Shemayah and Avtalyon received [the tradition] from them. Shemayah says: Love work, hate authority and do not attach yourself to the government.
EXPLANATIONS (continued):
20:
It has taken us quite some time, but at last we have completed our survey of the historical background to the life and times of Shemayah and Avtalyon. This was a very difficult time for the Pharisees. On the one hand they reviled Herod for his tyranny and his cruelty; on the other hand, Herod himself was very careful not to do anything that would outrage the Pharisees. Shemayah and Avtalyon were active during the earlier part of Herod's reign, so in all probability they did not live to see the magnificent edifice that he built in his reconstruction of the Bet Mikdash (on which work was not started until the year 20 BCE, the 18th year of his reign). Later, when the magnificence of the enterprise could be appreciated even Herod's most severe detractors had to admit that "anyone who has not seen Herod's building has never seen a beautiful building" [Bava Batra 4a].
21:
Thus the fact that the teaching ascribed in our present mishnah to Shemayah reflects a philosophy of 'keep your head down' should not surprise us. Nevertheless, this teaching contains three profound truths, upon which we shall elaborate seriatim.
22:
The first element in this teaching is 'love work'. The Hebrew term used here can be understood in more than one way – even though the general implication will remain unchanged whichever way we choose to understand the term. It seems that the intention of the mishnah is to teach each person to love the manner in which they earn a living. This means, first of all, that everyone should have a trade or profession; each person should do his or her best to support themselves and their family so that they shall not be a burden on society. The Gemara [Kiddushin 29a] in a baraita states that it is a parent's duty to see that their offspring learns an honourable way of supporting themselves; for if someone cannot support themselves by honest labour they will end up "robbing society" – either literally or by taking money from the communal charity chest when otherwise they would have been quite capable of providing for themselves. Rambam echoes this in his commentary on our present mishnah:
For without work a person will fall upon hard times and start stealing or fall into prostitution.
23:
In general, the sages saw manual labour or what today would be called 'blue collar' work as highly worthy and honourable. In the Gemara [Nedarim 49b] we find this teaching:
Work is great because it raises the esteem of those who do it.
In Talmudic times the sages taught Torah with no thought of reward or compensation; indeed such a thing was forbidden, as we shall see later in this tractate. This means that a rabbi had to support himself by his own efforts and not receive compensation for teaching and administering Torah. In his magnum opus, Mishneh Torah, Rambam writes [Hilkhot Talmud Torah 1:9] that
the some of the greatest of Israel's sages were woodchoppers, water-carriers … but nevertheless they occupied themselves [also] with Torah Study by day and by night…
This was true not only in the time of Shemayah and Avtalyon but for long after: Rabbi Yehoshu'a was a charcoal maker, Rabbi Akiva was a shepherd, Rabbi Eli'ezer was a merchant and so forth. Of course, some of the sages were very rich: Rabbi Akiva became very comfortably off; Rabbi, the editor of the Mishnah, was fabulously wealthy; Rabbi El'azar ben-Azaryah was rich, and so forth. But, in his commentary on our present mishnah, Rabbi Ovadyah of Bertinoro says that
One should love one's work even if one is of independent means, because idleness breeds boredom.
Indeed, the Gemara [Ketubbot 59b] forbids a husband to vow that his wife shall never have to work because her enforced idleness would breed a deadly boredom – and boredom in its turn can lead to many unexpected developments! In his supercommentary on Rabbi Ovadyah's commentary Rabbi YomTov Lipmann Heller [1579-1654] notes that perhaps only when one follows one's craft or trade when one does not have to for the sake of sustenance can one be sure that it is love of what one does that is the motivating force and not need.
To be continued.
DISCUSSION:
In Avot042 I recounted the story of the death of the son of Shim'on ben-Shataĥ. My account (taken from the Talmud of Eretz-Israel] concluded as follows: As he was being taken to his execution … Shim'on's son said to his father: "If you wish salvation to come about through you, let me be the means." And the law took its due course.
Art Kamlet writes:
When I read the above sentence it seemed very Christian-like.
I respond:
Such was also the initial reaction of many of my colleagues. I referred them to this passage and asked for their comment, in order to make certain that I was not mis-interpreting. The phrase which I translated "let me be the means" means literally "let me be the threshold" – the entranceway upon which we tread to gain entrance without thinking.
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