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text: Rambam on Pirkei Avot
  רמב"ם משנה אבות
  Sefaria Community Translation
  
  
  Rambam on Pirkei Avot
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Mishnah 1
  
  We have already explained the description of how the transmission happened in the introduction of our words in this essay. And [so] our intention here is only to explain the words of piety and ethics alone, to encourage the acquisition of certain virtues the benefit from which is great. And we will also elaborate to warn about certain vices that [bring] much damage. And [for] the rest, I will only explain the words and some of the concepts, because their concepts are [already] clear, except for a few of them.
  Be deliberate in judgment:  That they should delay in reaching the verdict and not determine it quickly before they [fully] understand it. As it is possible that new matters will be revealed to their eyes that were not revealed at the beginning of [their] thought.
  and make a fence for the Torah: they mean to say the decrees and ordinances that distance a man from sins. As He, may He be blessed stated (Leviticus 18:30), "And you shall guard My guarding." And it was said in its explanation (Moed Katan 5a), "Make a guarding [fence] for My guarding."
  
  Mishnah 2
  
  He is saying that with wisdom, and that is the Torah; and with enhancement of [good] traits, and that is acts of lovingkindness; and with the fulfillment of commandments, and that is the sacrifices [referred to in the mishnah as service] - there will be a continuous refinement of the world and ordering of its existence in the most complete way.
  
  Mishnah 3
  
  A reward (<i>pras</i>) is what one calls a benefit that is granted to a person by someone who does not gain from him, but [rather] does it by way of kindness and grace. [It is] like when a man tells his servant or his young son or his wife, "Do such and such and I will give you a dinar or two." That is the difference between a reward and a wage (<i>sachar</i>), since a wage is that which is given by [way of an] obligation. And this pious one said that you should not serve God, may He be blessed, in order that He will do good to you and benefit you with kindness and that you should hope for the benefit and serve Him for its sake. Indeed, serve Him like servants that are not hoping for endowment or the giving of kindness. He meant with this that they should serve Him from love, as we said in Chapter Ten of Sanhedrin. And nonetheless, he did not exempt us from fear [of God]. And [so] he said, "Even as you serve from love, do not discard fear completely, 'and may the fear of Heaven be upon you.'" As the commandment of fear has already come in the Torah, and that is its stating (Deuteronomy 6:13), "Fear the Lord, your God." And the sages said (Yerushalmi Berakhot 9:7), "Serve from love, serve from fear," and they said that the one who loves will not forget a thing from that which he was commanded to do, and the one who fears will not do what he was warned from doing - as fear is a great pathway with the negative commandments, and all the more so, with the arational commandments. And this sage had two students - one whose name was Tsadok and one whose name was Beitos. And when they heard him say this statement, they went out from in front of him and one said to his fellow, "Behold, the teacher said explicitly that there is no benefit and punishment for a person and there is no hope at all" - as they did not understand his intention. And one strengthened the hand of his friend and they exited the group and left the Torah. One group connected itself to one and another group to his fellow. And the sages called them Sadducees and Boethusians. But when they could not gather congregations due to that which follows from this belief - as this evil belief disengages the united, all the more so will it not unite the disengaged - they leaned towards belief in the thing which they could not deny among the masses. As if they would put this out of their mouths, [the masses] would have killed them. I mean to say [that this thing is] the words of Torah. And [so] each one said to his party that he believes in the Torah, but disagrees with the transmission [of its oral explanation] - that it is not true. And this was to exempt themselves from the accepted commandments and ordinances and decrees. Since they could not push off everything - the written [Torah] and the received [explanation].  And also [this way], the way of interpretation was broadened for them. Since once the explanation was given to their choice, he was able to be lenient in what he wanted and to be strict in what he wanted. [This is] since he did not believe in the fundamentals at all, yet he sought things that would still be accepted by some people. And these evil groups came out from then. And they are called Karaites in these lands - I mean to say, Egypt. And their names among the sages are Sadducees and Boethusians. And they are the ones that began to question the transmission and to explain all of the verse according to what appears to them without listening to the sage at all, [which is] the opposite of what He, may He be blessed, stated (Deuteronomy 17:11),  "You shall act in accordance with the instructions given you and the ruling handed down to you; you must not deviate from the verdict that they announce to you either to the right or to the left." 
  
  Mishnah 4
  
  "A meeting house": A house of meeting, meaning to say that you should make your house always available for the gathering of sages, like in synagogues and houses of study (<i>batei midrash</i>); such that if a man says to his fellow, "Where can I meet with you, where can I confer with you," he will [answer] him, "In the house of x."
  
  Mishnah 5
  
  "Open": That you should have a gate open to the path of wayfarers, such that every wayfarer that need something or is hungry or thirsty will enter the house immediately.
  "may the poor be members of your household": He is saying that it is necessary that the servants be the poor and the indigent. And this is more fit than purchasing slaves. And so would the sages condemn the purchase of slaves and praise one whose servants and members of his household were the poor. 
  They so stated with his wife: It is known that the majority of talk with women is about matters of sex. Because of this, he said that increasing conversation with them is forbidden, since he "causes evil to himself." He means to say that he acquires lowly traits for his soul, and that is the abundance of desire.
  "and neglects the words of Torah": It is understood that he wastes time with other occupations.
  "and, in his end, he inherits Geihinam": because of this conversation of rebellion, and he obligates himself in the punishment.
  
  Mishnah 6
  
  "Make for yourself a mentor": He means to say even if he is not fit to be your mentor; still place him upon you as a mentor, so that you can give and take (discuss and argue) with him, and as a result of this the study of wisdom will come to your hand. As the study of a man on his own is good, but his study from someone else will be better established in his hand and it will be more clear - and even if he is like him in wisdom or below him. And so did they elucidate the explanation of this commandment. And he said, "acquire for yourself a friend". He said it with an expression of acquisition and he did not say, "Make for yourself a friend," or "Befriend others." The intention of this is that a person must acquire a friend for himself, so that all of his deeds and all of his matters be refined through him, as they said (Taanit 23a), "Either a friend or death." And if he does not find him, he must make efforts for it with all his heart, and even if he must lead him to his friendship, until he becomes a friend. And [then] he must never let off from following [his friend's] will, until his friendship is firmed up. [It is] as the masters of ethics say, "When you love, do not love according to your traits; but rather love according to the trait of your friend." And when each of the friends has the intention to fulfill the will of his friend, the intention of both of them will be one without a doubt. And how good is the statement of Aristotle, "The friend is one." And there are three types of friends: a friend for benefit, a friend for enjoyment and a friend for virtue. Indeed, a friend for benefit is like the friendship of two [business] partners and the friendship of a king and his retinue; whereas the friendship for enjoyment is of two types - the friend for pleasure and the friend for confidence. Indeed, the friend for pleasure is like the friendship of males and females and similar to it; whereas the friend for confidence is when a man has a friend to whom he can confide his soul. He will not keep [anything] from him - not in action and not in speech.  And he will make him know all of his affairs - the good ones and the disgraceful - without fearing from him that any loss will come to him with all of this, not from him and not from another. As when a person has such a level of confidence in a man, he finds great enjoyment in his words and in his great friendship. And a friend for virtue is when the desire of both of them and their intention is for one thing, and that is the good. And each one wants to be helped by his friend in reaching this good for both of them together. And this is the friend which he commanded to acquire; and it is like the love of the master for the student and of the student for the master.
  "and judge every person as meritorious:" Its subject is when there is a person whom you do not about him if he is righteous or if he is wicked and you see him doing an act or saying something and if you interpret it one way it will be good and if you interpret in another way it will be bad - [in this case,] take it to the good and do not think bad about it. But if the man is known to be famously righteous and of good deeds; and an action of his is seen that all of its aspects indicate that it is a bad deed and a person can only determine it to be good with great stretching and a distant possibility, it is fit that you take it that it is good, since there is some aspect of a possibility that it is good. And it is not permissible for you to suspect him; and about this did they say (Shabbat 97a), "The body of anyone who suspects proper ones will be struck." And so [too] when it is an evildoer and his deeds are famous, and afterwords we see him that he does a deed, all of the indications about which are that it is good but there is an aspect of a distant possibility that it is bad; it is fit to guard oneself from him and not to believe that it is good, since there is a possibility for the bad. And about this is it stated (Proverbs 26:25), (Also) "Though he be fair-spoken do not trust him, etc." But when he is not known and the deed is indeterminate towards one of the two extremes; according to the ways of piety, one must judge a person as meritorious towards whichever extreme of the two extremes [would be the case].
  
  Mishnah 7
  
  "Do not befriend an evildoer": in [any] type of friendship and companionship, so that you will not learn from his deeds. And we have already elucidated in the previous chapters that a man learns from the vices [found] in the company of evildoers. And he said [further] if you sin or you see that one sin, do not be confident and say that God, may He be blessed, will only punish him in the world to come; and do not despair of quick vengeance from Him for this sin.
  
  Mishnah 8
  
   "The judges' advisers (literally, organizers)": They are people that study the arguments and the laws until the people become experts in their cases. As they compose questions and answers: when the judge says this, answer him that; and when the litigant argues this, so should be your answer - as if they are organizing the case, and the litigant is [coming] in front of them. And that is why they are called the judges' organizers - it is as if they organize the cases in front of them. And they warned them from being similar to them; meaning to say to teach one of the litigants an argument that will benefit him and to say to him, "Say this," or "Refute [an opposing claim] in such and such a way." And even if he knew about him that he was the victim and that his fellow's claim against him is false according to what he truly thinks, nonetheless, it is not permissible for him to teach him an argument that will save him or benefit him at all.
  
  Mishnah 9
  
  
  
  Mishnah 10
  
  This 'government' (<i>rishut</i>) is the authorities. And in these three traits there is refinement of faithfulness and of the world. As with the absence of work, things will be tight for him and he will rob and be unfaithful. And with the pursuit of lordship, he will have challenges in the world and bad things; as since people will be jealous of him and disagree with him, he will lose his faithfulness. [It is] as they said (Sanhedrin 103b), "Once a man is appointed an officer over the community below, he becomes an evildoer above." And so [too, regarding] familiarity with the government in the early days and coming close to it, it was very unusual to escape from [the damage caused by] it in this world. As he will not pay attention to anything except that which brings him close to it. And you know the matter with Doeg - and even though the authority with which Doeg became close was the anointed of God and a prophet and God's chosen one, may He be blessed.
  
  Mishnah 11
  
  "Evil waters" is a nickname for heresy. And they said, "Be careful with your words" among the masses, and there should not be in in your words [something] that can support a different interpretation [than what you mean]. As if there are heretical men there, they will interpret them according to their beliefs. And the students will have already heard them from them and they will turn to heresy. And they will think that these were your beliefs and there will be a desecration of God, as happened to Antigonos with Tsadok and Beitos.   
  
  Mishnah 12
  
  "Of the disciples of Aharon": They said (The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan 12) that when Aharon, peace be upon him, sensed that the insides of a person were bad or they told him that his insides were bad or that he had a sin in his hand, he would greet him first and would be friendly towards him and would speak much with him. And that man would become embarrassed about himself and say, "Woe is to me! If Aharon knew what is hidden in my heart and the evil of my actions, he would not permit himself to [even] look at me, all the more so to speak to me. And yet he treats me with the presumption that I am a proper man. [Hence] I will confirm his words and his thought and I will return to the good." And he would become from his students who learn from him. And the Holy One, blessed be He, stated when He described him with this trait (Malachi 2:6), "He walked with Me in peace and righteousness, and brought many back from iniquity." And it is this famous matter about him that Hillel had in mind. And he also said when a man's name spreads for greatness, its termination will be announced. And he would also say, that God, may He be blessed, kills the one who doesn't read [the Bible] much, but the one who does not learn at all is fitting to be killed [now]. And [he also said] that one who "uses the crown" will die, meaning to say one who earns a livelihood from Torah and receives [tangible] benefit from it. And this was his intention in this statement, as will be explained in this tractate (Rambam on Pirkei Avot 4:5). And it is stated by way of mnemonic, "Student (yes), another man (no)," meaning to say that it is not permissible for a Torah scholar to receive service from any man except for his students.     
  
  Mishnah 13
  
  
  
  Mishnah 14
  
  He said, "If I myself will not be the one that arouses my soul to virtue, who will arouse me, as I have no one to stimulate me from outside," like we have elucidated in the second chapter (Eight Chapters 2). "And since it is in my power to incline my soul to any side that I want, what deed have I done from the good deeds." It is as if he is [questioning] himself and saying, "What am I?" [This is] to say, "What is [becoming of] me? I am not complete, even if I did this matter." And afterwards he went back and said, "If I do not acquire these traits now in the days of my youth, when will I acquire them? Not in the days of old age, as it is difficult to veer from [one's] characteristics at that time because the acquisitions and the traits have hardened and settled - whether they are virtues or whether they are vices." And the wise one said (Proverbs 22:6), "Educate a youth according to his way, and he will also not veer from it when he gets old."
  
  Mishnah 15
  
  He said to make Torah study the center and the main thing and your other affairs secondary to it - whether they turn up or whether they not turn up, since there is no damage [from their] absence. And they said (Bava Metzia 87a), "The righteous say little and do much" - like our father, Avraham, who designated one loaf of bread and brought "curds and milk and a calf" (Genesis 18:8) and three <i>seah</i> of fine flour. "And evildoers say much and do not do even a little" - like Efron who gave everything [away] in his words, but in practice did not even leave one small coin from the [purchase price].
  "a pleasant countenance": That is when he interacts with the creatures calmly and with pleasant and welcome words.
  
  Mishnah 16
  
  Rabban Gamliel says, "Make for yourself a mentor, remove yourself from doubt and do not frequently tithe by estimation." That which he commanded here to  make a mentor is not regarding study, but rather legal decisions: place for yourself a mentor, that you can rely upon in the forbidden and the permissible, and you can remove yourself from doubt. [It is] as they say in Talmud Yerushalmi Moed Katan 1:10, "Go and bring me an elder from the marketplace and I will rely upon him and permit [it] to you." And so [too] did he command to flee from putting out tithes by estimation, because it is from the doubts.
  
  Mishnah 17
  
  The wise one has already stated (Proverbs 10:19), With many words, there is no lack of transgression." And the reason for this is that most words add superfluity and sin, as I will elucidate now. As when a man increases his words, he will certainly transgress, since it is impossible that there will not be in his words one word that is not fit to say. And one of the signs of the wise is minimization of words, and one of the signs of the foolish is the multitude of words. And the sages have already said that the minimization of words is proof of the high virtue of the forefathers. And when a man was pedigreed they would say, "The pedigreed one of Babylonia is the quiet one." And it is said in the Book of Characteristics that one of the sages was seen to be silent, since he did not say speech that was not fitting to speak and he only spoke very little. And they said to him, "What is the reason for your great silence?" And he said, "I have examined all speech and I have found it divided into four divisions.
  The first division is completely injurious, without benefit, like the cursing of people or vulgarity and similar to them; such that to speak with them is complete idiocy.
  And the second division is injurious on one side but beneficial on the other side, like the praise of a man to gain benefit from him. But in that praise will be that which will anger his enemy and so [the speech] will injure the one being praised. And one should refrain from this speech because of this reason, [such] that they not speak things from this division as well.  
  And the third division is words that have no benefit and no injury like most of the speech of the masses: how was wall x built?; how was hall y built; or the telling of the beauty of house x or the multitude of delicacies of country y; and similar to these. These are extraneous words - one who says such words is excessive and there is no benefit in them.
  And the fourth division are words that are completely beneficial, like the speech about the wisdoms and about the virtues and the speech of a person about what is specific to him, in that his life depends upon them and through them will his existence continue. And he must speak this." He said, "Any time I hear words, I examine them. And if I find that they are from this fourth division, I speak them. But if they are from the other divisions, I am silent about them." And the [author] of the [Book of] Characteristics examined this man and his wisdom which is to avoid three-fourths of speech, and [found] that this wisdom is the one that needs to be taught. And I say that speech is divided into five parts according to the Torah's obligation: 1) We are commanded about it; 2) We are warned against it; 3) The disgusting; 4) The beloved; 5) The permissible.
  The first division is that which one is commanded about - and it is reading the Torah and studying it and reading its analysis. And this is an obligatory positive commandment, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 6:7), "and you shall speak in them." And it is as weighty as all of the other commandments [put together]. And it has already been said about the imperative of study that which not even a part of would fit in this [entire] composition. 
  The second division is the speech that is forbidden and that we are warned against, such as false testimony, talebearing and cursing. And the words of the Torah teach about this division. And also [included] are foul speech and evil speech.
  And the third division is the disgusting that has no benefit to a man for himself, but is not a sin and not rebellious - like the speech of the masses about what happened and what was and what are the customs of King x in his chamber and how was the cause of y's death or how did z become rich. And the sages call these idle talk; and the pious ones made efforts for themselves to refrain from this division of speech. And it was said about Rav, the student of Rabbi Hiya, that he did not speak idle talk all of his days. And from this division is also when a person disgraces a virtue or praises a vice - whether they be intellectual or dispositional.
  And the fourth division is the beloved, and that is speech in praise of intellectual virtues or dispositional virtues and in disgrace of both types of vice - to awaken the soul to the virtues with stories and songs, and to prevent the vices in these same ways. And also to praise the distinguished and to acknowledge their virtues, so that their practices be valued in the eyes of people and that they walk in their ways; and to disgrace the bad about their vices, so that their action and their memory be disgraced in the eyes of people and that they distance themselves from them and not act according to their practices. And this division - meaning to say, study of the virtuous traits and distancing from traits of vice - is called <i>derekh erets</i> (the way of the world).
  The fifth division is the permissible and is the speech about what is specific to a person about his business, his livelihood, his food, his drink, his clothing and the rest of what he needs for himself. And it is permissible - it is not beloved or disgusting. Rather, if he wants, he can speak what he wants of it, and if he wants, he will not speak [it]. And with this division, a person is praiseworthy when he minimizes his speaking of it. And the men of ethics have warned about increasing words in it. But the forbidden and the disgusting does not require a warning nor a commandment, as it is fitting to be completely silent from it. However the commanded and the beloved [speech], if a person could speak in it all of his days, it would be good. However one must be careful about two things: The one is that his deeds match his words, as they said, "Pleasant are the words that come out of the mouth of one who does them." And about this matter did he intend in his saying, "And the exposition [of Torah] is not what is essential, but the action." And the sages say to a righteous one that [specifically] he teach the virtues, in their saying, "Expound, and for you it is fit to expound." And the prophet stated (Psalms 33a), "Rejoice, righteous ones in the Lord; for the straight is praise beautiful." And the other matter is terseness and that he make efforts to maximize content with few words and not that the matter be the opposite. And this is what they said (Pesachim 3a), "A man should teach his students in the brief way." And know that songs, that are composed in any language that it be, must be examined for their contents - if they are following the way of speech that we have divided. And indeed, I have clarified this even though it is clear [already], because I have seen elders and and pious men from the people of our Torah when they are at a wine party like a wedding or something else and a person wants to sing an Arabic song - even if the subject of that song is praise of courage or generosity and that is from the division of the beloved, [as well as] when it is in praise of wine - they push it off with every angle of distancing, and it is not permissible according to them to hear it. And when the lyricist sings one of the Hebrew canticles it is not bad in their eyes if it is from the things that we are warned against or which are disgusting. And this is complete foolishness, as speech is not forbidden or extraneous or beloved or disgusting or commanded in its saying because of the language that it is in, but rather because of its content. As if the content of that song is virtue, he is obligated to say it - in any language that it my be. But if the intention of that song is vice in any language that it should be, it is forbidden to say it [- in any language that it should be]. I also have what to add to this: When there are two canticles and they express the same content of arousing the power of desire and praise for it and to rejoice the soul with it - and it is vice and it is from the division of disgusting speech since it enthuses and arouses a trait of vice, as is clarified in our words in the fourth chapter - but one of the two canticles is in Hebrew and one is in Arabic or vernacular; listening to the Hebrew and speaking it is more disgusting to the Torah due to the level of the language, as it is only right to use it for virtues. All the more so if they require to put into it a verse from the Torah or from the Song of Songs about that matter - as then, it goes from the division of the disgusting to the division of the forbidden and what is warned against. As the Torah forbade to make the words of prophecy types of song for vice and disgusting things. And since we have mentioned evil speech in the division of forbidden speech, I saw [fit] to elucidate it and to mention a little of what is mentioned about it. As people are in great blindness about it and it is the great sin that is always in people - and all the more so about what the sages said (Bava Batra 164b) that a person does not escape from tangential evil speech on any day. And who would give that we escape from evil speech itself! And evil speech is the recounting of the evils of a man and his blemishes and the disgracing of a man of Israel in whatever side of disgrace that it be - and even if the disgraced was lacking as was spoken. As evil speech is not that he lie about a man and attribute to him that which he does not do, as that is called putting out a bad name on his fellow. However evil speech is that when he disgraces the disgraces of a person, even about his actions that he truly does, [such] that the speaker sins and the one who hears him sins. They said (Arakhin 15b), "There are three that evil speech kills: the one who speaks it, the one who listens to it and the one they are speaking about." And they said, "The one who listens to it more than the one who speaks it." And tangential evil speech is the mention of the blemishes of a man without clarification. Shlomo said about this matter that sometimes one who mentions the blemishes of a person without clarification shows that he does not have knowledge of that which is understood from his words and that he did not intend this, but rather intended another matter - as he said (Proverbs 26:18-19), "Like a madman scattering deadly firebrands, arrows, is one who cheats his fellow and says, 'I was only joking.'" And one of the sages from among the wise ones already praised in a large group the writing of a scribe that he showed him; and the rabbi condemned the act of the praiser and said (Mishnah Arakhin 3:5), "Go and stop your evil speech." [He meant] to say that you are causing his disgrace with your praise of him in the large group. As from them is one who loves him and one who hates him, and his enemy will be forced to mention his blemishes and his evils when he hears his praises. And that is an extreme distancing from evil speech. And the language of the Mishnah (Mishnah Arakhin 3:5) is "the judgment against our ancestors in the wilderness was sealed only because of their evil speech" - meaning to say the matter of the scouts about which it was stated (Numbers 13:32), "And they put out slander of the land." And they, peace be upon them, said (Arakhin 15a), "And if these that only put out a bad name on trees and stones become liable for what they became liable, how much more is it so for someone who speaks about the disgrace of his fellow!" And this is the language of the Tosefta (Talmud Yerushalmi Peah 1:1): For three sins is there retribution to a person in this world and he does not have a share in the world to come - idolatry, sexual immorality and murder; and evil speech corresponds to all of them [together]. And they said in the Gemara (Arakhin 15b) [that] with idolatry comes the expression, 'the big' - and that is its stating (Exodus 32:31), "Alas, this people is guilty of a big sin." And with the sin of sexual immorality also comes the expression, 'the big' - and that is its stating (Genesis 39:9), "and how can I do the big evil, this one." And with the sin of murder also comes the expression, 'the big' - and that is its stating (Genesis 4:13), "Is my sin too big to carry?" But with evil speech comes the expression 'the big ones' (plural)." [It] means to say that it corresponds to the three of them [together] - and that is its stating (Psalms 12:4) "tongue speaking big things.'" And they spoke about this unsettling sin very much. And the end of that which is said is that "Anyone who speaks evil speech denies the fundamental [faith], as it is stated (Psalms 12:5), 'They say, "By our tongues we shall prevail; with lips such as ours, who can be our master?"'" Indeed, I have said a little of what they said about this sin; even though I have written at length, in order that a man distance himself from it with all of his ability and make his intention to be quiet - meaning to say from this division of speech. 
  
  Mishnah 18
  
  Judgement is the administration of a country with fairness. And we have already explained in the fourth chapter that truth is the intellectual virtues and that peace is the virtues of character. And when these three are found, existence will be as perfect as is possible, without a doubt.
  
  
  
  
  
  Mishnah 1
  
  It is clear that the straight path is the good actions which we have elucidated in the fourth chapter (Eight Chapters 4), and they are the  virtues of moderation. As through them a person acquires a fine disposition and he will have a good way with people. And he said it is "praiseworthy for the person adopting [it], And praiseworthy to him from [other] people." And afterwards, he said that he needs to be careful with a commandment that he thinks is light - like rejoicing in the holiday, and study of the Holy Tongue - as with a commandment the great weightiness of which is clear to you - like circumcision and <i>tsitsit</i> (fringes) and slaughtering of the Pesach sacrifice. And there the reason for this is for you do not know the reward given [for the fulfillment] of [the respective] commandments. And the elucidation of this matter is as I will say. And it is that the entire Torah has positive commandments and negative commandments. It is true that Scripture elucidated the punishment of each negative commandment except for a few of them. And one is obligated the death penalties for some of them and excision and death at the hand of the Heavens and lashes for some of them. And we know from all of the punishments of the negative commandments which of the prohibitions are great and which ones of them are below them. And they are eight levels: The first level - and it is the greatest of them - are those things for which one is obligated stoning. And the one below it are the ones that obligate burning. And the third are the ones that obligate killing (decapitation). And the fourth are the ones that obligate strangling. And the fifth are ones that obligate excision. And the sixth are ones that obligate death at the hand of the Heavens. And the seventh are ones that obligate lashes. And the eighth are negative commandments for which we do not give lashes. And from these levels we can know what is the weightiness of a sin or its lightness. But what is the reward from God, may He be blessed, of each of the positive commandments is not elucidated. And all of this is so that we do not know which commandment requires that we keep it much and which commandment is below it. Rather He commanded to do matter x and y and He did not make known the reward of which one of them is greater from God, may He be blessed. And because of this one needs to be careful about all of them. And because of this principle, they said (Sukkah 25a), "One who is engaged in a commandment is exempt from [another] commandment," without comparing [the weight of] the commandment that he is involved in to the other one from which he is refraining. And for this, they also said (Pesachim 64b et. al.), "We do not skip over commandments," meaning to say that when you chance upon the performance of a commandment, do not skip over it and leave it to do another commandment. And afterwards he said that even though the [relative] desirability of each commandment is not elucidated, there is an angle of comparison. And that is that every positive commandment wherein you find that one who transgresses it is obligated a great punishment, know that there is also a great reward in doing [the commandment]. And the example of this is that circumcision, slaughtering the Pesach sacrifice, resting on the seventh [day] and the making of a parapet are all positive commandments. Yet the obligation of one who does work on Shabbat is stoning, but the one who refrains from circumcision or the sacrifice on the holiday is obligated [only] excision and the one who 'places blood in his house' (by refraining from setting up a parapet) violates a negative commandment [without a tangible punishment], and that is that which is stated (Deuteronomy 22:8), "do not place blood in your house." And from here you know that the reward of Shabbat is greater than the reward of circumcision and the reward of circumcision is greater with God, may He be blessed, than the reward of making a parapet. And that is the matter of his saying, "Also, weigh the loss [that may be sustained through the fulfillment] of a commandment against the reward [that may be obtained] for [fulfilling] it." And he also said "the gain of a transgression," when you do not do it - this too is not elucidated. However you can learn it from the punishment of the sin. When the sin for which the sinner was punished is great, the reward for his refraining from it is according to that level of greatness, as is elucidated in Kiddushin 39b in their saying, "Anyone who sits and does not commit a sin is given a reward like the one who does a commandment" - and we have already explained it there.  And the expression of the Torah of actions being known to Him, may He be blessed, is like that when our teacher Moshe, peace be upon him, stated (Exodus 32:32), "from Your book that you have written." 
  
  Mishnah 2
  
  By <i>derekh erets</i> (the way of the world), he meant involvement in a livelihood. And his saying, "and leads to sin" is as I explained it in another place [about] their saying (Kiddushin 29a), "In the end he will steal from the creatures." And about his saying, "And as for you, I credit you with a great reward, as if you [yourselves] had done it [on your own]," it is the word of God to those who work for the community. As sometimes they are prevented from doing a commandment while they are occupied with the needs of the community. And he said that God, may He be blessed, counts the reward upon them as if they had done that commandment even though they did not do it, since they were involved with the needs of the community for the [sake of the] name of Heaven.
  
  Mishnah 3
  
  We have already explained (Rambam Pirkei Avot 1:10) that the government (<i>rishut</i>) is the authorities in the early days. And he is recounting their traits and warning about them.
  
  Mishnah 4
  
  We have already made known in the fourth chapter that there is no reason to separate from the community except due to their dereliction, as we explained over there. And he said that even though a person has a distinctive character trait in his soul and he has strengthened it, he should not remove his hand from redoubling his doing good and adding to its reinforcement. And he should not be be certain [about it] and say, "This virtue has already reached my hand and it is impossible that it will fall away." As it is possible that it will fall away. And that is [the meaning] of his saying, "until the day of your death." 
  And something that cannot be heard is that the simple meaning of the words be very distant and negligible. And [only] when the person examines them carefully will he see that they are true words. And he warns against this path of speech, as he says, "Do not have your words require a distant explanation and extra examination and [only] then will the listener understand them."
  "When I will be available": He means with this, when I am available from this business (not busy). And this is similar to what preceded of the commands of his colleague, Shammai (Avot 1:15), "Make your Torah fixed."
  
  Mishnah 5
  
  A boor (<i>bur</i>) is one who does not have wisdom nor [proper] traits. And an ignorant person (literally, a man of the land - <i>am haarets</i>)  is one who does not have intellectual virtues but he would have some character virtues. And [the meaning of] a person prone to being ashamed is known. And an impatient person is one who is impatient about everything and gets angry. And the matter of striving is to accustom your soul and lead it to acquire the virtues. And since there are no wise men [there] to teach you, you should teach yourself. And the [Aramaic] translation of (Genesis 32:25), "and a man struggled with him" is "and a man strived with him" (Onkelos Genesis 32:25). And they said that the Torah is not found with men of pride and arrogance and not with those that go to far lands. And they supported this by way of a flourish with a verse and said (Eruvin 55a), "'It is not in the heavens, that you should say, etc. Neither is it beyond the sea, etc.' (Deuteronomy 30:12-13)." They said, "It is not with the arrogant (who elevate themselves like the sky) and it is not with those that go across the sea."
  
  Mishnah 6
  
  He means to say that you were killed because you killed someone else. And the one who killed you will be be killed in the future. The intent of this statement is that bad actions will return upon the head of their doers, as he stated (Proverbs 5:22), "The wicked man will be trapped in his iniquities." And he stated (Psalms 7:16), "He has dug a pit and deepened it, [etc.]." And the sages said (Sanhedrin 90a), "With the measure that a person measures, [so] is he measured." And it is something that is apparent to the eye at every moment and every time and every place that anyone who does evil and creates types of violence and vice is himself injured by those same evils that he created - since he taught the craft that would cause damage to him and to others. And so [too regarding] anyone who teaches a virtue [in] that he creates a good action from the good, a benefit of that action will reach him - since he taught a thing that will do good to him and to others. And the words about this in the verse are very good - he stated (Job 34:11), "For He pays a man his action."
  
  Mishnah 7
  
  
  
  Mishnah 8
  
  He praised Rabbi Eliezer [for] his good memory in comparing him to a plastered pit that does not lose its waters. And he praised Rabbi Yehoshua [for] the virtues of character, in that through them is a person made happy and honored and most of the world will love him. And because of this the one who gave birth to him is happy with him. And he praised Rabbi Yose [for] virtues of good character and intellectual virtues. He praised Rabbi Shimon [for] fear of sin - and that is carefulness and striving with matters of involvement in the good and guarding from evil. And he praised Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh [for] good understanding and that every deep matter was easy for him and that his comprehension added to the [discussion].
  
  Mishnah 9
  
  A good eye: Sufficing with what a person has and this is from the virtues of character. And a bad eye is its opposite - meaning to say, the belittling of the things [that he has] and eagerness for increase. And his saying here, "who sees the future," the matter of which is that he studies what will be in the future from what is found now, is not from the wisdoms that it should be an intellectual virtue, and that its understanding is that he study that which is hidden from that which is revealed. Rather, what he wants with it here is the analysis about the matters of a man from his affairs through which his existence will continue, that he should investigate the end of his affairs. And he brought a metaphor corresponding to this, and that is his saying, one who borrows but does not repay, that he will not lend him another thing - and that is of the traits of vice. "But the righteous one gives graciously" (Psalms 37:21) - that is the Righteous One of the world, and He is God, may He be blessed, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 32:4), "righteous and straight is He"; and (Nehemiah 9:33), "You are righteous about all that comes upon us." The explanation is that He is generous to the man that lends to his fellow and he doesn't repay, [for] the Holy One, blessed be He, pays him in exchange for his service that he bestowed kindness to another to lend him until his hand could acquire his lacking. And when the hand [of the borrower] found it and did not pay back his lender, God, may He be blessed, paid him [instead]. And the matter of "seeing his words" is to choose and to distinguish - from the matter of "The Lord did not see" (Lamentations 3:36), the intention of which is He did not choose. And he distinguished that everything was included in his words [when] he said "a bad heart."  And we have already explained in the second chapter of our introduction to the commentary on this tractate (Eight Chapters 2:2) that all of the character virtues are only found in the appetitive section of the soul. And in it are also found all of the character vices. And we have elucidated in the fourth chapter (Eight Chapters 4) that the actions that are good are the moderate actions which come from the virtues of character. And so [too] is it known among the philosophers and physicians that the appetitive soul is in the heart and [that]  its chamber and its instruments are attributed to the heart. And even though all of the capabilities are diffused from the heart and it is its beginning  according to the true opinion, the appetitive capability does not spread from it to another organ, in the way that the nutritive capability - I mean to say the vegetative capability that we discussed in the first chapter  (Eight Chapters 1:7) - spreads from the heart to the liver. And understand that from everything we have elucidated that what he wanted with a good heart are the good action and they are the moderate actions and they are the virtues of character. And it includes contentment and the love of the good and others of the virtues besides this. And that is what he said, "For your words are included in his."
  
  Mishnah 10
  
  And do not be easy to anger: Do not prepare yourself to anger and irritability. And they have already gone far in disgracing anger and irritability. And the strongest of their words is their saying (Shabbat 105b), "Anyone who gets angry is as if he worships idols." And they made it adjacent to his saying (Psalms 81:10), "You shall have no foreign god, you shall not bow to an alien god" - meaning to say that the two things are one. 
  and repent one day before your death: And [since] he does not know when he will die - maybe today or maybe tomorrow - all of his days will be in repentance. But his saying, "And warm yourself by the fire of the sages," is not from their words with which he educated them, but rather is what he heard from someone else but he would [nonetheless] recount it. And because of this it was not counted among his [three] things. And the intention of this command that he is telling you is that when you associate with the sages and with men of virtues, do not be playful with them and do not be arrogant towards them, but let your association be to let them know that you will approach them at the time that they will bring you close. And do not add to come closer to them than that which they have brought you close - that you not lose their intention about you, and you reverse their love to hate and the benefit that you hoped to get from them not reach you. And he compared this to one who warms himself by the fire - as if he sits far from it, he will enjoy its heat and get benefit from its light. But if he is negligent with himself and continues to get closer to it, he will get burnt and the benefit will turn into damage. And this is the content of his saying metaphorically, "And warm yourself by the fire of the sages, but be cautious around their coals that you should not be burned." And afterwards he added to frighten about this and he said, "Do not think that if they bite you with their tongues that you will come back and appease them with your words and they will be appeased." As truly they will not listen to the voice of a charmer like the Seraph does not listen to it, as it stated (Psalms 55:6), "Which does not hear the voice of charmers." And you should know this from the matter of Gechazi in that which he was audacious in front of his teacher, Elisha, and who fell into a disgusting disease, as is elucidated from the words of the sages about the matter of the four men who were "leprous" (<i>metsuarim</i>). And so [too] with Rabbi Yehoshua ben Perachiah and with all of them is the damage that came to them elucidated - and with others that 'burnt their stew.' 
  
  Mishnah 11
  
  He said that exuberance for money and much desire and badness of the soul - and that is sickness of the black bile which brings a man to be disgusted with that which his eyes see and he will hate it and he will prefer the company of animals and isolation in wildernesses and in forests and he will choose an uninhabited place, and this is with them not because of asceticism but rather because of the lack of desire and their jealousy of others - these will, without a doubt, kill a man. As his body will get sick and he will die before his time. 
  
  Mishnah 12
  
  We have already explained in the eighth chapter (Eight Chapters 8) the matter of preparation and readiness that is needed for a person to prepare himself for the virtues. And we explained in the fifth chapter (Eight Chapters 5:8) the matter of his saying, All of your actions should be for the sake of Heaven..
  
  Mishnah 13
  
  When a man thinks of himself as lacking [virtue] and low,  a lacking will not seem [too] big in his eyes for him to do it. And we have already explained that the matter of "fixed" (<i>keva</i>) is that prayer be heavy upon him and he will consider it as if he were commanded a particular chore and then he can rest from it.
  
  Mishnah 14
  
  The matter of diligence (<i>shkeidah</i>) is from the language of the verse, "as I am diligent upon my word" (Jeremiah 1:12) - meaning to say, quick and energetic. Or its meaning would be, habit and constancy, as in "to be diligent at my doors each day" (Proverbs 8:34).
  know what to respond to one who denigrates the Torah (<i>epikoros</i>): He said that you need to study things which you can respond to the <i>epikoros</i> from the [gentiles] and disagree with them and answer them if they challenge you. And they said, (Sanhedrin 38b), "They only taught about the gentile <i>epikoros</i>, but with the Jewish <i>epikoros</i>, if you answer him, all the more so will he rebel" - meaning to say, he will denigrate [even] more.  And because of this, there is no need to speak with him at all, as he has no redemption and he has completely no cure at all - as it is stated (Proverbs 2:19, "All who go to her cannot return, and they will not find the paths of life." And he said, "Even though you study the opinions of the nations to know what to answer them, guard yourself that anything from these opinions come into your heart; and know that the One before whom you serve knows what is hidden in your heart." And this is his saying, "Know before Whom you labor" - wanting to say that he direct his heart to faith in God, may He be blessed. 
  
  Mishnah 15
  
  This is a metaphor for the brevity of years and multitude of wisdoms and the laziness of men to seek it, in spite of the great reward for them and the multitude of notices in the Torah and its warnings to seek wisdom and study.
  
  Mishnah 16
  
  In the future to come: He meant to say in the world to come. And we have already elucidated the [concept of the] world to come in the tenth chapter of Sanhedrin, with that which is fit to mention about it. 
  
  
  
  
  
  Mishnah 1
  
  This perusal brings a person to humility - in remembering from where he came. And his perusal of his end will bring him to disparage matters of the world. And his perusal of the greatness of the Commander will bring him to be quick to listen to His commandments. And when these three come into his hand, he will not sin at all.
  
  Mishnah 2
  
  His proof that any session wherein they did not speak words of Torah is called a session of scorners is from the end of the verse (the verse after the one he cites), wherein he states (Psalms 1:2), "But rather the Torah of the Lord, etc." [It is] as if he said that because his desire was in the Torah of the Lord, he [axiomatically] did not sit in the session of scorners within which there is no Torah of the Lord. 
  From where [is there proof that] that even [when there is only] one [person] sitting, etc.: In the first chapter of Berakhot 6a, it states in this language, "And from where is it derived that one who sits and engages in Torah [study], the Divine Presence is with him? As it is stated: 'In every place where I cause My Name to be mentioned, I will come to you and bless you' (Exodus 20:21); Since even one, was it necessary [to say] two? [With] two, their words are written in the book of remembrance; with one, his words are not written in a book of remembrance. And since even two, was it necessary [to say] three? Lest you say that judgment is merely  peace, and the Divine Presence does not come. [Instead,] we understand that sitting in judgment is also Torah. And since even three, was it necessary [to say] ten? [With] ten, the Divine Presence precedes [them] and comes; [with] three, not until they sit." And the explanation of "he is silent (<i>vayidom</i>)" as being from the hidden speech is from "a still (<i>demamah</i>) small voice" (I Kings 19:12). And from this [idea] did the [Onkelos' Aramaic] translation explain, "And Aharon was silent" (Leviticus 10:3) [as] "And Ahaon praised." And his proof that he is like one that observed the entire Torah completely is from his saying, "since he takes it on himself" (Lamentations 3:28) - it is as if the giving of the entire Torah was only for his sake.
  
  Mishnah 3
  
  Idolatrous sacrifices are called the offerings of the dead, as the verse (Psalms 106:28) called it, as we explained in the third chapter of Idol Worship (Rambam Mishnah Avodah Zarah 3:8). And Yishayahu also called it "vomit and feces" to disgrace it, [just] like idolatry itself is called dung and abominations. And before this verse is a verse that indicates occupation with food and drink and ignoring Torah and its study, and because of this the tables are all as if they ate upon them dirty things and feces - meaning to say, idolatry. And that [verse] is his saying before this verse, "But these are also muddled by wine and misled by ale" (Isaiah 28:7). 
  
  Mishnah 4
  
  
  
  Mishnah 5
  
  The yoke of Torah: Constancy of reading [it].
  the yoke of government: The exertion [imposed by] the king and his troops.
  and the yoke of the way of the world (<i>derekh erets</i>): The exertion [imposed by] time. He said that as a reward for his taking the yoke of Torah, God, may He be blessed, will save him and lighten the exertion of time from upon him. And his saying, "casts from himself the yoke of Torah," [is] that he said, "The Torah is not from Heaven and I will not bear it." And they said (Eruvin 54a), "'Engraved (<i>charut</i>) on the tablets' (Exodus 32:16) [...] freedom (<i>cheirut</i>) on the tablets" - meaning to say, freedom from the events of time and the matters of kings [comes] to the one who accepts and does what is written upon the tablets. 
  
  Mishnah 6
  
  "In the congregation of God": Behold, we have explained in the beginning of Sanhedrin (Rambam on Mishnah Sanhedrin 1:6), that a congregation does not apply to less than ten. And there we also explained that a court is no less than three and they are called <i>elohim</i> (powers) with regard to judgement. And the explanation of "band" (bundle) is that which a man bands [together] in his one hand. And the hand has five fingers in it. And the group of five fingers is also called a band. 
  
  Mishnah 7
  
  
  
  Mishnah 8
  
  
  
  Mishnah 9
  
  Behold this thing is agreed upon by the philosophers as well: That habituation of the virtues - when it comes before [acquisition of] wisdom to the point that it is a strong possession, and he studies wisdom afterwards such that it will give him alacrity for those goods - will add joy and love to his wisdom and industriousness to increase upon it; since [wisdom] stimulates him to [do] that to which he is [already] accustomed. But when the acquisition of knowledge comes first, and he studies [the virtues]afterwards, his wisdom will prevent him from that which he desires according to his habit. [And so] wisdom will weigh upon him and he will leave it.
  
  Mishnah 10
  
  He said that these things prevent and remove the virtue of of a man until he leaves the world and is lost.
  
  Mishnah 11
  
  One who whitens the face of another: That is one who embarrasses his fellow.
  One who reveals meanings (literally, faces) in the Torah: is one transgresses the laws of the Torah in public and that is the epitome of heresy, as God, may He be blessed, said (Numbers 15:30), "And the soul that does with a high hand (publicly)." And the matter of revealing faces is that he reveals his face and is brazen - and that is an expression of heresy. And so is it explained in the gemara (Talmud Yerushalmi Peah 1:1). They said one who reveals faces in the Torah is one that transgresses the words of the Torah in public, like Yohayakim the son of Yoshayahu.
  nullifies the covenant: [This is] as its simple understanding. And there it said about all of the things that the sages said that the one who does them has no share in the world to come, "About what are we [speaking]? If when he repented, there is nothing that stands in front of repentance. Rather [it is] when he did not repent but he died with afflictions." It means to say that the weight of the sins - and these are the ones about which they said he has no share in the world to come - is greater than other sins, as for [the former exclusively,] afflictions with death do not atone.   
  
  Mishnah 12
  
  Be yielding (literally, light) to an elder: [The meaning of] lightness is known. 
  And pleasant: This is calmness and ease. And he said with this command that when you are in front of a man of great standing, make yourself light towards him and serve him and stand in his presence if he wants and do not seek honor for yourself from him. But when you are with black hair - meaning to say one of young years - do not do this; but seek honor for yourself from him and do not be playful and do not be jocular with him. Afterwards he said, "You should not think that that which I have warned you from being jocular with someone of young years obligates that you should greet him with rage and with a choleric face. This is not the intention. Rather you need to greet every person - small or big, freeman or slave, every man of the human species - with joy." And this is more than that which Shammai said (Avot 1:15), "with a pleasant countenance." [The translator said it appears to me from the words of the teacher (Rambam) that he explains the word <i>mekabel</i> (literally, receive) from <i>hakbelat panim</i> (being across from the face) which is as if he is across. This is derived from (Exodus 26:5) "the loops across (<i>makbilot</i>)," which he translated from the Aramaic as across or facing. And also in Arabic one says about this matter an expression of meeting and being opposite - one says x met me happily or angrily. And with this type of expression did the teacher explain <i>mekabel</i> here - and know it.]
  
  Mishnah 13
  
  When a man makes vows and keeps them, the acquisition of keeping away from that which he wants to keep away from comes into his hand, and that acquisition is strengthened for him. And abstinence becomes easier for him, meaning to say guarding from impurities - as they said in Chagigah (Mishnah Chagigah 2:7), "The clothes of an <i>am ha'arets</i> [unlearned person] are <i>midras</i> (considered impure by treading) for the abstinent.
  
  Mishnah 14
  
  He would say that revelation of that which He benefited him a certain good is a separate benefit. As there are times when a man benefits  [another] man by way of mercy and does not reveal the certain thing that he did for him because he is [too] lowly in his eyes.
  
  Mishnah 15
  
   This statement includes great things and [so] it is fitting that this statement would be of Rabbi Akiva. And this is its explanation in brief on condition that you know all that came before it in the earlier chapters. He said [that] all that is in the world is known to Him, may He be blessed and He comprehends it. And that is his saying, "Everything is foreseen." And afterwards he said [that] you should not think that in His knowing actions [in the future], it is obligated by necessity - meaning to say that a person is forced in his actions to [do one] action out of the [many] actions. The matter is not like this, but [rather] freewill is in the hand of a man as to what he will do. And this is his saying, "and freewill is given." He means to say that freewill is given to every man, as we elucidated in the eighth chapter (Eight Chapters 8). And he said that the judgement of God, may He be blessed, with people, however, is with kindness and good - not according to the judgement that befits them, as He, may He be blessed, explained (Exodus 34:6), "of great patience and much kindness and truth" - and the rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said "'of great patience' with the righteous and the evil." And the prophet (recounter) said (Psalms 145:9), "Good to all is the Lord." And afterwards he said that the virtues do not come to a man according to the quantity of the greatness of the deed, but rather according to the great number of good deeds. And this is that indeed the virtues arrive by repetition of the good deeds many times. And with this does a strong acquisition come - not when a man does one great deed from the good deeds; as from this alone, a strong acquisition will not come to him. And the parable with this is that when a man gives a thousand gold coins at one time to one man to whom it is fitting and he does not give anything to another man; the trait of generosity will not come into his hand with this great act, as [much as] it will come to one who donates a thousand gold pieces a thousand times and gives each one of them out of generosity. [This is] because this one repeated the act of generosity a thousand times and a strong acquisition of it came to him [in this way]. But [the other] only aroused his soul with a great arousal towards a good act, and afterwards it ceased from him. And so [too] with Torah, the reward of the one who redeems one captive with a hundred dinar or [gives] charity to a poor person with a hundred dinar which is enough for what he lacks is not like the one who redeems ten captives or fills the lack of ten poor people - each one with ten dinar. And in this comparison and this matter is that which he said, " in accordance to the majority of the deed" - and not in accordance to the greatness of the deed.
  
  Mishnah 16
  
  The shopkeeper grants credit: One who gives much time with a debt and does not request it immediately. And this parable is clear and its intention is known. And that which he said, "and everyone who wants to borrow can come and borrow," strengthens the earlier matter that there is no necessity [forcing actions], but with free choice does a man do what he wants to do. And his saying, "and the collectors go constantly" is a metaphor for death and other punishments that come to a man.
  and everything is prepared for the feast: [This] is to say the ultimate intention of all this is life in the world to come.
  
  Mishnah 17
  
  He means to say with this that each of these two - each one of the two of them - helps the existence of the other and completes the other one. However his words about knowledge (<i>daat</i>) and understanding (<i>binah</i>) is a very subtle matter with the philosophers; and I will mention it [and] rely upon the understanding of the one that will investigate it. And that is that the knowledge that reaches us and that we acquire is, indeed, the comprehension of ideas that we comprehend if we separate the form and comprehend it  or if we comprehend the separated forms in their [pristine] existence - without our making them knowledge, for they, themselves, are knowledge. And that comprehension is called understanding, and that is [the acquisition] of knowledge. And with knowledge, too, we understand [it] and it becomes possible to comprehend what we comprehend. And it is as if he said that if we do not comprehend an idea, we do not have knowledge; and if we do not have knowledge, we can not comprehend an idea - as we comprehend it with knowledge. And understanding this thing is very difficult - even from the books that are written about it, all the more so here. However, we are only straightening out the straight path to it. Any one whose deeds: We have already explained and elucidated these thing in this chapter in the words of Rabbi Chaninah ben Dosa (Rambam Pirkei Avot 3:9).
  
  Mishnah 18
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Mishnah 1
  
  This is clear and we have already elucidated its matter in the previous chapters.
  
  Mishnah 2
  
  We have already elucidated the explanation of this statement  in Chapter 10 of Sanhedrin. And the sages, peace be upon them, have already brought attention to a wonderful innovation in the Torah in which there is inducement to the performance of the commandments. And it is its stating (Deuteronomy 4:41), "Then Moshe separated three cities in Transjordan, etc.," while knowing that they would not be effective - as they would not have the [status] of cities of refuge until the three others in the Land of Israel would be separated. They said (Makkot 10a), "Our teacher Moshe, peace be upon him, knew that these three cities in Transjordan do not shelter until the three cities in the Land of Israel would be separated, as it is stated (Numbers 35:13), 'they shall be six cities of refuge.' And he separated these nonetheless, since he said, 'Since a commandment has come to my hand, I will perform it.'" And if our teacher Moshe, peace be upon him - the fathomer of the truths, the [most] complete of the complete - was eager to add half of a positive commandment upon all of his rank and wholeness in this way, there is no need to say that those whose souls are leprous and their leprosy is strong and gaining should do [so].
  
  Mishnah 3
  
  And he said it is impossible that there not be for every man a time in which he can damage or benefit, and even with a small thing.
  
  Mishnah 4
  
  We have already elucidated and mentioned in the earlier chapters that humility is from the highest of traits. And it is the mean between pride and lowliness of spirit and it has no other name - just humility. But there are many names for pride: In the Hebrew language, high heart, elevated eyes, proud and high. And from the names of the sages, may their memory be blessed, [are] a high spirit, coarse-spirited and uppity. And across from them is lowliness of spirit. We have already explained in the fourth chapter (Eight Chapters 4:7) that a person needs to incline a little to one of the extremes until he establishes himself in the middle of, as a [type of] fence. But only in this trait from [all] the other traits - meaning to say with pride - due to the great deficiency of this trait for the pious ones and their knowledge of its damage, they distanced themselves to the other extreme and completely inclined towards lowliness of spirit, until there was no room for pride in their souls at all. And behold, I saw in a book from the books on characteristics that one of the important pious men was asked and told, "Which day is the one upon which you rejoiced more than any of your days?" He said [back], "The day that I was going on a boat and my place was in the lowest places of the boat among the packages of clothing, and there were traders and men of means on the boat [as well]. And I was laying in my place and one of the men of the boat got up to urinate and I was insignificant in his eyes and lowly - as I was very low in his eyes - to the point that he revealed his nakedness and urinated on me. And I was astonished by the intensification of the trait of brazenness in his soul. But, as God lives, my soul was not pained by his act at all and my strength was not aroused. And I rejoiced with a great joy that I reached the extreme that the disgrace of this empty one did not pain me and [that] my soul did not feel [anything] towards him." And it is without a doubt that this is the extreme of low spiritedness, to the point of being distanced from pride. And I will now mention a little of what the sages mentioned in praise of humility and [in] disgrace of pride. And it is because of this that this one commanded to come close to lowliness and said, "Be very, very lowly in spirit" - out of his fear that a person remain only in humility, all the more so that there be a trace of pride in him. As it is close to it, since modesty is the mean, as we mentioned. And they said (Talmud Yerushalmi Shabbat 1:3) in praise of humility [that like] that which wisdom made a crown for its head, humility made a sole for its heel - the explanation of which is its shoe - as it is written (Psalms 111:10), "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God." This is a proof that fear of God is greater than wisdom, as it is a cause for its existence. And it states (Proverbs 22:4), "[At the] heel of  humility is the fear of sin," which is to say that you will find the fear of God at the heels of humility. If so, humility is much greater than wisdom. And they said (Megillah 31a), "This thing is written in the Torah and repeated in the Prophets and tripled in the Writings; every place that you find the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He, you find His modesty: It is written in the Torah (Deuteronomy 10:17), 'the great God, etc.' And it is written after it (Deuteronomy 10:18), 'Who does the judgment of the orphan and the widow.' And it is repeated in the Prophets, as it is written (Isaiah 57:15), 'So speaks He who high aloft forever dwells, whose name is holy, "I dwell on high, in holiness."' And adjacent to it is '"with the contrite and the lowly in spirit."' And it is tripled in the Writings, as it is written (Psalms 68:5), 'extol Him who rides the clouds; the Lord is His name.' And it is written after it (Psalms 68:6), 'the Father of orphans and the Judge of widows.'" And you should learn from our teacher, Moshe, peace be upon him, in whom the intellectual virtues and the dispositional virtues were perfected - all of them directed to the level of prophecy - the master of Torah, the master of wisdom. And [yet] God, may He be blessed, praised him over every man with the trait of humility and stated (Numbers 12:3), "and Moshe the man is very humble, more than any person." And His stating, "very" is a sign of his great modesty and his inclining towards the side of the far extreme. And so, you will find him state (Exodus 16:7) "and what are we?" And so [too[ with David, 'the anointed of the God of Yaakov, the pleasant singer of the praises of Israel.' And he was an honored king, whose kingdom grew great and sword grew strong and who God, may He be blessed, designated through our teacher Moshe, peace be upon him, since he is the star that proceeded from Yaakov (Numbers 24:17), as the sages, may their memory be blessed, elucidated. And he was a prophet and the greatest of of the seventy elders [of his time], as he stated (II Samuel 23:8), "who sat in the sitting of the wise." And with all of this, he stated [about himself] (Psalms 51:19), "and a heart broken and crushed, God will not disgrace." And he increased in these virtues that indicate extreme modesty. And [the following is from] what the rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said about pride. They said (Sotah 4b), "Any man that has coarse-spiritedness is like he worshiped idolatry. Here it is written (Proverbs 16:5), 'An abomination of the Lord is anyone of a high heart'; and there it is written (Deuteronomy 7:26), 'And do not bring an abomination into your house.'" And they said, "It is like he denied a fundamental [of faith], as it is stated (Deuteronomy 8:14), 'And your heart grow high and you forget the Lord.'" And they said that the sin of pride is like one who has forbidden sexual relations: It states [about the latter] (Leviticus 18:27), "As they did all of these abominations." And they said (Sotah 4b) that one who becomes uppity is he, himself - for God - like idolatry itself. And they brought a proof from the statement (Isaiah 2:22), "'Cease from man, whose soul is in his nose' - meaning to say, of a high (haughty) spirit - 'for by what (<i>vameh</i>) is he estimated?' - do not read it as <i>vameh</i>, but rather <i>bamah</i> (an altar, as both words are written with the same three letters)." And they said [about] one that becomes uppity that it is fitting to kill him. And they said (Sotah 5a) that anyone who has coarse spirit in him is fitting to be cut down like a tree-god. It is written here (Isaiah 10:33), "the ones of high stature cut down"; and there it is written (Deuteronomy 7:5), "and their tree-gods shall you cut down." And they said that God, may He be blessed, will not revive during the revival of the dead those that became uppity. [This was] their saying, "Any man that has coarse spirit in him, his dust will not be aroused; as it is stated (Isaiah 27:19), 'awake and shout for joy, you who dwell in the dust': he who was made dust in his life - meaning to say the humble ones - they are the ones that will be revived." And they emphasized this and said that any man that has coarse spirit in him, the Divine Presence cries out about him; as it is stated (Psalms 138:6), "and the high ones from afar, He makes known." And they elaborated with their words. They said in saying that <i>tsaarat</i> (a Biblical form of leprosy) is a punishment for the haughty ones, "For a swelling (<i>seiat</i>), for a rash, or for a discoloration" (Leviticus 14:56) - and a swelling is only height (haughtiness), as it is stated (Isaiah 2:14), "the elevated (<i>nisaot</i>) hills." It is as if it said to the one who becomes uppity is a swelling [of <i>tsaarat</i>]. And the end is what they said (Sotah 5a), 'In excommunication is the one that has it and in excommunication is the one that does not have it at all.'" [This] means to say that a person should not be humble in spirit to the final extreme, as it is not from the virtues. And they quantified it metaphorically - one in sixty four parts, meaning to say if we place pride in one corner and lowliness of spirit in another corner, there would be sixty four parts along the spectrum. And he should stand in the sixty-third section. He does not only want the mean with this trait, so as to escape from pride. As if he were to be missing [just] one section and [proportionately] come closer to pride, he would be put in excommunication. And that is the opinion of Rava about humility. But Rav Nachman decided and said that it is not fitting for a man to have from it - meaning to say from pride - not a large a section and not a small section, as its sin is not small. That which makes man into an abomination is not fitting to [even] approach. They said about this matter, "Rav Nachman bar Yitschak said, 'Not form it and not from part of it. And is it a small thing that which is written, 'An abomination of the Lord is anyone of a high heart?'" And to strengthen [precaution] from this cursed sin, [Rabbi Levitas] said, "Be very, very lowly in spirit for the hope of man is worms" - meaning to say that you need to force yourself until you have distanced yourself from pride, by your thinking of the end of the body, and that is its return to worms.
  You know from Scripture that the unintentional transgressor has a sin. And because of this, he needs atonement with a sacrifice. And God, may He be blessed, said about him, "And he is forgiven from his sin that he sinned." But he is not like the intentional sinner. God forbid, for the One of the straight path, God - may He be blessed - to equate the intentional with the unintentional in [any] thing from the things. Rather his intention here is that the desecration of the Name, whether it is intentional or unintentional, will be punished publicly - if it was intentional, the punishment for intentional, if it was unintentional, the punishment for unintentional. But both punishments are public. 
  
  Mishnah 5
  
  After I decided not to speak about this testament because it is clear and since, according to my opinion, my words will not please most of the great Torah sages - and perhaps any of them - I went back on my decision and I will speak about it, without paying attention to the earlier or contemporary [rabbis]. Know that that which he said not to make the Torah into a spade with which to dig - meaning to say, do not consider it a tool to live by - he explained and said that anyone who benefits in this world from the honor of Torah removes his life from the world - the explanation of which is, from life in the world to come. Yet people have missed this obvious language and thrown it over the backs. And they have depended upon understandings of the words that they [themselves] did not understand - and I will explain them. And they established rules for themselves upon individuals and upon communities, and they brought people to think in their total foolishness that it is mandatory and fitting that they help the sages and their students and the people involved in Torah, and for whom their Torah [study] is their craft. And this is all a mistake, and nothing is found in the Torah or in the words of the rabbis, may their memory be blessed, that substantiates it or gives it a basis to rest upon at all. As when we look into the words of the rabbis, may their memory be blessed, we do not find among them that they were requesting money from people and they did not collect money for the honored and precious academies, nor for the heads of the exiles, nor for their judges, nor for the promulgators of Torah - not for one of their greats and not for any people of the nation. Rather, we find in each and every generation in all of their communities that there were among [the Torah scholars] poor men of extreme poverty and wealthy men of extreme wealth. And God forbid that I should suspect those generations of not being doers of kindness and givers of charity. As if such a poor man had extended his hand to receive it, they would have filled his house with gold and pearls; but he did not want [it]. Rather he sufficed with [the earnings from] the work in which he engaged - whether comfortably or with duress - and he was loath of what [came from] the hand of people, since the Torah prevented him from it. And you already know that Hillel the Elder was a wood chopper and that he studied in front of Shemaya and Avtalyon and he was extremely poor. And his rank was such that you know that some of his students were compared to Moshe, Aharon and Yehoshua; and the least of his students was Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. And there is no doubt to the intelligent one that if he had instructed the people of his generation to let him benefit from them, they would not have allowed him to be a wood chopper. And [also] Rabbi Chaninah ben Dosa - about whom a heavenly voice went out and said, "The whole world is only nourished for the sake of my son, Chaninah; and my son, Chaninah, has enough with a kav of carobs from one Shabbat eve to [the next] Shabbat eve" (Berakhot 17b) - yet he did not request [anything] from people. And Karna was a judge in the Land of Israel and he was a water drawer. And when litigants would come in front of him, he would say, "Give me someone to draw [the water] in my place or [the wage from] my absence and I will adjudicate for you." And the Jews in that generation were not not cruel and were not lacking in doing kindness. And we do not find any sage of the poor sages that reviled the people of his generation for not making them rich - God forbid for them [to have done so]. Rather they believed in God, may He be blessed, and in the Torah of Moshe, through which a person merits life in the world to come. And [so] they did not allow themselves to request money from people. And they saw that taking it was a desecration of [God's] name in the eyes of the masses, because they would think that Torah is a profession from the professions though which a  person lives and it will become disgraced in their eyes. And [so] the one that would do this, 'the word of God, he will disgrace.' However the ones that drew strength to disagree with the truth and with simple and obvious verses by taking people's money - whether voluntarily or against their will - were misled by stories that are found in the Gemara about people that [were disabled] or elderly, having come up in days, such that it was impossible for them to do work.  As there was no strategy for them [to survive] except for the taking of money from others. And if not, what would they do - should they die? And the Torah did not command this. And you will find that the story that they bring as a proof (Bava Metzia 84b) when they said 'she was like merchant ships, from far does she bring her bread,' is about [someone disabled] who was not able to do work. But with the ability [to do work], the Torah does not create [such] a path. And Rabbi Yosef would carry  wood from place to place and would say, "(Beautiful) [Great] is work, as it heats up its master" - meaning to say with the effort of his limbs. Since by carrying the heavy wood, he would heat up his body without a doubt. And he would praise this and be happy with it. And he derived pleasure from that which God, may He be blessed, apportioned to him, that which was for him from the virtues of sufficing. And I have heard the crazy and confused ones base themselves on the proof that they bring from their saying (Berakhot 10b), "One who seeks to benefit, let him benefit like Elisha; and one who does not seek to benefit, let him not benefit like Shmuel from Rama." And this is not at all similar to what they are bringing. Rather, for me, it is a great mistake to bring a proof from it, as it is clear and there is no room for a person to make a mistake in it. As Elisha did not take money from people - all the more so did he not request [it] from them and establish rules for them, God forbid. Instead, he would only take honor when someone gave him lodging when he passed by, to be in his home. And he would eat his bread on that night or on that day and he would return to his affairs. But Shmuel would not enter the home of a person and would not eat from any man. And about something like this the sages, may their memory be blessed, said that if a Torah scholar wants to emulate this to the point that he not enter the house of [any] person, that right is in his hand. But if he wants to lodge with people in his passing by them for the needs of [his] travel expenses, that right is [also] in his hand. As they already warned about eating [as a guest of] any man when it is not necessary. And they said (Pesachim 49a), "A Torah scholar that proliferates his meal in every place, etc." And they [also] said, "It is forbidden for a Torah scholar to benefit from any meal that is not [pertinent] to a commandment." And why should I write at length about this matter. Instead, I will mention a story which elucidates it in the Gemara (Nedarim 62a). And it is that a [certain] man had a vineyard in which thieves would enter. And each time he would see them on each day he [would] find his fruit lessening progressively. And he did not have a doubt that one of the thieves put his eye upon it. And [so], he was pained by this all the days of the harvest until he harvested what [was left for him to] harvest. And he put them out to dry until they dried and he gathered in the raisins. And the way of people when they gather dried fruit is that a few individual figs or grapes would fall. And it is permissible to eat them because they are ownerless and the owners already left them for their finders due to their small quantity. And Rabbi Tarfon came one day to that vineyard by chance and he sat and took from the raisins that fell and ate them. And the owner of the field thought that this was the thief that stole from him the whole year - and he did not recognize [Rabbi Tarfon] but had heard of him. And [so] he immediately took him and overpowered him and placed him in a sack and placed him on his back to throw him into the river. And when Rabbi Tarfon saw this, he yelled out and said, "Woe to Tarfon, for this man is killing him." And when the owner of the vineyard heard, he left him and ran away, knowing that he had sinned a great sin. But Rabbi Tarfon was distressed from that day onwards all of his days and he mourned  about that which happened to him, as he saved himself through the honor of the Torah, while he was very rich and could have said, "Leave me and I will give you such and such gold coins." And he could have given them to him and he did not need to inform him that that he was Rabbi Tarfon. And [that way] he would have saved himself with his money and not with Torah. And they said, "All the days of that righteous man, he was distressed over this matter, saying, 'Woe is me, for I made use of the crown of Torah'" - as anyone who use the crown of Torah does not have a share in the world to come and is uprooted from the world. And they said about this, "It was since Rabbi Tarfon was very rich, and he should have appeased him with money."   And so [too, the story that] Rebbi (Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi) opened his storehouses in a year of drought and said, "Anyone who wants to come and take his sustenance, let him come and sustain himself, but only if he is a Torah scholar." And Rabbi Yochanan ben Amram came and stood in front of him and he did not recognize him; he said, "Rebbi, sustain me." He said [back] to him, "Have you  read [scripture]?" "No." "Have you studied mishnah?" "No." "[If so], with (in the merit of) what should I sustain you?" He said, "Sustain me like a dog or a raven" - meaning to say, even though there is no wisdom in me, just like God, may He be blessed, sustains the impure animal and the impure bird - as an ignoramus is no less than them. And he gave him. But afterwards he regretted [it], since he had seduced him with his words and he said, "Woe to me, since I benefited an ignoramus from my possessions." And the listeners of what happened to him said to him, "Maybe it was Yonatan ben Amram, your student, who does not want to benefit through the honor of Torah, when he could avoid it - and even with a ruse." And he investigated and found that it was so. And these two stories will silence anyone who disagrees about this matter. The things that the Torah did, however, permit to the Torah scholar are that they should give their money to a man to do business according to his choice and the profit will be all for them, if he wants. And one who does this has a great reward for it - and this is "the one who puts merchandise into the 'pocket' of a Torah scholar." And [also] that their merchandise be sold before all [other] merchandise, and that [things] be purchased for them at the beginning of the market [session]. These are rules that God, may He be blessed, established, [just] like He established the gifts for the priest and the tithes for the Levite - according to that which has been received by tradition. As these two actions are done by some businessmen towards each other by way of honor and even though there is no wisdom [to be honored] - a Torah scholar is worthwhile to be like an honored ignoramus. And the Torah eased the rules upon Torah scholars [regarding] taxes and quartering troops and [taxes] specific to each person, and that is called the poll tax - the community pays it for them. And so [too] with [revenue for] the building of walls and similar to them. And even if a Torah scholar is endowed with money, he is not obligated in anything of all this. And Rabbi Yosef Halevi, may his memory be blessed, already instructed a man in a certain place who had gardens and orchards and was obligated to pay thousands of gold coins [in taxes] on their account - and he said that he would be exempted from giving anything on their account from all that we have mentioned, since he was a Torah scholar.    And [this is so] although even a poor man in Israel would give this tax. And this is a law of the Torah, [just] like the Torah exempted the priests from the half shekel [that even the poor had to pay] - as we have elucidated in its place - and that which is similar to it. 
  
  Mishnah 6
  
  Honor of the Torah is in teaching alacrity in its performance and honoring the sages that support it and the books that they wrote abut it. And so [too], desecration of the Torah is the opposite of [these] three.
  
  Mishnah 7
  
  He is nonchalant in legal decisions to force his decisions without awe and fear.
  
  Mishnah 8
  
  The Torah permitted an expert [known] to the public to judge by himself, as we explained in Sanhedrin. But this is the word of the Torah and here it warns him a little from the angle of ethics and not from the angle of prohibition. And he said [that] if your colleagues disagree with you in an opinion from the opinions, do not force them to accept your argument - as they know if they must accept it, and it is not your right to force them to accept your opinion.
  
  Mishnah 9
  
  He said that anyone that is occupied with Torah and is poor and needy and - with all of this - pains himself to be occupied with it; in the end he will be occupied with it in wealth, such that there not be anything to disturb him from the reading. And one who is not occupied with Torah because of his multitude of money [so that] his involvement is in eating and in drinking and in rest; in the end he will become impoverished and time will be tight for him - until the reason for his neglect of the reading will be his preoccupation with bread for him to eat.
  
  Mishnah 10
  
  He said [to] minimize your business and be constant with the Torah and Be humble of spirit before everyone - meaning to say that you not be humble of spirit in front of the big people alone; indeed in front of every man. [Such] that when you sit with any man that it be, your speaking with him should be as if he is greater than you. And all of this is to flee from pride, as we have elucidated. And the matter of  many reasons for neglecting it will be presented to you is that there are many things that cause neglect and require someone to be occupied with them. And when you are not occupied with Torah, time will disturb you with one of those things.
  
  Mishnah 11
  
  A <i>praklit</i> (defender) is [a man] that advises good for a person  to the authorities. A <i>katigor</i> (prosecutor ) is the opposite of this - and he is one who tale-bears on a man to the king and attempts to kill him. And they said that repentance after bad deeds or good deeds from the start - each of these two matters - prevent injuries and sicknesses from coming to a person.
  
  Mishnah 12
  
  
  
  Mishnah 13
  
  These three good ranks were given to this nation at the beginning of the giving of the Torah. And they are priesthood, monarchy and Torah. Aharon merited [to take] priesthood, David merited [to take] monarchy, but the crown of Torah remains for anyone who wants to be crowned with it. And the rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Yoma 72b), "And lest you will say that this crown is less than the other two, it is not like that. Rather it is greater than both of them. And the two are in it, as it is stated (Proverbs 8:15), 'Through me kings reign and rulers decree just laws' and it states (Proverbs 8:16), 'Through me ministers administer, etc.'" But the crown of a good name comes from Torah [as well], meaning to say its knowledge and its practice - as through them does a truly good name come.
  
  Mishnah 14
  
  He said [to] seek a [proper] place for reading and study, as the reading will become firm and be established [when you are] with another [person]. And do not rely upon your [own] understanding and say that you do not need colleagues and students that will stimulate you.
  
  Mishnah 15
  
  He said that a man's being a student to someone who is wiser than he is better and more fit than being a teacher to someone lesser than he - as in the first situation he will gain and in the second situation he will decrease. And you should understand [it] from that which we elucidated in Sanhedrin, that they placed the head of an academy of twenty-three [scholars] at the back of a great academy of seventy-one, because of the principle that 'we bring up in holiness and we do not bring down' - as they saw that they raised his rank with this. 
  
  Mishnah 16
  
  A <i>traklin</i> is a chamber and a <i>prozdor</i> is a gatehouse. And the metaphor is clear and the intention is known. As it is in this world that a man acquires the virtues through which he merits the world to come. As this world is indeed a path and a passageway to the world to come.
  
  Mishnah 17
  
  We have already elucidated in the tenth chapter of Sanhedrin that there is no completion or addition after death. Instead, a person increases and completes his virtue in this world. And about this Shlomo hinted when he stated (Ecclesiastes 9:10), "for there is no action, no reasoning, no knowledge, no wisdom in the grave to where you are going." But this matter is that [the situation] to which a person goes will remain [the same] forever. And because of this a man should make efforts during this short time and not waste his time, but only [spend it] on the acquisition of virtues - as his loss would [otherwise] be great, since he has no replacement [for it] and he cannot acquire [it later]. And since the pious ones knew this, they only saw [fit] to finish their time with wisdom and the increase of virtues; and they benefited from all of their time in the true way. And they only frittered very little time on physical matters and on a thing that it is necessary and impossible without it. But others spent all of their time only in physicality and they left [the world] like they came [to it] - 'all corresponding to how it came, so will it go' - and they lost an eternal loss. And the masses all switched the truth about this question and said that the first group lost the world and that the last group profited [from] the world. And the matter is the opposite, as we have recounted. And they make darkness into light and light into  darkness. And woe is it to those that destroy the truth. And Shlomo, peace be upon him, made this matter a fundamental in Ecclesiastes, in his praising the profit of the world and his disgracing its loss. And its elucidation is that there is neither gain nor [any] other acquisition of that which he refrained from here, after death. And this is all true. And when you examine that book from this perspective, the truth will be clear.
  
  Mishnah 18
  
  This is clear and they are matters of ethics in the improvement of human society by the placement of a word in a place where it will be effective.
  
  Mishnah 19
  
  'The burning of His anger" is not stated [which is only the heat of anger], but rather "His anger"; [this] teaches that he is forgiven for all of his sins: And even though Shlomo said this command in his wisdom [first in Proverbs], this sage would teach this trait and warn about this sin.  
  
  Mishnah 20
  
  He said that study during the days of childhood will be established and it will not be easily forgotten and that the matter of study in old age is the opposite. And this is clear and visible to the eye. Rabbi Yossi said that the wisdom of young men has questions and doubts that are not purified. And they have not escaped from their difficulties, as they have not had length of days to review their studies and to remove the doubts. But Rebbi says [that] you should not judge the wine by the jug. As there is a new jug with old wine in it and an old jug that is empty and has nothing in it. So [too], there are young men whose questions and wisdom are pure - there is no doubt mixed with them - like old wine, the sediments of which have been separated from it. And there are elders that have no wisdom at all, and there is no need to say that they do not have wisdom that is mixed and confused.
  
  Mishnah 21
  
  He said that envy, lust and pursuit of honor drive a man form the world. And that is because these traits - or [even] one of them - perforce destroy the faith of the Torah. And [so] neither the intellectual virtues or the disopositional virtues will reach him.
  
  Mishnah 22
  
  He said, "to know, to make known, and to become conscious". He means with this that He knows the ones that will be born in the future, those that are born now and will die and those that will [return to life] after death. And we learn from these three groups that He is the Maker, He is the Creator. And with his saying, "He is the Judge [...] and He is destined to judge," he wants [to say] that He judges everything now with life and death and all of the other matters of the world, and He is also destined to judge those that will live in the world to come, for reward and punishment. And his saying, no taking of bribes, is like it also stated in the Torah  (Deuteronomy 10:17), "shows no favor and takes no bribe." And its matter is not that He does not take a bribe to sway the judgement, as this is from idiocy which is distant from God, may He be blessed - such that it cannot be designed and cannot even be imagined. As how can a bribe be designed for Him - and what will the bribe be? Rather its matter is that which we have elucidated - that He not take the good [deeds] as a bribe. Such that if a man did a thousand good [deeds] and one evil, God, may He be blessed, will not forgive the one sin for the multitude of his good [deeds] and remove one or more goods from his thousand goods. Rather, He will punish for that one evil and reward him for all of those goods. And this is the matter of "takes no bribes." And it is like, "shows no favor" - that He punishes one great in virtues for a small thing; like our teacher Moshe, peace be upon him, was punished for the sin of anger, as we explained in previous chapters, and the reward of Esav the evildoer for honoring father and mother and of Nevuchadnetzar for the honor of God, may He be blessed, as it is clarified in Sanhedrin. And that is the matter of no respect of persons. And examine the statement,  against your will you were created, and that which is connected to it - that he mentioned natural matters about which a man has no choice; about which the rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Berakhot 33b), "Everything is in the hands of Heaven except for the fear of Heaven." And he did not say, "Against your will you sin," or "pass" or "go" or "stand" or what is  similar to this. As these are all matters that are in the control of a man and about which there is no compulsion with them, as we explained in the fifth chapter (Eight Chapters 5). 
  
  
  
  
  
  Mishnah 1
  
  With ten utterances: When you observe everything that comes in the story of creation, you will find, "and He said," nine times. And "In the beginning" is the tenth [utterance]. And even though the word, "and He said," does not elucidate this, the content indicates it. And it as if it said, "And God said, 'Let there be the heavens and the earth.'" As they could not have been without an utterance. And He could have spoken the entire creation with one utterance by saying, "And God said, 'Let there be the heavens and the earth and let there be the firmament and let the waters gather, etc.'" Instead, He designated a [separate] utterance for each matter, to make known the greatness of this existence and the goodness of its order; and that one who destroys it destroys something great and that one who refines it refines something great. He means to say that the one who destroys his soul - which is in his hand to refine or to destroy - destroys [the world]; since it is as if he is the final purpose from all of existence, for which He said ten utterances - as we elucidated in the introduction of this essay of ours.
  
  Mishnah 2
  
  These generations are the words of the Torah, "x begot y," according to its order. And it mentioned this and that which is after it because of its mentioning [the] ten utterances, which has reproach in them for man; to arouse him and to refine his soul with the dispositional virtues and the intellectual virtues, which is the intention of this tractate.
  
  Mishnah 3
  
  The ten tests with which Abraham, our father, was tested are all [in] the words of Scripture. The first is his emigration by His statement, may He be blessed - "Go forth from your land, etc." (Genesis 12:1). And the second one is the famine that was found in the Land of Canaan when he came there and it was [the land of] his destiny - "and I will make you into a great nation" (Genesis 12:2). And this was a great test, and it is its saying, "And there was a famine in the land" (Genesis 12:10). And the third was the injustice of the Egyptians towards him in the taking of Sarah to Pharaoh. The fourth is his fighting against the four kings. The fifth is his taking of Hagar as a wife after he despaired of giving birth through Sarah. The sixth is the circumcision that he was commanded about in the days of his old age. The seventh is the injustice of the king of Gerar towards him in his also taking Sarah. The eighth is the expulsion of Hagar after his being built (having a child) from her. The ninth is the distancing of his son, Yishmael, and that is His, may He be blessed, saying, "Let not it be bad in your eyes about the youth, etc." (Genesis 21:12). And Scripture already testified how this thing was difficult in his eyes, in its stating, "And the thing was very bad in the eyes of Abraham" (Genesis 21:11). Yet he observed the commandment of God, may He be blessed, and expelled him. And the tenth is the binding of Yitzchak. 
  
  Mishnah 4
  
  But the ten miracles that were performed for our ancestors in Egypt are their salvation from the ten plagues and that each of the ten plagues were specifically on the Egyptians and not on Israel. And these are miracles without a doubt. And the language of the Torah in each and every plague is that the Holy One, blessed be He, brought it [only] on the Egyptians. Except for the plague of lice - as [there] it did not make this clear, but it is known that He did not punish Israel. Rather [the lice] were found with [the Israelites as well], but they did not distress them. And so did the sages elucidate. But with the other plagues, the matter was clarified [in the text]. It stated about the blood (Exodus 7:21), "and the Egyptians could not drink water from the river" - a proof that that the damage reached them alone. And it stated with the frogs (Exodus 7:28), "and they will come into your house and into your bedrooms, etc." And it stated with the mixture of animals (Exodus 8:18), "And I will distinguish on that day the Land of Goshen, etc." And it stated about the pestilence  (Exodus 9:6), "but of the livestock of the Israelites not one died." And it sated about the boils (Exodus 9:11), "as the boils were upon the magicians and and upon all of Egypt." And it stated with the hail (Exodus 9:26), "Only in the Land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, there was no hail." And it stated with the locusts  (Exodus 10:14), "And locusts went up upon all the Land of Egypt." And it stated with darkness (Exodus 10:23), "and for all the children of Israel, there was light in their dwellings." But the ten miracles that were at the Sea is a received tradition. The first is the splitting of the water like the simple understanding of the verse, "and the water split" (Exodus 14:21). The second is that after the sea split, it became like a tent until it turned into a type of roof - and not of beams and not slanted - and the path was as if there was a hole in the water and the water was on the right and on the left and on top. It is [like] the statement of Habakuk 3:14, "You have pierced with his rods, the head of his rulers." The third is that its ground became hard and solid, as it states (Exodus 14:29), "walked on dry land" - and there did not remain any clay and mud like in other rivers. The fourth is that the paths of the Egyptians were in quicksand, and that is its stating (Habakuk 3:14), "the clay of great waters." The fifth is that it split into twelve paths like the number of tribes like a curved bow, as per this drawing. And that is its stating (Psalms 136:13), "To tear the Reed Sea into pieces." The sixth is that the water congealed and became as hard as boulders. And about this, it stated (Psalms 74:13), "you broke the head of the 'sea monsters' upon the waters" - meaning to say that the waters hardened to the point that they went back in such a way that heads would break on them. And the seventh is that it did not congeal like the solidifying of other waters that congeal - meaning to say [into] one piece, but rather [into] many pieces, as if they were [building] stones and they were arranged some on top of others. And that is its stating (Psalms 74:13), "You crumbled the sea with Your power." The eighth is that it congealed like glass or onyx - meaning to say, it was clear to the point that some of [the tribes] would see each other in their crossing it. And this is its stating (Psalms 18:12), "the darkness of the waters, the clouds of the sky," which is to say that the gathering of waters was 'like the essence of the sky in purity' - which is clear. The ninth - that sweet water would flow from it and they would drink it. The tenth is that it would congeal at the time that it flowed, after they took what they drank from it - to the point that it would not fall to the ground. And that is its stating (Exodus 15:8), "they stood up like a flowing stack" - meaning to say the thing that was flowing congealed in the heart of the sea. And in the tradition we found that more plagues came upon the Egyptians at the Sea than the plagues that came upon them in Egypt. And the hint to this is in its stating (I Samuel 4:8), "He is the same God who struck the Egyptians with every plague in the wilderness" - meaning to say in the Wilderness of the Reed Sea. But the ten trials that our ancestors tested the Omnipresent are all words of Scripture. The first is at the Sea in their saying "Are there no graves in Egypt" (Exodus 14:11). And the second is at Marah - that is its stating (Exodus 15:24), "And they complained about Moshe, saying, 'What will we drink?'" And the third is in the Wilderness of Sin when they asked for the manna. And that is its stating (Exodus 16:3), "And who will give that our death be at the hand of God, etc." And the fourth is their leaving manna over until the morning. And that is its stating (Exodus 16:20), "and men left over from it until the morning." And the fifth is their rebellion in seeking manna on the Shabbat day, as it is stated (Exodus 16:27), "And it was on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather." And the sixth is their rebellion at Refidim, also over water.  And the seventh is at Chorev with the story of the [golden] calf. And the eighth is at Taverah when they become doubtful at that place with the speaking of the grumblers. And that is its saying (Numbers 11:1), "And the people were like grumblers." And the ninth  is at Kivrot HaTaavah (the graves of desire), when they asked for meat - its saying (Numbers 11:4), "And the mixed multitude that was within them desired a desire." And the tenth is in the Wilderness of Paran with the matter of the spies. And there it stated (Numbers 14:22), "and they have tried Me these ten times and they did not listen to My voice."
  
  Mishnah 5
  
  You already know that the altar was in the middle of the courtyard - and we will elucidate this in the future in its place - and it was open to the skies. And with all of this, the rains did not extinguish the fire of the wood pile. And the wind did not dissipate the pillar of smoke that arose from the sacrifices. Rather, the air during the time of the sacrificing was fresh. And they would stand in the courtyard one next to another; but at the time of bowing down, they did not push against one another, due to their great awe and tranquility in this place.
  
  Mishnah 6
  
  Also the [first human-made] tongs, made with [Divine] tongs: [As] who made the first ones? We have already mentioned in the eighth chapter (Eight Chapters 8:9-10) that they would not believe in creation by the (Divine) will at every instant. Rather, at the beginning of things, He placed into [their] nature that they should do everything that they would do [in the future] - whether they be things that would happen constantly, that being a natural thing; or whether it be [something unusual], that being a miracle. It is all one [regarding this]. Therefore they said that on the sixth day, He placed into the nature of the earth that it would sink [under] Korach and his community, and into the well that it would give out water and into the donkey that it should speak, and so [too] for the rest. And <i>ketav</i> (letters) is the Torah that  was written in front of Him, may He be blessed, as it is stated. And we do not know how it was - and that is its stating (Exodus 24:12), "and I will give you the stone tablets." And the <i>miktav</i> (writing) is the writing on the tablets, as it stated (Exodus 32:16), "and the writing was God’s writing, inscribed upon the tablets." And maybe you will say [that] since all of the wonders are all placed into the nature of things from the six days of creation, why did he distinguish these ten things. You should [hence] know that he did not distinguish these ten things to say that no other miracle was placed into the nature of things except for these. Rather, he said that these alone were done at twilight and the rest of the wonders and miracles were placed into the nature of things that they were put into at the time of their original creation. And they said by way of example that [on] the second day in the division of the waters, it was placed into the nature [of water] that the Reed Sea would divide for Moshe, and that the Jordan would divide for Yehoshua and also for Eliyahu and also for Elisha. And [on] the fourth day when the sun was created, it was placed into its nature that it would stop at time x by the word of Yehoshua to it. And so [too] with the other wonders except for these ten that were put into the nature of these things at twilight. And the <i>shamir</i> is a small creeping thing that chisels big stones when it goes on top of them, and Shlomo built the Temple with it.  And tongs are a tool with which the blacksmith holds the hot iron until he makes what he wants to make with it.  
  
  Mishnah 7
  
  Behold I will first explain these character [types] that are frequently repeated in the words of the sages. And they are the boor (<i>buur</i>), the ignoramus (<i>am ha'arets</i>), the unformed person (<i>golem</i>), the wise man and the pious man. Indeed, a <i>buur</i> (literally, an empty pit) is a man that does not have intellectual virtues nor dispositional virtues - meaning to say, neither wisdom nor ethics. And he also does not have acquisition of knowledge - [it is] as if he is naked of the good and of the bad. And he is called <i>buur</i> to compare him to land that is not sown with anything, and that is called a <i>sdeh buur</i> (empty field), as it is explained in [the Order of] Seeds (Zeraim). And an <i>am ha'arets</i> is a man that has dispositional virtues but he does not have intellectual virtues - meaning to say that he has [knowledge] of the ways of the world (<i>derekh erets</i>) but does not have Torah in his hand. And he is called an <i>am ha'arets</i> (literally, people of the land), meaning to say that he is good for the settling of the land and the societies of the states, since he has dispositional virtues through which he will connect well with others - as we explained in the beginning of our essay. And an unformed person is a man that has intellectual virtues and dispositional virtues. However they are not complete and properly organized. Rather, they have clutter and confusion and there is a lack mixed in with them. And because of this, he is called a <i>golem</i> - to compare him to a tool that a craftsman has made that has the [initial] form of [its] function [but] is missing its completion and refinement. [An example of this is] a knife and a sword that the blacksmith has made not [completely] formed, and their form comes to them before they sand them and sharpen them and smoothen them and engrave whatever is their way to engrave upon them and complete its refinement. And before this, they are called <i>golmei</i> (initial forms of) tools of metals, as it is explained in Kelim (Mishnah Kelim 12:6). And it is a Hebrew word: "My unformedness (<i>golmi</i>) Your eyes saw" (Psalms 139:16) - meaning to say, my substance before the form of the man came to it. And when this form does not reach its completion, they called it a <i>golem</i>, to compare it to substance that is designed to receive a different form through which it will become more complete. And a wise man is one to which these two types of virtues have come to completeness, as is needed. And a pious man is the wise one when he has added to [his] virtue, meaning to say to the dispositional virtues, to the point that he inclines a little towards one of the extremes - as we have explained in the fourth chapter (Eight Chapters 4:7). And [so] his deeds will be greater than his wisdom. And because of this supplement, he is a called a pious man (<i>chassid</i>). As the increase of something is called <i>chessed</i> - whether that increase is for good or for evil. And he said here that the wise man will have these seven virtues, and they are great fundamentals. And because of that, he focuses on them - as through them analysis and study and [proper] action are possible. And four of them are dispositional virtues. And they are that he does not speak in front of someone who is greater than him in wisdom; and he does not interrupt the words of his fellow - but he desists until he finishes his words; and he does not bluster about what he does not know, and that is his saying "about that which he has not heard [anything], he says, 'I have not heard [anything]'"; and he is not stubborn, but when he hears the truth, he concedes to it - and even about that which he is able to refute and to disagree with and to misconstrue, he does not want to do it - and this is his saying, "and he concedes to the truth". And [the following are] the three intellectual virtues: [The first is] that when a deceiver deceives him with his rhetoric of deception, he should not be impulsive and remain in doubt about the truth. Rather, he should quickly sense the source of the error and clarify it. And this is his saying, "and is not impulsive in answering." And this is actually from ease of comprehension and proper examination of the deceiver's argument to understand the difference in the words. And the second virtue is that he asks what needs to be asked about that matter - and he does not ask for a logical proof in natural science, nor for a scientific argument in the wisdoms of logic and similar to this. And if he is the one asked, he should also answer according to the category of the question. If he is asked about matters the nature of which is that they can be proven, he should answer from the category of the inquirer with a proof; and if he is asked about that which is lower than this, he should answer according to its science and [style] of proof. And he should also not be asked about a material explanation and give a formal explanation or be asked about a formal explanation and give a material explanation. But rather he answers according to the purpose. And this is his saying, "he asks to the point and answers as is proper." And the third virtue is that he organizes his study and puts first what is fitting to put first and puts later what is fitting to put later. As this approach is very helpful in study. And that is his saying, "he speaks to the first [point] first and the last [point] last." And all of these are the opposite with the unformed person, since he is not complete - as we have explained - and he has not reached this level.
  
  Mishnah 8
  
  A famine from drought is that the year be with little rain. It rains in some places and in some places it does not rain; and when it does rain, the rain will be little. And a famine from tumult is when a man is involved in wars and arguments and other novelties that come up for them until the land is unworked - and he does not plant at the time of planting from the [instability in] the world. And a famine of annihilation is that it not rain at all and the rivers and lakes dry up, as its stating (Deuteronomy 28:23), "And the skies above your head shall be copper." 
  Delay of justice is the postponement of judgement and its investigation for many days about something that is [already] clear. And perversion of justice is when he judges in [a way] that is not proper.
  
  Mishnah 9
  
  We have already explained the order of the extraction of the obligations from produce many times in the Order of Seeds (Zeraim). And there it was clairified that in the third and sixth year, he would extract the first tithe and give it to the Levite [like] in each [and every] year. And afterwards, he would extract the poor tithe and give it to the poor. And this poor tithe was in place of the second tithe, which he would extract in other years of  the sabbatitcal cycle. And the gifts to the poor are the gleanings, the produce that is forgotten, the produce that is in the corner of the field, the fallen grapes and the single strands of grapes. As at the holiday (Sukkot), they are all present - since occupation with the earth (agricultural pursuits) is already finished. And the one that gave these obligations, gave them; and the one who did not give them, stole them
  
  Mishnah 10
  
  Behold it is elucidated in this statement that the pious one is one who multiplies good deeds - meaning to say that he inclines a little towards one of the two extremes. And it is also elucidated for you that one who has vices of the soul is called evil - meaning to say that he inclines towards the extreme that is extraneous, as we have explained in the fourth chapter (Eight Chapters 4). As the one who wants that he should have his money and the money of someone else has much desire and he is called evil.  
  
  Mishnah 11
  
  Observe how he called the patient one, whose patience is excessive to the point that he approaches lack of feeling concerning the matter of anger, a pious man. And he called someone with the vices of the trait of anger, evil.  
  
  Mishnah 12
  
  Observe how he did not call the one that is quick [and] has a good memory a pious one, because this is an intellectual virtue. And [so] he called him a wise man. And he did not call the one who has difficulty understanding matters and forgets much, evil - as it is not in his hand (control). And these are not virtues which are possible to acquire - as we explained in the second chapter (Eight Chapters 2:2). 
  
  Mishnah 13
  
  Observe how he called one with [so] much mercy that he does not suffice that he alone should have mercy, [but only] that others should also have mercy, a pious man. And he called a cruel one, evil.  
  
  Mishnah 14
  
  His saying, "among those who go to the House of Study," meaning to say, in the going to the House of Study, there are four traits. Observe how he called the one that proliferates acquisition of virtues a pious man, and the one who is lazy in [their] acquisition, evil. 
  And when you know the intellectual virtues and the dispositional virtues; and you know every type of them - if you want, study of wisdom and practice - and you know the mean and the ways of deeds that can be called good; and [know] the slight supplement to the mean which is from the famous actions of the pious ones; and [when you] know the supplement and the lack which are both bad -- just that one of them is more fit to [be called] evil and the other is called a transgression or an incorrect action, and the example with this is that caution is completely good without a doubt and much desire is completely bad without a doubt and the lack of feeling for enjoyment is actually not like much desire even though it is [also] bad and [so] it is called a transgression or an incorrect action, [such that] leaving caution slightly towards the side of lack of feeling is fit for the complete ones - and when you understand this matter, you will know that one who leaves caution slightly is called pious as we prefaced and that the lack of feeling is called a transgression, and that is why it stated about the nazirite (Numbers 6:11), "from that which he transgressed upon the soul," as we explained in the fourth chapter (Eight Chapters 4); and [when you understand] all of what we have prefaced and elucidated, you will know which [person] from among people is fitting to be called a boor and who is fitting to be called an ignoramus and who is fitting to be called and unformed person and who is fitting to be called a wise man and who is fitting to be called evil and who is fitting to be called a sinner. These seven names apply to seven people according to their having from the virtues and the vices and their study of the intellectual [virtues], as per what has come earlier in our commentary. And they already [added] names according to the properties of a man, as with the man who has vices in his traits - and he is called evil, as we have explained - but if he [also] has intellectual virtues that he uses for evil things, such a one is called by the sages a clever evildoer. And if he is an evildoer who hurts people - meaning to say that among his character vices are matters that hurt people, like brazenness and cruelty and [traits] similar to them - such a one is called a bad evildoer. And so [too] the one who has intellectual virtues and dispositional vices is called a wise man to do evil, as it states in the verse about someone like this (Jeremiah 4:22), "they are wise men to do evil; but to do good, they do not know" - meaning to say that they use their intellectual virtues for bad actions and not for good actions. But the man who has all of the virtues gathered in him - the intellectual [ones] and the dispositional virtues - to the point that there is no intellectual virtue and no dispositional virtue not in him, and this is rarely found and the philosophers would say that finding such a person is very unlikely but not impossible and when they find him, they would call him a Godly man. And so [too], the sages called him in our language a man of God. And I say that this man is called an angel of the Lord, as it stated (Judges 2:1), "And the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal." And the philosophers have said that it is impossible to find a man that has all of the vices gathered in him to their very end without intellectual [virtues] or ones of disposition to the point that he does not have virtue at all. And if one is found and this is improbable, they give him the name, 'an animal from the bad, dangerous animals.' And so [too] did Shlomo call him, a 'bereaved bear,' which is the gathering of stupidity and damage. And [of] these five compound names, four of them are to disparage - and they are the clever evildoer, the bad evildoer, the wise man to do evil and the bereaved bear - and one is for greatness, and there is nothing greater than it - and that is the man of God or the angel of the Lord. And Scripture has already elucidated that a man that has all of the intellectual and dispositional virtues found in him is called an angel of the Lord, and that is its stating (Malachi 2:7), "For the lips of a priest guard knowledge, and they seek Torah from his mouth; for he is an angel of the Lord of Hosts." And knowledge includes all of the intellectual virtues, as he will not be complete without them. And its stating, "they seek Torah from his mouth," is a proof  of his completeness in dispositional virtues - as we have explained in the fourth chapter (Eight Chapters 4), that it is the intention of the Torah. And for [this reason], it states (Proverbs 3:17), "and all of its ways are peace." And we have already elucidated there (Eight Chapters 4) that peace is also from the dispositional virtues. And after [these indications of his completeness in the verse in Malachi], it stated, "for he is angel of the Lord of Hosts."   
  
  Mishnah 15
  
  He compared the man with a good memory who remembers all that he hears and does not separate between the true and the false to a sponge - and that is a sea [sponge] that absorbs everything. And he also compared one who understands immediately but does not remember anything at all - not the true and not what is not true - to  a funnel. And he compared one who rembers the bad things and the opinion that is not true and forgets the true things upon which action [needs to be based] to a strainer that only retains the sediment and lets out what is pure. And he compared the man whose way is the opposite [of this] to a sieve that lets out the dirt and dust through its holes and the fine flour remains. And from them, only this fine flour sieve is good, in that it lets out the [inferior flour] that has no purpose and holds what is coarser - and that is the fine flour.
  
  Mishnah 16
  
  The explanation of these words is like this: You know that if the physical causes are negated and removed, then it will be necessary that what they cause will be removed with the removal of its cause. And because of this, when the cause of the love is a divine matter - and that is the true science - it is impossible for that love to be removed ever, as its cause is eternally in existence.
  
  Mishnah 17
  
  
  
  Mishnah 18
  
  This is all clear, as these matters are from the angle of reward and punishment. So that anyone who disagrees not with the intention to contradict the words of his fellow but from his wanting to know the truth, his words will endure and not end. And anyone who makes people straight, God, may He be blessed, will reward him by preventing him from transgression. And anyone who deceives people, God, may He be blessed, will punish him by preventing him from repentance. And this is clear and there is no difficulty in it, if you understand what we have outlined in the eighth chapter (Eight Chapters 8:14-16).
  
  
  Mishnah 19
  
  A good eye: We have explained many times that the matter of a good eye is sufficing and [that] a small appetite is carefulness and [that] a humble spirit is extreme humility as was explained in the chapter before this one (Rambam on Pirkei Avot 4:4). And the three [negative traits] that correspond to them are zeal to acquire money and that is an evil eye, and much desire and that is a broad appetite and arrogance and that is a haughty spirit. And these three virtues are publicized in Abraham, our father. And because of this, anyone who is found to have these virtues is called one of the students of Abraham, our father - as he followed his traits. And anyone within whom is found these three vices is of the students of Bilaam the evildoer - as he followed his traits. And I will mention the places in which are elucidated these virtues in Abraham and these vices in Bilaam, and they are all found in the Torah. Indeed, the sufficing of Abraham is in his saying to the king of Sedom (Genesis 14:23), "If from a thread to a sandal strap, and if I take from any of what is yours, etc." And that is the epitome of sufficing - that a man leave much money and not benefit from it, even a little bit. But his caution is his saying to Sarah on the day they came to Egypt (Genesis 12:11), "Behold, I have known that you are a woman of beautiful appearance." And the explanation comes that he did not fully look at her form besides that day - and that is the epitome of carefulness. And [it is also shown] in his saying about Hagar after he married her (Genesis 16:6), " Behold, your maidservant is in your hands - do to her as is good in your eyes." [This] shows that he did not wish to enjoy himself with her. And so [too] when Sarah requested from him to expel her with Yishmael such that he would be prevented from inclining towards [Hagar] for sexual matters, the verse testifies that it was only bad in his eyes about Yishmael, and that is its stating (Genesis 21:11), "And the matter was very bad in the eyes of Abraham on account of his son." These are all signs of carefulness. And, indeed, his humility is his stating (Genesis 18:27), "and I am dust and ashes." And Bilaam the evildoer's zeal for money was publicized and that is his coming from Aram Naharaim for the sake of the money with which he was hired to curse Israel. And that is His, may He be blessed, stating (Deuteronomy 23:5), "since he hired against you Balaam son of Beor, etc." And, indeed, his great desire in sexual matters is the reason for his advice to Balak that he set loose the women to be promiscuous with [the men of] Israel and to place known harlots [in front of them]. As were it not for the great desire that he had and that harlots were good in his eyes, he would not have commanded this - since the commands of people are only according to their opinions. As the good will not command to [do] evil, but will rather warn against it. And the language of Scripture (Numbers 31:16) is "They are the very ones against the children of Israel by the word of Bilaam, etc." And the sages said (Sanhedrin 105a) [that] Bilaam had sexual relations with his donkey. And there is no doubt about it that one with such an opinion will have actions [like] this. And indeed, his arrogance is his stating (Numbers 24:16), "Speaks the one who hears the words of God." And indeed that which it brought a proof about Bilaam from its stating (Psalms 55:24), "And You, God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction; the people of blood, etc." - [its] explanation is [that it is] because he was a man of blood - as he was the cause of the Israelites' death in the plague; and he was also a man of deceit in his creating a machination to bring about the evil. And its bringing a proof about the students of Abraham from its stating (Proverbs 8:21), "There is what for those that love Me to inherit, and their treasuries will I fill" is like that which He called him (Isaiah 41:8), "the seed of Abraham, the one I love." 
  
  Mishnah 20
  
  Even though he said, "[the] brazen-faced [are bound] for <i>Gehinnom</i> (Purgatory), he commanded brazenness in the rebuke of rebels and similar to it. And it is as if he said, "Use a little of the vices in their [correct] place for the will of God, may He be blessed, and His truth." [And it is] like the statement of the prophet (II Samuel 22:27), "and with the perverse, You are wily." However [it is] on condition that your intention is the truth; and that is [the meaning of] his saying, "to do the Will of your Father Who is in Heaven." And from the good things that God, may He be blessed, did for this nation is that they are shamefaced. And so [too], they said (Yevamot 79a) that the signs of the seed of Avraham is that they are shamefaced, merciful and doers of kindnesses. And it stated (Exodus 20:17), "so that My awe be upon your faces, that you not sin." And when he told about the virtues of shame, he requested and said, "Lord, our God - [just] like You have graced us with this virtue, so [too] grace us that Your city be rebuilt, speedily and in our days."
  
  Mishnah 21
  
  
  
  Mishnah 22
  
  He said about the Torah that one should search in it and meditate upon it, as everything is in it. And he said, "And in it should you see (<i>techezei</i>)," meaning to say the truth. [The explanation is that] you will see the truth with the eye of the intellect, like the [Aramaic] translation of <i>vayira</i> (and he saw) is <i>vechaza</i>. And afterwards he said, "and grow old and be worn in it" - to say, occupy yourself with it until the time of old age; and even then, do not veer from it to something else. 
  
  Mishnah 23
  
  And Ben Hey Hey said [that] according to that which you are in pain with Torah will be your reward. And they said that only that which you study with exertion, labor and fear from the teacher will endure; but reading of enjoyment and leisure has no endurance to it and [so] no point in it. And they said in the explanation of his statement (Ecclesiastes 2:9), "even (<i>af</i>, which can also be understood as anger) my wisdom remained with me" - the wisdom that I studied with anger remained with me. And because of this, they commanded to place fear upon the students; and they said (Ketuvot 103b), "Throw fear upon the students."