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Selections from Sefer Ha-Aggadah Part II Ch. 3

(י) הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, כָּל שֶׁרוּחַ הַבְּרִיּוֹת נוֹחָה הֵימֶנּוּ, רוּחַ הַמָּקוֹם נוֹחָה הֵימֶנּוּ.

(10) He [R. Hanina ben Dosa] used to say: If a person is liked by their fellows, they are liked by God; if a person is not liked by their fellows, they are not liked by God.

לא יהא אדם ער בין הישנים ולא ישן בין הערים. ולא בוכה בין השוחקים ולא שוחק בין הבוכים. ולא יושב בין העומדים ולא עומד בין היושבים. ולא קורא בין השונים ולא שונה בין הקוראים. כללו של דבר אל ישנה אדם ממנהג הבריות.

A person should not be awake in the midst of those who are asleep, nor asleep in the midst of those who are awake. A person should not weep when in the midst of those who are merry, nor be merry in the midst of those who weep. A person should not remain seated in the midst of those who are standing, nor remain standing in the midst of those who are seated. A person should not be reading Scripture in the midst of those who recite Mishnah, nor recite Mishnah in the midst of those who read Scripture. The sumo f the matter: a person should not depart from the practice of their fellows.

Derekh Eretz Zuta, also known as Hilchot Derekh Eretz, is one of the minor tractates of the Talmud. The latter half of it is certainly compiled after the Bavli and although dating is difficult, many scholars guess somewhere around the 9th century.

‎אַתְּ מוֹצֵא שְׁלֹשָׁה שֵׁמוֹת נִקְרְאוּ לוֹ לְאָדָם, אֶחָד מַה שֶּׁקּוֹרְאִים לוֹ אָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ, וְאֶחָד מַה שֶּׁקּוֹרְאִין לוֹ בְּנֵי אָדָם, וְאֶחָד מַה שֶּׁקּוֹנֶה הוּא לְעַצְמוֹ. טוֹב מִכֻּלָּן מַה שֶּׁקּוֹנֶה הוּא לְעַצְמוֹ.

You find that a person is known by three names: the name called by their parents, the name by which other people call them, and the one they earn on their own; the most important name is the one they earn on their own.

Earliest manuscripts 8th or 9th century.

אֵיזֶהוּ מְכֻבָּד, הַמְכַבֵּד אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת.

(1) Ben Zoma said...Who is honored? The one who honors their fellow human beings.

רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, יְהִי כְבוֹד חֲבֵרְךָ חָבִיב עָלֶיךָ כְּשֶׁלָּךְ

Rabbi Eliezer said: Let the honor of your friend be as dear to you as your own.

אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן לְמָדוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית ה, א): זֶה סֵפֶר, הוּא וְסִרְגּוּלוֹ. בֶּן עֲזַאי אוֹמֵר זֶה סֵפֶר תּוֹלְדֹת אָדָם, זֶה כְּלַל גָּדוֹל בַּתּוֹרָה, רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר (ויקרא יט, יח): וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ, זֶה כְּלַל גָּדוֹל בַּתּוֹרָה, שֶׁלֹא תֹאמַר הוֹאִיל וְנִתְבַּזֵּיתִי יִתְבַּזֶה חֲבֵרִי עִמִּי, הוֹאִיל וְנִתְקַלַּלְתִּי יִתְקַלֵּל חֲבֵרִי עִמִּי. אָמַר רַבִּי תַּנְחוּמָא אִם עָשִׂיתָ כֵּן דַּע לְמִי אַתָּה מְבַזֶּה בִּדְמוּת אֱלֹקִים עָשָׂה אוֹתוֹ.

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev. 19:18), Rabbi Akiva said: This is a great principle of the Torah. Ben Azzai said: “These are the generations of Adam...whom God made in God's image" (Gen. 5:1) is a great principle in the Torah. Thus, one should not say, “Since I am scorned, I should scorn my fellow as well; since I have been cursed, I will curse my fellow as well.” Rabbi Tanchumah said, if you act thus, realize who it is that you are willing to have humiliated - "the one who was made in the likeness of God."

מעשה בר״ש בן אלעזר שבא ממגדל עדר מבית רבו והיה רוכב על החמור ומטייל על שפת הים ראה אדם אחד שהיה מכוער ביותר א״ל ריקה כמה מכוער אתה שמא כל בני עירך מכוערים כמותך. א״ל מה אעשה לך לאומן שעשאני ואמור לו כמה מכוער כלי זה שעשית. כיון שידע ר״ש שחטא ירד מן החמור והיה משתטח לפניו א״ל נעניתי לך מחול לי א״ל איני מוחל לך עד שתאמר לאומן שעשאני כמה מכוער כלי זה שעשית רץ אחריו ג׳ מילין. יצאו אנשי העיר לקראתו אמרו לו שלום עליך רבי אמר להם למי אתם קוראים רבי אמרו למי שמטייל אחריך אמר להם אם רבי זה אל ירבו כמותו בישראל. אמרו לו ח״ו מה עשה לך אמר להם כך וכך עשה לי אמרו לו אעפ״כ מחול לו. אמר להם הריני מוחל [לו] ובלבד שלא יהא רגיל לעשות כן. אותו היום נכנס ר״ש לבית המדרש גדול שלו ודרש לעולם יהא אדם רך כקנה ולא יהא קשה כארז.

Our masters taught: A person should be pliant as a reed and not hard like a cedar. It is related that R. Simeon b. Eleazar7Cf. Ta‘an. 20a-20b (Sonc. ed., pp. 100). There the name is reversed, ‘R. Eleazar b. R. Simeon’. was returning from his master’s house in Migdal-eder8A village near Bethlehem; cf. Gen. 35, 21. riding on an ass along the sea-shore when he met a man who was extremely ugly. He said to him, ‘Worthless man! How ugly you are! Are all the men of your town as ugly as you?’ The other replied, ‘What can I do? Go to the Craftsman Who made me and say to Him, “How ugly is this vessel which Thou hast made!” ’ When R. Simeon realized that he had done wrong, he dismounted from the ass, prostrated himself before the man and said, ‘I apologize to you, forgive me’. But the man answered, ‘I will not forgive you until you say to the Craftsman Who made me, “How ugly is the vessel which Thou hast made!” ’ R. Simeon ran after him for three miles [until he reached his town]. When the people of the town came out to meet him, greeting him with the words, ‘Peace be unto you, Master’, the man asked them, ‘Whom do you address as Master?’ They replied, ‘Him who follows you’. He said to them, ‘If this man is a master, may there not be many like him in Israel!’ ‘Heaven forbid!’ they exclaimed; ‘what did he do to you?’ He answered, ‘This is how he behaved towards me’. They said to him, ‘Nevertheless, forgive him’. The man replied, ‘I will forgive him, but on condition that he will never again act in this manner’. That same day R. Simeon entered his great House of Study and lectured: At all times a person should be pliant as a reed and not hard like a cedar.

ממאי עד כאן לא קאמר רבי ישמעאל בנו של רבי יוחנן בן ברוקה התם משום דלא בעינן זה אלי ואנוהו אבל הכא דבעינן זה אלי ואנוהו הכי נמי
The Gemara raises a difficulty: From where do you draw this comparison? Perhaps Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Beroka, only stated his opinion that one may do no more than the minimum requirement there, with regard to the Paschal lamb, because we do not need to fulfill the mitzva of: “This is my God and I will glorify Him” (Exodus 15:2). The manner in which the animal is flayed does not impact the mitzva of the sacrifice. However, here, with regard to circumcision, where we need to fulfill the mitzva of: “This is my God and I will glorify Him,” which requires performing the circumcision in a beautiful manner, indeed, Rabbi Yishmael would agree that the mitzva must be performed as aesthetically as possible.