Avot170
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BET MIDRASH VIRTUALI
of the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel
RABIN MISHNAH STUDY GROUP
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TRACTATE AVOT, CHAPTER THREE, MISHNAH NINE (recap):
Rabbi Shim'on says: anyone who is walking down a road repeating [his learning in his head] and says, "What a beautiful tree!" [or] "What a beautiful furrow!" is considered by scripture as having put his life in jeopardy. Rabbi Dostai, the son of Rabbi Yannai, quotes Rabbi Me'ir as saying: Anyone who forgets [even just] one part of his learning is considered by scripture as having put his life in jeopardy; for it says, "But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously, so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes…" [Since] this could be [interpreted as referring to someone] who had a momentary blackout, the Torah adds "so that they do not fade from your mind as long as you live" – thus a person has not put his life in jeopardy until he sits down and [deliberately] removes them from his mind.
EXPLANATIONS (continued):
9:
The biography of Rabbi Shim'on bar-Yoĥai depicts a man of uncompromising character and utter devotion to the study of Torah. After spending a long period of time devoted almost completely to study of Torah and worship, he came out of his cave. We have seen how shocked he was to see ordinary people just going about their daily business, trying to earn a living from the soil. However, this insistence that study of Torah must take precedence over everything else was not a momentary aberration but an integral part of his philosophy. The Gemara [Berakhot 35b] records a discussion between two sages concerning the way in which earning a living and Torah study must live together. One verse in the Torah [Deuteronomy 11:14] tells us that we must gather in the produce of the fields at the appropriate time; but another biblical verse [Joshua 1:8] warns us that we must constantly study Torah, night and day. Rabbi Yishma'el, most reasonably, maintained that these verses cannot possible be understood literally: the Torah wishes to teach that we must gather in the produce of our fields when we should and we should also find time for Torah study by day and by night. But Rabbi Shim'on bar-Yoĥai will have none of this:
If a person ploughs when he must plough, sows when he must sow, reaps when he must reap, threshes when he must thresh and winnows when it is windy – what will become of Torah?
His recommendation is to trust that God will provide and to devote oneself completely to study of Torah. Some two centuries later the great Babylonian Amora Abbayé laconically remarked [Berakhot 35b]:
Many followed the recommendation of Rabbi Yishma'el and were successful; many followed the recommendation of Rabbi Shim'on ben-Yoĥai and were unsuccessful.
The Gemara goes on to relate that
Rava used to say to his students, "Please do not come here [to study] in the months of Nisan and Tishri [when the work in the fields is at its highest], otherwise you will be bothered by your economics throughout the year."
10:
This same inability to compromise concerning Torah study lies also at the heart of the teaching of Rabbi Shim'on in our present mishnah, as we shall see. To be continued. DISCUSSION
In Avot 168 I made a comment concerning the convolutions in aggadic midrash: If it were so simple he would not have needed so convoluted a solution.
Barak Rosenshine writes: This brings to mind the quote attributed to [Blaise] Pascal, "I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it short." And, of course, there is the quote from [Albert] Einstein: Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler. I respond: During his lifetime there were several 'luminaries' who were jealous of Rambam's competence and his fame. They claimed that he had only written a fourteen-volume encyclopedia of Halakhah [Mishneh Torah] in order to be able to claim that he had written a fourteen-volume encyclopedia of Halakhah. Rambam's riposte was, "Had I known how to reduce the whole of Halakhah into one chapter I would have done so." BMV Home | The shiurim of the Rabin Mishnah Study Group are usually sent out on Monday and Thursday; These shiurim are and will remain free of charge. |
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