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Week 138 - Wednesday - 17 July 2002

PIRKEI AVOT: CHAPTER 5: MISHNAH 22

Ben Bag-Bag said: Turn it, and turn it again, for everything is in it; And contemplate it, and grow old and gray over it, and stir not from it, for you have no better principle than it.

Kehati

Ben Bag-Bag appears to have been a contemporary of Hillel, According to Tosafot (Hag. 9b), he was a convert, Similarly, Midrash Sh’muel claims that Ben Bag-Bag and Ben Heh-Heh (the author of the following Mishnah) were converts, and were called by these names to conceal their identity from informers. Like all proselytes, they were the "offspring" of the archetypal 'converts,' Abraham and Sarah, both of whom had the letter heh added to their names by God, Hence Bag-Bag is a disguised variant of Heh-Heh (the numerical value of both being five). Thus both names are identical in origin, the two forms serving merely to distinguish between two Tannaim, Others claim that Ben Bag-Bag and Ben Heh-Heh are two different names for one and the same Tanna. Accordingly the initials BaG-BaG denote Ben, Ger, Ben Gioret (son of a male and a female convert, respectively) while Ben Heh-Heh means 'Son of Abraham and Sarah', the prototypes of the proselyte, to whose names the letter heh was added, as explained above (see Hag. 9b: Tosafot s.v. "Bar Heh-Heh"). Their teachings appear in Aramaic, the language of the converts (Tosefot Yom Tov quoting Derekh Hayyim). It is further explained that since Torah comments have the widest popular application, these sayings were disseminated in Aramaic, the vernacular of the returning exiles from Babylon. Accordingly, the statement of Hillel the Elder (Chapt. 1, Mishnah 13) concerning Torah-study is likewise coined in Aramaic. In the previous Mishnah we have learned concerning the ages of man in relation to Torah-study. Here, Ben Bag-Bag declares that having studied Bible and Mishnah and Gemara, man has not yet attained a total grasp of the Torah, since Torah study has no limit, as it is written (Ps. 119:96): "I have seen an end to every purpose; but Your commandment is exceedingly broad" (Midrash Sh 'muel).

Ben Bag-Bag said: Turn it, and turn it again - engage in the study of Torah continuously, for everything is in it - all the wisdom of the world is contained in it (Mahzor Vitri). Others explain that one who studies the Torah should not do so superficially, but should turn its pages constantly and study its message thoughtfully, for in doing so he will find in it the answers to all his uncertainties (Hameiri). Thus, for everything is in it means that all may be clarified by a persevering study of the text. According to Rashi it means that whenever you delve into the Torah, you will discover in it new aspects and insights; in the words of our Sages (Eruv. 54b): "Why are the words of the Torah compared to the fig tree? As it is written (Prov 27:18):'Whoso keeps the fig tree shall eat its fruit.' Just like the fig tree, the more one searches through it, the more figs one finds in it (since they do not ripen at once, but gradually, thus yielding fruit at all times - Rashi), so it is with the words of the Torah; the more one consults them the more insights does one find in them."

And contemplate it - you will perceive the truth through your mind's eye (Rambam); and grow old and gray over it - even when gripped by old age and weariness, study the Torah, and stir not from it - saying, I have studied sufficiently, and need not devote myself to it any more, but shall now turn to other disciplines, for you have no better principle than it - than adhering to the Torah and engage in it ceaselessly, as it is written (Josh. 1:8): "This book of the Torah shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night."

PIRKEI AVOT: CHAPTER 5: MISHNAH 23

Ben Heh-Heh said: According to the exertion is the reward.

Kehati

This short maxim, which concludes the chapter, supplements the previous Mishnah, wherein systematic and persistent Torah study is extolled as a means of gaining enlightenment and discovering the deeper layers of the Divine message. Our present Mishnah adds that the more a man exerts himself and labors in Torah study, the profounder the depths he will attain, the more wondrous his discoveries, and the greater his reward will be. Ben Heh-Heh's identity is dealt with in the introduction to the previous Mishnah.

Ben Heh~Heh said: According to the exertion is the reward - Rambam comments: "The more you grapple to meet the demands of the Torah, the greater will be your compensation" (in attaining its Divine truth), as the Gemara (Ber. 63b) notes: "The words of Torah endure only with the one who kills himself for it." Furthermore (ibid.): "With whom do you find the cream of the Torah? With him who spurts out over it the milk which he sucked from his mother's breasts." According to Midrash Sh'muel, our author consoles the person who must labor and torment himself to grasp his Torah lessons, that even he must not slacken in Torah study since it is pain and effort, rather than achievement, which determine the reward. Thus, one who labors and toils to gain familiarity with the Torah, even though advancing but slightly, receives from Heaven an equal reward with that of the outstanding scholar of the generation, since according to the labor is the reward.

Avot de Rabbi Natan (Chapt. 12) quotes this saying in the name of Hillel the Elder, and adds: Hillel the Elder traveled on the road and met two people carrying wheat, and asked them: How much is a Se'ah (a measure of volume)? They answered: Two Dinarim. As he went on, he met other people carrying wheat, and said to them: How much is a Se'ah? And they answered; Three Dinarim. Said Hillel: But the other merchants asked only two! And they answered him: Don't you know that the reward is according to the effort (meaning that they had brought their wheat from a more distant place)? Thereupon, Hillel said to them: You have responded to me in kind, for I have also said: According to the exertion is the reward (Binyan Yehoshua).

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