Avot151

נושא: Avot

BET MIDRASH VIRTUALI

Akavya ben-Mahalal'el says: consider three things and you will not come to sin: know from where you have come, where you are going and to whom you are destined to render report. From where have you come? – from a smelly drop; where are you going? – to a place of dust, rot and worms; and to whom are you destined to render report? – to the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed is He.

1:
As I noted in the previous shiur, it is very easy to see the organizing thread that unites the first two chapters of this tractate. It is much more difficult to perceive the logic of the next two chapters. It seems to me that in Chapter 3 mishnayot 2 – 10 are concerned with various aspects of Torah study and from there to the end of the chapter the theme is various aspects of life. But the content of each mishnah is rather unique, so others may see a different unifying thread.

2:
Be that as it may, if we judge on its content the first mishnah of chapter 3 does not belong with the following mishnayot. Indeed, it seems to connect more logically with the last mishnah of chapter 2. I am often tempted to make the last mishnah of chapter 2 the first mishnah of chapter 3, but there is no basis in the surviving codices for such a change. Perhaps it was intended that our present mishnah constitute an introduction to those following; for surely in the eyes of the sages the best justification that one can give in one's destined report is that we studied Torah to the best of our ability. We need but recall the teaching of Rabban Yoĥanan ben-Zakkai in 2:8 [Avot 117]: "If you have learned much Torah do not keep a good thing to yourself, because it is for that you were created." And Rabbi Tarfon emphasized that idea in the last mishnah of chapter 2 [Avot 150].

The teaching of Akavya ben-Mahalal'el in our present mishnah is quite straightforward and later on we shall have little difficulty in explaining it. But the man Akavya himself is more complex, and if we are to judge by reports we have of him in our sources he must have been one of the most honourable of the sages, not only in his own time but for many generations.

To be continued.

In Avot 148 we studied the teaching of Rabbi El'azar ben-Arakh: "Be diligent in your Torah study that you may respond to an Epikoros."

Jacob Chinitz expands on this:

To know how to answer the apikores requires a knowledge of his thoughts. Rambam was said to have studied all the books on Avoda Zara [idolatry] in order to rule on what is and what is not forbidden. At the same time we have the stricture, not to go astray after the heart and the eye. This could have been interpreted as thinking and looking but not drawing the wrong conclusions. But the Halakhic authorities rule that the prohibition is not to entertain thoughts of heresy or to look at enticing temptations. Are we going to accept two standards: one for the masters who have to codify Hilkhot Avoda Zara and defend the faith against heretics, and another standard for the common folk who are not allowed to read, think, look at potentially harmful material?

I respond:

Well, apparently Rambam so thought, because in his code [Hilkhot Avodah Zarah 2:2] he writes:

The idolators have written many books about idolatry… God has instructed us not to read those books at all or to think about it…

However, in a letter addressed to some rabbis living in southern France Rambam seems to have ignored this injunction completely! The rabbis of Provence had asked him whether astrology was a worthy science. Rambam, of course, pours out his scorn on the "pseudo science" called astrology, which, he opines, is a branch of idolatry. He writes:

And since many individuals have busied themselves with those books and have engaged in discussions concerning them, the rash fellow's mind at once leaps to the conclusion that these are words of wisdom… and have they vainly engaged in these things… They found many books dealing with these themes of the star gazers, these things being the root of idolatry, as we have made clear in Laws Concerning Idolatry. They erred and were drawn after them, imagining them to be glorious science and to be of great utility… Know, gentlemen, that I myself have investigated much into these matters. The first thing I studied is that science which is called astrology – that is, [the science] by which man may know what will come to pass in the world or in this or that city or kingdom and what will happen to a particular individual all the days of his life. I also have read in all matters concerning all of idolatry, so that it seems to me there does not remain in the world a composition on this subject, having been translated into Arabic from other languages, but that I have read it and have understood its subject matter and have plumbed the depth of its thought…

So, he seems to be saying that even though you are forbidden to read these books I have read all of them thoroughly! Furthermore, he states quite categorically [Hilkhot Sanhedrin 2:1] that among the necessary qualifications for membership of the Great Sanhedrin were, apart from great expertise in Torah:

Wide general knowledge, some knowledge of the sciences such as medicine, mathematics and astronomy and the ways of wizards, magicians, conjurors and all the nonsense of idolatry…

It occurs to me that Conservative Judaism is absolutely right in requiring our would-be sages to have a good university education and to be widely read in worldly matters.

For those who missed it: RABIN MISHNAH STUDY GROUP MARKS TEN YEARS!
Please click here.

The archive of Tractate Sanhedrin is (at last!) now complete. Click here to access the Sanhedrin Archive.

These shiurim are and will remain free of charge.
If you should enjoy one of them please consider making a secure online donation to the Masorti Movement, which sponsors them. Make sure that you indicate that your donation is for the "Virtual Beit Midrash" in the dropdown box for "My Gift Allocation". All donations to the Virtual Bet Midrash are tax deductable.
Please use this link to reach the Masorti Online

Donation Form.

The shiurim of the Rabin Mishnah Study Group are usually sent out on Monday and Thursday;
the shiurim of the Halakhah Study Group are usually sent out on Tuesday.
Did you know? The Mishnah shiurim are also available in Hebrew. (Go to Subscribe/Unsubscribe)