Pirke Avot (Ethics of the Fathers)

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Translator: Joseph I. Gorfinkle

Year of original or translation: 200 AD

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PREFACE INTRODUCTION Name Purpose Description Contents Language Development of Abot Abot in Liturgy Bibliography CHAPTER I CHAPTER II CHAPTER III CHAPTER IV CHAPTER V CHAPTER VI HEBREW TEXT (Appendix)

Notwithstanding the fact that there are many editions of the Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, and that it has been translated innumerable times in all modern tongues, no apology need be given for the appearance of this little volume in the series of Jewish Classics. The Pirke Abot is indeed a classical bit of that ancient Jewish classic, the Mishnah.

The translation in this edition is based largely upon that of Taylor, in his Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, and upon the excellent version of Singer, in his Authorized Daily Prayer Book.

This edition is intended mainly for popular reading, but it has been thought wise to amplify the notes, especially with bibliographical references, so that it may serve the purpose of a teacher's handbook, and also be useful as a text-book for the higher grades of religious schools and for study circles. The references are to books that are generally accessible, and, wherever possible, to books in English. The notes are by no means intended to be exhaustive, but rather to be suggestive.

It is the humble hope of the editor that this little book may be the means of further popularizing the practical and, at the same time, high-minded wisdom of the "Fathers"; that it may serve as an incentive to a more detailed study of their philosophy of life, and that its appearance may help us to lead in a revival of that most ancient and praiseworthy custom of reading the Pirke Abot in the house of worship on the Sabbath, during the summer months. Let him into whose hands these sayings fall "meditate upon them day and night," for "he who would be saintly must fulfil the dicta of the Fathers."

JOSEPH I GORFINKLE.

Mt. Vernon, N. Y. February, 1913.

NAME The Tractate Abot (Massechet Abot) is the ninth treatise of The Order or Series on Damages (Seder Nezikin), which is the fourth section of the Mishnah (1). It is commonly known in Hebrew as Pirke Abot, The Chapters of the Fathers, and has also been termed Mishnat ha-Chasidim, Instruction for the Pious, because of the Rabbinic saying, "He who wishes to be pious, let him practise the teachings of Abot" (2). On account of the nature of its contents, it is generally designated in English as the Ethics of the Fathers. Taylor entitles his edition Dibre Aboth ha-Olam, Sayings of the Fathers of the World_, and has as the English title, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers. Gustav Gottheil refers to the Abot as the Sayings of the Pharisaic Fathers (3). Its German title is generally Die Spruche der Vater, and in French it is usually rendered Chapitres or Maximes des Peres.

(1) See infra, [Chapter V], n. 61.

(2) Baba Kamma, 30a. See Taylor, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, p. 3. Maimonides refers to this saying in the Foreword of his Eight Chapters; see Gorfinkle, The Eight Chapters, etc., p. 34.

(3) See Sun and Shield, p. 321 et passim. See infra, n. 8, which accounts for the use of "Pharisaic."

The use of the word Abot (fathers), in the title, is of very ancient date. We can only guess at the reason for its being used, and, consequently, there are various explanations for it. Samuel de Uceda, in his collective commentary, says that as this tractate of the Mishnah contains the advice and good counsel, which, for the most part, come from a father, the Rabbis mentioned in it adopt the role of "fathers," and are therefore so designated. This explanation does not, however, deter him from advancing another to the effect that this treatise is the basis of all subsequent ethical and moral teachings and doctrines, and the Rabbis are, in consequence, the "fathers" or prototypes of all ethical teachers and moralists (4). Loeb attributes its use to the fact that the Rabbis of Abot are the "fathers" or "ancestors of Rabbinic Judaism" (5). Hoffman states that the word abot means "teachers of tradition" (Traditionslehrer), and points to the expression abot ha-olam (Eduyot, I. 4), which, translated literally, is "fathers of the world," but is used to designate the most distinguished teachers, which is a true characterization of the Rabbis of Abot (6). Taylor says in regard to the title, "It takes its name from the fact that it consists to a great extent of the maxims of the Jewish Fathers whose names are mentioned in the pages" (7). Hoffmann's seems the most acceptable explanation.

(4) Midrash Shemuel (ed. Warsaw, 1876), p. 6. The Midrash Shemuel is a collective commentary, first published in Venice in 1579, and which has since passed through six editions. See p. 22, n. 21.

(5) La Chaine, etc., p. 307, n. 1.

(6) See Hoffman, Seder Nesikin, Introd., p. xx, and p. 258, n. 36. In this passage of Eduyot, Hillel and Shammai are referred to as abot ha-olam; in Yerushalmi Shekalim, III, 47b, Rabbi and Ishmael and Rabbi Akiba, and in Yerushalmi Chagigah, II, 77d, all the pairs of Abot I are similarly designated.

(7) Taylor, loc. cit.

PURPOSE The original aim of Abot was to show the divine source and authority of the traditional law revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai, and to demonstrate its continuity from Moses through Joshua, the elders, and the men of the Great Synagogue, down to those Rabbis who lived during the period between 200 B.C.E. to 200 C.E. Loeb maintains that Abot was originally a composition of the Pharisaic Rabbis who wished to indicate that the traditions held and expounded by them, and which the Sadducees repudiated, were divine and, in time and sequence, uninterruptedly authoritative (8). This line of continuous tradition is plainly seen in the first two chapters. A second and probably later purpose was to present a body of practical maxims and aphorisms for the daily guidance of the people.

(8) La Chaine, etc. The Sadducees belonged to the priestly and aristocratic families. They made light of the oral traditions, did not believe in the future life, and were indifferent to the independence of the Jewish nation. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were constituted largely from the common people; they were believers in, and strict observers of, the traditional laws, and were ardent nationalists. The bitter attack of Jesus on them, which has resulted in making the word "Pharisee" synonymous with "hypocrite" and "self-righteous person," was, to say the least, unjust, as Herford has so lucidly pointed out in his sympathetic study of the Pharisees. Herford, though not a Jew, has taken up the cudgels most ably in defence of this sect, with remarkable insight into the life and literature of the ancient Jews. He demonstrates conclusively that though there were hypocrites among the Pharisees, as among all classes and creeds, yet the average Pharisee was a man of the most elevated religious ideals, who misunderstood Jesus, but who, in turn was misunderstood by him. Huxley, in his Evolution of Theology, says, "of all the strange ironies in history, perhaps the strangest is that 'Pharisee' is current as a term of reproach among the theological descendants of that sect of Nazarenes who, without the martyr spirit of those primitive Puritans, would never have come into existence." Such great teachers and men of sterling quality and golden utterance as Antigonus of Soko (I, 3), Hillel (I, 12-14; II, 5-8), Jochanan ben Zakkai (II, 9-19), Gamaliel, whose pupil was Paul, the apostle (I, 16), and Judah, the Prince (II, 1), whose sayings grace the pages of Abot, were, as Loeb points out, of the Pharisaic school or party. There is naturally a large literature on the Pharisees. Herford's Pharisaism deserves careful perusal. See, also, Josephus (ed. Whiston-Margoliouth), Antiq., XIII, 10.6, XVIII, 1, 2-4; Schurer, History of the Jews, etc., II, ii, p. 14 et seq.; Jewish Encyclopedia and literature mentioned there; Geiger, Judaism and Its History, p. 102 et seq., and Friedlander, G., The Jewish Sources of the Sermon on the Mount, p. 34 et seq.

DESCRIPTION The Sayings of the Jewish Fathers is the oldest collection of ethical dicta of the Rabbis of the Mishnah (9). It is a Rabbinic anthology. It has been happily styled "a compendium of practical ethics" (10), and, as Mielziner has said, "these Rabbinical sentences, if properly arranged, present an almost complete code of human duties" (11). The Abot is, then, a sort of moral code.

(9) There was another, and apparently older, recension of Pirke Abot on which is based the Abot de-Rabbi Natan, an hagadic or homiletical exposition of Abot. Two recensions of Abot de-Rabbi Natan exist, and have been edited by Schechter. On this work, see Hoffman, Die erste Mischna, p. 26 et seq., Mielziner, article Abot de-Rabbi Natan, in Jewish Encyclopedia, Strack, Einleitung, p. 69 _et seq., and Pollak, Rabbi Nathans System, etc., Introduction, pp. 7-9. An English translation is found in Rodkinson's edition of the Talmud, vol. V, p. 1 et seq.

(10) Taylor, loc. cit. Lazarus, Ethics of Judaism, II. 113, calls it "a compendium of ethics."

(11) In Jewish Encyclopedia, art. Abot.

CONTENTS Even a superficial reading of Abot will bring home to one the fact that it is made up of various strata. In fact, it falls naturally into the following strands or divisions:

A. Chapter I, 1-15: Chronologically arranged sayings of the oldest authorities, from the men of the Great Synagogue to Hillel and Shammai.

B. (1) Chapters I, 16-II, 4: Sayings of the men of the school of Hillel to Rabban Gamaliel (about 230 C.E.), the son of Judah ha-Nasi

(2) Chapter II, 5-8: Additional sayings of Hillel.

C. (1) Chapter II, 9-19: The sayings of Jochanan ben Zakkai, the pupil of Hillel, and of his disciples.

(2) Chapter II, 20-21: The sayings of Rabbi Tarfon, a younger contemporary of Jochanan ben Zakkai.

D. Chapter III: the maxims of seventeen Tannaim (authorities mentioned in the Mishnah) to the time of and including Rabbi Akiba. These are not arranged in strictly chronological order.

E. Chapter IV: The sayings of twenty-five Tannaim after the time of Rabbi Akiba, who were contemporaries of Rabbi Meir and of Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi. These are not chronologically arranged.

F. (1) Chapter V, 1-18: Anonymous sayings forming a series of groups of ten, seven, and four things, dealing with the creation of the world, with miracles, and with the varieties of men and minds.

(2) Chapter V, 19-22: Anonymous sayings touching upon the varieties of motives and contrasting the good and evil dispositions.

(3) Chapter V, 23: Sayings of Judah ben Tema.

(4) Chapter V, 24: The ages of man.

(5) Chapter V, 25, 26: The sayings of Ben Bag Bag and of Ben He He.

G. Chapter VI: The acquisition of the Torah; praise of the Torah.

LANGUAGE The language of Abot is easy Mishnaic Hebrew, with portions of four verses (I, 13; II, 7; V, 25, and V, 26) in Aramaic, which is closely related to Hebrew. It is worthy of note that these Aramaic portions originated with the school of Hillel (12).

(12) On the language of the Mishnah, see Mielziner, Introduction to the Talmud, pp. 15-16, and Lauterbach in Jewish Encyclopedia, vol II, p. 614. On the use of Aramaic in the Mishnah, see Schurer, History, I, ii, p. 8 et seq., and Bacher, in Jewish Encyclopedia, art. Aramaic Language Among the Jews. Several centuries before the common era, Aramaic was the vernacular of the Jews. Hebrew, however, remained in use as the sacred language ([lashon ha-kodesh]), it being the language of the learned, and was employed for literary, liturgical, and legal purposes. This accounts for the Mishnah being written almost entirely in Hebrew, though Aramaic was spoken on the streets. It is related of Judah ha-Nasi that he disliked the Aramaic jargon to such an extent that he forbade its use in his home, where even the servants spoke Hebrew with elegance (Rosh ha-Shanah, 26b). When scholars used Aramaic in his presence, he chided them for not speaking in Hebrew or in Greek (Baba Kamma, 82b).

DEVELOPMENT OF ABOT (13) (13) On the subject-matter of this section, consult Hoffmann, Die erste Mischna, pp. 26-37; idem, Mischnaiot Seder Nesikin, Introd., pp. XX-XXI; Brull, Enstehung und ursprunglicher Inhalt des Traktates Abot; Loeb, La Chaine, etc.; Ginzburg, Spruche der Vater, erstes Capitel historisch beleuchtet (Liepzig, 1889); Strack, Die Spruche der Vater, Introd., pp. 7-8; idem, Einleitung, p. 52, and Rawicz, Commentar des Maimonides, p. 105, n. 3.

It is apparent from the literary construction of Abot that it has been edited several times, and that, in its earliest form, the Abot collection was much smaller than we have it to-day. Originally, probably shortly after the time of Hillel, it may have been merely a sort of appendix to the Tractate Sanhedrin, with typical sayings of each of the heads of the Sanhedrin. These dicta are contained in what is designated as section A. Later, presumably by Rabbi Akiba, there were added to this original kernel of Abot the sayings of Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai and his most illustrious pupils, which comprise section C. This resulted in the grouping together of the sayings of ten generations of traditional authorities, as follows: (1) the men of the Great Synagogue, (2) Simon, the Just, (3) Antigonus of Soko, (4) Jose ben Joezer and Jose ben Jochanan, (5) Joshua ben Perachiah and Nittai, the Arbelite, (6) Judah ben Tabbai and Simeon ben Shatach, (7) Shemaiah and Abtalion, (8) Hillel and Shammai, (9) Jochanan ben Zakkai, and (10) the latter's disciples. By association of idea with this number ten, there were added to this collection numerical sayings of ten, and, then, others of seven and four, found in chapter V, 1-9 and 10-13.

Into this enlarged kernel of pithy sayings of the oldest authorities, which may be characterized as the Abot of Rabbi Akiba, later Tannaim—Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi, and others—interpolated additional sayings of the afore-mentioned Rabbis, and also typical utterances of their disciples, and of other well-known teachers. This accounts for the presence in Abot of the body of maxims of the six generations of the school of Hillel, designated above as section B 1, and which was very properly introduce after the aphorisms of Hillel and of his contemporary, Shammai. The thread of tradition being interrupted by this interpolation, it was again taken up by the introduction of another body of Hillel's sayings (B 2), thus providing for a natural transition from Hillel to Jochanan ben Zakkai. Proof of the fact that section B is an addition is that in the Abot de-Rabbi Natan—which, as has been said above, is based on an older version of Abot (14)—the sayings of Jochanan ben Zakkai follow immediately upon those of Shammai. The sayings of Judah ha-Nasi, the redactor of the Mishnah, and of Rabbi Gamaliel, his son, were undoubtedly added after the time of Judah.

(14) See supra, p. 13, n. 9.

Chapter III contains the sayings of authorities who were the predecessors of Judah, the first two having lived before the destruction of the second Temple. Chapter IV is made up of the dicta of a number of Rabbis who were contemporaries of Judah. These two chapters were, no doubt, inserted by Judah, the redactor of the Mishnah as we virtually have it to-day. Evidence that Chapter IV is an addition to the original Abot is that it has a number of aphorisms which are repetitions of some found in Chapters I and II. The greater part of Chapter V, as stated above, was a portion of the Abot of Rabbi Akiba.

Chapter VI, which is known as The Chapter on the Acquisition of Torah (Perek Kinyan Torah), as The External Teaching of the Abot (Baraita de-Abot) (15), as The Chapter of Rabbi Meir (Perek Rabbi Meir) (16), and as the External Teaching of Rabbi Meir (Baraita de-Rabbi Meir), is a supplement of the treatise Abot, as is claimed for it by its superscription, "the sages taught in the language of the Mishnah," a formula generally used in the Talmud to introduce a Baraita. One of the authorities mentioned in it is Joshua ben Levi, a Palestinian amora (an authority of the Gemara) who lived during the third century. This demonstrates the comparatively late date of the final redaction of this chapter. By the middle of the ninth century it formed a part of the treatise Abot. It was added to the prayer-book to be read on the sixth Sabbath of the period between Passover and the Festival of Weeks (Shebuot) (17). (15) A Baraita contains traditions and opinions of authorities of the Mishnah which are not embodied in the Mishnah or Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi. See Mielziner, Introduction to the Talmud, pp. 20-21, Strack, Einleitung in den Talmud, p. 3, and the Jewish Encyclopedia, s.v. A gemara (Talmudical commentary) to the Baraita de-Abot was published from a MS. by Coronel in Chamishah Kuntresin (Vienna, 1864). This baraita is found also in the seventeenth chapter of Tanna de-Be Eliyahu Sutta, but with different textual readings. See Ginzberg, in the Jewish Encyclopedia, II, pp. 516-517.

(16) Known thus because Rabbi Meir's name is found in the first verse.

(17) See next section. The sixth chapter is found in some editions of the Mishnah.

ABOT IN THE LITURGY (18) (18) On the subject-matter of this section, see the citation from the Sar Shalom Gaon, in the Siddur of R. Amram, 30a; Midrash Shemual, pp. 3-4; Zunz, Die Ritus, pp. 85-86; Strack, Die Spruche der Vater, p. 5, and Siddur, ed. Baer, p. 271, note. Other portions of the Mishnah and also of the Talmud that are included in the liturgy are, in the morning service, Zebachim V (Siddur, ed. Singer, p. 11); in the evening service for the Sabbath, Sabbat, II (pp. 120-122), and, from the Talmud, end of Berachot (p. 122); in the additional service for Sabbath and festivals, from the Talmud Keritot, 6a, from the Mishnah, end of Tamid, and from the Talmud, end of Berachot (pp. 167-168).

As Taylor has said, "Its simplicity and intrinsic excellence have secured for Abot a widespread and lasting popularity, and have led to its being excerpted from the Talmud and used liturgically in the Synagogue, at certain seasons, from an early period" (19). Thus, the Abot is found not only in all editions of the Mishnah and the Talmud, but also in the prayer-books of the Ashkenazic rite (20). The practice of reading a chapter from Abot, on Saturday, after the afternoon prayer (Minchah), originated as early as Gaonic times (seventh to eleventh centuries). During the middle of the ninth century, Abot and its Baraita were thus liturgically used. In Spanish communities it was recited in the morning of the Sabbath, and not in the afternoon. By the eleventh century, this custom was universally a part of the synagogal service.

(19) Taylor, loc. cit.

(20) German and Polish.

Originally, Abot was probably read only from Passover to Shebuot; and, since this period has generally six Sabbaths, and there are only five chapters of Abot, the chapter Kinyan Torah was appointed to be read on the sixth Sabbath. Later, the period of the year in which Abot was read varied in different communities. In Germany, there were kehillot in which it was recited during the winter as well as during the summer. In some communities it was read from Passover to the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), in others from the Sabbath of Parashah Yitro (Ex. XVIII, 1-XX, 26) to the Sabbath of Parashah Masse'e (Num. XXXIII, 1-XXXVI, 13), that is, from the Sabbath on which is read an account of the giving of the Law until the Sabbath preceding the beginning of the reading of the "repetition of the Law," i.e., Deuteronomy. In many orthodox congregations to-day this practice is still adhered to, and Abot is read on Sabbath afternoons during the summer, or from the Sabbath after Passover to the Sabbath before the New Year (Rosh ha-Shanah).

A number of reasons have been suggested for the custom of reading the Abot in the synagogue, the most likely being that it was introduced to occupy the minds of worshippers during the long wait, on a summer's day, between the afternoon and evening services. Whatever the reason for this custom may have been is immaterial and unimportant; but what is of importance is that, by this excellent practice, a whole body of moral dicta—each one summing up with remarkable conciseness a life's experience and philosophy, each one breathing the spirit of piety, saintliness, justice, and love for humanity—has sunk deeply into the innermost heart and consciousness of the Jewish people, exerting such an influence that the principles set forth in the Abot have been eternally wrought into the moral fibre of the descendants of the Rabbis. To the lips of the Jew, these maxims spring spontaneously; to those who know them they are a safe and secure guide through life; they are not only heard in the synagogue, but are quoted and applied at home and abroad. Such are the fruits of a benign custom, which Israel will do well to prize and preserve.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Because of its great popularity, the Pirke Abot has appeared in many editions. There is no Gemara (Talmudic commentary) on the Abot, which undoubtedly accounts for the numerous commentaries on it (21). Because of the attractiveness of its contents, and since it forms a part of the ritual, it has been translated many times into many tongues (22), and a great deal has been written on it. The following bibliography will be helpful to the general reader and to the student who wish to get a more detailed and intimate knowledge of the Abot than can be imparted in this work.

(21) There are more than thirty-five. The best known is that of Maimonides (1135-1204), which was written originally in Arabic, as part of his commentary on the Mishnah. A commentary has been attributed to Rashi. Other commentaries are by (1) Rabbi Jacob ben Shimshon, found in the Machzor Vitry (see Taylor, Introd., p. 5; Appendix, p. 23; (2) Rabbi Israel of Toledo, in Arabic (twelfth to thirteenth century; see Taylor, Introd., p. 5, Appendix, p. 46 _et seq.__; (3) Simon Duran (1361-1444), Magen Abot; first edition, Livorno, 1763; ed. Jellinek, Leipzig, 1855; (4) Bertinora (died 1510), in his popular commentary on the Mishnah; (5) Isaac ben Judah Abrabanel, Nachalot Abot; ed. Constantinople, 1505; (6) Samuel de Uceda, Midrash Shemual; venice, 1579, 1585, 1597, 1600, Cracow, 1594, Frankfurt a. M., 1713, Warsaw, 1876; (7) Yom Tob Lippman Heller (1579-1654), in Tosefot Yom Tob, on the Mishnah; (8) elijah, Gaon of Wilna (1720-1797), in Siddur Tefillat Yacob, Berlin, 1864; and (9) S. Baer, in Siddur Abodat Yisroel, Rodelheim, 1868. There is also acommentary, by Naphtali Herts Wessely, known as Yayin Lebanon, Berlin, 1774-1775, which has been translated into English, in the Hebrew Review (edited by Morris J. Raphall, London, 1835-1837), Vol. I, p. 177, p. 193, and further.

(22) Mischoff, in his Kritische Geschichte der Talmud-Uebersetzungen aller Zeigen und Zungen (Frankfurt a. M., 1899), [s] 56, has a list of 62 translations and of 15 partial translations. Others have appeared since this list was made. For English translation, consult this list.

Editions (23), Commentaries, and Translations

(23) A list of editions, mostly earlier than those mentioned here, and of the Abot in Mishnah editions may be found in Steinschneider, Catalogue Librorum Hebraeorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana (Berlin, 1852-1860), No. 1433-1519, 1982-2034; M. Roest, Catalog der Hebraica und Judaica (Amsterdam, 1875), pp. 818-821, 824-828; and Strack, Spruche, pp. 8-9.

(24) Falk has been called the "father of American Hebrew literature."

(25) The Eight Chapters is the introduction of Maimonides to his commentary on Abot. Its Hebrew name is Shemonah Perakim. It is a remarkable instance of the harmonious welding of the ethical principles contained in Abot with mediaeval Aristotelian philosophy.

(26) A list of MSS., editions, translations, and commentaries of the Eight Chapters, some including Abot, is found on pp.27-33 of this work.

Homiletical Works

General Works

Abelson, J. The Immanence of God in Rabbinical Literature (London, 1912).

Bacher, Wilhelm, (1) Die Agada der Tanaiten, I, II, (Strassburg, 1884, 1890). (2) Zwei alte Abotkommentare, in Monatschrift fur Geschichte und Wiss. d. Judenthums, 1095, pp. 637-666; 1906, pp. 248-248.

Brull, Enstehung und ursprunglicher Inhalt des Traktates Abot, in Jahrbucher fur Jud. Geschichte und Lit., VII (1885).

Danziger, Jewish Forerunners of Christianity (New York, 1903).

Dukes, Rabbinische Blumenlese (Leipzig, 1844), pp. 67-84.

Friedlander, M. The Jewish Religion (London, 1902).

Friedlander, G., The Jewish Sources of the Sermon on the Mount (London, 1911).

Geiger, Judaism and its History (New York, 1911).

Graetz, History of the Jews.

Herford, Pharasaism (London, 1912).

Hoffmann, Die erste Mischna und die Contraversen der Tannaim (Berlin, 1882).

Isaacs, Stories from the Rabbis (New York, 1893).

Jewish Encyclopedia.

Josephus, Antiquities.

Jung, Kritik der samtlichen Bucher Aboth in der althebraischen

Literatur (Leipzig, 1888).

Lazarus, The Ethics of Judaism (Philadelphia, 1900).

Loeb, (1) La Chaine de la Tradition dans le premier Chapitre des Pirke Abot, in Bibliotheque de l'ecole des hautes Etudes, Sciences religeuses, vol. I, pp. 307-322 (Paris, 1889). (2) Notes sur le chapitre Ier des Perke Abot, in Revue des Etudes Juives, Vol. XIX (1889), pp. 188-201.

Mielziner, (1) Introduction to the Talmud, second edition (New York, 1903). (2) Articles Abot and Abot de-R. Natan, in Jewish

Encyclopedia.

Myers, The Story of the Jewish People, I (New York and London, 1909).

Schechter, Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology (New York, 1909).

Schurer, Some Aspects of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus

Christ (27) (New York, 1891), I, i, p. 124; I, ii, p. 353 et seq.; III, ii, p. 30 et seq.

(27) Contains very full bibliographies and has other excellent characteristics, but it is a work that must be used with caution. Its chief fault, according to Schechter, is that it is one of a class of works in which "no attempt is made . . . to gain acquaintance with the inner life of the Jewish nation" (Studies, II, pp. 119-120).

Strack, Einleitung in den Talmud, fourth edition (Leipzig, 1908).

Zunz, (1) Die Gottesdienstlichen Vortrage der Juden (Berlin, 1832), p. 101 et seq. (2) Die Ritus des Synagogalen Gottesdienstes (Berlin, 1859).

SAYINGS OF THE FATHERS One of the following chapters is read on each Sabbath from the Sabbath after Passover until the Sabbath before New Year.

All Israel (1) have a portion in the world to come, and it is said, "And thy people shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land (2) for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified" (3).

(1) This does not mean that Israel alone, to the exclusion of other nations, will have a portion in the future world. On the future world ([olam haba]), see [Chapter II], n. 21. "The pious of all nations have a portion in the world to come" (Tosefta Sanhedrin, chap. XII; Maimonides, in Mishneh Torah, I, Hilchot Teshubah, iii, 5) sums up the Rabbinic opinion.

(2) I.e., the land of everlasting life.

(3) Sanhedrin, X (XI), 1; Isaiah lx, 21. This passage is recited before each chapter.

(4) The word Torah is usually translated by "law," but it means rather "teaching," "instruction" of any kind, or "doctrine." This term is generally used to designate the Five Books of Moses or the Pentateuch, called the "written law" ([torah shebichtav]), but it is also employed as a designation of the whole of the Old Testament. Besides the "written law," according to tradition, there was also communicated to Moses, on Mt. Sinai, the "oral law" ([torah she'b'al peh]), supplementing the former and other laws and maxims, and explaining it. This "oral law" was handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, but subsequently, after the destruction of the second Temple, it was committed to writing, and constitutes the Mishnah, the Talmud, and the Midrashim. The "oral law" develops, illuminates, and comments upon the "written law." Here, Torah means the "oral law," which Moses communicated to Joshua, Joshua, in turn, to the elders, and so on. See Taylor, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, p. 105 et seq., and 134-135; Friedlander, The Jewish Religion, p. 136 et seq.; Jewish Encyclopedia, arts. Law and Oral Law; Schechter, Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology, Chapter VIII; Strack, Einleitung, pp. 9-10, and Herford, Pharisaism, chapter on "the Theory of Torah," p. 57 et seq.

(5) I.e., from God. Compare the expression [halacha l'moshe misinai], "the law to Moses from Sinai (God)," Peah, II, 6, Eduyot, VIII, 7, etc.

(6) The elders were the wise men who were the members of the supreme national tribunal. See Joshua XXIV, 31.

(7) The Great Synagogue, whose establishment, after the return from Babylonian captivity, tradition attributes to Ezra the Scribe, consisted of 120 men, who comprised the highest judicial tribunal, and who occupied a position in the early days of the Temple similar to that of the later Sanhedrin. The historical foundation of this tradition is Nehemiah VIII-X, in which is recounted the solemn acceptance of the Law by a great assembly of the people. The men of the Great Synagogue appear here in Abot as the depositaries of the tradition of the Torah, coming in the chain between the last prophets and the earliest scribes. From this chapter and other Rabbinical sources, we gather that the men of the Great Synagogue constituted a sort of college of teachers, one of the last survivors being Simon, the Just (Chapter I, 2). Their work was to interpret, teach, and develop the Torah, and to them were ascribed all kinds of legal enactments. They instituted the Shemoneh Esrah (the Eighteen Benedictions) and other prayers, and cast the entire ritual into definite shape. They admitted Proverbs, the Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes into the Old Testament canon. A number of modern scholars, notably Kuenen, are of the opinion that this body never existed in the form represented by Jewish tradition (see Schurer, History, I, ii, pp. 354-355). On the controversy regarding the existence of the Great Synagogue see Schechter, Studies, II, 105-106. Consult Taylor, ibid., pp. 110-111; Graetz, History of the Jews, vol. I, p. 381, 394, vol. II, p. 19. For further bibliography, see Strack, Spruche, p. 11. See especially Herford, Pharisaism. pp. 18-28.

(8) Take measures to prevent the breaking of any of the divine precepts. Thereby, certain things which are in themselves lawful are prohibited in order to enforce the observance of things the doing of which is unlawful. Compare Leviticus XVIII, 30, "make a mishmeret to my mishmeret" (Yabamot, 21a), and Abot, III, 17, "the Massorah is a fence to the Torah."

(9) Simon, the Just, son of Onias, was high-priest about 300 B.C.E. See Josephus, Antiquities, XII, ii, 5. Consult Sammter, Mischnaioth Ordnung Zeraim (Berlin, 1887), Introduction, pp. 10-22; Meilziner, Introduction to the Talmud, pp. 22-39; the Jewish Encyclopedia, and Strack, Einleitung, p. 82 et seq., for the lives of the authorities mentioned in Abot and for bibliographies.

(10) Cf. Nedarim, 32b, "Great is the Torah, for if it did not exist, the heaven and the earth would have no permanence." Abodah is the service and sacrifice of the Temple which was then standing. After the destruction of the Temple, this word was used to designate the service of prayer. It is used in one of the benedictions after the reading of the Haftarah: al ha-torah we-al ha-abodah, "for the law and for the divine service," see Prayer-book, ed. Singer, p. 149. See Friedlander, ibid., p. 413 et seq.

(11) [g'milut chasadim] "benevolence," "the doing of kindnesses," consists of practical deeds of personal service, as visiting the sick, burying the dead, comforting mourners, peacemaking, etc. It is greater than [tzedakah] "charity" in its narrower sense, as benevolence may be shown to the rich as well as to the poor. See Friedlander, ibid., pp. 301-305. On this verse, see Herford, ibid., p. 22 et seq.

(12) According to Abot de-Rabbi Natan, Chapter V, ed. Schechter, p. 26, Antigonus had two disciples, Zadok and Boethos, from whom arose the Sadducees and the heretical sect of Boethusians, from their misinterpretation of this verse, both denying the doctrines of immortality of the soul and resurrection. Se Kohut, The Ethics of the Fathers, p. 43; Schurer, History, II, ii. p. 29 et seq.; Geiger, Judaism and Its History, p. 99 et seq.; and Jewish Encyclopedia, arts. Boethusians and Sadducees.

(13) "The fear of Heaven" does not mean dread of punishment, but rather awe at the greatness and might of God, and is identical with love and service (see Deuteronomy, VI, 13 and X, 12). It is produced by following out the practices ordained in the Torah (Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed, ed. Friedlander, p. 392). Consult Friedlander, Jewish Religion, pp. 273-274, the Jewish Encyclopedia, art. Fear of God, and Schechter, Aspects, p. 72.

(14) In Chagigah, II, 2, we are told that when two leading teachers are named in the Mishnah as having received the Torah, they constitute a "pair" ([zug]), the first being the president([nasi]), and the second the vice-president ([av beit din]) of the Sanhedrin. There were five pairs of such teachers, flourishing between 170 and 30 B.C.E., the first being Jose b. Joezer and Jose b. Jochanan, and the last being Hillel and Shammai. See Frankel, Monatschrift, 1852, pp. 405-421, Mielziner, Introduction, pp. 22-23, and Strack, Spruche, p. 13.

(15) Some texts read "from him" ([mimenu]). "From them" must refer to disciples of Antigonus whose sayings have been lost.

(16) It was the custom of pupils to sit at the feet of their teachers.

(17) On the kalwa-chomer, "a conclusion a minori ad majus," see Meilziner, Introduction to the Talmud, p. 130 et seq., and Strack, Einleitung in den Talmud, p. 120. Cf. Chapter VI, 3. The equivalent biblical expression is [af ki].

(18) [gey-hinim (gimil-yud hey-nun-yud-mem(sofit))], [gei ben-hinim], a glen south of Jerusalem where Moloch was worshipped, whence a place where the wicked were punished in the hereafter; "hell, being the opposite of 'the Garden of Eden,'" "paradise." Cf. chapter V, 22 and 23. See Friedlander, Jewish Religion, p. 223.

(19) A fellow-student.

(20) Cf. chapter II, 14.

(21) This may mean either that one must not imagine that punishment for evil deeds will not befall him, or when punishment has been meted out, one must not despair of the good.

(22) Lived about 104-69 B.C.E. He was a leader of the Pharisees at the time of Alexander Jannaeus.

(23) A judge should be strictly impartial.

(24) It is related that the son of Simeon b. Shatach was innocently condemned to death, because the witnesses were not carefully cross-questioned.

(25) Lived about the middle of the first century B.C.E.

(26) "Woe to leadership, for it buries those who possess it." (Pesachim, 87b).

(27) That is, Rome. Avoid office seeking.

(28) Scholars must be careful in their teachings, lest their disciples misinterpret their words, and thus adopt false doctrines, as was the case with the disciples of Antigonus of Soko (Supra, n. 12). "Evil waters" may stand for evil doctrines or evil people. When a teacher went into banishment, he was usually followed by his disciples. Departure from the law is equivalent to death.

(29) Hillel and Shammai, the most renowned of the "pairs" ([zugot]), lived about 100 years before the destruction of the Temple. Each was the founder of a school, Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai, being generally opposed to one another in the interpretation of the Torah. Hillel was the embodiment of humility, gentleness, and kindness; Shammai was irritable, and lacked gentleness and patience. The former's most celebrated saying is, "What is hateful to thee do not do unto thy fellow man; this is the whole Torah, the rest is mere commentary." See Bacher, Agada der Tanaiten; Schurer, History, I, ii, p. 359 et seq.; Myers, story of the Jewish People, I, p. 136 et seq.; geiger, Judaism and its History, p. 113 et seq.

(30) Psalm XXIV, 15: "Seek peace and pursue it."

(31) Draw men to the Torah by good example, not by endeavoring to make converts.

(32) He who seeks a name loses fame.

(33) Be self-reliant, but not selfish.

(34) Or "promise little." Be like Abraham, who promised only bread, but brought a "calf tender and good" (Genesis XVIII, 5 and 7).

(35) "Our teacher," "our master," a title given only to the presidents of the Sanhendrin, Gamaliel being the first to be thus known. Gamaliel was a grandson of Hillel and a teacher of Paul. See Strack, Einleitung, p. 85.

(36) Establish over you the authority of a teacher, to hold you from the clutch of doubt (Kohut).

(37) There were three kinds of tithes (the tenth part of anything): (a) "the first tithe" (_maaser rishon), given to the Lebites; "the second tithe" (maaser sheni), taken to Jerusalem and consumed there by the owner and his family; and (c) the tithe paid to the poor (maaser ani). See Leviticus XXVII, 30 et seq., Numbers XVIII, 21-24, and Deuteronomy XIV, 22-29; also Tractates Maasrot and Maaser Sheni of the Mishnah. Consult Babbs, The Law of Tithes.

(38) Simeon beg Gamaliel I lived at the time of the war with Rome. See Josephus, Jewish Wars, IV, 3, 9.

(39) Cf. chapter III, 17.

(40) Where words fail, deeds tell. Non scholae sed vitae.

(41) Cf. Proverbs X, 19.

(42) Rabban Simeon II, son of Gamaliel II (80-115 C.E.) and grandson of Simeon (verse 17).

(43) Cf. chapter I, 2. Torah, Temple service, and benevolence are the foundations and, at the same time, the aims of the world. Truth, judgment, and peace maintain the world's permanency.

(44) Zechariah VIII, 16.

Rabbi Chanania (45), the son of Akashia, said, "The Holy One, blessed be He, was pleased to make Israel worthy; wherefore He gave them a copious Torah and many commandments, as it is said, 'It pleased the Lord, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the Torah and make it honorable'" (46).

(45) This saying did not belong originally to Abot, but was taken from Makkot, III, 16. According to Goldschmidt, it was introduced into the Mishnah from the separate editions, and then found its way into the Talmudical texts of Abot. This verse is recited at the end of each chapter. See Rawicz, Commentor des Maimonides, p. 114, n. 1.

(46) Isaiah, xlii, 21.

All Israel have a portion in the world to come, and it is said, "And thy people shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified".

(1) Rabbi Judah (135-220 C.E.), son of Simeon (chapter I, 18), was known as "Rabbi," as a mark of distinction, owing to the fact that he was the chief reviser and compiler of the Mishnah. Earlier compilers of the Mishnah had been Hillel, Akiba, and R. Meir. Rabbi Judah was also known as Rabbenu (our Master), ha-Nasi (the Prince), and ha-Kodesh (the Holy). He is said to have died[*] on the day that Akiba met his death at the hands of the Romans. See Danziger, Jewish Forerunners of Christianity, pp. 242-274, Myers, Story of the Jewish People, I, 210-222, and Strack, Einleitung in den Talmud, p. 96. [* a prior owner of the source text annotated it by crossing out "died" and writing in "been born".]

(2) Maimonides interprets this verse as meaning to pursue a medium course between two equally bad extremes, the too much and the too little. On this subject, see his celebrated fourth chapter of the Shemonah Perakim (The Eight Chapters) on the "mean"; ed. Gorfinkle, p. 54, et seq.

(3) I.e., the loss in this world as against the reward in the future world. On the Rabbinic idea of reward and punishment, see Schechter, Aspects, pp. 162-163, and Herford, Pharisaism, p. 267 et seq.

(4) Cf. chapter III, 1. No deeds, great or small, are lost sight of by God.

(5) On the divine books or book, see Exodus XXXII, 35. Malachi III, 16, and Daniel VII, 10, etc. The heavenly "Book of Life" is prominently mentioned in the ritual of the New Year and the Day of Atonement, especially in the celebrated prayer, U-netanneh Tokef of Rabbi Amnon of Mayence. The New Year's greeting, "May you be inscribed for a happy year!" is evidence of the popularity of the idea of a divine book in which the fate of a man is written. See the Jewish Encyclopedia, art. Book of Life.

(6) The expression Talmud Torah (lit., "study of the Law") means the study of all sacred learning. The word Torah, here, is to be construed in its broadest sense. See chapter I, n. 4. Such study was one of the duties to which no limit was fixed (Peah I, 1). The expression [derech eretz] means "good manners" (chapter III, 21), or "worldly business," or "care" (chapter III, 6), according to the context. Study combined with some trade or profession is, according to R. Gamaliel, the proper thing. See chapter IV, n. 24.

(7) Cf. Kiddushin, 29a, "He who does not teach his son a trade teaches him to be a thief."

(8) In every community, the work and goodness of past generations live in the present, and the good that the community does in the present will live on in the future. On the "merit of the fathers" ([z'chut avot]), see Schechter, Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology, chapter XII, especially pp. 175-177, where this passage is quoted.

(9) This verse is directed toward the leaders of the community. Cf. above, chapter I, 10.

(10) The chain of traditional sayings is continued here from chapter I, 14, with other maxims of Hillel. See Introduction, p. 17.

(11) I.e., share its weal and woe. Cf. Taanit, 11a, "He who does not join the community in times of danger and trouble will never enjoy the divine blessing."

(12) One should constantly be on guard against oneself. The Talmud (Berachot, 29a) illustrates this saying by referring to a certain Jochanan, who, after having been high-priest for eighty years, became a heretic.

(13) This verse may be variously translated and interpreted. Its translation here is in accordance with the interpretation of Maimonides. Do not express yourself in such a way that your words may be understood only after careful study and deep thought, but let them be clear and intelligible.

(14) The word [bur (bet-vov-resh)] means "uncultivated" ([sadeh bur] "an uncultivated field"). It is used of an ignorant, uncultured, mannerless person, possessing no moral or spiritual virtues. Taylor translates it by "boor." [am ha'aretz], literally "people of the land," "country people," is applied to an individual who may possess good manners, and may be literate, but who has no religious knowledge, nor training, nor does not observe religious customs. Taylor renders it "vulgar." Mayer Sulzberger maintains that this term was applied to an assembly of representatives of the people constituting a body similar to the modern Parliament, and divided into a lower and upper house. See his "The Am Ha-aretz, The Ancient Hebrew Parliament." On the Am ha-aretz and his opposite the chaber, see Schurer, History, II, ii, pp. 8, 9 and pp. 22 et seq., also Herford, ibid. pp. 46-47.

(15) I.e., he who is ashamed to ask questions for fear of exposing his ignorance.

(16) He who has no patience to answer all the questions of his pupils.

(17) Cf. chapter IV, 12. One of the qualifications necessary for the acquirement of the Torah is moderation in business.

(18) Do not boldly push yourself forward; but where there is no one to fill the position of teacher or leader, or to be the head of the community, and you have the qualifications, do not shrink from being the man.

(19) Retribution is sure. Cf. Sanhedrin, 100a and Sotah, 9b, "with what measure a man measures, is it measured unto him."

(20) Cf. Prov. III, 1 and 2.

(21) The expression "the world to come" may mean the Messianic days, the time after the Messianic era, the days after the resurrection or the spiritual hereafter. Maimonides discusses at length the various theories, in Perek Chelek (Commentary on Sanhedrin, X, 1), which has been translated into English by J. Abelson, in the Jewish Quarterly Review (London), vol. XXIX, p. 28 et seq. See also The Hebrew Review (London, 1840), p. 254 et seq. Consult Schurer, History, II, ii, 92.

(22) Rabban Jochanan ben Zakkai was known as the least of the disciples of Hillel. He was a contemporary of the historian Josephus. Escaping in a coffin from Jerusalem, when it was besieged by the Roman general Vespasian, and predicting the latter's elevation to the imperial dignity, Jochanan was allowed by Vespasian to go to Jabneh (Jamnia), where he founded the celebrated academy which became the centre of learning in Palestine, as Jerusalem had previously been. He was the most important scribe in the first decade after the destruction of the Temple (70 C.E.). See Strack, Einleitung in den Talmud, p. 86 et seq., Bacher, Agada der Tanaiten, pp. 25-46, Myers, Story of the Jewish People, I, pp. 151-160, and Danziger, Jewish Forerunners of Christianity, pp. 55-72.

(23) Of special excellence.

(24) On the life of R. Joshua (40-130 C.E.), see Bacher, ibid., 129-194, Myers, ibid., 161-170, Danziger, ibid., 122-151.

(25) He forgets nothing he has learned. On R. Eliezer, see Danziger, ibid., 91-121.

(26) When yet a child in the cradle, his mother took him into the synagogue that he might thus early hear the words of the Torah.

(27) A chasid ([chasid]), "saint," is one who does more than the strict letter of the law requires. See Schechter, Studies, II, pp. 148-181, idem, Aspects, p. 209, Rawicz, Commentar des Maimonides, pp. 95-96, and Gorfinkle, The Eight Chapters, pp. 60-62.

(28) "A welling spring" (Taylor).

(29) He lived in the first half of the second century, C.E.

(30) I.e., an eye that looks upon people with benevolence and kind feelings, free from envy and ill-will.

(31) A good friend is one who induces his associate to study Torah, and who reproves him when he sees him doing wrong. The passage means not so much to gain a good friend as to be a good friend.

(32) One who balances the present against the future.

(33) The heart was considered the seat of all moral and spiritual functions. See Schechter, Aspects, p. 255 et seq.

(34) Denotes niggardliness, envy, or jealousy.

(35) I.e., one who lacks foresight and incurs responsibilities he is unable to meet borrows from God, as all wealth belongs to Him, and men are merely His stewards. The word [makom], literally "place," "space," was used to designate Jerusalem, or the Temple, as being the place where God's spirit dwells; or it may also refer to the divine court of the Sanhedrin. It then came to be used as an appellative for God. As Schechter remarks, "The term is mainly indicative of God's ubiquity in the world and can best be translated by 'Omnipresent.'" See Hoffmann, Sanhedrin VI, note 56, Taylor, Sayings, p. 53, note 42, and Schechter, Aspects, pp. 26-27, where the literature on this subject is given. See also Friedlander, The Jewish Religion, p. 287, and the Jewish Encyclopedia_, art. Names of God.

(36) Psalm XXXVII, 21.

(37) Cf. chapter IV, 15.

(38) Man should repent every day of his life, for he knows not on what day he may die (Shabbat, 153a).

(39) One who wishes to warm himself remains a certain distance away from the fire; if he approaches too near, he is burned; so, do not endeavor to become too intimate with the wise, as their opinion of you may change to your detriment. The "bite," the "sting," and the "hiss" represent the terribleness of the looks of the wise who have been angered.

(40) Passion, evil nature, or evil inclination.

(41) Misanthropy.

(42) In making man's highest ideal the comprehension of God, Maimonides, in the Shemonah Perakim, supports his view by referring to the latter part of this verse. He says, "The sages of blessed memory, too, have summed up this idea in so few words and so concisely, at the same time elucidating the whole matter with such complete thoroughness, that when one considers the brevity with which they express this great and mighty thought in its entirety, about which others have written whole books and yet without adequately explaining it, one truly recognizes that the Rabbis undoubtedly spoke through divine inspiration. This saying is found among their precepts, and is, 'Let all thy deeds be done in the name of God.'" See Gorfinkle, The Eight Chapters, p. 73.

(43) This prayer consists of three portions of the Pentateuch (Deut. VI, 4-9; XI, 13-21; Num. XV, 37-41), and gets its name from the initial word of the first portion. It is appointed to be read twice daily, in the morning and in the evening. On the time when the Shema is to be read, see Berachot I, 1. See Schurer, History, II, ii, 77, 83, et seq.; Friedlander, Jewish Religion, pp. 430, 435; Jewish Encyclopedia, art. Shema, and Adler, in the Jewish Review (London, 1910), vol. I, number 2, p. 159.

(44) An important part of the ritual said at the daily morning, afternoon, and evening service, and also at the additional service on Sabbaths and holy days, is known as (1) Tefillah (prayer)_, or (2) Shemoneh Esreh (eighteen), or (3) Amidah (standing). It is known as Tefillah because it is considered the prayer par excellence; as Shemoneh Esreh because originally it consisted of eighteen prayers (now nineteen); and as Amidah (by Sephardic Jews) because it must be said standing. The Shema and the Shemoneh Esreh have been appropriately styled the "two pillars of the fabric of the liturgy." See Schurer, ibid.; Friedlander, ibid., pp. 430, 437; in the _Jewish Encyclopedia, art. Shemoneh Esreh; Schechter, Studies, II, pp. 67068; Adler, ibid., p. 159; and Herford, ibid., pp. 298-299.

(45) Joel II, 13.

(46) Do not do what your conscience tells you is wrong, even though it does not appear to others as such; or, do not sin in secret, thinking that you will escape punishment because others do not see you.

(47) Apikuros is a term originally used to designate a follower of the philosopher Epicurus, whose axiom was that "happiness or enjoyment is the summum bonum of life." Later, this word was used by the Rabbis to designate a free-thinker, a heretic, an unbeliever, or a despiser of the Law, Jewish or non-Jewish. Josephus (Antiquities, X, 11, 7, ed. Whiston-Margoliouth, p. 300) describes the Epicureans as those "who cast providence out of human life, and do not believe that God takes care of the affairs of the world, nor that the universe is governed and continued in being by that blessed and immortal nature, but say that the world is carried along of its own accord without a ruler and a curator." Maimonides, in his commentary on Sanhedrin, X, 1, derives the word from the Hebrew, [hefkeir (hey-fey-kuf-resh)], "freedom," and defines it as one who refuses obedience to the Law. Schechter (Studies in Judaism, I, p. 158) says, "It implies rather a frivolous treatment of the words of Scripture and tradition." See the Jewish Encyclopedia art. Apikuros, and Barton, Ecclesiastes, p. 41. This verse may also be rendered, "Study Torah, and also know ([v'da (vov-daled-ayin)]) how to answer an unbeliever," meaning that first one should study Torah and Talmud, and then give his time to learning other knowledge, so as to be able to refute those who stray from the truth.

Rabbi Chanania, the son of Akashia, said, "The Holy One, blessed be He, was pleased to make Israel worthy; wherefore He gave them a copious Torah and many commandments, as it is said, 'It pleased the Lord, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the Torah and make it honorable'".

(48) A contemporary of Jochanan ben Zakkai's five disciples and of Akiba. See Bacher, ibid., pp. 348-358, and Meyer, ibid., p. 179.

(49) The day, i.e., the life of man, is brief. Art is long, but life is short.

(50) I.e., God.

(51) A man cannot finish the work of the world, yet he must not yield to idleness and despair, but must do his share to the best of his ability. His reward will come in the future.

All Israel have a portion in the world to come, and it is said, "And thy people shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified".

(1) He lived about the middle of the first century.

(2) Cf. chapter II, 1.

(3) Compare with this saying the exposition by Akiba of Eccl. XII, 1: [uzechor et bor'ech (bor'ech is: bet-vov-resh-alef-yud-chof(sofit)] "but remember thy creator." Playing upon the word [bor'ech], he says, "Remember thy source ([bet-alef-resh-chof(sofit)]), thy grave ([bet-vov-resh-chof(sofit)]), and thy creator ([bet-resh-alef-chof(sofit)])," Kohelet Rabbah, ad. loc. If man thinks of whence he comes, he is rendered humble; if he reflects upon whither he is going, he prizes worldly things lightly; and if he considers HIm before whom he must give an account, he obeys God's laws.

(4) Cf. Job XXV, 6: "How much less the mortal, the mere worm ([rimah])? and the son of the earth, the mere maggot ([toleah])?" can be pure in God's eyes.

(5) Chief of the priests, adjutant high-priest. The segan was next in rank to the high-priest. None could be appointed high-priest unless he had occupied the office of the segan (Palestinian Talmud, Yoma, III, 41a, top). According to Schurer, he was "the captain of the Temple," whose duty it was to superintend arrangements for keeping order in and around the Temple. He was also present at all important functions in which the high-priest took part, such as the drawing of lots in the case of the two goats on Yom Kippur (_Yoma III, 9, IV, 1); when reading from the Torah (Yoma, VII, 1; Sotah VII, 7, 8), and when offering the daily sacrifice (Tamid VII, 3). Rabbi Chanina was the last to bear this title, his son being known as Simeon ben ha-Segan. See Bacher, Agada der Tanaiten, pp. 55-58, Schurer, History, II, i, 257-259.

(6) Cf. Jer. XXXIX, 7, "And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace," and Abodah Zarah, 3b.

(7) He lived about 120 C.E. He was the father of Beruriah, the wife of Rabbi Meir.

(8) Ps. I, 1. Verse 2 of this psalm continues, "But his delight is in the Law of the Lord."

(9) [shechinah] literally "dwelling," is a name applied to God when He is spoken of as dwelling among men. See Schechter, Aspects, en passim; Abelson, Immanence of God, p. 77 et seq.

(10) Mal. III, 16.

(11) Lam. III, 27.

(12) Rabbi Simeon ben Yochai lived about the middle of the second century C.E., and was a pupil of Akiba. See Danziger, ibid., pp. 211-241. He was long thought to be the author of the well-known kabbalistic work Zohar, which was, however, probably written in the thirteenth century by Moses Shem Tob de Leon. See the Jewish Encyclopedia, art. Zohar; Graetz, History, IV, p. 11 et seq.; Schechter, Studies, I, pp. 18, 19, 133; and H. Sperling, in Aspects of the Hebrew Genius, p. 165 et seq.

(13) Isa. XXVIII, 8. The literal interpretation of [bli makom] is, there is "no place" clean of defilement; but the word [makom] being used to designate God (see above, chapter II, n. 35), suggests the interpretation, "without mention of the name of God."

(14) Ezek. XLI, 22.

(15) He lived about 120 C.E., and was a pupil of Akiba. See Bacher, ibid., 436 et seq.

(16) Even the sleepless man and the solitary traveller must turn their thoughts to the Torah.

(17) He lived about 80 C.E. See Bacher, ibid., pp. 58-61.

(18) The "yoke of the kingdom" refers to the taxes and burdens exacted by the government; the "yoke of worldly care" is anxiety of the struggle for existence.

(19) He was probably a disciple of R. Meir. See below, n. 32.

(20) See above, n. 9.

(21) An edah, "assembly," "congregation," "prayer-meeting," consists of at least ten persons (Megillah, 23b). See Sulzburger, The Ancient Hebrew Parliament, chapter I.

(22) Ps. LXXXII, 1.

(23) An agudah (lit., "bundle," "bunch"), "bond," "union," is constituted of at least five, though some authorities maintain that it stands for three. See Taylor, Sayings, p. 46, n. 15. This word is used in the name of a number of Jewish societies whose members bind themselves to brotherly love and mutual assistance. as Agudat Achim, "United Brethren," etc.

(24) Amos, IX, 6.

(25) Ps. LXXXII, 1. Every bet din, "judicial tribunal," consisted of at least three members (Sanhedrin, 3b).

(26) Mal. III, 16.

(27) Ex. XX, 24.

(28) He lived during the second century C.E. See Bacher, ibid., pp. 442-445.

(29) I Chron. XXIX, 14.

(30) One must not interrupt his studies even to admire the beauties of nature.

(31) He lived about 160 C.E.

(32) Rabbi Meir was the celebrated pupil of Akiba. His wife was the well-known Bruriah. On his interesting career, see Blumenthal, Rabbi Meir, Myers, The Story of the Jewish People, I, pp. 189-204, and Danziger, Jewish Forerunners of Christianity, pp. 185-210.

(33) Deut. IV, 9.

(34) Deut. IV, 9.

(35) A contemporary of Jochanan ben Zakkai (10 B.C.E.-90 C.E.). See Friedlander, Ben Dosa und seine Zeit (Prag, 1872), and Bacher, ibid., 283 et seq.

(36) Cf. Ps. CXI, 10: "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord." "A man's fear of sin should be instinctive, rather than a result of calculation, . . . a man should build upon the foundation of religious feeling, rather than upon philosophy" (Taylor).

(37) Cf. above, chapter I, 17, "Not learning but doing is the chief thing."

(38) A contemporary of Jochanan ben Zakkai.

(39) Idleness, etc., indispose one for the study of the Torah and for business.

(40) I.e. circumcision.

(41) Or "acts barefacedly against the Torah."

(42) Knowledge and moral excellence alone are not sufficient.

(43) Lived about 120 C.E. See Bacher, ibid., pp. 240-271.

(44) Or "be pliant of disposition."

(45) [l'tishchoret] is variously rendered as the "young" (Maimonides, Bartenora, Geiger, Jastrow), "impressment" (Rashbam, Taylor), "sovereign authority" (Levy, Chald. Worterbuch, sub [shachar (shin-chet-resh)], Fiebig), and "a suppliant" (Singer).

(46) Cf. chapter I, 15.

(47) Akiba ben Joseph (born about 50 C.E., died about 132) was the greatest of the Tannaim (teachers mentioned in the Mishnah). He was a "proselyte of righteousness" (ger tzedek). Until middle age, he remained illiterate and averse to study, but was spurred on to become learned in the Torah by the daughter of the rich Kalba Shabua, whom he subsequently married. He was the pupil of R. Eliezer ben Hyrcanos, R. Jochanan ben Chanania, and Nahum of Gimzo. He espoused the cause of Bar Kochba, acknowledging him as the Messiah, and is said to have travelled throughout the land stirring up opposition to Rome. At the fall of Betar, he was captured by the Romans, and most cruelly put to death, expiring with the Shema upon his lips. R. Akiba definitely fixed the canon of the Old Testament. He compiled and systematized the traditional law, in this respect being the forerunner of R. Judah ha-Nasi (see chapter II, n. 1), whose Mishnah may be considered as being derived from that of the school of Akiba. His importance may be gauged by the following statement from the Talmud, "Our Mishnah comes directly from R. Meir (a disciple of Akiba), the Tosefta from R. Nehemiah, the Sifra from R. Judah, and the Sifre from R. Simon; but they all took Akiba for a model in their works and followed him" (Sanhedrin, 86a). Akiba introduced a new method of interpreting Scripture, in which not a word, syllable, or letter was considered superfluous, finding thereby a basis for many oral laws. His hermeneutical and exegetical activities were remarkable. Many interesting legends have clustered around his name. See Bacher, ibid., 271-348; Meilziner, Introduction to the Talmud, pp. 29, 125-126; Isaacs, Stories from the Rabbis, p. 61 et seq.; Danziger, ibid., pp. 152-184; the Jewish Encyclopedia, arts. Akiba ben Joseph and Akiba ben Joseph in Legend; Myers, Story of the Jewish People, pp. 171-188; and Geiger, Judaism and its History, p. 226 et seq., 230 et seq.

(48) Massorah, from root masar, "to deliver," "hand over," "transmit," means a "chain of tradition." It is used to designate tradition in general, and is thus correlative with kabbalah. The Massorah contains information for the correct transcription of the Scripture. As used here, it means the traditional interpretation of the Torah. Cf. chapter I, 1, "Moses received the Torah on Sinai, and handed it down (umsarah) to Joshua," and "make a fence around the Torah." Consult Driver, Notes on Samuel, Intro., p. 37 et seq.; Schurer, ibid., II, i, 328; Taylor, Sayings, p. 55, n. 33; Friedlander ibid., p. 55, 203, 266; Jewish Encyclopedia s.v.; and The Companion Bible (London, Oxford University Press), Pt. I, Appendix, 30.

(49) On tithes, see chapter I, n. 37. Cf. Shabbat, 119a, and Taanit, 9a (play on [ayin-shin-resh tof-ayin-shin resh], Deut. XXIV, 22),* [ayin-sh-resh bet-shin-bet-yud-lamed shin-tof-tof-ayin-shin-resh] "give tithes in order that thou mayest become rich."

[* transcriber's note: this text does not appear to be Deuteronomy XXIV, 22.]

(50) Lit., "separation," i.e. from defilement, hence "sanctity" (Taylor).

(51) Cf. chapter I, 17.

(52) Gen. IX, 6.

(53) Deut. XIV, 1.

(54) I.e., the Torah.

(55) Prov. IV, 2.

(56) The omniscience and prescience of God do not deprive men of free will. Maimonides explains this in the last chapter of the Shemonah Perakim (ed. Gorfinkle, p. 85 et seq.).

(57) Maimonides interprets the last phrase as meaning to do many small deeds of charity rather than one great deed of goodness. For instance, it is better to distribute one hundred coins among one hundred people than to give them all to one person.

(58) The world is compared to the office of a merchant.

(59) Ecc. IX, 12: "for man also knoweth not his time, like the fishes that are caught in an evil net."

(60) The shop stands for the world and its enjoyments.

(61) Man has free will, and is therefore responsible for all his acts.

(62) For everything is recorded.

(63) This world is merely a preparation for the next. The enjoyment of the world to come is likened by the Rabbis to a banquet, which is shared in by the good and the bad, after they have paid off their moral debts.

(64) R. Eleazar ben Azariah, a Mishnaic scholar of the first century, was of a rich and influential family, and was a descendent of Ezra the Scribe. At seventeen or eighteen, upon the deposition of Gamaliel II, Eleazar, because of his popularity and erudition, was chosen to fill the position of the president of the academy at Jabneh. Upon Gamaliel's restoration, he was made vice-president (Ab bet din). See Bacher, ibid., 219-240.

(65) Cf. Prov. IX, 10: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."

(66) Where there is a want of the means of sustenance there is no studying of Torah, and without spiritual nourishment, physical nourishment has no value.

(67) Jer. XVII, 6.

(68) Jer. XVII, 8. Cf. verse 12, above.

Rabbi Chanania, the son of Akashia, said, "The Holy One, blessed be He, was pleased to make Israel worthy; wherefore He gave them a copious Torah and many commandments, as it is said, 'It pleased the Lord, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the Torah and make it honorable'".

(69) A contemporary of AKiba.

(70) Kinnim, "nests," is the name of a tract in Seder Kodashim of the Mishnah, and tells of the young birds, which men and women were at times required to offer as sacrifice. Niddah is a tract of Seder Teharot of the Mishnah, and relates of the uncleannesses of woman.

(71) I.e., the mathematical sciences, in which R. Eleazar was very proficient, are only to be considered as helps to the study of the essentials of Torah.

All Israel have a portion in the world to come, and it is said, "And thy people shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified".

(1) Simon ben Zoma and Simon ben Azzai, Tannaim of the second century, were generally known as ben Zoma and ben Azzai, as they never received the title of Rabbi, according to one view. According to another opinion, they were called by their fathers' names, because they both died young. Together with Akiba and Elisha ben Abuyah (Acher), they entered, legend says, into the paradise of esoteric knowledge. "Four (sages)," we are told, "entered paradise, ben Azzai, ben Zoma, Acher, and Akiba. Ben Azzai looked and died; ben Zoma went mad; Acher destroyed the plants; Akiba alone came out unhurt" (Chagigah, 14b). The interpretation of this passage is that ben Azzai died prematurely, worn out by his activities in mystical and theosophic speculation; ben Zoma became demented thereby; Elisha, contemptuously referred to as Acher (the other), became an apostate; but Akiba was unaffected. Ben Zoma was famous for his wisdom, it being said of him, "Whoever sees ben Zoma in his dream is assured of scholarship" (Berachot, 57b). With him, it was said, the last of the interpreters of the Law (darshanim) died (Sotah, 49b). His interpretation of the biblical passage "that thou mayest remember when thou camest forth out of Egypt" is found in the Haggadah of Passover eve. See Bacher, Agada der Tanaiten, pp. 425-532; Schechter, Studies, I, pp. 129-130; H. Sperling, in Aspects of the Hebrew Genius, p. 150.

(2) Ps. CXIX, 9.

(3) Prov. XVI, 32.

(4) Ps. CXXVIII, 2. The discontented rich man, even, is poor.

(5) I Sam. II, 30.

(6) Simon ben Azzai (see n. 1) was a very assiduous student and a man of great piety. He was betrothed to the daughter of Akiba, but separated from his prospective wife in order to devote all of his time to study. It was said of him, "At the death of ben Azzai, the last industrious man passed away" (Sotah IX, 15), and "He who sees ben Azzai in a dream might hope for saintliness." He declared that the greatest principle of Judaism is the belief in the common brotherhood of all mankind, which he derived from the passage, Genesis VI, 1, "This is the generation of Adam (man)." See Bacher, ibid., 409-424.

(7) Cf. chapter II, 1.

(8) Well-doing is the fruit of well-doing, and evil-doing the fruit of evil-doing.

(9) Or "do not consider anything as being impossible."

(10) R. Levitas lived probably about 120 C.E. Maimonides declares that the medium way between the extremes of the too little and the too much is the path of virtue, but he makes an exception in the case of humility, and, in accordance with this passage, considers the extreme of being very humble the virtue. See Gorfinkle, The Eight Chapters, p. 60, n. 2.

(11) A contemporary of Akiba.

(12) "Name of Heaven" is a common substitute for the "name of God."

(13) He lived about 150 C.E.

(14) To one who learns Torah and does not teach it are applied the words in Num. XV, 31: "he hath despised the word of the Lord" (Sanhedrin, 99a).

(15) Cf. chapter I, 8.

(16) I.e., for material and selfish ends.

(17) Cf. chapter I, 13.

(18) R. Jose ben Chalafta was a contemporary of R. Meir.

(19) He lived about 160-220 C.E.

(20) The judge brings upon himself the hatred of the one who is disappointed by his judgment. An erroneous judgment is equivalent to robbery. When the judge exacts an unnecessary oath, perjury may result.

(21) He lived about the middle of the second century C.E. He was a pupil of R. Ishmael (verse 9).

(22) See chapter III, n. 32.

(23) He lived about 140 C.E.

(24) Most of the Rabbis believed with Rabban Gamaliel that the study of the Torah without employment brings transgression (chapter II, 2). Consequently, each invariably followed some vocation. Hillel, the senior, gained his livelihood as a wood-chopper; Shammai was a builder; R. Joshua, a blacksmith; R. Chanina, a shoemaker; R. Huna, a water-carrier; R. Abba, a tailor; R. Pappa, a brewer, etc. Other Rabbis whose names indicate their trades, as R. Jochanan ha-Sandalar (lived about 150 C.E.), were Isaac Nappacha (the smith) and R. Abin Naggara (the carpenter). Many were merchants and others agriculturists. Generally, the Rabbi studied during two-thirds of the day, and worked at his trade during the remainder. Those engaged in agriculture would study in the winter and till the soil in the summer. Consult Franz Delitzch, Jewish Artisan Life in the Time of Christ; and S. Meyer, Arbeit und Handwerk im Talmud, Berlin, 1878.

(25) He lived about 150 C.E.

(26) R. Judah ben Ilai lived about 140 C.E.

(27) Cf. Chapter III, 10.

(28) On R. Simeon ben Yochai, see chapter III, n. 12.

(29) He lived about 130 C.E.

(30) If there is no teacher where you live.

(31) Prov. III, 5.

(32) He lived about 120 C.E. in Rome.

(33) It is better to be a pupil of great teachers than to be a teacher of worthless pupils (Maimonides). It is better to follow those who are greater than to lead those who are inferior.

(34) He lived about 160-220 C.E.

(35) This world is a bridge that leads to the future world (Maimonides).

(36) A pupil of R. Meir. He lived about 160-220 C.E.

(37) Samuel (about 120 C.E.) is said to have composed, at the request of R. Gamaliel II, the prayer against heretics, added to the "Eighteen Benedictions" (Shemoneh Esreh). See the Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. XI, p. 281.

(38) Prov. XXIV, 17, 18.

(39) See n. 1, above. Elisha ben Abuyah, otherwise known as Acher, lived at the end of the first and the beginning of the second century. He is charged by the Rabbis with having aided the Romans in their attempts to suppress the Jewish religion, with having endeavored to estrange the young from Judaism and from the study of its literature, with having intentionally and openly broken the ceremonial laws, and with having desecrated the Sabbath. R. Meir, his pupil, maintained a close intimacy with him, in spite of his apostacy, having high regard for Elisha's intellectual worth. When reproached for this, R. Meir said, "I eat the kernel, and throw away the husks." Elisha is often referred to as the "Faust of the Talmud." On his identification with the Apostle Paul, see I. M. Wise, The Origin of Christianity, p. 311, and Danziger, ibid., pp. 304-306. Some have even identified him with Jesus. In Abot de-Rabbi Natan, a parable that is very similar to that of Jesus, in Luke VI 47-49, is attributed to Elisha. "A man who does good deeds and diligently studies the Law, to whom is he likened? He is like a man building a house with a stone foundation and with tiles (on the roof); and when a flood arises, and breaks against the walls, that house cannot be moved from its place. But the man who lives an evil life, in spite of having deeply studied the Law, to whom is he like? He is like a man building a house with tiles for a foundation and with heavy stones (on the roof); and when a little rain comes, straightway the house falls in" (G. Friedlander's translation, in The Jewish Sources of the SErmon on the Mount, pp. 259-260). On the career of Acher, see Bacher, ibid., pp. 432-436; Graetz, History, II, passim; Myers, ibid., pp. 200-202; and Strack, Einleitung in den Talmud, p. 91.

(40) What one learns in youth, one retains, while the opposite is true of learning in old age. The Rabbis, elsewhere, liken learning in youth to engraving upon a stone, and learning in old age to writing on the sand.

(41) A contemporary of Judah ha-Nasi.

(42) I.e., wine that is not forty days old, and not yet clarified.

(43) Some texts read "Rabbi," i.e., Judah ha-Nasi (see chapter II, n. 1).

(44) This verse expresses an opinion contrary to that of the preceding one. The mind of a young man may be more mature than that of an old man.

(45) A contemporary of Judah ha-Nasi.

(46) Cf. chapter II, 16.

(47) Cf. Ps. XXXIII, 15: "He fashioneth their hearts altogether; he hath regard to all their works."

(48) Cf. Mal. III, 5.

(49) Cf. II Chron. XIX, 7: "Take heed and act; for with the Lord our God there is no injustice, nor respect for persons, nor taking of bribes." Maimonides interprets this verse of Abot as meaning that one cannot bribe God with good deeds in order to have bad deeds forgiven. The one bad deed is not forgiven even by the doing of one hundred good ones, but punishment is meted out for the bad deed and reward in full for the hundred good ones. That is, each action is judged entirely on its own merits. Neither is God a respecter of persons. On the one hand, He punished Moses for his anger at the waters of Meribah, and, on the other, He rewarded Esau for honoring his parents, and Nebuchadnezzar for honoring God.

(50) Maimonides interprets as follows, "Think of the physical things in which man has no choice, as our sages said, 'All is in the power of God, except the fear of God.' It is not said that one must perforce, and against one's will, sin, or that one is constrained to journey, walk, stand, etc., for these are in the power of man, and are dependent upon his own free will, and not upon any (external) compelling force, as we have explained in chapter eight." See Rawicz, Commentar des Maimonides, p. 89, n. 4, and Garfinkle, ibid., p. 88 et seq.

Rabbi Chanania, the son of Akashia, said, "The Holy One, blessed be He, was pleased to make Israel worthy; wherefore He gave them a copious Torah and many commandments, as it is said, 'It pleased the Lord, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the Torah and make it honorable'"

All Israel have a portion in the world to come, and it is said, "And thy people shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified".

(1) The expression "and God said" occurs ten times in Genesis I (verses 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26 28, and 29). Many commentators count the opening phrase of this chapter, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," as one of the sayings, maintaining that the idea of saying is implied in it. Cf. Ps. XXXIII, 16. According to the Rabbis, the wicked destroy and the righteous preserve the world, and, since it required ten sayings to create the world, the guilt of the sinner and the righteousness of the just are emphasized more than if it had been created merely by one word.

(2) The ten generations are Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methusaleh, Lamech, and Noah. The period from Adam to Noah is known as the "generation of the flood" (dor ha-mabbul).

(3) These are Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, and Abraham. Noah's good deeds were sufficient only to save himself and family, while Abraham's were sufficient to sustain the whole world.

(4) These trials may be reckoned as follows: (1) his migration, Gen. XII, 12; (2) the famine in Canaan, XII, 10; (3) the seizing of Sarah by Pharaoh, XII, 15; (4) the battle with the four kings, XIV; (5) his marriage with Hagar because of Sarah's sterility, XVI, 2; (6) the circumcision, XVII, 10; (7) the seizing of Sarah by Abimelech, king of Gerar, XX, 2; (8) the banishment of Hagar, XXI, 10; (9) the banishment of Ishmael, XXI, 10; and (10) God's command to sacrifice Isaac, XXII, 2. See Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer, chapter 24, and Friedlander, G., Rabbinic philosophy and Ethics (London, 1912), p. 75, n. 4.

(5) For God. Some interpreters explain this, however, as "the love of God for Abraham."

(6) That they escaped the ten plagues with which the Egyptians were afflicted.

(7) Legend says that at the passage of the Red Sea the ten miracles wrought were as follows: (1) the waters divided; (2) the waters were like a tent, or a vault; (3) the sea-bed was dry and hard; (4) but when the Egyptians trod upon it, it became muddy and slimy; (5) the sea was divided into twelve parts, one for each tribe; (6) the waters became as hard as stone; (7) the congealed waters appeared like blocks of building-stone; (8) the water was transparent so that the tribes could see one another; (9) fresh drinking water flowed from the congealed water; (10) after Israel had partaken of the drinking water, it became congealed, and did not wet the ground under foot. See Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, III, p. 21 et seq.

(8) This verse is not found in the Talmudic versions of Abot. The plagues at the sea are alluded to in the "Song of Moses," Ex. XV. See the commentary of Bartenora.

(9) Num. XIV, 22. The ten are enumerated by Maimonides, Bartenora, Hoffmann, and others.

(10) The fly is a symbol of impurity.

(11) The altar stood in the midst of the roofless Temple-hall.

(12) The straight column of smoke denoted the acceptance of prayer and sacrifice.

(13) See Lev. XXIII, 15-17.

(14) Every Sabbath, twelve loaves of bread were placed on a table in the Sanctuary "before the Lord" (Lev. XXIV, 5-9) to serve as a constant reminder to the twelve tribes that their place was before the altar of God.

(15) Isa. XLIX, 20.

(16) Since all things were said to have been created during the first six days of creation, and since "there is nothing new under the sun" (Eccles. I, 9), everything miraculous or supernatural that existed or occurred after creation was explained by the Rabbis as having been made or preordained in the twilight at the moment of transition between the end of the work of creation and the beginning of the Sabbath. See Gorfinkle, ibid., pp. 90-91 and n. 1.

(17) To swallow Korah and his followers. See Num. XVI, 30.

(18) Which supplied the Israelites with water during their wandering in the wilderness. See Num. XXI, 16, and Shabbat, 35a.

(19) Balaam's ass. See Num. XXII, 28.

(20) Ge. IX, 19.

(21) Ex. XV, 16.

(22) Of Moses. See ibid., IV, 17.

(23) A miraculous worm that split stones by its look. It was used, according to legend, to engrave the names of the tribes on the jewels of the ephod of the high-priest, and was also employed by Solomon in the construction of the Temple, in which no tools of iron were used. See Gittin, 68a, and Sotah, 48b. Consult P. Cassel, Shamir, ein archaol. Beitrag zur Natur und Sagenkunde, Erfurt, 1856, and art. Shamir, in Jewish Encyclopedia.

(24) Deut. XXXIV, 6.

(25) Gen. XXII, 13.

(26) An allusion to a saying found in Tosefta Erubin, "Tongs are made with tongs; but how was the first pair made? It could only have been a creation of God." One instrument presupposes another; one thing is the cause of another, but the original cause is God. Cf. Pesachim, 54a.

(27) See chapter I, n. 37.

(28) Of war, when agriculture is neglected, and crops are destroyed, etc.

(29) Num. XV, 20: "Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for a heave offering." This commandment is observed in spirit to-day by the Jewish housewife, who takes a part of bread which is kneaded, and burns it, after reciting the blessing, "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us by Thy commandments, and commanded us to separate the challah." The ninth treatise of the Order Zeraim of the Mishnah is called Challah. See Friedlander, Jewish Religion, p. 357.

(30) The execution of which is in the hands of God.

(31) That is, the Sabbatical year or the year of release (ha-shemittah). See Ex. XXIII, 10 et seq., and Lev. XXV, 1-7. It is commanded that the land be allowed to lie fallow during that year, that there be no sowing, nor reaping, nor pruning of the vineyards, and that the servants, strangers, and animals, as well as the owner, shall share in the spontaneous growth of the fields and the vineyards. See also Deut. XV, 1-11, and Tractate Shebiit of the Mishnah.

(32) I.e., war.

(33) By prohibiting the permissible and permitting the prohibited.

(34) Cf. chapter IV, 9.

(35) Cf. chapter IV, 5.

(36) See Deut. XIV, 28, 29; XXVI, 12, and also above, chapter I, n. 37.

(37) Of the septennial cycle. The tithe was to be brought at the end of every three years.

(38) I.e., the gleanings and the forgotten sheaves of the harvest, the single bunches of grapes of the vineyard, and the unreaped corners of the fields which were assigned to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.

(39) One who neither gives nor takes. One who does no labor of love. Cf. Ezek. XVI, 49.

(40) He does not know the sacredness of the rights of property.

(41) He does not want his neighbors to be blessed because of their liberality.

(42) The duties of which he has learned.

(43) The commands of the Torah.

(44) The true and the untrue.

(45) Lasting love is disinterested love.

(46) See II Sam. XII.

(47) See I Sam. XVIII, 1.

(48) I.e., a controversy to arrive at the truth.

(49) See chapter I, n. 29.

(50) See Num. XV, 1 et seq.

(51) He who leads the people astray is punished by being prevented from repenting. This does not mean, however, that man, in general, does not act in accordance with his own free will. Maimonides, in discussing this problem, says, in the eighth chapter of the Shemonah Perakim, "Just as some of man's undertakings, which are ordinarily subject to his own free will, are frustrated by way of punishment, as, for instance, a man's hand being prevented from working so that he can do nothing with it, as was the case of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, or a man's eyes from seeing, as happened to the Sodomites, who had assembled about Lot, likewise how does God withhold man's ability to use his own free will in regard to repentance, so that it never occurs to him to repent, and he thus finally perishes in his own wickedness." See ed. Gorfinkle, p. 94 et seq.

(52) Deut. XXXIII, 21.

(53) I Kings XV, 30. Cf. Sanhedrin X, 2: "Three kings have no portion in the world to come . . . Jeroboam, Ahab, and Manasseh."

(54) See Num. XXII-XXIV.

(55) See chapter II, note 30.

(56) Prov. VIII, 21: "Substance," i.e., in the future world; "treasures," i.e., in this world.

(57) See chapter I, n. 18.

(58) Ps. LIV, 24.

(59) Cf. "Our Father which is in Heaven" of the "Lord's Prayer" (Matt. VI, 9). The conception of God as a "Father" goes back to earliest times. See Gen. XLIX, 19, 20; Ex. IV, 22; Deut. XXXII, 6; II Sam. V, 44; Ps. LXXXIX, 27, 28; Isa. LXIII, 16, LXIV, 8, and Mal. II, 10. Deut. XXXII, 6, reads, "Is He not thy Father?" and Isa. LXIII, 18, "Doubtless Thou art our Father." In the Mishnah we find, "Who purifies you? Your Father which is in Heaven" (Yoma VII, 8); "On whom have we to lean? On our Father which is in Heaven" (Sotah, IX, 15), and similar passages. The Rabbis constantly referred to God as "Father" (see Schechter, Aspects, pp. 46, 49, 50-51). They took issue, of course, with the New Testament conception of God, in not admitting and in denouncing the idea of a mediator. To them all mankind were the sons of God. That the Rabbis borrowed this God-idea and the expression "Our Father which is in Heaven" from Christianity is untenable, for, as Herford (Pharisaism, 120 et seq.) points out, such borrowing would have been abhorrent to them. This expression was undoubtedly current long before and during the time of Jesus, and it represented a conception of the divine acceptable to both the Rabbis and Jesus. The Rabbis had no quarrel with Christianity on this score, but did not admit the "sonship" of God in the Christian sense. The expressions "Our Father" and "Our Father which is in Heaven" are found frequently in the Jewish Prayer-book. On this subject, consult Taylor, Sayings, pp. 124, 176, and G. Friedlander, The Jewish Sources of the Sermon on the Mount, chapter X. For a comparison of other parts of Abot with the New Testament see Feibig, Pirque 'aboth, especially the Nachwort, pp. 42-43, and G. Friedlander, ibid., passim. It seems that originally Abot ended here, as in the Machzor Vitry. The verses which follow were added from other sources. See Bacher, Agada der Tanaiten, I, 378; Taylor, ibid., p. 95, n. 46, p. 96, n. 47; Hoffmann, Die erste Mischna, p. 30; idem, Abot, p. 358, notes 106 and 108; and Strack, Spruche, p. 46, notes t and u.

(60) Taylor makes this verse an addendum to chapter V, and calls it "The Ages of Man." Cf. Shakespeare's "Seven Ages of Man." See in the Jewish Encyclopedia, art. Ages of Man in Jewish Literature, The Seven, and Schechter, Studies, I, pp. 299-300.

(61) The Mishnah is the oral or unwritten law based on the written law contained in the Pentateuch (see chapter I, n. 1). The Mishnah, par excellence, is the codification made by Judah ha-Nasi (see chapter II, n. 1). It is divided into six orders or sections known as sedarim. They are (1) Zeraim, "seeds," which contains the laws regarding the cultivation of the land and its products, introduced by a treatise concerning prayer and benedictions (Berachot); (2) Mode, "festivals," treating of the laws of the Sabbath and the festivals; (3) Nashim, "women," regulations concerning marriage and divorce; (4) Nezikin, "injuries" or "damages," civil and criminal law; (5) Kodashim, "holy things," the laws of sacrifice and of the service of the Temple; and (6) Tohorot, "purifications," dealing with the clean and the unclean. Each order is subdivided into treatises (massektot), there being in all 63 such subdivisions. The Mishnah is known as the shas ([shin''samech]), which word is formed from the first letters of the words shishah sedarim (six orders). The Talmud is also similarly termed. For a discussion of the name, origin, contents, compilation, etc., of the Mishnah, see Mielziner, Introduction to the Talmud, p. 4 et seq.; art. Mishnah, in the Jewish Encyclopedia and the authorities cited there; Strack, Einleitung, p. 2, 15 et seq., 22 et seq., and Geiger, Judaism and its History, p. 239 et seq.

(62) At thirteen, the Jewish boy becomes bar mitzwah, i.e., "a son of commandment." The rites and ceremonies connected with the bar mitzwah of to-day cannot "be clearly traced earlier than the fourteenth century" (Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, p. 32). See Schurer, History, II, ii, p. 53 and n. 38; Schechter, Studies, I, p. 306 et seq., and art. Bar Mitzwah, in Jewish Encyclopedia.

(63) Lit., "teaching," "learning," "study." Here, it signifies study for the purpose of elucidating the Mishnah. Some texts read, "for the study of the Gemara." The Gemara (from the Aramaic, meaning "learning," "completion") is a collection of explanations and discussions on the Mishnah. The word Talmud was afterwards applied to the Mishnah plus the Gemara. There is a translation of the Talmud in English by Rodkinson, but it is free and incomplete in parts. See Meilziner, Introduction to the Talmud; Bacher, art. Talmud, in Jewish Encyclopedia; idem, art. Gemara, in the Hebrew Union College Annual (Cincinnati, 1904); E. Deutsch, What is the Talmud?; Darmsteter, The Talmud; Strack, Einleitung in den Talmud, pp. 4-5, 6 et seq., 99 et seq., 113 et seq., 132 et seq.; Schechter, On the Study of the Talmud in Studies, II, p. 102 et seq.; Herford, Pharisaism, pp. 53-54.

(64) Lit., "at twenty, to pursue." This has been variously interpreted as follows: (1) for seeking a livelihood (Bartenora, Hoffmann, Strack, Singer); (2) for the pursuit of military service (cf. Num. I, 3, and Deut. XXIV, 5; Machzor Vitri, p. 551. Shakespeare's "Then a soldier"); (3) the age "to pursue him for his deeds," for the celestial bet din (tribunal) does not punish at an age less than twenty (Bartenora's second explanation; cf. Rashi on Num. XVI, 27); (4) for the pursuit of ideals (Taylor); (5) to pursue the commandments (Siddur Korban Minchah).

(65) Cf. Ps. XC, 10.

(66) The Torah.

(67) The last two verses are ascribed by Abot de-Rabbi Natan to Hillel (chapter XII, ed. Schechter, p. 55). Ben Bag Bag and Ben He He were probably proselytes and disciples of Hillel. See Bacher, ibid., pp. 10-12, Taylor and Hoffmann, ad loc., and Jewish Encyclopedia, art. Ben Bag Bag.

Rabbi Chanania, the son of Akashia, said, "The Holy One, blessed be He, was pleased to make Israel worthy; wherefore He gave them a copious Torah and many commandments, as it is said, 'It pleased the Lord, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the Torah and make it honorable'"

THE ACQUISITION OF THE TORAH (1) (1) See Introduction pp. 18-19. [refers to the end of the section titled DEVELOPMENT OF ABOT]

All Israel have a portion in the world to come, and it is said, "And thy people shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified".

The sages taught (the following) in the language of the Mishnah—blessed be He that made choice of them and their Mishnah. 1. R. Meir (2) said, "Whosoever labors in the Torah for its own sake merits many things; and not only so, but the whole world is indebted to him: he is called friend, beloved, a lover of the All-present, a lover of mankind: it clothes him with meekness and reverence; it fits him to become just, pious, upright, and faithful; it keeps him far from sin, and brings him near to virtue; through him are enjoyed counsel and sound knowledge, understanding and strength, as it is said, 'Counsel is mind, and sound knowledge; I am understanding; I have strength' (3). It gives him sovereignty and dominion and discerning judgment; to him the secrets of the Torah are revealed; he is made like a never-failing spring and like a river that flows on with ever-increasing vigor; he becomes modest, long-suffering, and forgiving of insults; and it magnifies and exalts him above all things."

(2) Chapter III, n. 32.

(3) Prov. VIII, 14. Wisdom, representing the Torah, utters these words.

(4) R. Joshua lived about the middle of the third century.

(5) Bat kol (lit., "daughter of a voice" or "daughter-voice"), "a small voice," "sound," "resonance," not "echo," as it is often translated. The expression bat kol was used in place of the longer one bat kol min ha-shamayim, which is "a heavenly or divine voice which proclaims God's will or judgment, His deeds, and His commandments to individuals or to number of persons, to rulers, countries, and even to whole nations." This celestial voice was a means of divine revelation lower than that of prophecy. According to Schechter, it has two peculiar features: first, its messages are reproductions of verses or sentences from the Old Testament or from the Apocrypha, and secondly, "it is audible only to those who are prepared to hear it." See Weber, Altsynag. Theol., pp. 187-189; Low, Gesammelte Schriften, II, p. 58, n. 1; Kitto's Cyclopedia of Biblical Lit., art. Bath Kil, and Ludwig Blau, art. Bat Kol, in Jewish Encyclopedia.

(6) Proberbs XI, 22. The word [nazaf (nun-zayin-fey)] "censured," "placed under ban," by a form of Rabbinical interpretation known as notarikon (stenographer's method, abbreviation), is connected with the words of this verse in Proverbs: [Nezem Zahav b'aF (NUN-zayin-mem(sofit) ZAYIN-hey-bet bet-alef-FEY(sofit), capitals indicating larger case Hebrew letters)]. Another instance of this kind of interpretation is in connecting the word [anochi] "I," the first word of the Decalogue, with the phrase: [Ana Nafshi Catvit Yehavit (ALEF-nun-alef NUN-pey-shin-yud CHOF-tof-bet-yud-tet YUD-hey-bet-yud-tet)] "I (God) myself have written (the Torah), and delivered it," or with the words [Amirah N'imah K'tivah Y'hivah (ALEF-mem-yud-resh-hey NUN-ayin-yud-mem-hey CHOF-tof-yud-bet-hey YUD-hey-yud-bet-hey)] "a pleasant saying, written and delivered" (Shabbat, 105a). See art. Notarikon, in the Jewish Encyclopedia, and Strack, Einleitung, p. 130.

(7) Ex. XXXII, 16.

(8) Graven. The phrase [al tikri . . . ele] "do not read . . . but" followed by a suggested reading different from the original, does not mean that the Rabbis offered an emendation of the biblical text. It was merely a change of the text for homiletical purposes. See Bacher, Die alteste Terminologie der judischen Schriftauslegung, p. 175 et seq.; Friedlander, Jewish Religion, p. 204, and Talmudical dictionaries, s.v.

(9) Freedom.

(10) Num. XXI, 19 Mattanah, "gift"; Nachaliel, "the heritage of God"; Bamot, "high places." The names of these three encampments of the Israelites in the wilderness are interpreted according to their literal meanings.

(11) Ahitophel deserted David to take up the cause of his rebellious son, Absalom. See II Sam. XVI, 15; XVII, 1 et seq.

(12) See Ps. LV, 14. The two things David learned are hinted at in Ps. LV, 15.

(13) See chapter I, n. 17.

(14) Prov. III, 35.

(15) Ibid., XXVIII, 10.

(16) Ibid., IV, 2.

(17) Even he who has only bread and salt to eat must busy himself with the study of the Torah.

(18) Ezek. IV, 11.

(19) Ps. CXXVIII, 2.

(20) Cf. chapter IV, 1.

(21) See Sanhedrin II, 2-5.

(22) See Baba Kamma, 110b, etc.

(23) Singer, combining the first two, reads "by audible study."

(24) Taylor omits "understanding and."

(25) Taylor and Hoffmann add "by purity" ([b'taharah]).

(26) Esth. II, 22.

(27) Prov. IV, 22.

(28) Ibid., III, 8.

(29) Prov. III, 18.

(30) Ibid., I, 9.

(31) Ibid, IV, 9.

(32) Prov. IX, 11.

(33) Ibid., III, 16.

(34) Ibid., III, 2.

(35) Ibid., XVI, 31.

(36) Ibid., XX, 29.

(37) Prov. XIV, 24.

(38) Ibid., XVII, 6.

(39) Isa. XXIV, 23.

(40) See chapter II, n. 1.

(41) He lived about 120 C.E.

(42) Ps. XCIX, 72.

(43) Prov. VI, 22.

(44) Hag. II, 8.

(45) Prov. VIII, 22.

(46) Isa. LXVI, 1.

(47) Ps. CIV, 24.

(48) Gen. XIV, 16.

(49) Ex. XV, 16.

(50) Ps. XVI, 3.

(51) Ex. XV, 17.

(52) Ps. LXXVIII, 54.

(53) Isa. XLIII, 7.

(54) Ex. XV, 18.

Rabbi Chanania, the son of Akashia, said, "The Holy One, blessed be He, was pleased to make Israel worthy; wherefore He gave them a copious Torah and many commandments, as it is said, 'It pleased the Lord, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the Torah and make it honorable'".

For any accent marks noted in the following, assume that the same accent appears with all subsequent occurrances of the word.

INTRODUCTION Die Spruche der Vater umlaut over the u and the a

Maximes des Peres grave over the last e

role circumflex over the o

footnote 9 Jewish Encyclopedia: in the source, the word Jewish was not italicized

BIBLIOGRAPHY [s] the document contained a special character known as "section sign", resembling two lower-case s's one above the other.

Spruchen umlaut over tue u in

Vater umlaut over the a

Beitragen umlaut over the a

Spruche umlaut over the a

Tubingen umlaut over the u

ubertragen umlaut over the u

uberzetzt umlaut over the u

erklart umlaut over the a

Maimonide umlaut over the i (in this French title)

Introduction a la … umlaut over the first a

Peres grave accent over the first e

Furth umlaut over the u

umber umlaut over the u

fur Geschichte umlaut over the u

Brull umlaut over the u

ursprunglicher umlaut over the second u

Jahrbucher fur Jud umlauts over all three u's

Friedlander, M. umlaut over the a. Same in Chapter I, notes 4, 10, 11, 13, 18 etc. There is no umlaut in the next entry, "Friedlander, G."

samtlichen Bucher umlauts over the a and u

Chaine circumflex over the i, and wherever this word appears elsewhere in the book (e.g. Introduction, notes 5 and 8).

Loeb … Pirke Abot acute accent over the e in Pirke, for both entries

ecole acute accent over the first e

Etudes acute accent over the first e

le chapitre Ier final er is superscript (premier)

Schurer umlaut over the u

Vortrage umlaut over the a

CHAPTERS II through VI:

The source text included the following two lines: "All Israel," etc., p. 29 and "Rabbi Chanania," etc., p. 38. as the first and last line of each chapter, the page numbers referring to the beginning and ending of Chapter I. Rather than reference these two sentences as the source text did, this text version copies the two sentences to their intended locations. The transcriber believes this better captures the flavor of the text.

Chapter III: R. Meir umlaut over the i, wherever this name appears

footnote 23 mutual assistance. as Agudat Achim period and lower-case 'as' are as found in the source text

footnote 45 Chald. Worterbuch: umlaut over the o

CHAPTER IV: happy art thou in this world, and in the source text, the comma was a period.

CHAPTER V: tables of stone are as written in the source text as a translation of the Hebrew "luchot"; modern readers may better recognize the phrase 'tablets of stone'.

footnote 23 archaol.: umlaut over the second a.

CHAPTER VI: footnote 5 to individuals or to number of persons: is as written in the source text

footnote 8 alteste: umlaut over the a judischen: umlaut over the u

______________________ PAGE REFERENCE INDEX

This index is included strictly on the off-chance that an outside source would reference this text by page number. It lists some page numbers, and the first line that appears on that page. With the use of this index, readers will better be able to find the referenced materials.

In the edition used as a source text, the Table of Contents appears as page iv on the back of the Title Page; there were no pages i through iii! The PREFACE started on page 7. There were are no pages 1-6!

PREFACE . . . . . . . 7 INTRODUCTION Name . . . . . . 9 Purpose . . . . . . 11 Description . . . . . . 13 Contents . . . . . . 13 Language . . . . . . 15 Development of Abot . . . . 16 Abot in Liturgy . . . . . 19 Bibliography . . . . . 21 CHAPTER I . . . . . . 29 CHAPTER II . . . . . . 39 CHAPTER III . . . . . . 51 CHAPTER IV . . . . . . 64 CHAPTER V . . . . . . 75 CHAPTER VI . . . . . . 91 HEBREW TEXT (Appendix) . . . . 3-30

page - first line of that page

8 wisdom of the "Father"; that it may serve as an 10 and in French it is usually rendered Chaptres or 12 line of continuous tradition is plainly seen in the 14 B. (1) Chapters I, 16-II, 4: Sayings of the men of 16 DEVELOPMENT OF ABOT (13) 18 having lived before the destruction of the second 20 all editions of the Mishnah and the Talmud, but 22 Gemara (Talmudical commentary) on the Abot, 24 (2) _An appendix to the Sayings of the 26 17. Jehudah Leb gordon, Pirke Abot, in Siddur Bet 28 Chapitre des Pirke Abot, in _Bibliotheque de 30 (6), and the elders to the prophets, and the proph- 32 of the Great Synagogue. He used to say, "Upon 34 bers of thy household, and engage not in much 36 12. Hillel and Shammai (29) received (the tradi- 38 18. Rabban Simeon, the son of Gamaliel (42), 40 against the loss it involves. Consider three things, 42 the day of thy death (12); judge not thy neighbor 44 for himself words of Torah has acquired for him- 46 which is the good way to which a man should 48 the evil inclination (40), and hatred of his fellow- 50 also before whom thou toilest, and who thy Em- 52 2. R. Chanina, the Vice-High-Priest (5), said, 54 a table and have spoken there words of Torah, it is 56 8. R. Eleazar of Bertota (28) said, "Give unto 58 fanes things sacred, and despises the festivals, and 60 rampart around the Torah; tithes are a safeguard 62 "Where there is no Torah, there are no manners; 64 CHAPTER IV 66 virtue is a virtue, and the recompense of a trans- 68 not alone, for none may judge alone save One; 70 home of the Torah (30), and say not that the Torah 72 learns as a child, what is it like? Like ink written 74 not thy imagination give thee hope that the grave 76 ten generations from Noah to Abraham, to make 78 nor was there ever found any disqualifying defect 80 and upon the last, last; regarding that which he 82 the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles in each 84 love, too, passes away (45); but if it be not depend- 86 disciples of Abraham, our father, enjoy this world 88 at thirteen for (the fulfilment of) the command- 90 26. Ben He He said, "According to the labor is 92 becomes modest, long-suffering, and forgiving of 94 friend, as it is said, "But it was thou, a man, mine 96 courses, rectitude, and reproof; by keeping one's self 98 once walking by the way, when a man met me and 100 for His glory, as it is said, "Everything that is

Next appears page 30, the end of the Hebrew text. The Hebrew text is numbered from 3 to 30, in right-to-left format.