Choose Your Contract (2:15)
With the Pesach holiday under our belt as well as stretching it, we can finally sit back on our easy chairs and relax. A lot of hard work this G-d of ours seems to demand, but at least never more than we can handle. That is not just my sentiment. Indeed, no less an authority than the great Maimonedes himself echoed these very thoughts when he stated, , “G-d gave us this tree of life…and He promised us that if we observe it with joy and gladness of heart… He will remove from us all that may prevent us from keeping it.” .
The Rambam of course was not just saying this to make us feel good. In fact, he…
Continue reading Choose Your Contract (2:15)
The Good & Evil Eye (2:10-11)
Who has not heard of the malevolent “Evil eye”? In many cultures, the potency of such a gaze was believed to have enormous power capable of inflicting tremendous damage. The “evil eye” however, mentioned in this week’s Ethics of our Fathers is not to be confused with the ability to cast curses, and truly belongs in another category. This does not mean it lacks punch. In fact, the Mishna states, , “ “The evil eye…drives a man from this world.” , “ Nevertheless, our Sages are not talking about witches and black magic - just a sense of proportion.
The Mishna begins by listing the five most outstanding disciples of Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai, the first one being Eliezer Ben…
Continue reading The Good & Evil Eye (2:10-11)
The Greatest Human Being
More than any other Sage, it was Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai who was instrumental in the national and spiritual recovery after the catastrophic destruction of the second Temple at the hands of the Romans. It was he who built Yavneh, the new center of Jewish life. And it was he who fanned the flames of hope by educating an elite cadre of young scholars who would carry on the teachings of Judaism for the next generation.
Even before Jerusalem lay in ruins, his lectures were so popular they had to be delievered outdoors in front of the Temple, since no study hall could contain the enormous crowds that attended. Nonetheless, this week’s, “ ETHICS OF OUR FATHERS , “enumerates five…
Continue reading The Greatest Human Being
A Straight Life (2:1)
Anton Chekhov was an unsuccessful Russian doctor who would eventually become one of the world’s great literary masters. Among the many aphorisms attributed to Mr. Chekhov is the advice that he once gave an aspiring dramatist, “If you hang a gun on the wall in the first act, you had better use it by the third act.”
Avid readers, or those who attend plays, watch movies, etc. can readily testify to the large number of writers that utilize this tactic. Thus in the spirit of true Chekhovian drama, chest pains are inevitably followed by heart attacks, life insurance policies by sudden deaths, and telephone rings by earth shattering news. In real life however most chest pains turn out to be…
Continue reading A Straight Life (2:1)
Don't Stop Looking (3:7)
Rabbi Yaakov said, “One who walks on the road, studies Torah, interrupts his studies and remarks, ‘How beautiful is this tree! How beautiful is this plowed field!’ Scripture considers it as if he were guilty of mortal sin
Reading this week’s selection of Ethics, one comes across this rather harsh statement. Although it is obviously understood that while studying G-d’s holy Torah one should not digress, still the punishment does not seem to fit the crime. At least the fellow was learning in the first place. What about all the countless others who don’t even start?
Another interesting note is the specific type of interruption. Surely admiring the beauty of nature and extolling the wonders of G-d’s creation is itself…
Continue reading Don’t Stop Looking (3:7)
The Lonely Road (3:4)
As you all must be aware by now, the lengthy summer Shabbat afternoons are spiced up with studies from Ethics of our Fathers. This week’s Chapter contains a teaching from Rabbi Chanina ben Chachinoi that reads like this, “One who is awake at night or travels alone on the road, and he turns his heart to idleness, endangers his life.”
At first glance the Rabbi’s words seem rather harsh. Accordingly, many commentaries understood this statement to be not a directive for all time, but reflective of the difficult times in which the Sage found himself. Rabbi Chanina lived during the Roman occupation of Judea when the study of Torah was forbidden on pain of death. Indeed his very own teacher,...
Continue reading The Lonely Road (3:4)
Judge...yourself (3:1)
Ethics, even more than law, often defines the true essence of who we are. The reason for this should be patently obvious. Rules, imposed by some greater, external authority compel us to do things not necessarily consistent with our real feelings or mores. Ethics, on the other hand, are not always measurable actions that can be regulated by some outside group. They represent our values, inner beliefs, attitudes, and our general outlook on life: In short, our entire personality.
Nonetheless, our Sages of old wished to regulate, or at least formulate, our ethics. Their suggestions, if you will, would serve as guides that would better our relationship with ourselves, our peers, and our Creator.
This week’s lesson is based upon…
Continue reading Judge…yourself (3:1)
Creator of Silence (1:17)
As the hot summer weather takes hold and school lets out, more is shed than winter clothes and late night homework assignments. It seems as if the kick-back, take-life-easy attitude affects our very behavior. Young people are friskier, the rules of dress (even those of modesty, unfortunately) seem more relaxed, talk is looser, and parents give their children more leeway. No wonder then, that the Sages instituted the study of the ETHICS OF OUR FATHERS during these summer months.
What separates Jewish morals from those of the rest of the world? A simple answer might be gleaned from the 100 year old story concerning the President of Harvard University, Charles W. Eliot. A new hall of philosophy was being dedicated…
Continue reading Creator of Silence (1:17)
Don’t Hate the Rabbis (1:10)
We live in an age when moral criticism is considered in bad taste and offensive. Of course, this makes most mothers politically incorrect. But they are not in such bad company. Their moral high-ground is shared by Judaism, as the Talmud points out, “All Jews are responsible for one another.”
This brings us to the classic, moral treatise Ethics of our Fathers, whose first of six chapters will be studied this Shabbat afternoon in most synagogues. In Mishnah number ten we are introduced to Shemayah, a proselyte, or perhaps the descendant of proselytes, turned Sage. He and his colleague Avtalyon, who lived in the middle of the first century BCE, refused to take an oath of allegiance to King Herod,...
Continue reading Don’t Hate the Rabbis (1:10)
Be Part of the Journey (1:5)
In its wake, Passover brings spring, the counting of the Omer days leading up to the festival of Shavuot and the study of that ancient text, Pirkei Avot, Ethics of our Fathers. The opening chapter introduces the moral directives of several Talmudic Sages including Yose ben Yochanan who lived in the second century BCE, in the generation just before the Maccabean revolt.
Rabbi Yose who lived in Jerusalem addresses the issue of hospitality. His statement runs as follows, “Let your house be open wide and let the poor be members of your household.” The fact that Yose ben Yochanan resided in the capital may explain his emphasis on having guests. As we know, Jews from all over the land made…
Continue reading Be Part of the Journey (1:5)
The Dirty Truth (1:4)
The universe is shrinking. I don’t mean in the physical sense. Indeed in that matter, science has finally caught up to the Midrash that explains how the constellations and the planets are expanding. What I refer to is how the world-at-large communicates. Until recently, humans in different parts of the globe could not speak to one another. Then, just over a century ago, the first telephones were connecting families and distant communities. Then the Fax machine brought us even closer together. What followed were CNN and its instantaneous on-the-spot reporting, the World Wide Web, then the latest Pony Express, E-Mail, and now cell phones that make us accessible 24 hours a day.
With all this talking going on, you would…
Continue reading The Dirty Truth (1:4)
Little Mountain (1:1)
On this very first Shabbat after the Pesach holiday, with the taste of Matzoh and Maror still lingering, preparations for the next festival are already underway. Soon the two days of Shavuot commemorating the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai will be upon us. We will eat blintzes, listen to the reading of the Ten Commandments and recite the Yizkor prayer.
However, to do all the above in the proper spirit requires groundwork. It has therefore become a time-honored tradition to study on each of the six Sabbaths that separate Pesach and Shavuot, one chapter of the famous work, Ethics of our Fathers. This collection of our Sages’ timeless morals and wisdom was deemed one of the best cultivators…
Continue reading Little Mountain (1:1)
A Matter of Trust (1:1)
Pirke Avos literally means the Chapters of Avos. What is Avos? The name of one tractate in the great compendium of Rabbinic literature, the Mishna. Already in the time of the Geonim (sixth through eleventh century C.E.), the ancient academies of Babylon had a tradition that on Shabbat afternoon, this ethical treatise was assiduously studied. It was no accident or coincidence that the time specifically chosen to study these teachings was between Pesach and Shavuot. For this is the season of renewal, when the forces of nature regenerate and even man feels the arousal of powerful, instinctual urges demanding satisfaction. Pirke Avos then provides us with timely moral instruction, guarding us from giving in to the pleasures of the moment…
Continue reading A Matter of Trust (1:1)
Not for Sale (22:18)
Bilaam, seer of the ancient world and famous for his curses, was a sought after commodity. As always, the avaricious magician hired his services to the highest bidder. In this week’s Biblical reading, the client was Balak, King of Moav, who desperately sent his most honored ministers to the base and covetous prophet. Our Sages are critical of Bilaam. Here was a man blessed with gifts equaling Moses; an individual granted the keenest of insights into the ways that G-d rules His world. And what did Bilaam do with these spiritual skills? He sold them for a few shekels.
His character is so clearly defined that the Rabbis felt comfortable in declaring, “Whoever possesses these three traits are among the…
Continue reading Not for Sale (22:18)
Whose Values
Vice President Dan Quale is worried about values. Parents and educators are worried about values. The question that must be asked is: Whose values?
One imagines that all decent people have an innate sense of right and wrong. While the headlines seem to belie this belief in the basic goodness of man, one can argue that these are aberrations. In truth, however, not only criminals, but even the common man propagates a value system directly opposed to true Jewish ot Torah standards.
This week’s Ethics of our Fathers is a perfect example. There we are taught, “Who is a wise person? He that learns from everyone; Who is strong? He who subdues his impulses; Who is wealthy? He who is…
Continue reading Whose Values
What You Have Is Not Who You Are (4:1)
Once again we turn to this week’s Ethics of our Fathers for an insight into human nature and the proper attitude one should have in life. Our chapter begins with these four questions as posed by the ancient sage, Ben Zoma. “Who is wise? Who is strong? Who is rich? And who is honorable?”
Contemporary society has already made clear its response. The wise are those who can teach. The strong are those with the power to dominate others. The wealthy are those individuals with many possessions. And the honorable are those who receive our acclaim and praise.
Fortunately for us Ben Zoma offers another perspective, one that radically alters what we view as truly important. Let us hear what…
Continue reading What You Have Is Not Who You Are (4:1)
The Root of Ten (5:1)
During the hot, lazy weeks of summer when our spiritual guard is down, we review the moral treatise par excellence, Ethics of our Fathers. This week’s fifth chapter begins by detailing various aspects of Creation that follow the singular pattern of ten. Examples include how the universe was created by ten Divine Utterances, that the early formative years of the world’s development contained ten generations from Adam to Noach, that the father of our people, Abraham, only appeared after another ten generations had passed and how that same Abraham was tested exactly ten times. But the number ten, our Sages wish to remind us, is not limited to just these instances. Ten is also the tally of plagues in Egypt,...
Continue reading The Root of Ten (5:1)
The Evolution of Humanity (6:2)
“The only true free man is he who occupies himself with the study of Torah.” (Ethics of our Fathers 6:2)
Most people wonder at the veracity of such a statement. “Can subjugation to Torah with all of its strictures be equated with freedom?” It can be argued that no one in our world is truly free. There are laws: the laws of nature, the rules of man, and the conventions of society. Simply stated, true freedom cannot exist, for no individual is completely free to do whatever he desires.
Only G-d can be free. Only He can do what He wants, at any time that He chooses with no restraints whatsoever. For man to taste this freedom, he must seek…
Continue reading The Evolution of Humanity (6:2)
Chorev's Cry (6:2)
“Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi said, ‘Every single day a Heavenly echo emanates from Mount Chorev (another name for Sinai) proclaiming these words, “Woe to the people for the Torah’s humiliation!” For whoever does not occupy himself with the Torah is called reprehensible.’” (Ethics of our Fathers 6:2)
The world is neither still nor quiet. Everywhere men and machines work at high speed. So frenzied is the pace, so loud the din, that no one hears the plaintive cry from a lonely mountain so far away. But one might be tempted to ask, that even if one were to stand in the heart of the desert, could one possibly hear a Divine voice? And, if one indeed could not, why would…
Continue reading Chorev’s Cry (6:2)
A Student’s Honor (4:12
In several hours, I will be boarding a plane headed for New York. The threats of the ‘Unabomber’ will not stop me, nor will he deter the thousands of other Chassidim of the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe from attending the first Yahrzeit of this great leader.
As always, one needs to look to Torah for an appropriate message on the events in our lives. This week, one does not require extensive research to discover the connection between the Rebbe’s inspirational example and the ideals postulated in Ethics of our Fathers.
In Mishna #12 of this week’s chapter, Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua teaches, “Let the honor of your student be as dear to you as your own…” By the tenets and traditions…
Continue reading A Student’s Honor (4:12
A Matter of Trust (1:1)
Pirke Avos literally means the Chapters of Avos. What is Avos? The name of one tractate in the great compendium of Rabbinic literature, the Mishna. Already in the time of the Geonim (sixth through eleventh century C.E.), the ancient academies of Babylon had a tradition that on Shabbat afternoon, this ethical treatise was assiduously studied. It was no accident or coincidence that the time specifically chosen to study these teachings was between Pesach and Shavuot. For this is the season of renewal, when the forces of nature regenerate and even man feels the arousal of powerful, instinctual urges demanding satisfaction. Pirke Avos then provides us with timely moral instruction, guarding us from giving in to the pleasures of the moment…
Continue reading A Matter of Trust (1:1)