Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot)
Sixtytwo of the sixtythree
short books that make up the Mishna are legal texts. For example, Brakhot (Blessings),
the Mishna's opening tractate, delineates the appropriate
blessings for various occasions. The tractate Shabbat
specifies, as one would expect, the laws of the Sabbath.
The only tractate of the sixtythree that does not
deal with laws is called Pirkei Avot (usually
translated as Ethics of the Fathers) and it is
the "Bartlett's" of Judaism. Pirkei Avot transmits the favorite moral advice
and insights of the leading rabbinic scholars of different
generations.
The quotes found in Pirkei Avot generally are spiritual and edifying, but they can also
be practical. Two thousand years ago, Ben Zoma rendered
what remains, in my opinion, the best definition of
happiness. "Who is rich? He who is happy with what
he has" (4:1). Hillel is frequently cited in Pirkei Avot. He is best
known for "If I am not for myself, who will be
for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I?"
(1:14). The last sentence should logically read who am I? But as Professor Louis Kaplan taught: "If
you are only for yourself, you cease to be a real human
being, and you become no longer a who, but a what."
Hillel concludes the sentence with a thought that was
borrowed two millennia later by President Ronald Reagan,
who cited the sage's words while trying to push through
urgently needed economic reforms: "And if not now,
when?"
Jewish tradition encourages the study of one chapter
of Ethics of the Fathers each Sabbath afternoon
in the spring and summer months. As a result, religious
Jews have been deeply influenced by the book, since
they review it several times each year.
Because its reasoning is direct, and
largely based on human experience, Pirkei Avot is the most accessible of the books making up the Oral
Law. It certainly is the handiest guide to Jewish
ethics. In recent years, a three volume English
commentary on Pirkei Avot, Irving Bunim's Ethics
from Sinai, has helped revive and deepen study of
the book among traditional Jews. But Bunim's is only
one of many commentaries that have been published on Pirkei Avot. In this century alone, R. Travers
Herford, a Christian religious scholar, published one
that was intended in large measure to demonstrate to
other Christians that the rabbis of the Talmud were
deeply concerned with ethical questions. The late Chief
Rabbi of England, Joseph Hertz, published another commentary
in a prayerbook he translated. More recently, Reuven
Bulka, a Canadian rabbi and a recognized scholar on
psychology, has produced a commentary, As a Tree
by the Waters, in which psychological insights are
used to deepen the reader's understanding of the text.
The text of Pirkei Avot can be found in most
prayerbooks, following the Sabbath afternoon service.
The following are some characteristic teachings of Pirkei Avot:
Shammai taught: "Say little and do much"
(1:15).
Hillel taught: "Don't judge your fellowman until
you are in his place . . . and don't say I will study
when I have time, lest you never find the time"
(2:4).
Hillel taught: "A person who is [too] shy [to
ask questions] will never learn, and a teacher who is
too strict cannot teach . . . and in a place where there
are no men, strive to be a man" (2:5).
Rabbi Tarfon taught: "It is not your responsibility
to finish the work [of perfecting the world], but you
are not free to desist from it either" (2:16).
Rabbi Chanina taught: "Pray for the welfare of
the government, for without fear of governmental authorities
people would swallow each other alive" (3:2).
Ben Zoma taught: "Who is wise? He who learns
from every man.... Who is a hero? He who controls his
passions" (4:1).
Sources: Joseph Telushkin. Jewish
Literacy. NY: William Morrow and Co., 1991.
Reprinted by permission of the author. |