (Hameiri).

Rabbi Yose bar Yehudah of Kefar haBavli said: He who learns from the young - and inexperienced, what is he like? Like one who eats unripe grapes - which set one's teeth on edge, and drinks wine from his winepress - while it is still in the process of fermentation, with the sediment afloat. Thus. the learning of early youth lacks a firm basis, the mind has yet to mature and grapple with the mass of problems that beset it.

And he who learns from the aged, what is he like? Like one who eats ripe grapes and drinks old wine - whose taste is pleasing to the palate. Thus, the spirit of the aged is fully matured and their minds are settled. Most commentators associate grapes with the plain meaning of the Torah. and wine with the deeper message of the text; thus (Sanh. 38a): "The letters of yayin, 'wine' and sod, 'mystery' have the same numerical value (Tosefot Yom Tov). Tiferet Yisrael explains: On eating unripe grapes: one immediately feels their sour taste; however when drinking wine from the winepress, the immediate taste is sweet, but results in stomach pains. Thus, when learning from the young, some of their views strike one immediately as naive and irrelevant, whereas others may at first seem sensible, but upon further examination their reasoning is seen to be ill-founded. Not so with learning from the aged, whose opinions have the double advantage of 1) sounding "sweet" to the ear from the outset and retaining their wholesome effect, as in the case of ripened grapes; while 2) those opinions which are not grasped immediately, make sense upon deeper analysis, like old wine which, though not sweet at the beginning, eventually "rejoices the heart of man" (Ps. 104: 15).

Rabbi - Yehuda HaNasi, said: Do not look at the jar - at its outward appearance, but at what is in it - Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi disagrees with Rabbi Yose, and holds that just as one should not judge the quality of wine by its container, so may one not evaluate human wisdom according to age, but rather by intellectual criteria alone, since there are new jars full of old wine - i.e. young men marked by wisdom and discernment as subtle as that of ripe old age, and old jars which do not contain even new wine - i.e. elders devoid of wisdom, or whose mind is confused; as we read (./ob. 32:7-9):''I said: 'Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.' But it is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty that gives them understanding. It is not the great that are wise, nor the aged that discern judgment." Some editions of the Mishnah attribute this saying to Rabbi Meir instead of Rabbi.

PIRKEI AVOT: CHAPTER 4: MISHNAH 21

Rabbi Eliezer HaKappar said: Envy, lust, and honor take a man out of the world.

Kehati

Rabbi Eliezer HaKappar belonged to the last generation of tannaim (teachers of the Mishnah) during the time of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, as we find (Tosefta, Oholot 18:8): that Rabbi and Rabbi Yishmael ben Rabbi Yose and Eliezer HaKappar spent a Shabbat at the inn of Ben Pazi in Lod, and Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair sat before them. Rabbi Eliezer HaKap-par is sometimes called "Beribbi," i.e., an outstanding personality (Hul. 84b). In Avot de Rabbi Natan we read (Chapt. 26): "Rabbi Eliezer HaKappar says: 'Do not be like a high lintel, which people cannot touch ... but rather like the threshold beneath, on which everyone tramples, but in the end when the whole building collapses, it remains in its place.'"

Rabbi Eliezer - some versions read: Rabbi Eleazar, HaKappar said: Envy - jealousy of another's wealth, rank, etc. lust - the quest for physical gratification, and honor - the pursuit of fame and power, take a man out of the world - deprive him of this earthly life as of that in the world-to-come, because these dispositions cause premature death. They also impair his intellectual and moral advancement, and thus deprive him of life everlasting as well (Rambam, Sefer Hama'or). Tosefot Yom Tov associates this saying with that of Rabbi Yehoshua (above, Chapt. 2, Mishnah 11): "The evil eye, the evil urge, and the hatred of mankind drive a man out of the world," for envy flows from an evil eye, lust from the evil urge, and the pursuit of honor· breeds hatred, for no one is more detested than he who chases after honor. Midrash Sh'muel considers honor to be the principal cause of animosity, people hating those of their companions who, so they believe, deprive them of their due respect. Biblical support for this Mishnah is found in the following verses: Envy takes a man out of the world, as it is written: " Envy is the rottenness of the bones" (Prov. 14:30), leading finally to a person's physical disintegration; Lust, as it is said (Prov. 21:25): "The appetite of the slothful kills him." Honor·, we learn from Joseph who died ten years before his brothers because he kept himself in the forefront of power (Rabbenu Yonah).

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