Jun 29, 2011
Posted on Jun 29, 2011 in Apostolic Midrash, Apostolic Writings, Paul, Pirkei Avot | 1 comment
He [Hillel] used to say: The more flesh the more worms; the more possessions the more anxiety; the more women the more witchcraft; the more maidservants the more lewdness, the more manservants the more theft. But the more Torah the more life, the more study the more wisdom; the more counsel the more understanding; the more charity (righteousness) the more peace. (Avot 2:8)
While studying this mishnah (“saying”) from Pirkei Avot, I came across some interesting thoughts in regard to Paul, and how we might understand one of his teachings on an entirely new dimension than before. First, let me give some background.
Less Is More
The more flesh the more worms; the more possessions the more anxiety; the more women the more witchcraft; the more maidservants the more lewdness, the more manservants the more theft.
This maxim can easily stand on its own. We all realize, to some degree or another, that “less” is often “more,” and “more” is often an overdose. The main point Hillel is making here is that just because we think we need “more,” it is not necessarily a good thing. “More” can often lead to our demise.
Our Animal Nature
In Rabbi Abraham Twerski’s excellent commentary on Pirkei Avot, Visions of the Fathers, he expounds upon this saying through a couple of illustrations. He says that if we look at a human being we will find that he is composed of both a physical body, and a spiritual soul. Our bodies are essentially the same as any other animal, and living for our bodies as our main priority (it’s easy to find out if this is true or not, by simply looking at where we invest our time & resources) causes us to be no better than an animal. In actuality, in some ways being an animal would really be better, because animals generally don’t over-indulge. When they have eaten to their fill, they stop. Not so with humans. Too often we eat more for pleasure than for our physical needs. Animals don’t struggle with obesity. Humans do.
So to primarily feed our physical bodies puts us at a level that is actually below the animal kingdom. We miss our calling of truly being human. Therefore, just as this mishnah states, we must attend to our physical needs with limitations.
Our Spiritual Nature
On the other hand, however, our spiritual needs are different than our physical needs. While we must be careful to limit our physical pleasures, our neshamot (our spiritual beings) should be handled with an entirely different approach. Just as God is infinite, the needs of our neshama, made from the spark of the Divine (“…breath deep the breath of God”), are also infinite. Therefore, placing a limit upon our spiritual pursuits (in contrast to our physical pursuits) may actually be detrimental to us, rather than beneficial. Rabbi Twerski sums this thought up with the following:
There are some things for which halachah does not designate an appropriate limit, but for many other spiritual activities — such as helping others or Torah study — there are no limits.
This immediately brought my mind back to a passage from the Mishna that is recited each morning:
These are the precepts that have no prescribed measure: the corner of the field [which must be left for the poor], the first-fruit offering, the pilgrimage, acts of kindness, and Torah study. (Peah 1:1)
These things “have no limit.” They may be done “to excess.” After all, can we be too kind? Too generous? Too devout? Should we place a limit on godliness?
The Fruits of the Spirit
This brought my mind back to something we hear from the Apostle Paul that has always troubled me in its wording. In his letter to the Galatians he introduces his concept of the “fruit of the Spirit” with the following:
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Galatians 5:16,17)
He essentially does the same thing as our mishnah. He warns us against “feeding our flesh,” and contrasts this with being sensitive to the Spirit and living a more spiritual life than a fleshly one. But the curious part about it is when he actually gives us his list for the “fruit of the Spirit”:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22,23, emphasis mine)
Paul could have stopped with “self-control.” However, he concludes his list with the phrase, “Against such things there is no law.” In other words, these are things which “have no limit,” just as the corners of the field, the first-fruit offering, the pilgrimage, acts of kindness and Torah study. There should be no limit to love, nor joy, nor peace, nor kindness, nor goodness, nor faithfulness, nor gentleness, nor self-control.
Have you been limiting yourself unnecessarily? I know I have. Are you ready to live life without limits?
I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)
This is how we do it. This is how we truly live. To coin a phrase… “Just do it.”
Apr 30, 2010
Posted on Apr 30, 2010 in Book Reviews, J-BOM, Pirkei Avot | 0 comments
Visions of the Fathers
Rabbi Abraham Twerski
Mesorah Publications, 1999
I’ve owned and cherished Visions of the Fathers for a few years now. It has become a wealth of inspiration, as well as a guide to practical application of the wisdom contained within Pirkei Avot. Some of my readers may not be familiar with Pirkei Avot, so let me begin by sharing a little about this source
Pirkei Avot, often shortened to merely Avot, is a chapter of tractate Nezakin (Damages) of the Mishnah, the Oral Law of Judaism. It contains six chapters, which are traditionally studied one chapter per week during the counting of the Omer, and then continue again at a slower pace until Sukkot (Tabernacles).
Avot is probably the most familiar work of the Mishnah due to its timeless aphorisms which affect all aspects of our lives. Sayings such as:
- On three things the world stands: Torah, Service & Acts of Loving Kindness
- Make a teacher for yourself, acquire a friend/companion for yourself and judge all men on the scale of merit
- The reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah
- Make your Torah study a fixed practice. Say little & do much; and greet everyone with a cheerful countenance
- Do not say, “When I am free I will study,” for perhaps you will never be free
So, why is studying Avot important? First, because it’s just good wisdom and we can all use more wisdom. But secondly, because the words of Jesus predate nearly all of the wisdom sayings found within this work, and yet you can almost hear his voice in the majority of these sayings. And though studying these comparatively with the words of our Master, I think we can gain some insight and understanding into his teachings which may have eluded us.
Lastly, I find one of the most important reasons to study Avot is that many often spend a considerable amount of time learning the text and meaning of Scripture, but fail in the application. The main focus on Avot (and all of Jewish theology for that matter) is application. Comparing the straight forward instructions of Avot with the sometimes broad strokes of Yeshua’s teachings can sometimes really help in understanding practical application of the Master’s imperatives.
Every Wednesday morning I meet with three other men for fellowship & to discuss the things we are learning, studying, etc. Over the last couple of weeks we have been discussing Avot, based on Twerski’s work. So far, we’ve gotten through the first three sayings of the first chapter. Yes, it’s that engaging. It’s been a wonderful time of digging into this text and then into the words of our Master to see how they compare and if we can learn something new and applicable to our lives.
In regard to Avot commentaries, there are a plethora of commentaries available from various sources. This commentary by Twerski, however, is personally significant in that it seems to contain the kind of analogies which really drive home the message of each particular mishnah (segment of text, similar to a verse). He is a natural maggid (story teller), and includes an enormous amount of talmudic anecdotes & chassidic stories to illustrate his points for each mishnah. Some Messianics might take issue with his constant affinity with psychological principles or kabbalistic insights. However, I find them very stimulating and accessible.
As far as illustrating Twerski’s methods, time permits me to give only one example.
Avot 1:6 says
Yehoshua ben Perachyah says: Make a teacher for yourself; acquire a friend for yourself; and judge everyone favorably.
Commenting on the last portion of this passage regarding judging everyone favorably, Twerski states
If we are flexible and lenient with other people, then God is lenient to us. If we are stern, rigid, and demanding, then God will act accordingly with us. When we judge other people favorably rather than condemn them, we merit that God will judge us favorably as well.
Essentially, this is what Yeshua tells in the Gospel of Matthew:
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)
So, why should we judge others favorably? Why not judge them with the measure they “deserve”? Because we will be judged in like manner, according to our Master.
From there, Twerski references the Baal Shem Tov and the Zohar on a couple of insightful points, and then says the following:
If we fail to identify our own shortcomings, we are likely to see them in others and be critical of them. If we acquire a teacher and friend that can alert us to our own biases and allow us to be more impartial in our judgments, we are far less likely to be condemning of others.
This is the essence of Yeshua’s instructions, and the extension of the mishnah at hand. Twerski does a great job at digging to the heart of the mishnah and looking at both the broad and specific applications time after time throughout the book. I would definitely be interested to hear any other specifics as to what you have enjoyed from Visions of the Fathers if you want to post a note for me in the comments. If you haven’t read it yet, you can pick up a copy here.
Feb 25, 2009
Posted on Feb 25, 2009 in Apocrypha/Pseudepigrapha, Pirkei Avot, Site Changes | 2 comments
I have launched a new, related site where I am posting eTexts such as Pirkei Avot, the Didache, Odes of Solomon, etc. (that’s actually all I have at the moment, but will be adding more as time goes on).
http://etexts.diggingwithdarren.com/
It will be my permanent repository for such texts and will be easily searchable. I through it together quickly, but it’s already very handy and easy to use. I plan on making it a lot more functional in the future. I would also like to know if anyone would volunteer to help me add texts from time to time. If you’re interested, please give me a shout at darren [at] diggingwithdarren (dot) com. I look forward to hearing if anyone finds the site useful.
Sep 9, 2008
Posted on Sep 9, 2008 in Midrash, Pirkei Avot, Torah, Yeshua | 5 comments
Yesterday’s reading regarding the sending away of the mother bird (Deut 22:6-7) gives us insight into the nature of Torah. The sending away of the mother bird is considered the “least of the commandments.” We fulfill all of the mitzvot, rather than only the “greater” ones because we do not know the reward for any of the mitzvot, save two (actually three…see Deut 11:20,21) the “least” and the “greatest.” And they both carry the same reward. Here are some texts to illustrate the point.
R. Abba b. Kahana said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said: ‘Do not spend time weighing up the precepts of the Torah, as Scripture hath it, And weighed the mountains in scales- [Based on the word ba-peles] (Isa. 40:12); and do not say, ‘Seeing that this precept is a great one, I will perform it because its reward is great, and seeing that the other precept is a minor one, I will not perform it.’ What did God do? He did not reveal to His creatures the reward for each separate precept, so that they may perform all the precepts without questioning. Whence this? For it is said, ‘Her ways wander, that thou canst not know them.’ It is as if a king hired for himself labourers and brought them straight into his garden without disclosing what he intended to pay for the various kinds of work in the garden, lest they should neglect the work for which the pay was little for work for which the pay was high. In the evening he called each one in turn and asked him: ‘ At which tree have you worked? ‘ He replied: ‘At this one.’ Thereupon the king said to him: ‘This is a pepper tree and the pay for working at it is one golden piece.’ He then called another and asked him: ‘At which tree have you worked? ‘ And he replied: ‘ Under this tree.’ The king thereupon said: ‘This is a white-blossom tree and the pay for working at it is a half a golden piece.’ He then called yet another, and asked him: ‘At which tree have you worked?’ And he replied: ‘At this one.’ Whereupon the king exclaimed: ‘ This is an olive tree and the pay for working at it is two hundred zuz.’ Said the labourers to the king: ‘You should have informed us from the outset which tree had the greater pay attached to it, so that we might have worked at it.’ Thereupon the king replied: ‘ Had I done this, how would the whole of my garden have been worked?’ So God did not reveal the reward of the precepts, except of two, the weightiest and the least weighty. The honouring of parents is the very weightiest and its reward is long life, as it is said, Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long (Ex. XX, 12); and the sending away of the mother bird is the least weighty, and what is its reward? Length of days.
—Devarim Rabba 6:2
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”
—Matthew 20:1-16, ESV
Rabbi [Judah the Prince] said: …Be as scrupulous about a light precept as of a weighty one, for you do not know the reward allotted for each precept.
Avot 2:1
Ben Azzai said: Be eager to fulfill the smallest mitzvah and flee from transgression; for one mitzvah induces another and one transgression leads to another transgression. The reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah, the reward of one transgression is another transgression.
Avot 4:2
