Avot269

13:
We must now turn our attention to the third of the possible causes of the apostasy of Elisha ben-Avuya. His rejection of Pharisaic Judaism may have come about – at least in part – because of a theological crisis. While it is most probable that all the elements that we have mentioned so far contributed to a gradual distancing from the Judaism that he had known and loved, it seems to me that the final break came as the result of an incident he witnessed which left such a theological trauma that he could no longer maintain his status as a believing Jew and a halakhic authority with integrity. In order to understand the incident and his reaction to it we must offer prior explanation.

14:
When we studied the third mishnah of the first chapter of this tractate [Avot 020] we learned the exhortation of Antigonos of Sokhoh: "Do not be like servants who serve the master in order to receive a reward." In other words, one should not observe God's commandments in the expectation of a reward for that observance – worldly success or eternal life suggest themselves. And when we discussed this teaching of Antigonos [Avot 023] we quoted extensively from Rambam's Mishnah commentary:

15:
However, despite this excellent attitude, twice in the Torah a commandment is given and the reward for observing it is directly mentioned. One is very well-known and oft quoted:

The second such commandment is less well-known:

We note that in both cases the promised reward for observance is length of days.

To be continued.

Jum Feldman writes:

Is not Elisha ben-Avuyah the protagonist of "As a Driven Leaf" Milton Steinberg's novel (now published in paperback with a forward by Chaim Potok?) Since most of the "stuff" we have on ben Avuyah is somewhat remote commentary by others, an historical novel can as good a way to look at the events as any other. I read the book some years ago, but remember it with some pleasure. The original was published in 1939.

I respond:

Yes, this is indeed so. I am afraid that I have yet to read this novel: I hope to do so after my retirement! I don't understand why Jim should think that a historical novel (even one published more than six decades ago that has stood the test of time) should be preferred as a source over information from sources almost contemporary with the protagonist. Admittedly both the authors of the classical sources and the author of the novel had "an axe to grind", and we must constantly be aware of this animus, but I do not think that there is any reason to prefer Rabbi Milton Steinberg as a source to the Talmuds and the Midrashim.