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text: Pirkei Avot
  משנה אבות
  The Mishna with Obadiah Bartenura by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein
  
  
  Pirkei Avot
  
  
  
  
  
  	Moses received Torah from Sinai. [I say that because this tractate is not founded on any explanation of a mitzvah of the mitzvoth of the Torah as are the other tractates of the Mishnah, but is entirely mussar and middoth, and the sages of the gentiles have also written books from the musings of their heart on the ways of mussar — how a man should deport himself with his neighbor — therefore, the tanna begins this tractate: "Moses received Torah from Sinai," to teach us that the middoth and mussar in this tractate were not conjured up by the sages of the Mishnah, but these, too, were stated on Sinai, (i.e., by Him who revealed Himself on Sinai)]. And He gave it to Joshua; and Joshua, to the elders, [who lived on after Joshua, until the advent of the first prophets, Eli the high-priest and Shmuel Haramati]; and the elders, to the prophets; and the prophets gave it to the men of the great assembly (anshei knesseth hagedolah). [They were 120 elders: Zerubaval, Seraya, Re'elayah, Mordecai-Bilshan, who lived in the days of Ezra, when they went up from the exile to the second Temple, among them, Chaggai, Zechariah, Malachi, and Nechemiah ben Chachalyah and their colleagues. They were called "the men of the great assembly" for having restored the "Crown" to its pristine (greatness). For Moses said (Deuteronomy 10:17): "The great, mighty, awesome, G-d." Jeremiah and Daniel came and (Daniel) did not say "great," and (Jeremiah) did not say "awesome," and they (the men of the great assembly) restored them ("great  and awesome") as at first," saying "this (as stated there [Yoma 69b]) is precisely His greatness"; "this is precisely His awesomeness"; "for if not so (i.e., if He were not great and awesome), how could one nation endure against seventy nations (intent upon annihilating it, etc.)!"] They were wont to say three things. [They said many things; but they were wont to say these three things to uphold the integrity of Torah]: Be patient ("metunim") in judgment [i.e., if something comes before you for judgment, do not say: "Such a case has come before me two or three times before," but be patient; that is, "wait" ('mamtinim') before you rule upon it.] And set up many disciples, [(as opposed to the view of R. Gamliel, who says (Berachoth 28a): "Let no disciple whose inside is not like his outside enter the house of study.") We are hereby taught that Torah is taught to every man, and there is no need to "search him out," so long as he is not known to be a man of ill conduct and of ill repute. Or, we are (hereby) being taught that if one set up disciples in his youth, he should continue doing so in his old age, as it is written (Koheleth 11:6): "In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening let your hand not rest."] And make a fence for the Torah, [so that you not come to violate the issur of the Torah itself (e.g., the secondary class [shniyoth] of forbidden relations) and shvuth (rabbinically interdicted occupation) on Sabbath, as it is written (Leviticus 18:30): "And you shall keep My charge" — Make a "keeping" for My charge.]
  	Shimon Hatzaddik was the last of the men of the great assembly [and the tradition (hakabalah) remained in his hand. He was high-priest after Ezra.] He was wont to say [(And thus all "R. Ploni says" and "He was wont to say" in this tractate are understood as "This is what he would say always.")]: The world stands on three things [i.e., the world was created for these three things alone]: on Torah [(Shabbath 88a) If Israel had not accepted the Torah, heaven and earth would not have been created, as it is written (Jeremiah 33:25): "If not for My covenant (of Torah), day and night, the statutes of heaven and earth I would not have made"], on avodah [the sacrificial service. For thus did we learn in tractate Ta'anith (27b): If not for the ma'amadoth (the "watches" at the sacrificial services), heaven and earth could not endure. And we find that because of the sacrifices offered up by Noach, He swore that He would never again bring a flood over the world — whence we see that the world endures because of the sacrifices], and on lovingkindness, [as it is written (Psalms 89:3): "The world is built on lovingkindness." Lovingkindness consists of: rejoicing the groom, consoling mourners, visiting the sick, attending upon the dead, and the like.]
  	Antignos Ish Socho received it from Shimon Hatzaddik: He was wont to say: Do not be like servants who serve their master in order to receive pras ["valuation," as in the targum of (Leviticus 5:15): "your valuation" — "bepursaneh," what one gives one who serves him, though he is not required by law to give him anything, as what one gives his young son or his wife or his servant because of the pleasure that he gives him. One should not serve his Creator even in the expectation of such pras], but be like servants who serve their master not in order to receive pras, [but out of love alone]. And let the fear of the L rd be upon you. [Even though you serve Him out of love, serve Him also out of fear. For one who serves out of love is zealous in the performance of positive commandments, while one who serves out of fear is heedful in the observance of negative commandments, so that his service is found to be complete. And thus did our sages say: "Serve out of love and serve out of fear. Serve out of love, so that if you are moved to hate, know that you love, and a lover does not hate. Serve out of fear, so that if you are moved to "kick," know that you fear, and a fearer does not kick."]
  	Yossi ben Yoezer Ish Tzreidah [the Nassi] and Yossi ben Yochanan Ish Yerushalayim [the av beth-din] received it from them. [All the tannaim mentioned in this chapter by pairs — "This and this tanna received it from these and these" — the first is the Nassi and the second, the av beth-din.] Yossi ben Yoezer says Let your house be a house of gathering for the sages. [When the sages wish to convene somewhere, let your house be the designated place, that they be accustomed to say: Let us meet in this and this one's house. For it is impossible that you not learn of them (thereby) some article of wisdom. To what may this be compared? To one's entering a spice shop. Even if he takes nothing, he absorbs the aroma and it leaves with him], and be dusted by the dust of their feet. [That is, follow them. For a walker raises dust with his feet, and one who walks after him is dusted by this dust. Alternately, sit at their feet on the ground. For that was the practice. The teacher would sit on a bench and the disciples would sit at his feet on the ground], and drink their words with thirst, [as a thirsty man, who drinks to quench his thirst, and not as a sated man, who despises his food, even what is tasty and good.]
  Yossi ben Yochanan Ish Yerushalayim says: Let your house be open wide, [like the house of our father Abraham, may peace be upon him, which was open on all four sides, so that guests would not have to make a circuit to find the door], and let the poor [of Israel] be the dwellers of your house, [— that one not hire (gentile) servants to serve him. Better that Jews benefit from his possessions and not the seed of the accursed Canaan.], and do not overindulge in speech with the woman. [From "the woman" as opposed to "a woman" we derive that they said this] of one's own wife; how much more so (does this apply) with the wife of one's neighbor! [Others explain that this applies to his wife in a state of niddah, so that he not come to the sin itself; but the language of the Mishnah seems to imply that even his wife in a non-niddah state is intended. And thus have the sages (Chagigah 5b) said (Amos 4:13): "And He tells a man what his converse is" — Even superfluous converse between a man and his wife is recounted to a man at the time of judgment (and he is held accountable for it — unless he must predispose her to the act of mitzvah [i.e., cohabitation], as in the instance of Rav, who would converse and "play" (with her) and then live with her] — whence the sages derived: When a man engages in superfluous converse with his wife, he brings evil upon himself. [Rabbeinu Hakadosh, who codified the Mishnah, wrote: From the words of this sage, who said: "And do not overindulge in speech with the woman," the sages taught that whenever a man engages in superfluous converse with his wife he brings evil upon himself. (I found it written that when a man relates to his wife: "This and this is what happened to me with that man," she teaches him to stir up strife, as in the instance of Korach, who related to his wife that Moses had "lifted up the Levites" — her reply incited him to strife.) Or, when he tells her that his friends demeaned and humiliated him, she, too, scorns him in her heart, and he thereby brings evil upon himself], and, [by preoccupying himself with idle talk,] he neglects Torah study, and, in the end, inherits Gehinnom.]
  	Yehoshuah ben Prachya and Nitai Ha'arbeli received it from them. Yehoshua ben Prachya says: Make a teacher for yourself. [Rambam explains: Even if he is not fit to be your teacher, still make him your teacher, and do not learn by yourself. And I have heard: "Make a teacher for yourself" that you learn from constantly, and do not learn today from one and tomorrow from another. And even though they said (Avodah Zarah 19a): "If one learns Torah from only one master, he never sees a sign of blessing," they have already explained: That is true of svara (sharpening in dialectics after the "substance" has been acquired), it being beneficial for one to hear the svara of the many; but in gemara (acquiring the "substance" itself), one master is preferable, to avoid differences in formulations of the same (oral learnings)], and acquire a friend for yourself, [even if it is very costly for you to do so, and you must spend much to acquire his love. But it cannot be stated "Acquire a teacher for yourself," a teacher being obliged to teach gratis], and judge each man in the scales of merit. [This is so when the act is in the balance, it not being discernible from his deeds whether he is righteous or wicked and he performs a deed which permits of judging him in the scales of merit or in those of guilt; it is the way of lovingkindness to judge him in the scales of merit. But if one is confirmed in evil, it is permitted to judge him in the scales of guilt, their having stated only (Shabbath 97a): "If one suspects the innocent he is smitten in his body," implying that if he suspects the wicked he is not smitten.]
  	Nittai Ha'arbeli says: Distance yourself from an evil neighbor, [so that you not learn from his deeds, and, also, so that you not share in his downfall, for "Woe to the wicked and woe to his neighbor!"], and do not befriend the wicked one. [For thus did the sages say: All who attach themselves to the wicked, even though they do not emulate them, receive recompense as they do. To what may this be compared? To one's entering a spice shop. Even if he takes nothing, he absorbs the aroma and it leaves with him], and do not "despair" of [the arrival of] punishment [i.e., do not say: "I shall cleave to this wicked one, whose deeds are prospering, for fortune is favoring him." He, therefore, says: "Do not despair of punishment." That is, know that punishment will quickly come upon him, his undoing overtaking him of a sudden.]
  	Yehudah ben Tabbai and Shimon ben Shetach received it from them. Yehudah ben Tabbai says: Do not you, [(a judge)], make yourself like [those] orchei hadayanim [(lawyers), who arrange ("orchim") cases for the litigants before the judges, it being forbidden for one (a judge) to reveal his judgments to one of the litigants, telling him: Do thus and thus so that you win your case — even if he knows that he is in the right. Alternately, "ke'orchei hadayanin," like the great among the judges. This, in reference to a disciple sitting before his master, that he not make himself like the great among the judges, to speak before his master as a decisor of the law. "Orchei" as in "the erkaoth of the gentiles," the erkaoth of the House of David." And from others I have heard: "Do not make yourself as the great ones of the judges to force the litigants to come to judgment before you.] And when litigants stand before you, let them be in your eyes like wicked ones, [that you not favor one of them, saying "This one is a distinguished man and will not make a false claim." For if you say this, you will see no guilt in him.], and when they take their leave of you, let them be innocent in your eyes when they have taken the judgment upon themselves. [Do not suspect the arraigned one as a thief but as one who erred and had no intention of stealing. Or, if an oath was imposed upon one of them and he swore, do not say that he swore falsely.]
  	Shimon ben Shetach says: Be thorough in cross-examining the witnesses, and be circumspect in your words, lest from them they learn to lie. [Let the judge not say: "Perhaps this and this is what happened," or "If this were the case, Ploni would be innocent." From such words, the litigant or the witnesses learn to say what never happened.]
  	Shmayah and Avtalyon received it from them. [Shmayah and Avtalyon were righteous converts, of the descendants of Sancheriv. I heard it said that because Avtalyon was the av beth-din he was called by this name, which means "a father to the young ones," "talya" in Aramaic meaning "young," as in (Megillah 5b): R. Yochanan said: "When I was young (talya)," (Yevamoth 114a): "Let the young boy (talya) and the young girl (talyata) come." Here, too, "Avtalyon," the father of young orphans.] Shmayah says: Love labor. [Even if one has enough for his livelihood, he should work, for "idleness leads to lassitude" (Kethuvoth 59b).], and hate high station. [Do not say I am a man of eminence and work is demeaning to me, viz. (Pesachim 113a): Rav said to R. Kahana: "Flay a carcass in the marketplace and take pay (for it), and do not say: 'I am a distinguished personage and it is beneath me.'" Alternately: "And hate authority." Do not lord it over the people, for "lordship buries its practitioners."], and do not ingratiate yourself with the authorities (rashut) [in order to assume authority thereby. Or: Do not do so, so that they not turn you from your faith, as happened with Doeg the Edomite. (The authorities are called "rashut" (lit., "permit"), for they are "permitted" to do as they will.)]
  	Avtalyon says: Sages, take heed of your words [that leave an opening for heretics to stray through them], lest you incur the punishment of exile and you be exiled to a place of "evil waters" and the disciples that come after you drink them and die and the Name of Heaven be profaned. [That is, even though in the place in which you find yourselves there are no heretics, it is to be feared that you may incur the punishment of exile because of a sin of yours and you be exiled to a place where there are people who interpret the Torah at variance with the halachah (this being the "place of evil waters") and they will understand from your words improper things, and the disciples who come after you will "drink" from those things and die in their sin and the Name of Heaven will be profaned. For those vain ideas will remain in the world. As happened in the instance of Antignos Ish Socho and his disciples, Tzaddok and Baythus, whom he told (viz. 1:3): "Do not be like servants who serve their master in order to receive pras" and who said: "Is it conceivable for a worker to labor and exert himself a whole day and not receive a wage at night!" They subsequently succumbed to heresy (and their disciples are called "Tzdokkim" and "Baythusim" to this day.)]
  	Hillel and Shammai received it from them. Hillel says: Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving men and drawing them close to Torah. [They explained in Avoth d' R. Nathan how Aaron loved peace. When he saw two men quarreling, he would go to each one without the knowledge of the other and say to him: "Look at your friend. See how he regrets what he has done and how he smites himself for having sinned against you. He asked me to come to you and beg you to forgive him." Afterwards, when they met, they would kiss each other. And how would he draw men close to Torah? When he knew a man to have transgressed, he would befriend him and look kindly upon him — whereupon the other would think, in shame: "If that tzaddik knew of my evil deeds, how he would distance himself from me!" As a result, he would repent. This is the testimony of the prophet (Malachi 2:6): "In peace and justness did he (Aaron) walk with Me, and many did he turn from sin."]
  	He (Hillel) was wont to say: One who projects ("negad") his name loses his name. [One who "stretches out" his name (afar) in lordship and authority will soon lose his name, for "lordship buries its practitioners." (The targum of "mishchu" is "negidu.")], and he who does not add [to his learning], there will end (yasif) [from his mouth what he has already learned and he will forget his learning. Others read it "ye'asef (i.e., "he will be gathered in" to his people and he will die before his time.], and he who does not learn [(ab initio, which is more severe than not adding to one's learning,)] incurs the penalty of death. [That is, he deserves to be killed (viz. Pesachim 49b): "It is permitted to rip an ignoramus open, like a fish — and from his back," (such "ripping" being mortal)], and one who "uses" (i.e., exploits) the "crown" (taga) [of Torah (as one who "uses" his dishes)] passes away [from the world. There are some who explain "taga" as "talmid" (disciple); "gavra" (a man); "achrina" (another) — i.e., it is forbidden for a man to employ for his benefit disciples who are not his own. And I have heard: "And one who uses taga (the ineffable Name) passes away and is lost (from the world), not having a share in the world to come.]
  	He was wont to say: If I do not [acquire merit] for myself, who [will acquire it] for me? And [even] if I do [acquire it] for myself, what [is it, relative to what] I am [obliged to acquire (i.e., relative to my potential)?] And if not now [i.e., in this world], then when? [For after I die, I can no longer acquire merit. Alternately: If not now (in my youth), then when? (Perhaps, in my old age, I will no longer be able to acquire it)].
  	Beth Shammai say: Make your Torah primary [i.e., let your principal endeavor, day and night, be in Torah. And when you tire from learning engage in some occupation; and do not make your occupation primary and your learning secondary. [I have found it written: "Make your Torah consistent. Do not be stringent (in ruling) for yourself and lenient for others, or stringent for others and lenient for yourself. But make your Torah consistent — for yourself as for others. And thus is it written in Ezra (7:10): 'For Ezra set his heart to expound the Torah of the L rd and to do and to teach the children of Israel' — just as he set his heart to do, so did he teach the children of Israel (to do).], say little and do much, [as we find with our father Abraham, of blessed memory, who first said (Genesis 18:5): "I will take a loaf of bread," and then (Ibid. 7): "And he took a calf, tender and good."], and receive all men with a kindly countenance. [When you invite guests to your house, do not receive them with your face "sunk in the ground," for if one does so, even if he bestowed upon them all the gifts in the world, it is accounted to him as if he gave them nothing. Shammai adduces three exhortations relating (respectively) to the three eminences mentioned by Jeremiah (9:22): wisdom, strength and wealth. Relative to wisdom he says: "Make your wisdom primary"; relative to wealth, "Say little and do much"; and relative to strength, "Receive all men with a kindly countenance. That is, one should suppress his inclination not to give and wage war with his recalcitrant heart. And we learned: "Who is strong? One who suppresses his (evil) inclination.]
  	R. Gamliel was wont to say [in respect to hora'ah (halachic rulings): If a question comes before you and you are in doubt (as to the halachah),] make a rav for yourself, and remove doubt from yourself [(and do not rule alone) as in the instance of Rava (viz. Horiyoth 3b). When a question of treifah (ritually unfit meat) came before him, he would gather together all the butchers of Mata Mechasia, saying "so that each take a chip of the beam" (i.e., so that the entire onus not fall on him alone)]. And do not tithe overmuch by estimate. [For one who does so is not spared defect. If he tithes too little, his tithes are correct, but his fruits are "defective"; and if he tithes too much, his fruits are "corrected," but his tithes are defective.]
  	Shimon, his son, says: All my days I have grown up among the wise, and I have found nothing better for (my) body than silence [i.e., hearing myself shamed and remaining silent.] And it is not the expounding which is primary but the act [i.e., and know that silence is good, for even for expounding and speaking in Torah, than which there is nothing greater, the primary reward is for the act (which follows from it); and if one expounds and does not act (upon what he says), it would be better if he remained silent and did not expound.] And all who increase words bring sin. [For thus do we find with Eve, who "increased words" in saying (Genesis 3:3): "G-d said: 'You shall not eat of it and you shall not touch it.'" She added "touching," which had not been forbidden to her, and the serpent pushed her until she touched it. And he said to her: "Just as there is no death in touching it, so there is no death in eating it." And this led to her sin of eating from the fruit. As Solomon says (Proverbs 20:6): "Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you and you be proven false."]
  	R. Shimon b. Gamliel says: On three things the world subsists [(This is not like "the world stands on three things" (viz. 1:2)]: on justice [to exonerate the innocent and incriminate the guilty], and on truth, [that one not cheat his friend], and on peace, as it is written (Zechariah 8:16): "(With) truth and justice and peace shall you judge in your gates."]
  
  
  
  	Rabbi says: Which is the just path that a man should choose for himself? All that is gratifying to its doer and that earns him the praise of man. [And this will obtain when he walks in all the middoth (character traits) in the middle path and does not incline to one of the two extremes. For if he is extremely stingy, this is gratifying to him, for he thereby amasses great wealth, but men do not praise him for this. And if he is vainly extravagant, the men who receive from him praise him, but this (extravagance) is not gratifying to its doer, for he thereby reduces himself to poverty. But the middah of generosity, which is the mean between stinginess and extravagance, is gratifying to its doer, for he thereby preserves his wealth and is not overly extravagant, and this earns him the praise of men for living as he should. The same is true of all of the middoth]. And take heed of a "light" mitzvah as of a "heavy" one, for you do not know the reward of mitzvoth. [The Torah does not specify the reward of one who fulfills a positive commandment nor the punishment of one who fails to fulfill it. For the punishments of the negative commandments are specific: stoning, burning, the sword, strangulation, cutting-off, death at the hands of Heaven, stripes — the light punishment for the "light" transgression, and the heavy punishment for the "heavy" one], and weigh the "loss" of (performing) a mitzvah [i.e., what you lose of your wares or your money by engaging in a mitzvah] against its reward [in this world or the next, which will exceed that loss], and the "reward" of a transgression [i.e., what you gain from it] against its loss [i.e., what you are destined to lose by it.], and contemplate these things and you will not come to transgression: Know what is above you — a seeing eye and a hearing ear and all of your deeds are recorded in a book.
  	R. Gamliel, the son of R. Yehudah Hanassi says: Torah study is "becoming" with derech eretz [labor or business], for the toil of both causes sin to be forgotten. [For the Torah attenuates a man's strength and labor breaks the body, and, as a result, the evil inclination departs from him. And if you would ask: If so, let him toil in Torah always and its toil would banish sin. Why, then, is labor needed? It, therefore, must be stated:] And all Torah without labor is lost in the end and foments sin. [For one cannot live without a livelihood and his end will be to rob men, and his learning will be forgotten.] And all who toil with the congregation, let them toil with them for the sake of Heaven. For the merit of their [the congregation's] fathers and their righteousness (which) stands forever, [and not the exertions of the toilers] will help them, [the toilers, to bring their righteousness to light.] And you, [the toilers], I will bestow great reward upon you, as if you had done it. [Even though this good was effected not through your deeds, but through the merit of the fathers of the congregation, I will bestow reward upon you as if you had wrought this great salvation in Israel, since you toil for the sake of Heaven. Alternately: all who toil with the congregation to compel them to (the performance of) a mitzvah — to charity or the redemption of captives — let them do so for the sake of Heaven. For the merit of the fathers of the congregation will help them give what they (the toilers) impose upon them — even great wealth. And the charity that they (the congregation) do will stand for them forever. And you who compel the congregation towards this mitzvah — I shall bestow reward upon you as if you had performed the mitzvah with your very wealth. And Rambam explains: "And I will bestow upon you reward as if you had done them" — If in your toil with the congregation, you have omitted the performance of a certain mitzvah, I will bestow reward upon you as if you had performed that mitzvah.]
  	[You, who toil with the congregation, even though you must ingratiate yourself with the authorities in order to see to the needs of the congregation,] take heed of the authorities, for they draw one near only for their own ends. They appear to be lovers when things are going well for them, but they do not stand by a man in the time of his distress.
  	He was wont to say: Make His will like your will [i.e., Spread your wealth for the "desires" of Heaven as if they were your will, as if you spread it for your desires], so that He make your will like His will [i.e., so that He grant you good with an open hand.] Void your will before His will so that He void the will of others before your will [i.e., so that He void the will of all who rise against you for evil. And I have heard that this is a euphemism for "so that He void His will for your will." [As stated (Shabbath 63a): "If one performs a mitzvah as ordained, even a seventy-year decree is voided for him."] Hillel says: Do not separate from the congregation, [but share in their sorrow, for all who separate from the congregation do not merit seeing the consolation of the congregation (Ta'anith 11a)], and do not trust in yourself until the day of your death. [For Yochanan Cohein Gadol served as high-priest for eighty years, and, in the end, became a Sadducee (Berachoth 29a)], and do not judge your friend until you arrive at his place [i.e., if you see your friend being tested and failing, do not judge him guilty until you are put to the same test and succeed.], and do not say a thing which cannot be heard, which can be heard in the end [i.e., let your words not be ambiguous ones, which cannot be understood in the beginning, at first hearing, assuming that if the hearer analyzes them, in the end he will understand them. For this will lead people to mistake your words and possibly to come to heresy because of you. Alternately: Do not reveal your secret, even between you and yourself, saying that there is no one here to hear you, for in the end it will be heard, "for a bird of heaven will carry the voice, etc." (Koheleth 10:20). According to this interpretation, the reading is "for in the end it will be heard." But Rashi reads it "And do not say of a thing [words of Torah] which can be heard (now) that it can be heard in the end," but incline your ear like a hopper and hear it now.], and do not say: When I can free myself [of my affairs] I shall learn (Torah); perhaps you will not free yourself.
  	He was wont to say: "A bur will not fear sin." [A "bur" is one who is "empty" of everything (the Targum of Genesis 47:19 "And the land will not be empty" is "And the land will not be bur.") He is empty even of business acumen and is worse than an "ignoramus"], and an ignoramus cannot be a saint, [but, having business acumen, he can be a fearer of sin], and he who is ashamed will not learn. [Being ashamed to ask lest he be mocked, he will remain with his doubts forever], and the pedant will not teach. [He who is "pedantic" (not forthcoming) with his students when they ask him, will not teach correctly. He must be "open" with them in (the teaching of) halachah], and all who (over) engage in trade will not be wise, [viz. Deuteronomy 30:13: "And it is not across the seas" — Torah is not to be found with those who cross the seas (in trade). (Eruvin 55a)], and in a place where there are no men [to sit at the head and render halachic decisions], strive to be a man.
  	He (Hillel), too, saw a certain skull floating on the water. He said to it: "Because you drowned (others), you were drowned." [You were an evildoer and you drowned them in the river, and measure for measure was it meted out to you], and in the end, your drowners will be drowned, [for it was not for them to drown you, but for beth-din; and the Holy One Blessed be He handed you over to them. For liability is relegated to the liable, and He is destined afterwards to demand your death of them.]
  	He who increases flesh increases worms. [One who eats and drinks overmuch until he becomes fat and fleshy increases worms for himself in the grave, and "worms are as painful to the dead as a needle in the flesh of the living." This tanna comes to apprise us that all indulgences are detrimental to a man except indulgence in Torah, in wisdom, and in charity.] He who increases possessions increases worry, [lest they rob him or lest highwaymen fall upon him and kill him. (A certain chasid would pray: "May He preserve me from 'scattering my soul.'" When he was asked: "What is 'scattering of soul'?" He answered: "Having many possessions scattered in many places and having to 'scatter' one's soul to think in this direction and that."] He who increases wives increases witchcraft. He who increases maidservants increases lewdness. He who increases manservants increases theft. [The rationale for the sequence is as follows: First a man primps himself and eats and drinks and increases flesh. Then he seeks to increase possessions, and after he does so, he sees that he has enough to feed many wives. After he increases wives, each one needs a maidservant, which he supplies. Since he has many household members, he requires fields and vineyards to supply them with wine and food, and he increases servants to work the fields and the vineyards — thus the sequence.] He who increases Torah increases life, [as it is written (Deuteronomy 30:20): "For it is your life and the length of your days."] He who increases sitting (and learning) increases wisdom. [Many disciples gather and come to hear his conjectures. Some understand it as: He who increases disciples increases wisdom, for they sharpen him and add to his wisdom.] He who increases (the taking of) counsel increases understanding [one thing from another through the counsels of his advisers]. He who increases charity increases peace, [as it is written (Isaiah 32:17): "And the act of charity will be (i.e., will lead to) peace."] He who acquires a good name acquires it for himself. He who acquires words of Torah acquires for himself life in the world to come.
  	R. Yochanan ben Zakkai received it from Hillel and from Shammai. He was wont to say: If you have learned much Torah, do not take credit for it, [to say: "I have learned much Torah." For you were created for this. (It is because he left neither Scripture, Mishnah, halachah, and aggadah which he did not learn, that he said this.)] R. Yochanan ben Zakkai had five disciples: R. Eliezer ben Hurkanos, R. Yehoshua ben Chananiah, R. Yossi Hakohen, R. Shimon ben Nethanel, and R. Elazar ben Arach. He was wont to cite their (respective) distinctions: R. Eliezer ben Hurkanos — a lime-coated pit, that does not lose a drop. [So, he too does not lose one item of his learning]. R. Yehoshua — [He was so replete in good middoth that all said about him: "Happy is she who bore him!" (Others say: They said this because it was she who caused him to be a sage. She would make the rounds of all the houses of study in her city and say to them (the disciples): "Please, pray for this fetus in my stomach, that he be a sage!" And from the day that he was born, she did not remove his crib from the house of study, so that only words of Torah enter his ears.] R. Yossi — chasid, [acting above and beyond the letter of the law.] R. Shimon ben Nethanel — a fearer of sin, [stringent with himself and forbidding to himself permitted things out of fear that he might come to sin. For if not so, what is special about this? Even an ignoramus can be a fearer of sin.] R. Elazar ben Arach — a resurgent well, [of broad heart, "welling up" dialectic and conjecture of his own.] He (R. Yochanan ben Zakkai) was wont to say: If all the sages of Israel were in one balance of the scale and Eliezer ben Hurkanos in the other, he would outweigh them all. Abba Shaul says in his (R. Yochanan b. Zakkai's) name: If all the sages of Israel were in one balance of the scale and R. Eliezer ben Hurkanos also with them, and R. Elazar (ben Arach) in the other, he would outweigh them all. [I have found it written that Abba Shaul does not disagree with the first tanna and that both things were said by R. Yochanan ben Zakkai and both are true. In comprehensive knowledge and memory, R. Eliezer (ben Hurkanos) outweighed them all, and in sharpness and dialectic R. Elazar ben Arach outweighed them all.]
  	He (R. Yochanan ben Zakkai) said to them: Go out and see which is the just way to which a man should cleave. R. Eliezer says: A good eye, [being satisfied with what one has, not desiring superfluities, and not being envious when he sees that his friends have more than he.] R. Yehoshua says: A good friend, [who reproves him if he sees him doing something improper.] R. Yossi says: A good neighbor, [who is there for him both day and night (whereas a good friend is not there for him at all times.)] R. Shimon says: One who foresees what is to come, and, in consequence, weighs the loss of a mitzvah against its reward and the reward of a transgression against its loss (see 2:1)]. R. Elazar says: A good heart. [For the heart activates all of the other faculties and is the source of all deeds. And even though there are distinct limbs for (distinct) activities, it is the heart which is the "awakener" of all. Therefore,] R. Yochanan ben Zakkai said to them: I see the words of R. Elazar ben Arach [to be more cogent than yours], for your words are included in his. He said to them: Go and see which is the wicked way which a man should distance himself from. [He was constrained to ask this and did not understand from their words (above) that the wicked way is the opposite of the good way because the opposite of the good is not necessarily evil. For (for example), the trait of chasiduth (saintliness), doing what is above and beyond the letter of the law, is good; but one who is not a chasid and bases his conduct on the law of the Torah, is not wicked. And it may be said that though satisfaction (with what one has), "a good eye," is a good thing, a desire for superfluities is not "the wicked way," for he hurts no one thereby, and the same for all the middoth. He must, therefore, ask them: "Which is the wicked way which a man must distance himself from?"] R. Eliezer says: A wicked eye. R. Yehoshua says: A bad friend. R. Yossi says: A bad neighbor. R. Shimon says: One who borrows and does not repay. [This is the opposite of foreseeing what is to come. For if he does not repay, he will find no one to lend him and he will languish in hunger. He does not simply say: "One who does not foresee what is to come, for it is possible for such a man not to come to harm by rescuing himself when the contingency arrives)]. Borrowing from a man is like borrowing from the L rd, as it is written (Psalms 37:21): "The wicked one borrows and does not repay, and the Tzaddik is gracious and gives." [The Holy One Blessed be He, who is the tzaddik of the world, is gracious and gives to the lender what this one borrowed from him and did not repay — whence it emerges that the borrower remains indebted to the L rd.] R. Elazar says: A wicked heart. He said to them: I see the words of R. Elazar ben Arach [to be more cogent than yours], for your words are included in his.
  	They said three things [in derech eretz, in mussar, and in middoth (for in the areas of forbidden-permitted, exempt-liable, they said many things. Or, in these three areas, there was always a "pearl" in their mouths.)] R. Eliezer says: Let the honor of your friend be as dear to you as yours and do not be easily moved to anger. [i.e., when is this possible? When you are not easily moved to anger. (This is one thing; for if you are easily moved to anger, it is impossible not to cheapen your friend's honor.)] And repent one day before your death. [This is the second thing. For since one does not know when he will die, he will repent today lest he die tomorrow.] And warm yourself at the fire of the sages. [This is the third thing.], but be heedful of their coal [not to be lightheaded before them] that you not be burned [i.e., so that you not be punished through them]. For their bite is the bite of a fox, [which is very difficult to heal. For its teeth are small, crooked, and slanted, and the surgeon cuts the flesh with a scalpel to widen the bite], and their sting is the sting of a scorpion, [which is worse than the bite of a snake], and their speech is the hiss of a fiery serpent. [which burns when it hisses. Alternately: The fiery serpent is not to be charmed as other snakes are, as it is written (Psalms 58:6): "He does not heed the voice of the charmers." So, a Torah scholar. If you antagonize him and come to appease him, he is not (easily) appeased], and all of their words are like coals of fire.
  	R. Yehoshua says: An evil eye, [i.e., not being content with what one has and pursuing other things. Others read it: "the evil eye" — casting the evil eye at his friend's wealth or at his children and harming him], and the evil inclination, and [vain] hatred of men. [Rambam explains: spurning the company of men and loving to sit alone. I have heard (in interpretation): hating men and causing all men to hate him] take a man out of the world.
  	R. Yossi says: Let your friend's wealth be as dear to you as yours. And prepare yourself to study Torah. [Do not say: Since my father is a sage and my grandfather is a sage, "Torah returns to its inn" and I need not pursue it], for it is not an inheritance to you. And let all of your deeds be for the sake of Heaven. [Even when you engage in eating, drinking, and marital relations, do not be motivated by bodily pleasure, but by a desire to be healthy to do the will of your Master.]
  	R. Shimon says: Be heedful of the recitation of the shema [to recite it in its proper time] and of prayer [to recite each prayer in its proper time]. And when you pray, do not make your prayer a rote thing, [thinking to yourself: When can I free myself of this duty? Or: a fixed task, as one who sets himself the task of reciting a chapter or a section (each day), in which instance he makes it mere recitation and not supplication as (does) one who implores mercy], but one's prayer should be (the imploration of) mercy, and supplication before the L rd, as it is written (Yoel 2:13): "For He is a gracious and merciful G-d, withholding wrath and abundant in lovingkindness and repenting Himself of the evil." And do not be wicked to yourself [i.e., do not do something which today or tomorrow will cause you to incriminate yourself. Rambam explains: Do not regard yourself as wicked, for that causes you to become completely corrupt. And I have heard: Do not become wicked in this matter of separating from the congregation (2:4) and being by yourself.]
  	R. Elazar says: Be diligent in learning Torah and know what to reply to an apikores, [from "hefker" (ownerless), one who shames the Torah and regards it as if it were hefker. Or: He makes himself hefker, not pitying his soul, not feeling that evil will come upon him for shaming the Torah or its learners.], and know before whom you toil, [in this reply that you make to the apikores that he not entice you to his beliefs] and your Employer is trusted to pay you for your labor.
  	R. Tarfon says: The day [i.e., life in this world] is short, and the labor is great [i.e., Torah study is endless], and the workers are indolent, and the wage is much, and the Employer presses [viz. (Joshua 1:8): "And you shall meditate in it (Torah) day and night."]
  	He (R. Tarfon) was wont to say: The work is not yours to complete. [The Holy One Blessed be He did not hire you to complete all of it, in which instance you would lose your wage if you did not complete it.] And [lest you say: (In that case,) I will not learn and I will not take a wage] — you are not free to abstain from it. [Perforce the yoke is upon you to labor.] If you learn much Torah, you are given much reward, and Your Employer is trusted to pay you for your labor. And know that the reward for the righteous is in the world to come.
  
  
  
  	Akavya ben Mahalalel says: Take to heart three things and you will not be brought to transgression: Know whence you came and whither you are going and before Whom you are destined to render judgment and accounting. Whence did you come? From a putrefying drop. [the drop of semen. And even though at the time of conception it does not putrefy (not putrefying in the womb until after three days, and when it does putrefy, it is not fit for fertilization), it is still called "putrefying" for it is close to doing so immediately upon its being outside the womb. And one who takes it to heart that he comes from a putrefying drop is rescued from pride.] And whither are you going? To a place of dust, worms, and maggots. [One who takes this to heart is rescued from lust and from the desire for wealth.] And before whom are you destined to render judgment and accounting? Before the King of the kings of kings — the Holy One Blessed be He. [One who takes this to heart separates himself from sin and does not stumble into transgression.]
  	R. Chanina, the adjutant high-priest says: Pray for the well-being of the king, [even the kings of the nations]. For if not for its [(monarchy's)] fear, one man would swallow his fellow alive, [as it is written (Habakkuk 1:14): "And You have made a man like the fish of the sea" — Just as with the fish of the sea, all who are bigger than the other swallow the other, so with men. If the fear of the king were not upon them, all who were greater than the other would swallow the other.] R. Chanina ben Teradyon says: If two sit and there are no words of Torah between them, this is called "the seat of scoffers," as it is written (Psalms 1:1): "And he did not sit in the seat of scoffers. ((2): For in the Torah of the L rd is his desire, etc.") But if two sit and there are words of Torah between them, the Shechinah is between them, as it is written (Malachi 3:16): "Then the fearers of the L rd spoke to each other [(two are implied)], and the L rd listened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for the fearers of the L rd and the thinkers on His name." This tells me only of two. Whence do I derive that even if one sits and studies Torah the Holy One Blessed be He sets aside reward for him? From (Eichah 3:27): "He shall sit alone and be silent, [learning by himself in "a still, small voice"], for he has taken it upon him" [i.e., it is as if the giving of the entire Torah was for him alone.]
  	R. Shimon says: If three ate at one table and did not speak words of Torah at it, it is as if they ate of the offerings of the dead [i.e., offerings to idolatry, viz. (Psalms 106:28): "They cleaved to Baal Peor and they ate the offerings of the dead"], as it is written (Isaiah 28:8): "For all the tables are full of vomit, excrement, [and idolatry is called excrement (tzoah), viz. (Isaiah 30:22): "You will tell it (idolatry) Be gone! (Tze)] without makom" [i.e., (homiletically:) because they did not mention the name of Makom (the L rd) at the table. But by the grace at the table the obligation is fulfilled and it is as if they spoke words of Torah at it (Thus have I heard).] But if three ate at one table and spoke words of Torah at it, it is as if they ate from the table of the Makom, blessed is He, as it is written (Ezekiel 41:22): "And He said to me: 'This is the table that is before the L rd.'" (Some say that this is derived from the beginning of the verse, viz.: "And the altar was of wood, three amoth" — do not read it "amoth," but "eimoth," as in "Yesh em lemikrah" ("There is support in the reading"). "Three" (supports) — Torah, Prophets, and Writings; others say: Scripture, Mishnah and Talmud, in which a man must converse at the table, whereupon it is called "the table that is before the L rd." (Thus, Rashi).]
  	R. Chanina ben Chachinai says: One who is awake at night, and one who walks on the road alone, [and thinks vain thoughts], and one who turns his heart on vanity is liable for his soul [(because the night is the time of the mazikkim (destructive agents). And one who walks alone on the road is in danger of robbers and other vicissitudes.)]
  	R. Nechunia ben Hakanah says: If one accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah, there is removed from him the yoke of sovereignty [the burden of the king and his officers] and the yoke of derech eretz [the toil and tribulation of earning a livelihood (for his work is blessed)]. And if one divests himself of the yoke of Torah [i.e., if he says: "The yoke of Torah is too burdensome for me and I cannot bear it,"] there is placed upon him the yoke of sovereignty and the yoke of derech eretz.
  	R. Chalafta Ish Kfar Chaninah says: If ten sit in judgment, the Shechinah abides among them, as it is written (Psalms 82:1): "G-d stands in the congregation of the Almighty" [and a "congregation" is not less than ten, as it is written in respect to the spies (Numbers 14:27): "How long for this evil congregation!" (Joshua and Kalev are excluded, leaving ten)]. And whence (is this derived) even for five? From (Psalms 82:1): "In the midst of the judges [(three judges and the litigants)] shall He judge." And (whence is this derived) even for three? From (Amos 9:6): "And He founded His bond upon the earth." [(three:) fire, air, and water (which circle the foundation of the earth) — whence it is seen that three is a "bond." Or from (Exodus 12:22): "a bundle (three stalks) of hyssop." There are texts which read: And whence do we derive even five? From "And He founded His bond upon the earth." A man "bonds" with one hand, on which there are five fingers. And the (five) fingers of the hand collectively are called a "bond." And the beginning of the verse reads: "He builds His ascents in the heavens." That is, the Shechinah, which is in the heavens, descends to the earth when there is a bond (of men) engaged in Torah study. And whence do we derive even three? From "In the midst of the judges (three) shall He judge."] And whence do we derive even two? From (Malachi 3:16): "Then the fearers of the L rd spoke to each other [(two are implied)] and the L rd listened and heard, etc." and whence do we derive even one? From (Exodus 20:21): "Wherever I mention My name, I shall come to you and bless you."
  	R. Elazar Ish Bartotha says: "Give Him what is His." [i.e., do not keep from engaging in the desires of Heaven, both with your body and with your money, for you do not give what is yours, neither your body nor your money], for you and yours are His. And thus is it stated in respect to David (I Chronicles 24:14): "For everything is from You, and from Your hand have we given to You." R. Shimon says: If one is walking on the road and learning and he interrupts his learning to say "How beautiful is this tree! How beautiful is this furrow!" Scripture reckons it to him as if he is liable for his soul. [The same is true of any vain talk, but the common instance is given, it being the way of wayfarers to speak of what they see with their eyes. Others say that we are being apprised of something special — that even though (in the instance of tree or furrow he recites the blessing "who has it thus in His world," still it is accounted to him as if he is liable for his soul, for having interrupted his learning.]
  	R. Dostai the son of R. Yannai says in the name of R. Meir: If one forgets even one thing of his learning [because he did not review it], Scripture reckons it to him as if he is liable for his soul [for because he forgets it, he comes to permit what is forbidden and to create a stumbling-block. And his unwillingness is reckoned deliberate. Or, he is liable for his soul because that learning was his protection, and now that he has forgotten it, he is no longer protected], it being written (Deuteronomy 4:9): "Only take heed to yourself and heed your soul exceedingly, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw." I might think this were so even if his learning "overcame" him [i.e., even if it was difficult for him and because of its difficulty he forgot it]; it is, therefore, written (Ibid.): "and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life" — He is not liable for his soul unless he sits and (deliberately) removes them from his heart.
  	R. Chanina ben Dossa says: If one's fear of sin precedes his wisdom [I have heard (this to mean) that in his mind his fear precedes his wisdom, that he thinks in his heart: "I will learn in order to be a fearer of sins," as per "The beginning of thought is the end of act"], his wisdom endures. [For his wisdom brings him to what his heart desires, and he enjoys it (his wisdom)]. But if one's wisdom precedes his fear of sin [i.e., if he does not learn in order to do, since his heart does not prompt him to be a fearer of sin], his wisdom does not endure. For since it (his wisdom) prevents him from following the inclination of his heart, he hates it and despises it and leaves it.] He was wont to say: If one's acts are more than his wisdom [(Here, one who is zealous in the performance of positive commandments is intended, whereas above, in respect to one whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom, one who is watchful of negative commandments is intended)], his wisdom endures. But if one's wisdom is more than his acts, his wisdom does not endure.
  	He was wont to say: All in whom the mind of men find pleasure, the mind of G-d finds pleasure. [All who are beloved below are, of a certainty, beloved on High]. And all in whom the minds of men do not find pleasure, the mind of G-d does not find pleasure. R. Dossa ben Harkinass says: Morning sleep [i.e., sleeping until the time of the recitation of Shema has passed], and afternoon wine, [which "pulls" the heart of man, viz. (Koheleth 2:3): "To pull my flesh with wine," and which brings him to drunkenness], and children's talk, [which prevents their fathers from studying Torah], and sitting in the synagogues of the ignorant, [who congregate to speak vanities] take a man from the world.
  	R. Elazar Hamodai says: One who desecrates consecrated food [i.e., one who brings altar offerings to a state of pigul (rejection, through improper thoughts) or nothar ("left-over" beyond the prescribed time), or to uncleanliness, or one who derives personal benefit, both from altar offerings or Temple maintenance offerings], and one who shames the festivals, [the days of Chol Hamoed, by doing labor upon them or eating and drinking upon them in a mundane manner], and one who whitens his friend's face in public. [(If one is shamed, first his face turns red and then it turns white. For the spirit (of a man) has two movements: one, outwards; the other, inwards. When one is embarrassed, first his spirit moves outwards, as one who is filled with wrath, and his face turns red. And when he finds no outlet for removing that shame from his face, he worries inwardly and the spirit moves inwards because of his distress, and his face turns yellow and white. And this is the intent of Bava Metzia 58b in respect to this whitening: "the redness leaves and the whiteness arrives.")], and one who destroys the covenant of our father Abraham, may peace be upon him [by not undergoing circumcision or by doing so, but stretching the foreskin to cover the circumcision, so that it not be seen that he is circumcised], and one who reveals aspects [and interpretations] of the Torah not in accordance with the halachah, [e.g., translating (Leviticus 18:21): "And from your seed you shall not give to pass to the Molech (a kind of idolatry)," as "And from your seed you shall not give to pass to an Aramitess," which is not the plain meaning of the verse, and, included in this, expounding vain homilies. Another interpretation of "one who reveals aspects, etc." is one who audaciously transgresses the words of Torah in public, high-handedly and showing no shame] — Even if he possesses mitzvoth and good deeds [but does not repent of one of these transgressions of which he is guilty, even though afflictions come upon him], he has no share in the world to come. [But if he repents before he dies, there is nothing that stands before repentance.]
  	R. Yishmael says: Be light to the head [i.e., before a great man, an elder, sitting at the head, be "light" to do his bidding and to serve him], and complaisant to the black head. [For a young man, whose hair is black, you need not be "light," but stand before him with complaisance and ease]. And [stand] vis-à-vis (MKBL) all men [whether "head" or "black head"] with joy. [(MKBL is to be pronounced "makbil," as per the targum [kval] of "neged" [vis-à-vis])].
  	R. Akiva says: Laughter and light-headedness predispose to licentiousness. Masoreth (tradition) is a fence to Torah. [The (oral) masoreth passed on to us by the sages of the "defective" and "superfluous" readings in the Torah are a fence and strengthening of the written law. For through them we understand how to perform several mitzvoth, as in "basukkoth," "basukkoth" "basukkoth," two defective and one superfluous — whence we learn to rule a succah with three walls kasher, and as in "the festivals of the L rd which (ATM) you shall declare," which is written defective (to be pronounceable as "atem" ("you"), to teach: "you" (declare them) — even unwittingly; "you" — even deliberately; "you" — even mistakenly] Ma'asroth (tithes) are a fence to wealth, [it being written (Deuteronomy 14:22): "asser t'asser" — tithe so that you become rich ("titasher").] Vows are a fence to separation. [When one begins (a regimen of) separation and he fears lest he transgress, he takes it upon himself as a vow that he will not do such and such and thereby suppresses his inclination.] A fence for wisdom is silence. [What are we speaking of? If silence from words of Torah, it is written (Joshua 1:8): "And you shall meditate (lit., "speak") in it day and night, etc." If silence from talebearing, slander, and cursing — this is (interdicted) by the Torah! We must be speaking then of silence from permitted speech between a man and his neighbor — that one should minimize such speech as far as possible. And it is in this regard that Solomon said (Proverbs 17:28): "Even a fool who keeps quiet is regarded as a sage."]
  	He was wont to say: "Beloved is man, who was created in the image (of G-d)." Additional love was made known to him, that he was created in the image, as it is written (Genesis 9:6): "In the image of G-d, He made man." [Rambam explains: Additional love was shown by the Holy One Blessed be He to Adam in that He apprised him: "See, I have created you in the image." For one who grants good to his friend and apprises him of the good that he has bestowed upon him demonstrates thereby greater love than if he would grant him good and not find him worthy enough to apprise him of the good that he had granted him. "Additional love, etc." may also be understood as "revealed" and "manifest" love. G-d did not love man covertly but overtly, in the eyes of all.] Beloved are Israel who are called "sons of the L rd." Additional love was made known to them in that they were called "sons of the L rd," as it is written (Deuteronomy 14:11): "You are sons of the L rd your G-d." Beloved are Israel, who were given a precious vessel (the Torah). Additional love was made known to them, that they were given a precious vessel by which the world was created, as it is written (Proverbs 4:2): "For I have given you a goodly acquisition; do not forsake my Torah." [The entire creation, of which it is written "And G-d saw that it was good," was created only for the Torah, which is called an "acquisition," viz. (Deuteronomy 32:2): "Let My acquisition ("likchi") drip as the rain."]
  	All is seen. [Whatever a man does in his innermost chamber is revealed to Him.], and permission is given [to him to do good or evil, as it is written (Deuteronomy 11:26): "Behold, I set before you this day, etc."], and the world is judged by good, [by the attribute of mercy, notwithstanding which not all are alike in respect to this attribute, for] all is according to the abundance of deed. [One who is profuse in good deeds is given a profusion of mercy, and to one who is sparse in good deeds, the Holy One is sparse in mercy. Alternately, "And all is according to abundance of deed": A man is judged according to the majority of his deeds. If the majority are merits, he is innocent; if the majority are sins, he is guilty. Rambam explains: "All is seen": All the deeds of a man, both what he has done and what he is destined to do — all is revealed before Him. And do not say: If the Holy One Blessed be He knows what a man will do, if so, he must be compelled in his deeds to be righteous or wicked! (Do not say this, for) permission is given him to do either good or evil and he is under no compulsion whatsoever. And, this being so, he is judged by the Good One of the world, to exact (punishment) of the wicked and to grant reward to the righteous. For the sinner, who sinned by his will, deserves to be punished; and the righteous one, who was righteous by his will, deserves to be rewarded. "And all is according to the abundance of deed": In accordance with one's increasing and persisting in the doing of good will be the abundance of his reward. For there is no comparison between one who distributes a hundred gold pieces to charity at a hundred different times, to one who gives them (all) at one time. This is the reading of Rambam. "And all is according to the abundance of deed," and not "according to the deed."]
  	He was wont to say: All is given in surety. [Succah 53a): "A man's feet are surety for him to bring him to the place where he is claimed."], and a net [(afflictions and death)] is spread over all of the living. The shop is open [and men enter and buy on credit], and the Shopkeeper gives credit [and trusts all who come to take. So, men sin every day, and the Holy One Blessed be He waits for them until their time comes], and the ledger is open [to write down the credit given so that it not be forgotten], and the hand writes, [so that it not be said: Even though the ledger is open, sometimes the shopkeeper is busy and does not write everything down — wherefore: "And the hand writes."], and all who wish to borrow may come and borrow [i.e., "and permission is given" (above). No one is forced to borrow against his will.], and the collecters [(afflictions and sore vicissitudes)] go around constantly, each day and exact ["repayment"] of the man [sometimes] to his knowledge [(Sometimes he remembers his debt and says: "Well have You judged me")], and [sometimes] not to his knowledge [(Sometimes he forgets and rails at G-d's judgment)]; but they have what to rely on, [the ledger and the Shopkeeper who is trusted with His ledger. So, these afflictions "rely" upon the man's deeds, which are remembered by G-d but forgotten by man.], and the judgment is a true judgment [For the Holy One Blessed be He does not tyrannize over His creations (Avodah Zarah 3a)], and all is set for the repast. [Both the righteous and the wicked (after their debt has been claimed) have a share in the world to come.]
  	R. Elazar b. Azaryah says: If there is no Torah, there is no derech eretz. [(He does not get on well with people)]; if there is no derech eretz, there is no Torah. [(It will eventually be forgotten.)] If there is no wisdom, there is no fear; if there is no fear, there is no wisdom. If there is no understanding, [understanding one thing from another (but not giving a reason for it)], there is no knowledge [i.e., giving a reason for the thing]; if there is no knowledge, there is no understanding. [If he cannot give a reason for the thing, it is as if he does not know it; but, in any event, understanding comes first, wherefore "if there is no understanding, there is no knowledge."] If there is no flour, there is no Torah. [If one has nothing to eat, how can he study Torah?] If there is no Torah, there is no flour. [What will his flour avail him? Since he has no Torah, it would be better if he had no flour and died of hunger!] He was wont to say: One whose wisdom is more than his deeds — to what may he be compared? To a tree whose branches are many and its roots few. The wind comes and uproots it and turns it over on its face, as it is written (Jeremiah 17:6): "And he [the man who trusts in men] will be like a tamarisk in the desert and he will not see when goodness comes. It dwells in parched lands in the wilderness, in a salty, uninhabited land." But one whose deeds are more than his wisdom — to what may he be compared? To a tree whose branches are few but whose roots are many. Even if all the winds in the world come and blow against it, they cannot move it from its place, as it is written (Ibid. 8): "He [the man who trusts in G-d] will be like a tree planted near water, which spreads out its roots along a brook and does not see when the heat comes, whose foliage is always fresh. It will not worry in a year of drought and will not stop producing fruit."
  	R. Eliezer ben Chisma says: Kinin [bird-offerings (from "kan tzippor," a bird's nest). There are weighty halachoth pertaining to them, such as a mandatory offering being mixed up with a gift-offering; or a burnt-offering, whose services are "above," being mixed up with a sin-offering, whose services are "below"], and pithchei niddah [the halachoth of a niddah who has lost track of her menstrual time and must be vigilant to determine its onset (Sometimes she must immerse herself ninety-five times, according to the view that immersion in its prescribed time is a mitzvah)] — [kinin and pithchei niddah] are the foundation of halachoth (the oral law), [for which reward is received.] Tekufoth [the movements of the constellations] and gematrioth [the numeration of the letters] are the "seasonings" of wisdom, [like those which it is customary to eat at the end of a meal for dessert. So, these wisdoms honor their possessors in the eyes of men.]
  
  
  
  	Ben Zoma says [(Because he did not live long and was not ordained as a Rabbi, they called him by the name of his father, likewise, "Ben Azzai." The name of both was Shimon)]: Who is wise? [i.e., Who is worthy of glorying in his wisdom?] One who learns from all men, [even from those lesser than he. For since he is not jealous of his honor and learns from the lesser, it is seen that his wisdom is for the sake of Heaven and not for personal glory], as it is written (Psalms 119:99): "From all of my teachers I grew wise," [followed by "for Your testimonies were conversation to me." i.e., I learned Torah from all of my teachers, even those lesser than I, not being solicitous of my honor. For Your testimonies were conversation to me, all of my intent being for the sake of Heaven. Likewise,] Who is strong, [and worthy of glorying in his strength]? One who subdues his (evil) inclination, as it is written (Proverbs 16:32): "Greater is he who withholds his wrath than the hero, and the ruler of his spirit, than the conqueror of a city." [(What precedes is a superficial rendering.) It is to be understood thus: Great is the withholding of wrath that comes from the strength of subduing the (evil) inclination (and not from the weakness of one's nature). And, similarly, [great is] ruling one's spirit when it comes from the conqueror of a city, i.e., from a king, who after conquering a city has the rebels brought before him and "rules his spirit" and does not kill them.] Who is rich, [and worthy of glorying in his riches]? One who rejoices in his lot, as it is written (Psalms 18:2): "When you eat the toil of your hands, you are fortunate and it is well with you" — You are fortunate in this world and it is well for you in the world to come. Who is honored? One who honors others. [Because if one merits the three good things mentioned above (wisdom, strength, and riches), he is honored in himself in the eyes of G-d and man, even if men do not (manifestly) honor him because of them — the tanna, therefore, adds: If one possesses these three middoth and is honored in himself, what should he do to be (manifestly) honored by others? Let him honor them!] As it is written (I Samuel 2:30): "For I shall honor those who honor Me, and those who scorn Me shall be cursed." [The rest follows a fortiori, viz.: If the Holy One Blessed be He, the King of honor, who created everything in this world for His honor, honors those who honor Him — how much more so (should) flesh and blood (do so)! "And those who scorn me shall be cursed" — whence we derive the humility of the Holy One Blessed be He. He did not say "I shall curse My scorners," but they shall be cursed" — of themselves. And He is more solicitous of the honor of tzaddikim than of His own! viz. (Genesis 12:3): "And those who curse you (Abraham), I shall curse."]
  	Ben Azzai says: Run to a "light" mitzvah as to a "heavy one," and flee sin. For a mitzvah begets a mitzvah and a sin begets a sin. [This is "the way of the world." If a man does one mitzvah, it is easier for him to do others and if one begins sinning, it is difficult for him to stop. And, what is more,] the reward for a mitzvah is a mitzvah, and the "reward" for a sin is a sin. [For Heaven assists, and places in the hand of one who has done a mitzvah the wherewithal to do another, in order to reward him for both; and thus with the "reward" for a sin. Or: All that one earns or enjoys in the doing of a mitzvah is reckoned to him as a mitzvah itself, and he receives reward both for the mitzvah and for the pleasure and the benefit that he derived therefrom; and the "reward" and the enjoyment that one derives from sinning is reckoned to him as a sin itself, and he is smitten both for the sin and for the reward and the pleasure that he derived from it.]
  	He was wont to say: Do not underestimate any man, [saying: "How can he hurt me?"] and do not "distance" any thing, [saying: It is unlikely to happen and need not be worried about]. For there is no man who does not have his moment and there is no thing that does not have its place.
  	R. Levitas Ish Yavneh says: Be extremely lowly spirited, for the "hope" of man is worms. [Even though in the other middoth the middle course is the best, with "pride," it is not so, but one must incline to the extreme of lowliness of spirit. For pride is especially despised. And, what is more, most men go astray in it, so that people are not disposed to separate from it, wherefore it requires especial distancing.] R. Yochanan ben Broka says: If one desecrates the name of Heaven in secret, it is exacted of him in the open. Both the unwitting and the witting are liable for desecration of the Name.
  	R. Yishmael, his son, says: If one learns in order to teach, it is given him to learn and to teach. [This is the correct version. Its meaning: If one learns in order to be constantly involved in Torah, not thinking to engage in lovingkindness with others, like Rava (Rosh Hashanah 18a) who occupied himself with Torah but not with lovingkindness, even though he should also do the latter, still, it is given him to learn and to teach, as per his intent], and if one learns in order to do, [wanting to study Torah but also to engage in lovingkindness, like Abbaye, who engaged in Torah and in lovingkindness,] it is given him [to fulfill his intent and] to learn and to teach, to keep and to do. [There are some who explain "If one learns in order to teach," in order to be called "Rabbi," and who read "it is not given him to learn and to teach," but in most books I have found it as in the first version, which is the correct one.] Do not make them (words of Torah) a crown to aggrandize yourself with. [Do not say: I will learn in order to be called "Rabbi" and to sit at the head, but learn from love, and honor is bound to come], (and do not make them) a spade with which to dig. [Do not learn Torah in order to make a livelihood of it. For one who does so profanes the holiness of Torah and is liable to death at the hands of Heaven, as is one who derives (personal) gain from sacred property. And the teachers of schoolchildren take pay only for watching them alone, that they not damage things, and for teaching them cantillations, which a teacher is not obligated to exert himself to do. But it is forbidden to take pay for teaching Torah, as it is written (Deuteronomy 4:14): "And the L rd commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments" (Ibid. 5): "as the L rd my G-d commanded me" — Just as I, gratis, you, too, gratis. And a judge, too, is forbidden to take a fee for ruling, but only an "absentee fee," that it be manifest that the fee represents what he loses by absenting himself from his work to hear the pleas of the litigants (provided that he takes an equal amount from both. If he takes more from one than from the other, his rulings are nullified.) As to the Torah permitting a Torah scholar to benefit from words of Torah, this applies to selling his works in the marketplace before others do and also to his exemption from all (personal) taxes, impositions, and property taxes. The congregation must pay even the head tax for him. And even if he is wealthy and has much money he may claim exemption by law. And if a Torah scholar is sick and steeped in affliction and the congregation proffer large gifts to him in honor of his Torah, it is a mitzvah for him to take them. And this is not in the category of profiting from words of Torah since it is impossible for him to sustain himself otherwise. And, likewise, a Torah scholar who was appointed a parnas (community leader) or rosh haseder by the congregation, and who occupies himself with the needs of the congregation, may take a wage from them, even what is far in excess of what he needs for a livelihood, so that he be great, and feared and awe-inspiring to them, as we said with the high-priest of whom it is written (Leviticus 21:10): "who is greater than his brothers," which the sages expound: "Make him great from his brothers." His brother Cohanim are to make him wealthy from what is theirs. As to the early sages, who abstained from this, this was out of their chasiduth but it is not the din.] And this is what Hillel was wont to say: "One who 'uses' the crown (of Torah) passes away" — whereby we are taught that one who exploits words of Torah "takes his life" from the world.
  	R. Yossi says: If one honors the Torah, his body is honored by men. [If one expounds the "defective" and "superfluous" (phrasings) in the Torah and adduces reasons for all of the apexes, showing that there is nothing insignificant in them, there is no honoring of the Torah greater than this. Or: If one honors a Torah scroll and those who study Torah and occupy themselves with it — all of these are in the category of honoring Torah.] And if one desecrates the Torah, his body is "desecrated" by men.
  	R. Yishmael, his son, says: One (a judge) who avoids judging [when there is (present) one greater than he, or when he persuades the litigants to compromise] removes himself from hatred [(for one who leaves beth-din liable hates the judge, saying in his heart "He did not try to find things in my favor")], and from theft [Perhaps he incriminated an innocent person and, in effect, robbed him], and from a vain oath, [which he may have wrongly imposed on one not liable for an oath. Or perhaps the tanna calls a false oath a vain oath, as when he (the defendant) [vainly] swore that he did not borrow, when he really did.] And one who is "haughty" in judgment, [judging without adequate review or deliberation] is a fool, an evildoer, and a man of arrogance.
  	He was wont to say: Do not judge alone. [Even though an expert judge may do so, it is of the ways of chasiduth not to do so. (And this, only when the litigants did not accept him to judge over them; but when they did, he may judge alone, even in the spirit of chasiduth)]; for there is only One who judges alone. And do not say [to your colleagues, who dissent with your judgments] "Accept my opinion," [for I am an expert, and without you I could have judged alone,] for they are permitted (to assert their opinions) and not you, [for since you had them join you, it is proper that the majority view prevail.]
  	R. Yonathan says: Whoever fulfills the Torah in poverty, [being pressed for sustenance and yet forsaking his work in order to study Torah] is destined to fulfill it in wealth. And whoever forsakes the Torah out of [preoccupation with his] wealth is destined to forsake it out of poverty.
  	R. Meir says: Diminish (your) occupation [with business or labor] and occupy yourself [primarily] with Torah. And be of lowly spirit before all men, [to learn even from those lesser than you in wisdom.] And if you would be idle [in Torah study], there are many idlers beside you [to assist you in doing so. Or: There are many idlers in the world, the wicked and the savage beasts, through whom the Holy One Blessed be He can bring punishment upon you.] And if you have toiled in Torah He has much reward to give you. [He Himself will reward you, and not a messenger, His attribute of good being greater than that of His punishment.]
  	R. Eliezer ben Yaakov says: If one does one mitzvah, he acquires for himself one defense attorney [i.e., an angel speaking on his behalf.] And if one commits a sin, he acquires for himself one kategor (a prosecuting attorney), [i.e., an incriminating angel, (kategor being acronymic for "kore tigar," "calling out strife." Sanegor, the opposite of kategor is acronymic for "sone tigar," "hating strife.")] R. Yochanan Hasandlar says: Every gathering that is for the sake of Heaven is destined to endure, and (every gathering that is) not for the sake of Heaven is not destined to endure.
  	R. Elazar ben Shamua says: Let the honor of your disciple be as beloved by you as your own. [For thus do we find with Moses. He said to Joshua, his disciple (Exodus 17:9) "Choose men for us," making him (Joshua) equivalent to himself"], and the honor of your fellow as the fear of your master, [Aaron saying to Moses (Numbers 12:11): "Pray, my master." Although he (Aaron) was his (Moses') elder brother, he called him "my master"], and the fear of your teacher as the fear of Heaven, [Joshua saying to Moses (Ibid. 11:28): "My master, Moses, 'finish them' (from the world.)" Since they have rebelled against you, it is as if they have rebelled against the Holy One Blessed be He and they deserve to be destroyed.]
  	R. Yehudah said: Be heedful in learning, [that your learning be exact and in accordance with the halachah.] for a mistake in learning is accounted as deliberate. [If you err in ruling because you were not exact in your learning and you come to permit what is forbidden, the Holy One Blessed be He accounts it to you as if you had acted deliberately.] R. Shimon says: There are three crowns, [which the Torah required to honor]: the crown of Torah [(Leviticus 19:32): "And you shall honor the face of the elder" ("zaken," a Torah scholar," an acronym for "zeh kanah chochmah" — "this one has acquired wisdom") ], the crown of priesthood [(Leviticus 21:8): "And you shall make him (the Cohain) holy" — holy shall he be to you], and the crown of kingdom [(Deuteronomy 17:15): "Place shall you place upon yourself a king" — that his awe be upon you."] And the crown of a good name [i.e., one who possesses good deeds, and, because of them, good repute, which we do not find in the Torah, (that it is required to honor him)] transcends all. [For all three require a good name. For if he is a Torah scholar, but of ill repute, it is permitted to shame him; and if he is a high-priest, it is stated (Yoma 71b): "Let the sons of the nations (i.e., converts) go in peace, who follow the practice of Aaron (who pursued peace), but let the sons of Aaron not go in peace, who do not follow the practice of Aaron"; and if he is a king, it is written (Exodus 22:27): "And a prince in your people you shall not curse" — when he does the deeds of your people.]
  	R. Nehorai says: [If there are no Torah scholars in your place,] be exiled to a place of Torah, and do not say that it shall come after you [i.e., that Torah scholars will come here, (and)] that your fellows will fulfill it in your hand. [Do not rely upon your fellows, that when they come from the teacher's house they will fulfill the Torah in your hand, that you will learn from them what they learned from the teacher. But you, yourself, be exiled to the place of the teacher. For there is no comparison between one who hears it from a disciple and one who hears it from the teacher himself. Or: Why do I tell you to exile yourself to a place of Torah? Because your fellows will fulfill it in your hand. For even if you are sharper and more analytic than they, the Torah will not be fulfilled through you, but through your fellows, by interchange of ideas], "and do not rely upon your (own) understanding" (Proverbs 3:5).
  	R. Yannai says: It is not in our hands [i.e., We do not understand (viz. Yevamoth 105a)] why the wicked are at peace, [why they prosper,] and why the righteous are afflicted. [Or: We do not have in exile either the peace and tranquility that the Holy One Blessed be He is wont to bestow upon the wicked in order to drive them out of the world to come, or the afflictions that are unique to the righteous, the afflictions of love, which do not entail the suspension of Torah study. That is, we are not in the category of the wicked, not having their tranquility, nor have we attained to the category of the righteous; for our afflictions are not those of love, as theirs are. ] R. Matia ben Charash says: Precede every man in greeting, [even a gentile in the marketplace], and be a tail to the lions [i.e., to those who are greater than you], and do not be a head to the foxes [i.e., to those who are lesser than you].
  	R. Yaakov says: This world is like a corridor to the world to come. Ready yourself in the corridor so that you merit entering the palace [of the King].
  	He was wont to say: Better one hour for [purposes of] repentance and good deeds in this world than all of the life in the world to come. [For at that time repentance and good deeds are of no avail to a man. For the world to come serves only for the receiving of reward for what one fulfilled in this world.] And better one hour of pleasure in the world to come than all of the life in this world.
  	R. Shimon ben Elazar says: Do not appease your friend in the time of his wrath, [as it is written (Exodus 33:14): "My face shall go and I shall put you at ease," the Holy One telling Moses: "Wait until My face of wrath shall pass."], and do not console him while his dead one is lying before him. [For at the time of the destruction (of Jerusalem), the Holy One Blessed be He was, as it were, in mourning; and when the ministering angels tried to console Him, the Holy Spirit said to them: "Do not hasten to console Me."], and do not seek ["openings" to absolve him of his vow] at the time of his vow. [For then, for every opening that you find for him he will say: "Yes, it was with this understanding that I vowed," and you will no longer be able to find an opening for him. And we find that when the Holy One Blessed be He swore to Moses that he would not enter the land, he did not implore Him immediately, but he waited and then he began to implore Him.], and do not try to see him at the time of his undoing [by sin. For then he is ashamed of all men. As we find with Adam — when he sinned, the Holy One Blessed be He did not appear to them (Adam and Eve) until they made girdles, as it is written (Genesis 3:7): "And they made themselves girdles," after which it is written (Ibid 8): "And they heard the voice of the L rd G-d."]
  	Shmuel Hakatan says: "When your foe falls do not rejoice, and when he stumbles, let your heart not be merry" [This is a verse in Proverbs (24:17), but Shmuel Hakatan was wont to reprove men with it], (18): "Lest the L rd see, and it be evil in His eyes [that in your heart you have made Him like your messenger to satisfy your lust] and He turn His wrath from him." [Since it is not written "veshav" (and He shall repent Himself") but "veheshiv" ("and He shall turn"), the implication is that He will turn it from your foe unto you.]
  	One who learns as a child, to what can he be compared? To ink written on new paper, [which endures. So, the learning of childhood is not forgotten], and one who learns in old age, to what can he be compared? To ink written on smudged paper. R. Yossi beRabbi Yehudah Ish Kfar Habavli says: One who learns from the young, to what can he be compared? To one who eats dull grapes [i.e., grapes which are unripe and which dull the teeth. (Analogously, the wisdom of a child has not sufficiently matured and his words do not "sit well" on the heart)], and to one who drinks wine from his vat, [which is intermixed with lees. (Analogously, the wisdom of a child is intermixed with doubts.)] And one who learns from the old, to what can he be compared? To one who eats ripe grapes and drinks old wine. Rabbi says: Do not look at the vessel, but at what it contains. There is a new vessel full of old wine, and an old vessel which does not contain even new wine! [Rabbi disagrees with R. Yossi beRabbi Yehudah, saying that just as there is a new vessel full of old wine, so there can be a child whose "flavor" is like that of the old; and there are old men inferior in wisdom to children.]
  	R. Eliezer Hakappar says: Envy, lust [for food, drink, fornication, and the like] and honor [i.e., the desire to be honored by others] drive a man from the world.
  	He was wont to say: The born, to die [i.e., one who has been born is already destined to die], and the dead, to live [they are destined to live and to arise for the day of judgment — these for eternal life and these for shame and for eternal infamy], to know [from others], to apprise [others], and to affirm [within themselves] that He, the Almighty, is the Artisan, [all of the world being in His hand like matter in the hand of the artisan, for] He is the Creator, [who created the entire universe ex nihilo, wherefore He can do with it as He pleases], He is the Understander [of all the deeds of men, wherefore] He is the (optimum) Judge [and He brings them into judgment before Him], He is the Witness, He is the Prosecutor [of the sinners], and He is destined to judge them [for the world to come]. Blessed is He, for there is before Him no wrong, and no forgetting, and no favoritism, and no taking of graft, for all is His (and there is nothing to bribe Him with). [He shows no favoritism even to an absolute tzaddik, not (refraining from) punishing him for even a slight transgression that he may have committed and not taking the "graft" of a mitzvah to overlook a sin. But He rewards for a mitzvah and punishes for a transgression. (Thus, Rambam)]. And know that all comes to an account. ["A p'rutah (a small coin) and a p'rutah add up to a great sum." In the same way, slight transgressions, when there are many of them, add up to a great sum.] And let your (evil) inclination not delude you into thinking that the grave is your refuge. For, perforce were you formed [The soul resists leaving the pargod (the Divine partition, a pure sphere where the souls reside) to enter a woman's womb, an impure abode, but an angel comes and removes it forcibly and places it there], and perforce were you born, [being forced by an angel to leave the womb], and perforce do you live. [Sometimes a man is so steeped in afflictions that he wants to die — but he cannot], and perforce are you destined to render judgment and accounting before the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One Blessed be He.
  
  
  
  	With ten pronouncements (ma'amaroth) the world was created, [nine "And He said," and "In the beginning" is also a pronouncement, viz. (Psalms 33:6): "By the word of the L rd the heavens were made."] What are we hereby being taught? Could it not have been created with one pronouncement? But, [this was stated] to exact punishment of the wicked who destroy the world, which was created with ten pronouncements [For if one destroys one Jewish soul it is as if he destroys an entire world, and the wicked, who in their sins destroy their souls, are reckoned as having destroyed the entire world. (Thus have I found.) And to me it seems that they destroy the world itself, for they incline all of the world to the scale of punishment, so that it is destroyed because of them. "With ten pronouncements": There is no comparison between destroying a work created in one day and (destroying) a work created in many days], and to give goodly reward to the tzaddikim, who sustain the world, which was created with ten pronouncements.
  	Ten generations from Adam until Noach. To apprise us how long-suffering He is. For all of these generations they kept on angering Him — until He brought upon them the waters of the flood. [You, too, do not wonder that He has been long-suffering to the idolators all of these years that they have been subjugating His children, for He was even more so to the idolators of the (ten) generations from Adam until Noach — until they were destroyed in the flood.] Ten generations from Noach until Abraham. To apprise us how long-suffering He is. For all of these generations they kept on angering Him — until Abraham came and took upon himself the reward of all. [He did good deeds corresponding to what all of them should have done — wherefore they were all rescued in his merit. And just as he took upon himself the yoke of mitzvoth in this world over and against all of them, so did he receive for the world to come reward over and against all of them. For every man has two shares, one in Gan Eden; the other, in Gehinnom. If he is meritorious, he takes his share and that of his neighbor (the evildoer) in Gan Eden. If he is culpable, he takes his share and that of his neighbor (the tzaddik) in Gehinnom.]
  	Abraham, our father, was put to ten trials: [one — Ur Kasdim, where Nimrod cast him into the fiery furnace; two — "Go from your land"; three — "And there was a hunger"; four — "And the woman was taken to the house of Pharaoh"; five — the war of the kings; six — the covenant between the pieces, where he was shown the subjugation (of Israel) by the nations; seven — circumcision; eight — "And Avimelech sent and he took Sarah"; nine — "Drive out this maidservant and her son"; ten — the binding of Isaac], and he withstood them all, to apprise (men) of the great love of our father Abraham, may peace be upon him.
  	Ten miracles were performed for our fathers in Egypt, [their being saved from the ten plagues, and all of them (the plagues) having been against the Egyptians and not against Israel], and ten on the sea: [one — the splitting of the sea; two — (Habakkuk 3:14): "You pierced with his own staffs the head of his outspread (troops)"; three — the sea floor became dry, without clay and tar, viz. (Exodus 14:29): "And the children of Israel walked on the dry land in the midst of the sea"; four — the sea floor that the Egyptians pursuing Israel trod upon dampened into clay and tar, viz. (Habakkuk 3:15): "Many waters clayed"; five — the waters that solidified on the sea floor did not become one mass but small units like bricks and paving stones aligned with each other, viz. (Psalms 74:13): "You crumbled the sea with Your strength" — the sea became pieces; six — the solidified water hardened and became as hard as rocks, viz. (Ibid.): "You broke the head of sea-serpents (the Egyptians) against the waters"; seven — the sea broke into twelve pieces, so that each tribe cross on its own path, viz. (Ibid. 136:13): "To Him who cut the sea into pieces"; eight — the sea froze into sapphire, onyx, and glass so that the tribes could see each other, the pillar of fire lighting them, viz. (Ibid. 18:12) "The darkness of waters [became like] the clouds of heaven," "as the appearance of the heavens in brightness" (Exodus 24:10); nine — there issued forth from it sweet water, which they drank, viz. (Ibid. 15:8): "running waters"; ten — after they had drunk their fill of them, what was left of them froze and became mounds, viz. (Ibid.) "The waters were piled up; the running waters stood up as a wall."] The Holy One Blessed be He brought ten plagues upon the Egyptians in Egypt ["datzach" "adash" "bachav"] and ten upon the sea, [corresponding to the ten "fallings" (of the Egyptians) in the song at the sea: (Exodus 15:1) "He cast into the sea"; (Ibid. 4) "They were mired in the Red Sea"; (Ibid. 5) "The depths covered them"; (Ibid.) "They dropped to the depths"; (Ibid.) "They plummeted like lead" — ten fallings. ("The earth swallowed them up" (Ibid. 12) is not included in the "fallings," this being to their benefit, that they merited burial.] Our forefathers tried the L rd with ten trials in the desert: [two at the sea, one at their descending there, viz. (Ibid. 14:11): "Are there no graves in Egypt?" and one upon ascending thence, viz. (Ibid. 18:23): "And they came to Marah… and they complained"; one in Refidim (Ibid. 17:2): "And the people quarreled with Moses"; twice with the manna: (Ibid. 16:29): "Let no man go out" — and they did go out; (Ibid. 19): "Let no man leave over of it" — and they did leave over; twice with the quail: the first — (Ibid. 3): "when we sat over the flesh-pot"; the second (Numbers 11:4): "And the rabble among them"; one with the golden calf and one (each) with the pretext-seekers (mithonenim) and the spies, the tenth trial,] viz. (Numbers 14:22): "And they have proved Me this ten times and did not heed My voice."
  	Ten miracles were performed for our fathers in the Temple: No woman ever miscarried because of the smell of the sacrifices; the flesh of the offerings never putrefied; a fly was never seen in the slaughterhouse; the high-priest never had a seminal emission on Yom Kippur. [Because it is a tumah that issues from his body, it is more repugnant than other types]; a rain never put out the fire on the wood pile, [even though the altar was exposed], the wind never stirred the smoke column from its place [that it not rise in a column]; a psul [a disqualifying defect] was never found in the Omer [offering], the two loaves, or the show-bread. [For if a psul were found before the (prescribed time of) their mitzvah, it was not possible to offer others in their stead. For the omer was harvested at night, and they did not harvest much; and the two loaves were baked on the eve of yom tov, and their baking does not override yom tov. And, similarly, the show-bread was baked on the eve of Sabbath]; they stood in constriction (tzfufuim) [as in "tzaf (floating) on the face of the waters." There were so many of them that they were pressed against each other to the point that their feet left the ground and they "floated" in the air] and they bowed in expansion. [When they bowed a miracle was performed for them and they bowed in (ample) room, each one four ells removed from his neighbor, so that one not hear the other when he confessed his sins]; and a snake or a scorpion never harmed anyone in Jerusalem, and no one ever said to his neighbor "Jerusalem is 'too tight' for me to live in." [because the place afforded them a livelihood, and there was no need for anyone to leave and say "Things are 'too tight' for me and I cannot live in Jerusalem." Some editions have "to sleep over" (instead of "to live in"), the reference being to the festival pilgrims, none of them finding it too difficult to sleep over in Jerusalem because of lack of space (see Yoma 21b)].
  	Ten things were created on the eve of Sabbath at twilight, [i.e., on the eve of the Sabbath of the creation, before its completion]: the mouth of the earth [to swallow up Korach and his congregation], the mouth of the well [of Miriam, which accompanied Israel in the desert in all of its journeyings. (Some say that it opened its mouth and sang (Numbers 21:17): "Arise, O, Well, sing to her!"], the mouth of [Bilam's] ass, [At twilight it was decreed that it speak with Bilam], the rainbow, [as a sign of the covenant that a second flood would not occur], the manna [that descended for Israel forty years in the desert], the [sapphire] staff, [with which the signs were performed], the shamir [a type of worm the size of a barley grain. When they held it over the stones figured with ink, they split of themselves. With it they formed the stones of the ephod and the choshen, viz. (Exodus 28:20): "With their (exact) fillings"], the writing, [the form of the letters carved on the tablets], the inscription, [their being read from all four sides], and the tablets. [They were of sapphire. Their length was six (ells); their breadth was six, and their thickness was three, like one stone, whose length and breadth and thickness are uniform. It was divided into two. And they were rolled and hewn from the solar orb.] Some say, also the mazikkin, [the demons. After the Holy One Blessed be He created Adam and Eve, He was preoccupied with their creation, and when He created their spirits, He had not created their bodies by the advent of the Sabbath, so that they remained spirits without bodies], and the grave of Moses, and the ram of our father Abraham. [It was decreed at twilight that it be caught in the thicket by its horns]. Some say: Also the tongs, made from a tongs. [The tongs is made only from another tongs. And who made the first tongs? Perforce we must say that it was made by itself (i.e., by Heaven); and it was created at twilight. This is rejected by the Gemara (Pesachim 54a), which states that the first tongs could have been cast in a mold and forged at once.]
  	Seven things characterize a golam, [from "golmei kelim," "unfinished vessels." So, a man who is not "finished" in mind, middoth, or wisdom is called a "golam."], and seven characterize a sage: A sage does not speak in the presence of one who is greater than he in wisdom. [For thus do we find with Elazar and Itamar (Leviticus 10:16-19), who declined to speak in the presence of their father (Aaron) when Moses became angry with them, and Aaron answered], and he does not interrupt the words of his neighbor, [so as not to confuse him, viz. (Bamidbar 12:6): "Hear, now, My words," i.e., Wait until I (the L rd) have finished speaking — a fortiori for a man (who can be confused)], and he is not hasty to answer, so that his answer be appropriate, as in the instance of Elihu, who said (Iyyov 36:2): "Wait for me awhile and I will tell you."], he asks on the subject and he answers according to the halachah. [This is one of the seven. The disciple asks on the subject, i.e., the subject that is being discussed, and then the Rabbi answers according to the halachah. But if the disciple does not ask on the subject, he brings the Rabbi to answer not according to the halachah, as R. Chiyya says to Rav: "When Rabbi is occupied with this tractate, do not ask him from a different tractate," and as in the instance of those men, who being unclean by reason of (contact with) a dead body, and seeing Moses occupied with the halachoth of the Pesach offering, asked him (the halachah) on that subject.], and he answers the first (question) first, and the last, last, [as we find with the Holy One Blessed be He, whom Moses asked (Exodus 3:11): "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should take the children of Israel out of Egypt?", who answered the first question (Ibid. 12): "For I shall be with you," and the second (Ibid.): "When you take the people out of Egypt, you shall serve G-d, etc."], and of what he has not heard, he says "I have not heard it." [If he renders a ruling on his own, he does not say "Thus have I heard from my Rabbis." And we find with the men of Charan, that when Jacob asked them (Genesis 29:6): "Is he (Lavan) well?" they said to him: "(He is) well, and, behold, Rachel his daughter is coming with the flock." This (that he is well) we know. And if you would know more, behold his daughter is coming with the flock," and she will tell you; for we do not know more than this.], and he admits the truth, [even though he can argue for his view. And thus do we find with Moses (Leviticus 10:19) when Aaron refuted him, saying [If you have heard (from the L rd) that this (such eating) is permitted with kodshim for a particular occasion (the investiture), this is no license for permitting it in "ongoing" kodshim (such as the Rosh Chodesh goat). (Ibid. 20): "And Moses heard and it was good in his eyes." He admitted (that he had heard this from the L rd but had forgotten instead of "covering up" (by saying that he had not heard)]. And their converse, with the golam. [The opposite of these things that characterize a sage characterize a golam.]
  	Seven (different) types of punishments come to the world for seven types of transgressions: If some (men) tithe and some do not tithe, a famine of dearth comes to the world. [Rain is scarce, as a result of which prices rise] — some are hungry and some are sated. If (all) resolved not to tithe, a famine of tumult [(The harvest cannot be gathered because of invading armies)] and dearth comes. If (they resolved) not to take challah, a famine of destruction comes. [The heavens are like iron and the earth like copper.] Pestilence comes to the world for the death penalties in the Torah, which did not come to [adjudication in ] the beth-din and for the fruits of the sabbatical year, [with which business was done and which were not kept in the sanctity of the sabbatical year.] A sword comes to the world for delay of judgment, [when it is known where the din inclines] and for perversion of justice, [vindicating the guilty and incriminating the innocent], and for ruling in Torah (law) not in accordance with the halachah, [forbidding the permitted, and permitting the forbidden].
  	Savage beasts come to the world because of vain [i.e., unneeded] oaths, desecration of the Name, [i.e., transgressing blatantly in public, or being seen by others, who emulate one's deeds]. Exile comes to the world because of idolators, illicit relations, bloodshed and (not) leaving the land idle [i.e., plowing and sewing on the sabbatical year]. In four periods pestilence increases: in the fourth year (of shemitah), and in the seventh year, and at the conclusion of the seventh year, and at the conclusion of the festival (of Succoth) of every year. In the fourth year, because of (omission of) the poor-tithe of the third year. [For in place of the second tithe of the other years of shemitah, in the third and in the sixth years the poor-tithe is given]. In the seventh year, because of (omission of ) the poor-tithe of the sixth year. At the conclusion of the seventh year, because of (profanation of) the fruits of the seventh year, and at the conclusion of the festival of every year, because of theft of the gifts of the poor: [leket, shikchah, peah, peret, and oleloth].
  	There are four middoth (i.e., character types) in a man: One who says: "Mine is mine and yours is yours" [I don't want to give you anything of mine, and please don't give me anything of yours.] This is a median middah. Some say: This is the middah of Sodom. [It approaches the middah of Sodom. For if one habituates himself to it, then even if his neighbor benefits (from what he gives him) and he lacks nothing, he will not want to give it to him. This was the middah of Sodom, their intent being to drive others away from them — even though their land was a rich one and they lacked for nothing.] "Mine is yours and yours is mine" — am ha'aretz (an ignoramus). [For he takes and gives equally, and this "settles the land." But he does not (have the sagacity to) know that (Proverbs 15:27): "the hater of gifts shall live." This is the general connotation of am ha'aretz, one who wants to make improvements but who lacks the wisdom to discriminate between what is and what is not an improvement.] "Mine is yours and yours is yours" — a chasid. [He benefits men with his possessions and he does not benefit from the possessions of others. He is a chasid, acting above and beyond the letter of the law.] "Mine is mine and yours is mine" — a wicked one.
  	There are four middoth in deoth (temperaments): easily angered and easily pacified — his gain is negated by his loss; angered with difficulty and pacified with difficulty — his loss is negated by his gain. [If one is quickly angered by all things, even though he is easily appeased, his loss is more than his gain. For most of his acts are defective in that he is easily angered over everything. But if one is angered with difficulty, even though he has the evil middah of being pacified with difficulty, his (relatively) small loss, being pacified with difficulty, is negated by his (relatively) greater gain, being angered with difficulty, so that most of his acts are praiseworthy. Some versions are the opposite of this; but this seems to be the correct version.]; angered with difficulty and easily pacified — a chasid; easily angered and pacified with difficulty — a wicked one.
  	There are four middoth (types) of disciples: quick to understand and quick to forget — his gain is negated by his loss. [For since he forgets what he learns, what good is his quick understanding? — wherefore his loss is greater than his gain.]; understanding with difficulty and forgetting with difficulty — his loss is negated by his gain, [since what he understands in spite of his difficulty remains with him. A practical application. If there are two disciples before us and we can provide tuition only for one, the forgetter with difficulty takes precedence over the quick to understand.]; quick to understand and forgetting with difficulty — a wise (disciple);. Understanding with difficulty and quick to forget — this is "a bad portion." [It is not possible to say here "chasid" or wicked, for this does not depend upon a man's free choice, but is something that he is born with.]
  	There are four middoth (levels) in the giving of charity [(and not "in the givers" of charity, for among them is one who does not give. Similarly, what follows (Mishnah 14) is to be read "in going to the house of study" (and not "in the goers to the house of study")]: desiring to give and that others not give — his eye is evil in what belongs to others, [knowing that charity enriches and not wishing others to become rich. Or: There are some who are more solicitous of the money of their kin than of their own; and even though they give they wish that their kin not give, so as not to lose their wealth.]; desiring that others give but not giving himself — his eye is evil in what belongs to him; desiring to give and that others give — a chasid; not giving and desiring that others not give — a wicked one.
  	There are four middoth in going to the house of study: going but not doing [i.e., going to the house of study to listen, but not reviewing his learning and not understanding] — the reward of going is in his hand; doing [i.e., learning and reviewing in his study at home], but not going — the reward of doing is in his hand; going and doing — a chasid; not going and not doing — a wicked one.
  	There are four middoth (levels) in those who sit before the sages: [(Above, [Mishnah 12], the subject is remembering and forgetting; here it is logical reasoning and discriminating what is right from what is not right]: a sponge. [Just as a sponge absorbs muddy water together with clear water, so there is a disciple whose heart is "broad" and accepts whatever he hears, lacking the power to discriminate between the true and the false], a funnel, a strainer, and a sieve. A sponge — it absorbs everything; a funnel — it takes in at one end and releases at the other. [So, there is a disciple who emits whatever he absorbs]; a strainer — it releases the wine and retains the lees. [So, there is a disciple who releases whatever he has learned in the house of study and retains only idle talk]; and a sieve — it releases the flour and retains the meal. [After the bran and the bruised grain are extracted from the ground flour, and there remain the thin flour with the thick meal, the desired part, it is put through a very thin sieve, so that there descends all that thin flour, like a white powder, and there remains only the thick, desirable, meal. (This is how meal-offerings were prepared.) Similarly, there is a disciple who has the ability to sift what he has heard and to discriminate the truth from the false and the vain.]
  	All love which is contingent upon a passing thing — once the thing passes, the love passes; and (all love) which is not contingent upon a passing thing [like the love of tzaddikim and sages] never passes. What is love that is contingent upon a passing thing? The level of Amnon and Tamar, [Amnon loving Tamar because of her beauty]. And (what is love) that is not contingent upon a passing thing? The love of David and Jonathan [to fulfill the will of their Master. Jonathan said to David (I Samuel 23:17): "You be the king over Israel and I will be your viceroy."]
  	Every argument which is for the sake of Heaven — the end is [for the parties to that argument] to endure, [as in the argument between Beth Hillel and Beth Shammai, where none of the parties to the argument (the disciples) were lost (as opposed to Korach and his congregation, who were lost). Or: "the end" — the desired end of the argument. In an argument for the sake of Heaven, the desired end is to attain the truth. And this was attained in the argument between Beth Hillel and Beth Shammai — that the halachah is in accordance with Beth Hillel.] And an argument which is not for the sake of Heaven — the [desired] end, [power and love of conquest,] does not endure. [And so we find in the argument of Korach and his congregation. Their end was the attainment of glory and power — and the opposite was what transpired.] What is an argument for the sake of Heaven? The argument between Hillel and Shammai. And (what is an argument) that is not for the sake of Heaven? The argument of Korach and his whole congregation.
  	If one brings merit to the many, sin does not come by his hand, [so that he not be in Gehinnom and his disciples in Gan Eden]; and if one causes the many to sin, he is not given the opportunity to repent, [so that he not be in Gan Eden and his disciples in Gehinnom.] Moses was meritorious and brought merit to the many [(He taught Torah to all of Israel)] — the merit of the many is attributed to him, as it is written (Deuteronomy 33:21): "He did the righteousness of the L rd and [he did] His judgments with Israel" [i.e., "His judgments that are with Israel" — it is as if he (Moses) did them.] Yeravam sinned and he caused the many to sin — the sin of the many is attributed to him, as it is written (I Kings 15:30): "For the sins of Yeravam, that he committed and that he caused Israel to commit." [Its not being written "for the sins of Yaravam and Israel" implies that all is attributed to Yeravam.]
  	All who possess these three attributes are of the disciples of our father Abraham; and (all who possess) three other attributes are of the disciples of the wicked Bilam: (If he possesses) a good eye and a humble spirit and a lowly soul, he is of the disciples of our father Abraham. [He learned from him and walked in his ways: "A good eye" — contenting himself with what he has and not desiring the wealth of others, as we find with Abraham, who said to the king of Sodom (Genesis 14:22): "Nothing — from a thread until a sandal latchet (shall I keep for myself, nor shall I take anything that is yours." "And a humble spirit" — exceeding humility, as we find with Abraham, viz. (Ibid. 18:27): "and I am dust and ashes"; "and a lowly soul" — watchfulness and separation from lust, as we find with Abraham, viz. (Ibid. 12:11: "Behold, I now know that you are a beautiful woman," not having been aware of her beauty because of his great modesty.] (If he possesses) an evil eye, a haughty spirit, and a "broad" soul, he is of the disciples of the wicked Bilam. [Bilam had "an evil eye," knowing that it was evil in the eyes of the L rd for him to go to Balak, yet going anyway for the sake of reward, viz. (Numbers 22:18): "If Balak gives me his house full of silver and gold, etc."; "and a haughty spirit," (saying of himself) (Ibid. 24:16): "The speech of the hearer of the words of the Almighty and the knower of the knowledge of the Most High"; "and a 'broad' soul." For if he were not exceedingly lustful, he would not have counseled to abandon the daughters of Moav to harlotry. And our sages said (Sanhedrin 105a): "Bilam lived with his donkey."] What is the difference between the disciples of our father Abraham and the disciples of the wicked Bilam? The disciples of our father Abraham eat in this world and inherit the world to come, as it is written (Proverbs 8:21): "I have much to bequeath to My lovers [in the world to come], and their stores shall I fill [in this world.]" [Abraham is called a "lover" viz. (Isaiah 41:8): "the seed of Abraham, My lover."] But the disciples of the wicked Bilam inherit Gehinnom and descend to the pit of destruction, as it is written (Psalms 55:24): "And You, O G-d, shall lower them to the pit of destruction. Men of bloodshed [(e.g., Bilam, who by his counsel killed twenty-four thousand of Israel)] and deceit shall not halve their days, but I shall trust in You."
  	Yehudah ben Tema says: Be audacious as a leopard, […and do not be ashamed to ask your Rabbi what you have not understood, as we have learned: "The shy one does not learn"], and light as an eagle [to pursue your learning and not weary, as it is written (Isaiah 40:31): "They will lift the wing like eagles; they will run and not weary"], and swift as a deer [to pursue mitzvoth], and strong as a lion [to subdue your evil inclination against transgressing], to do the will of your Father in Heaven. He was wont to say: "The 'brazen-faced' to Gehinnom" [This expression is used because brazenness is seen in the face, viz. (Proverbs 21:19): "The wicked man is brazen in his face"], and the 'shame-faced' to Gan Eden." May it be Your will, O L rd our G-d that You build Your city hastily in our days and give (us) our portion in Your Torah. [That is, just as You have granted us this trait (of shame-facedness), the signs of the seed of Abraham being shame-facedness, mercy, and lovingkindness, so, may it be Your will, etc.]
  	He was wont to say: Five years old for (learning) Scripture. [This is derived from arlah (forbidden fruit), viz. (Leviticus 19:23): "Three years shall it be forbidden to you… (24): And in the fourth year all of the fruit shall be holy for praise to the L rd." (At this stage) his father teaches him the form of the letters and the vowel signs. (25): "And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, to increase for you its produce." Thenceforward, stuff him like an ox!], ten years old for Mishnah. [He learns Scripture for five years and Mishnah for five years, viz. (Chullin 24a): The master said: Any student who has not made progress in his Mishnah after five years, will no longer do so, as it is written (Numbers 8:24): "This is what applies to the Levites. From the age of twenty-five and up shall he come to enter into service to work in the tent of meeting." He learns the halachoth of the service for five years, and, at thirty, he works.], thirteen years old for mitzvoth, [it being written (Numbers 5:6): "A man or a woman if they do of all the sins of man" and, in respect to (the episode of ) Shchem, (Genesis 34:25): "And two sons of Jacob, Shimon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, took, each man his sword, etc." Levi at that time was thirteen years old and he is called "a man"], eighteen for the (marriage) canopy. ["Adam" ("man") is written nineteen times in the parshah of Bershith — from (1:26): "And G-d said: "Let us make a man" until (2:22): "And the L rd G-d fashioned the side that He had taken from the man into a woman" — one time for (the plain meaning) itself, leaving eighteen for expounding ("derashah").], twenty years old for pursuing [a livelihood. After he has learned Scripture, Mishnah, and Gemara, and taken a wife and begotten children, he must pursue a livelihood. Or: "twenty years old for pursuing" him from Heaven and punishing him for his acts, the Heavenly tribunal not punishing one who is less than twenty years old.], thirty for strength, [the Levites setting up the tabernacle and taking it apart and loading the wagons and carrying on their shoulder from the age of thirty on], forty years old for understanding, [for after forty years that Israel was in the desert Moses said to them (Deuteronomy 29:3): "and the L rd did not give you a heart to know and eyes to see and ears to hear until this day."], fifty years old for counsel, [it being stated of the Levites (Numbers 8:25-26): "And from the age of fifty he shall return from the service of the work, and he shall serve no more. And he shall serve his brothers." Which service? Counsel.], sixty years old for old age, viz. (Iyyov 5:26): "You will go to the grave in old age (bekelach): — the gematria (numerical equivalent) of "bekalach" is sixty.], seventy years old for hoary old age, [it being written in respect to David (I Chronicles 29:28): "And he died in a good hoary old age, and the days of his life were seventy years."], eighty years old for strength, [it being written (Psalms 90:10): "And if with 'strengths,' eighty years."], ninety years old for bowing (shuach) [He walks bowed and bent over. Some see it as relating to "shuchah amukah," "a deep pit."], one hundred years old — as if he had died and passed on and vanished from the world.
  	Ben Bag Bag says: Turn it [Torah] over and over, for [you will find] all in it. And through it you shall see. And grow old and hoary in it, and do not budge from it, for there is no better middah than it. [Do not say: I have learned the wisdom of Israel; I will now go and learn the wisdom of the Greeks. For it is permitted to do the latter only where it is not permitted to meditate in words of Torah, as in the bath-house or the lavatory. When they asked R. Yehoshua whether it was permitted to teach one's son Greek wisdom, he answered that it was permitted to do so when it was neither day nor night, it being written (Joshua 1:8): "And you shall meditate in it day and night."]
  	Ben Ha Ha says: According to the suffering is the reward. [The more "suffering" that you invest in toiling in Torah study and in doing mitzvoth, the greater will be your reward.]
  
  
  
  	The sages taught in the language of the Mishnah: (Rashi: "This (chapter) is a baraitha (traditions and opinions of Tannaim not included in the Mishnah as compiled by R. Yehudah Hanassi). It is taught in the language of the Mishnah, but it is not Mishnah. And what did they teach? 'R. Meir says, etc.' And because until this point all of the chapters were Mishnah, it was necessary to apprise us that henceforward it is baraitha. And because these are words of aggadah and deal with Torah study, it was customary to say them in the synagogue together with the other chapters of tractate Avoth.")
  	And it gives him royalty and rule and depth of judgment. The secrets of Torah are revealed to him and he becomes an unfailing well and a resurgent river. He becomes humble and forbearing and forgiving of insult, and it (Torah) raises and exalts him over all (of life's) exigencies. R. Yehoshua ben Levi said: "Every day a Heavenly voice goes forth from Mount Chorev and proclaims: "Woe unto the creations for the shame of Torah!" For whoever does not occupy himself with Torah is called "rejected," as it is written (Proverbs 11:22): "As a golden ring in the snout of a pig, so is a beautiful woman from whom wisdom has departed," and (Exodus 32:16): "And the tablets were the work of G-d and the writing was the writing of G-d, engraved (charuth) upon the tablets." Read it not "charuth," but "cheiruth" (freedom), for no one is free but him who studies Torah. For whoever studies Torah is exalted, as it is written (Numbers 21:19): "And from Matanah (the gift [of Torah]), Nachliel ('the inheritance of the L rd'); and from Nachliel, Bamoth ('the high mount')."
  	If one learns from his friend one chapter or one halachah or one verse or one word or even one letter, he must accord him honor. For thus do we find with David, king of Israel, who learned from Achitofel two things alone and called him his master, his teacher, and his preceptor, as it is written (Psalms 55:14): "And you (Achitofel), a man of my regard, my teacher and my preceptor." Now does this not follow a fortiori, viz.: If David, king of Israel, who learned from Achitofel only two things alone, called him his master, his teacher and his preceptor — then one who learns from his friend one chapter or one halachah or one verse or even one letter, how much more so should he accord him honor! And there is no honor but Torah, as it is written (Proverbs 3:35): "The wise inherit honor," and (Ibid 28:10): "And the perfect (in Torah) will inherit good," and there is no "good" but Torah, viz. (Ibid. 4:2): "For a goodly acquisition have I given you — do not forsake My Torah."
  	This is the way of Torah: A loaf with salt shall you eat, and water by measure shall you drink, and on the ground shall you sleep, and a life of travail shall you live, and in Torah shall you toil. And if you do so — you are fortunate and it is good for you. You are fortunate in this world and it is good for you in the world to come. Do not seek greatness for yourself, and do not lust for honor. More than your learning, do! And do not lust for the table of princes. For your table is greater than theirs, and your crown is greater than theirs, and your Master is trusted to pay you the wage of your work.
  	Torah is greater than priesthood and than kingship. For kingship is acquired with thirty eminences and priesthood with twenty-four, whereas Torah is acquired with forty-eight. They are: learning, the hearing of the ear, the articulation of the lips, the understanding of the heart, intuition, awe, fear, humility, joy, attendance upon the wise, the probing of the friends, the dialectics of the disciples, with deliberation, with Scripture, with Mishnah, with diminution of trade, of sleep, of pleasure, of laughter, (and) of cohabitation, with patience, with forbearance, with a good heart, with faith in the sages, and with the acceptance of afflictions.
  	Knowing one's place, rejoicing in one's lot, making a fence to one's words, not arrogating good to oneself, being beloved, loving the L rd, loving men, loving charity, loving reproof, loving uprightness, distancing oneself from honor, not vaunting oneself on one's learning, not rejoicing in (halachic) ruling, bearing the yoke with one's friend, judging him in the scales of merit, guiding him to truth, guiding him to peace, finding gratification in one's learning, asking and answering, listening and adding, learning in order to teach, learning in order to do, making one's teacher wiser, coordinating one's learning, and saying something in the name of its sayer, as we have learned: Whoever says something in the name of its sayer brings redemption to the world, as it is written (Esther 2:22): "And Esther told (it) to the king in the name of Mordecai."
  	Great is Torah, for it gives life to its observers in this world and the next world, viz. (Proverbs 4:22): "For they (words of Torah) are life to him who finds them and healing to all his flesh," and (Ibid. 3:8): "It is healing to your navel and marrow to your bones," and (Ibid. 18): "It is a tree of life to those who hold fast to it, and those who bolster it are fortunate," and (Ibid. 1:9): "For they are a chaplet of grace to your head and a necklace to your throat," and (Ibid: 4:9): "It will set a chaplet of grace upon your head; it will bestow a crown of glory upon you," and (Ibid 3:16): "There is length of days in its right hand; wealth and honor in its left hand," and (Ibid. 2): "For length of days and years of life, and peace will they bequeath to you."
  	R. Shimon b. Menassia says in the name of R. Shimon b. Yochai: Beauty and strength and wealth and honor and wisdom and old age and hoariness and children are becoming to the righteous and becoming to the world, as it is written (Proverbs 16:21): "A crown of glory is hoary (old age); in the way of righteousness will it be found," and (Ibid 14:24): "The crown of the wise is their wealth," and (Ibid. 17:6): "The crown of the old are grandchildren, and the glory of children are their fathers," and (Ibid. 20:29): "The beauty of youth is their strength, and the glory of the old is their hoariness," and (Isaiah 24:23): "Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun put to shame, for the L rd of hosts will reign in the mountain of Zion and in Jerusalem — but before His elders, honor." R. Shimon b. Menassia says: These seven middoth that the sages ascribed to the righteous were all realized in Rebbi and his sons.
  	R. Yossi b. Kisma said: "Once I was walking along the road when a certain man met me and greeted me and I greeted him in return. He asked me: 'Rebbi, where are you from?' I answered: 'From a great city of sages and scribes.' He replied: "Rebbi, please live with us in our place and I will give you thousands upon thousands of golden dinars and precious stones and pearls.' I said to him: 'My son, if you gave me all the silver and gold and precious stones and pearls in the world I would live only in a place of Torah. For when a man dies there accompany him neither silver nor gold nor precious stones nor pearls, but Torah and good deeds alone.'" As it is written (Proverbs 6:22): "In your going forth, it will lead you, in your lying down, it will guard you, and in your waking, it will be your converse." "In your going forth, it will lead you" — in this world; "in your lying down it will guard you" — in the grave; "in your waking, it will be your converse" — in the world to come. And thus is it written in the book of Psalms of David, king of Israel (Psalms 119:72): "Better to me the Torah of Your mouth than thousands in gold and silver," and (Chaggai 2:8): "Mine is the silver and Mine the gold, says the L rd of hosts."
  	Five acquisitions did the Holy One Blessed be He acquire in His world. They are: Torah — one acquisition; heaven and earth — one acquisition; Abraham — one acquisition; Israel — one acquisition; the Temple — one acquisition: Torah — one acquisition. Whence is this derived? From (Proverbs 8:22): "The L rd acquired me (Torah), the first of His way, before His works of yore." Heaven and earth — one acquisition. Whence is this derived? From (Isaiah 66:1): "Thus says the L rd: 'The heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. What is the house that you can build for Me and where is the place of My rest?'" And (Psalms 104:24): "How many are Your works, O L rd. You made all of them in wisdom. The earth is full of Your acquisitions." Abraham — one acquisition. Whence is this derived? From (Genesis 14:19): "And he blessed him and he said: 'Blessed is Avram to G-d on high, acquirer of heaven and earth.'" Israel — one acquisition. Whence is this derived? From (Exodus 15:16): "Until there pass over Your people, O L rd; until three pass over this people whom You have acquired." And (Psalms 16:3): "For the holy ones (of Israel) in the earth, and the mighty — all my desire is in them." The Temple — one acquisition. Whence is this derived? From (Exodus 15:17): "A place for Your dwelling have You made, O L rd; the Temple, O L rd, have Your hands established." And (Psalms 78:54): "And He brought them to the bound of His holiness, this mountain, which His right hand acquired."
  	Everything that the Holy one Blessed be He created in this world, He created only for His honor, as it is written (Isaiah 43:7): "All that is called by My name and which I have created for My honor — I have formed it; I have also fashioned it." And (Exodus 15:18): "The L rd will reign for ever and ever."