הִלֵּל אוֹמֵר,
- אַל תִּפְרוֹשׁ מִן הַצִּבּוּר,
- וְאַל תַּאֲמֵן בְּעַצְמָךְ עַד יוֹם מוֹתָךְ,
- וְאַל תָּדִין אֶת חֲבֵרָךְ עַד שֶׁתַּגִּיעַ לִמְקוֹמוֹ,
- וְאַל תֹּאמַר דָּבָר שֶׁאִי אֶפְשָׁר לִשְׁמוֹעַ שֶׁסּוֹפוֹ לְהִשָּׁמַע.
- וְאַל תֹּאמַר לִכְשֶׁאֶפָּנֶה אֶשְׁנֶה, שֶׁמָּא לֹא תִפָּנֶה:
Hillel says:
- Do not separate yourself from the community.
- Do not believe in yourself until the day of your death.
- Do not judge your fellow until you come to his place.
- Do not say something that [you think] cannot be heard, for in the end it will be heard.
- Do not say, "When I will be available I will study [Torah]," lest you never become available.
Tiferet Yisrael on Pirkei Avot 2:4 (R' Israel Lipschitz; 1782-1860, Germany)
[Hillel's teaching] includes five ideas:
- That one should not separate himself from (minhagei tzibur) the customs of the community.
- When the community gathers at its routine times, one should rouse himself for study, for prayer, to discuss matters of mitzvah, or the needs of the community. A person should not say, "They can decide what they want, and I--myself--will agree and accept what has been decided." Rather, one should assume a role in the communal gatherings, advising for (l'tovot ha-tzibur) the health of the community and always in the service of God.
- When the community is in a troubled state, even if the individual is not in that same sadness, he should feel their troubles as if he too were troubled. Thus, he can be with them in their sadness.
- When one prays for his own needs, he should include in his prayers the same wish for all those who are needy, thereby including himself among those who are in need.
- For one who is appointed to oversee the (minhagei tzibur) customs of the community: if the heads of the community are all mixed up in conflict, and they do not represent the community, even if the overseer is one of them and equal to them, he should not separate himself entirely from the general community, in order for him to manage them. There is no honor in getting mixed up among his servants. He works for the community's love, since they think of him as a stranger who is proud to be among them.
This is what the Sage is saying: One who knows the correct (middah) value of blending together confidence for the community with humility, one who can suitably balance measure for measure, at the appropriate time, in the appropriate place, with the appropriate person -- that is a person who is accomplished and should be loved and always respected.
Ahad Ha'Am (Asher Ginsberg; b. 1856, Kiev; d. 1927, Tel Aviv. Father of Cultural Zionsim)
When the individual values the community as his own life and strives after its happiness as though it were his individual well-being, he finds satisfaction and no longer feels so keenly the bitterness of his individual existence, because he sees the end for which he lives and suffers.