Avot166

נושא: Avot

BET MIDRASH VIRTUALI

Rabbi El'azar from Bartota says: Give Him what is His, for you and yours are His. Similarly, in the case of David it says, "For from You is everything and from Your hand have we given to You."

1:
What we know of the Rabbi El'azar of our mishnah is that he is Rabbi El'azar ben Yehudah and he hailed from the village of Bartota – also known as Biria – in the Upper Galilee (just outside the town of Safed). He was a student of Rabbi Yehoshu'a and a contemporary of Rabbi Akiva. We shall mention one other element in his biography which is very relevant to our present mishnah after we have elucidated the mishnah itself.

2:
The meaning of what Rabbi El'azar has to say in our present mishnah is very clear – so clear that Rambam does not bother himself to make any comment at all! Rabbi Ovadya of Bertinoro explains as follows:

Never desist from occupying yourself with the needs of Heaven, be it with your body or with your money, because you will not be giving away what is yours, be it your body or your money, for you and your money are His.

The needs of Heaven, clearly, are acts of charity towards those in need. (We have mentioned on several occasions that the sages saw the rules and regulations concerning 'Indigent Dues', other 'donatives', Shemittah and Jubilee, were God's way of spreading material wealth as widely as possible: the farmer is but the steward of his land and of what grows in it and he must distribute therefrom at the instruction of the true Owner.)

3:
It is rather interesting that in his commentary Tos^efot YomTov, Rabbi YomTov Lippmann Heller points out that the 'proof text' offered by Rabbi El'azar is phrased slightly differently from what is usual among the sages. He does not say 'as it says', but 'similarly … it says'. The reason for this, says the commentator, is because the proof text is not an exact proof. The text quoted [1Chronicles 29:14] is part of a speech attributed to King David after having encouraged his subjects to donate funds for the building of the Bet Mikdash. Rabbi Heller points out that the case of David was different in that the building of the Bet Mikdash was specifically commanded by God and also it was a public undertaking: private matters are possibly not quite the same.

To be continued.

In Avot 160 we learned the teaching of Rabbi Neĥunya ben-Hakanah: When anyone takes upon himself the yoke of Torah he is relieved of the yoke of the government and the yoke of making a living….

Sheridan Neimark asks:

Is this Mishna the basis of the practice among many haradim to forego work for study, and live off government subsidies?

I respond:

We have visited this issue on several occasions in the past. Let me refer you to what has already been said in Avot 048, Avot 063, Avot 094, and Avot 095. On more than one occasion I have also promised to re-visit this issue at length when we reach the fifth mishnah of chapter 4.

In Avot 161 we saw that Rabbi Ĥanina ben-Dosa rested his head between his knees when praying, and I mentioned that from several sources in the ancient world we know that concentrating with the head between the knees was a well-known posture for deep meditation.

Jacob Chinitz objects:

The head between the knees is a strange position. Is it possible? Is it done in a sitting position? Or lying down? In a standing position it would require extraordinary, even magical skill. Jewish Body Language includes many positions: standing, sitting, lying down, … bending the knee, bowing the head, lying prostrate … swaying, reclining at the Seder, raising the hands, raising the eyes, … whispering, shouting, … singing, crying, groaning … All of these express a mood, a posture, an attitude. But what does the position of the head between the knees represent? Humility, worship, some kind of Yoga?

I respond:

I mentioned quite clearly, I think, that it was a recognised position assumed for deep meditation. For an example, please see http://www.dharmayogacenter.com/asanas/asana-mukhya-6.htm where the novice is instructed as follows:

Stand erect. Let the hands hang down closely by the sides. Keep the heels close and toes apart. Raise the hands above the head. Slowly bend the body downwards. Keep the knees stiff and erect. Do not bend the legs at the knees. Slowly bring the hands down without bending at the elbows and catch hold of the toes with your thumb, index and middle fingers only. When you bend, slowly exhale and draw the belly backwards. Keep the forehead between the knees. The face is buried between the hollow of the knees or the head can be pushed further between the two thighs. Retain the pose from 2 to 10 seconds.

Another example can be found here. (Do a search on the page for "Utthita Janu Sirshasana".

A Google search will find you many more modern examples of mediation with the head between the knees.

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