I just want to remind people who are studying Pirkei Avot between Chag HaMatzot and Shavuot that I have the full text of Pirkei Avot available online (along with a scarce bit of commentary) here:
Read the full text of Pirkei Avot (‘Ethics of the Fathers’) online
Today is eight days, which are one week and one day, of the Omer.
As many of you know, I’ve been going through a series of books called A Daily Dose of Torah for the past year or so. Here’s something I recently came across:
“Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato (in Mesillas Yesharim Chapter 1) explains that Hashem placed man in a world that is full of situations that can distance him from maintaining a close relationship with Hashem. Even things that seem to be good are tests for a person, to see if he will withstand temptation and use what seems to be an obstacle as a stepping-stone to come closer to Hashem”
(vol 14, p. 31).
It then sites the example from Proverbs 30:8 & 9, which states:
“Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD ?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”
The commentary notes that both poverty and wealth can be a test of one’s service of Hashem. This reminds me of a passage in Pirkei Avot (which we study from now until Shavuot – Pentecost), which says:
Rabbi Yonatan said: He who fulfills the Torah in poverty shall in the end fulfill it in wealth. He who disregards the Torah in wealth shall in the end disregard it in poverty. (Avot 4:11)
Also, Hillel (the grandfather of Paul’s teacher Gamliel) said, “Say not: When I have time I will study, because you may never have the time” (Avot 2:5).
The time to study and live Torah is now. The spirit of Elijah is calling us to return to Torah and live it, not merely theorize about it. If you haven’t cleared the leaven from your home, please do so today. We only have three days left of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and we must purge ourselves from both the physical and spiritual leaven in order to be obedient to Torah and our Messiah. Otherwise, we are denying the validity of Torah and Messiah in our lives and deceiving ourselves, being merely “hearers of the Word” rather than “doers of the Word.”
Do C.S. Lewis and the Talmud have anything in common? Recently, my wife and I have been reading The Chronicles of Narnia to our children. We are on the third book in the series, The Horse and His Boy. Over the course of a few days I read the first half of the book (of which I never could get into) and then let my wife take over in reading the second half of the book. Since I had lost interest in the book, they finished it up without me. When they were nearly finished with the book my wife said that while reading she had found a Talmudic inference by Lewis (my wife is very cool).
As Shasta (the main character of the book) has just reached what he believes to be his haven and resting place after narrowly escaping death and saving his companion’s life, he is told there is no time to rest and he must press on to warn King Lune of an impending attack. Lewis tells us:
Shasta’s heart fainted at these words for he felt he had no strength left. And he writhed inside at what seemed the cruelty and unfairness of the demand. He had not yet learned that if you do one good deed your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one.
Although I’m sure Lewis didn’t intend on citing a Talmudic principle (as he was generally smug in the Christian “superiority” to Judaism), he nevertheless was able to deduce the same conclusion as Rabbi Azzai of the Talmudic era:
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
Shalom Chaverim – Just a note to say that during this time of studying Pirkei Avot I was trying to update the text for it on my site and realized that I had some serious errors. Not only did I have wrong numberings of mishnayot, but chapter two was incomplete. I was missing 5 mishnayot! I am in the process of cleaning up all six chapters, as well as adding the Hebrew, so…if you see any errors on the pages that I have finished adding the Hebrew, please let me know so that I can correct them. Your help is appreciated.
shalom uvracha,
-darren
Pirkei Avot—Chapter 1, Mishnah 12
Hillel would say: Be of the disciples of Aaron — a lover of peace, a pursuer of peace, one who loves the creatures and draws them close to Torah.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. (Matthew 5:9)
Everyone wants it; few are willing to pay the purchase price. We live in an age of consumerism. Mass production, tantalizing marketing and effortless credit have created a generation who is a slave to our impulses, aiding our impetuousness and undermining self-restraint and long-term security. We are perfectly content with accumulating many years of painful debt for a moment of credit bliss. When something breaks, it is easier to just purchase a new one on credit, than to scrape up the cash in order to fix the one we already own.
This mentality has directly affected our relationships with others. When we are offended by another person, it is easier to discard them and acquire a new relationship than to fix the “old, outdated” one into which we have already invested. Unfortunately, repairing the “old” relationship appears to be too costly and outweighs the payoff in the eyes of the consumer. Thus we leave a trail of broken relationships and broken people in our wake.
Being a peacemaker doesn’t mean picket signs and protest rallies. It means rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands dirty.
The Hebrew behind Yeshua’s statement is “אַשְׁרֵי עֹשֵׂי שָׁלוֹם כִּי–הֵם יִקָּרְאוּ בְּנֵי–אֱלֹהִים”. An oseh shalom (עשי שלום) is one who makes or creates peace. Herein lies the truth of being a peacemaker. If, indeed, a peacemaker is one who makes peace, it stands to reason that being that peacemaker requires action. If we are making peace, then we are in the process of creating. Creating is an action verb. Being a peacemaker doesn’t mean picket signs and protest rallies. It doesn’t mean burying your head in the sand. It means rolling up your sleeves and getting dirty. It requires getting out of your comfort zone. It requires affecting those around us. It requires time, skill, effort, and expense. It requires effort, and lots of it. It requires us to be active, rather than passive in our approach to making peace, not only between us and another person, but between others even when we are not directly involved. It requires sacrifice.
Just as our mishnah states, a wonderful example this is Aaron, the brother of Moshe. It is said of Aaron that the way he would make peace between a man and his fellow would be as follows:
So, too, when two men had quarreled with each other, Aaron would go and sit down with one of them and say to him: “My son, mark what thy fellow is saying! He beats his breast and tears his clothing, saying, ‘Woe unto me! how shall I lift my eyes and look upon my fellow! I am ashamed before him, for I it is who treated him foully.’ ”He would sit with him until he had removed all rancor from his heart, and then Aaron would go and sit with the other one and say to him: “My son, mark what thy fellow is saying! He beats his breast and tears his clothing, saying, ‘Woe unto me! how shall I lift my eyes and look upon my fellow! I am ashamed before him, for I it is who treated him foully.’ ”
He would sit with him until he had removed all rancor from his heart. And when the two men met each other, they would embrace and kiss each other. That is why (of Aaron’s death) it is said, They wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel (Num. 20:29) 1
This is why we are to be disciples of Aaron. He both knew how to make peace and put it into practice. Therefore peace was made between one man and another. It took Aaron getting involved, rather than merely praying for them. It required him to be vulnerable to being the brunt of his brother’s anger.
For those familiar with the Chofetz Chaim (which translates to “Desire of Life“), you know that the hallmark of his namesake is found in Psalm 34:12-14, which states “Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” He spent his entire life dedicated to learning and putting into practice the laws of proper speech and ethical conduct. He both sought peace and pursued it with his entire being.
Psalm 34:10 says, “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” An alternate version of ARN comments on this passage through the following teaching. “Rabbi Simeon ben Eleazar says: If a man sits in his own place and is inactive, how can he pursue peace in Israel between man and man? Let him therefore go forth from his place and move around in the world and pursue peace in Israel, as it is said, Seek peace and pursue it.” 2
Boaz Michael has aptly noted that being a peacemaker should be inherent for disciples of the Sar Shalom (Prince of Peace), Yeshua HaMashiach. We should be the first to bring peace to others, rather than sitting by idly while strife manifests between brothers. Avoidance should not be our method of dealing with conflict.
The Apostolic Writings are full of such instruction. In his epistles, Rav Sha’ul speaks on peace at length. He encourages us to “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace,” (Ephesians 4:3). In Romans 8:6 he also reminds us that “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” He also tells us “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone,” (Romans 12:18). He says we should “make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification,” (Rom 14:19).
James, the brother of the Master, tells us, “Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness,” (James 3:18). The seed we sow determines the harvest we reap. Are we sowing in strife or peace? When harvest time approaches, what crop will we reap? It’s not too late to begin planting a fresh crop of seed for the harvest…
1. Goldin, Judah. The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan. Yale University Press, New York, 1955, p. 64.
2. Ibid. p. 67.
