Avot334
of the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel
RABIN MISHNAH STUDY GROUP
TRACTATE AVOT, CHAPTER FIVE, MISHNAH SEVENTEEN (recap):
Any dispute which is for the sake of heaven will, in the end, survive but any dispute which is not for the sake of heaven will not survive. What is [an example of] a dispute that is for the sake of heaven? – this would be the dispute between Hillel and Shammai. And one that is not for the sake of heaven? – this would be the dispute of Koraĥ and all his congregation.
EXPLANATIONS (continued):
6:
The choice of the dispute between Koraĥ and Moses is more helpful in understanding our mishnah than the dispute between Hillel and Shammai. Or, rather, the motives for Koraĥ's rebellion illuminate the nature of the dispute between the sages.
7:
Koraĥ, Datan, Aviram and On were motivated by personal ambition, though, of course, they were careful to cloak their ambition in pious political platitudes:
"You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and God is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above God's congregation?" [Numbers 16:3]
The personal element becomes clear when Moses summons them to a conference:
They said, "We will not come! Is it not enough that you brought us from a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, that you would also lord it over us? Even if you had brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey, and given us possession of fields and vineyards, should you gouge out those men's eyes? We will not come!" [Numbers 16: 12-14]
8:
The resolution of the dispute is in the hands of God. Not only had the leadership of Moses been challenged but also the election of Aaron to the priesthood was disputed. It was necessary to demonstrate that this election was God's, not that of Moses.
God spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelite people and take from them – from the chieftains of their ancestral houses – one staff for each chieftain of an ancestral house: twelve staffs in all. Inscribe each man's name on his staff, there being one staff for each head of an ancestral house; also inscribe Aaron's name on the staff of Levi. Deposit them in the Tent of Meeting before the Ark, where I meet with you. The staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout, and I will rid Myself of the incessant mutterings of the Israelites against you. [Numbers 17:16-20]
9:
Of course, the outcome was a foregone conclusion:
The next day Moses entered the Tent, and there the staff of Aaron of the house of Levi had sprouted: it had brought forth sprouts, produced blossoms, and borne almonds. [Numbers 17:23]
Thus the dispute, born of personal ambitions, was resolved.
10:
Hillel and Shammai on the other hand, and after them the schools that they founded, were not motivated in their disputes by personal ambition or a desire to score points: they were motivated by a burning desire to establish the 'correct' halakhah. The Mishnah tells us that even in matters of utmost concern to personal status (marriage and divorce etc) the two houses did not permit the differences of opinion between them to create a social or intellectual barrier. After listing a series of matters regarding personal status (and other matters) in which the two schools adopted a contradictory stance the mishnah adds:
Nevertheless, though one school prohibits what the other school permits the School of Shammai never refrained from marrying women from the School of Hillel nor did the School of Hillel refrain from marrying women from the School of Shammai. [Yevamot 1:4]
Would that such generosity of spirit existed in our days.
DISCUSSION:
We come now to the last of the questions concerning tzedakah [mishnah 13 of this chapter] posed by Nehama Barbiru:
A homeless person stands begging at an intersection, but most if not all the money goes to a stronger person who is threatening his life if he does not hand over all the money that he earns.
I respond:
The answer to this question is simple. If the situation is known to you, the issue of giving tzedakah is irrelevant for the time being. The Torah [Leviticus 19:16] explicitly commands us: "You may not stand idly by when the blood [life] of your neighbour is threatened." You must immediately report the situation to the authorities so that they can take appropriate action. After that, Nehama's question once again becomes irrelevant because the mendicant is an "ordinary" beggar once again.
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