Avot138

8:
After meanness and the unbridled tendency to do wrong we come to the last of the three evils which, according to Rabbi Yehoshu'a, take a person out of this world. Before we examine what the classical commentators had to say about this let us briefly note that the phrase "hatred of people" can be understood in two different ways. Rabbi Yehoshu'a may have meant (and probably did mean) to say that when a person harbours excessive hatred towards others it will be his downfall. But, as we shall see, one of the commentators did notice the other possibility: that what can take a person out of this world is when he behaves in such a way that he incurs the hatred of others towards him.

9:
The avoidance of hatred towards others is specifically commanded in the Torah [Leviticus 19:17]. As Rashi points out in his commentary on this verse, the command "Do not hate your brother in your heart" is, in fact, the mirror image of the other command of the Torah which appears at the end of the very next verse: "You must love your fellow as yourself." Most of the traditional commentators see the injunction not to hate someone else in one's heart as a warning that it is best to "have it out" with someone in order to "clear the air". This is clearly seen from the whole verse:

The sin is harbouring hatred, letting it fester and grow within oneself. If someone has done something to incur one's anger it is far better to argue it out with them than to let unexpressed indignation become the food upon which hatred feeds and grows until it takes over the whole personality.

10:
Rambam, in his commentary on our present mishnah, gives the advice of Rabbi Yehoshu'a a psychological interpretation and seems to understand "hatred of people" as indicating misanthropy. He says that such hatred is born of

11:
Rabbi Ovadyah of Bertinoro equates hatred with causeless hatred, hatred of others for no valid reason – or for no reason at all. It is Rabbi Ovadyah who also suggests that "hatred of people" may well mean that a person whose behaviour is obnoxious will cause all others to shun him. In this sense, presumably, he is removed from the world.

In Avot 135, in response to a query from Sue Mackson, I had occasion to mention the great work of Rabbi Avraham Yeshoshu'a Heschel z"l Torah min ha-Shamayim ba'Aspaklariah shel ha-Dorot (Torah from Heaven in the light of the generations). Many thanks to Alan Jay Gerber and Mark Lehrman for bringing to my attention that this masterwork is now available in a new English translation. The book is called "Heavenly Torah As Refracted Through The Generations" and as been translated and edited by Rabbi Gordon Tucker. I checked for you: it is available from Amazon at $95.

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In Avot 132 I had occasion to mention Elisha ben-Avuyah. We shall, God willing, discuss this sage in detail when we reach Avot 4:20. Since, at our present rate of progress, that is still quite some way off, let me interpolate here a recommendation offered by Ze'ev Orzech:

À propos the four that entered the orchard: Milton Steinberg wrote a fascinating, fictionalized account of the event (and of the life of Rabbi Elisha ben Abuyah) called: "As a Driven Leaf." Well worth reading – as is the foreword by Chaim Potok.

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In Avot 135 we mentioned the Greek philosopher Epicurus and his teaching, often summarized as "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die". Art Kamlet writes:

Those words sound like they were lifted directly from an earlier source – Isaiah 22:13. Different meaning, same words. Nothing new under the sun?

I respond:

For the benefit of those who don't have the time to look up that verse, here it is: