Pirkei Avot II: Tosafot Yom Tov Mishna Introduction and Chapter 2 Highlights

(1) Rabbi Said: which is the straight path that a man should choose for himself? One which is an honor to the person adopting it, and [on account of which] honor [accrues] to him from others. And be careful with a light commandment as with a grave one, for you did know not the reward for the fulfillment of the commandments. Also, reckon the loss [that may be sustained through the fulfillment] of a commandment against the reward [accruing] thereby, and the gain [that may be obtained through the committing] of a transgression against the loss [entailed] thereby. Apply your mind to three things and you will not come into the clutches of sin: Know what there is above you: an eye that sees, an ear that hears, and all your deeds are written in a book.

BE AS CAREFUL WITH A LIGHT COMMANDMENT AS WITH A WEIGHTY ONE. Regarding the care that one should have in performing the commandments, the mishna says that one should be as eager and ready to perform a light commandment as a weighty one, because “one does not know the rewards for the commandments.” The mishna does not mean, however, that when one is forced to choose between a light commandment and a weighty one, he ought to choose the light one, as that is illogical. It is only discussing the care one should take in performing each of the commandments on its own. So Abarbanel and Maharal in Derech Chaim.

FOR YOU DO NOT KNOW THE REWARD FOR EACH COMMANDMENT. Rav: neither the reward for performing a positive commandment nor the punishment for not doing so are given in the Torah. Rambam: the Torah does not clarify the reward G-d gives for all of the positive commandments. Rambam’s explanation avoids the problem of the verses “so that your days may be numerous” (Deutereonomy 11:21) and “so that your days be long” (Exodus 20:11).⁵⁴Because he writes “all.” There are exceptional cases that do specify the reward.
But Maharal writes in Derech Chaim that when our mishna says “you do not know the reward” it means that the reward varies with the alacrity, the effort expended, and the cost (which is included in effort) of performing the commandment. This is what is unknown, because the reward is proportional to the difficulty. But as for the type of reward for the commandment itself, that can be known, as the verse concerning sending the mother away from the eggs says, “So that it go well for you” (Deuteronomy 22:7). Maharal supports this contention using the mishna in Chullin 12:5, which is speaking about the sending the mother away from the eggs: and if, concerning a light commandment, the Torah says “so that it go well for you and you have length of days,” this is certainly so for a weighty commandment! How can the mishna reason from the case of the light commandment ot that of the weighty commandment, if rewards for commandments cannot be known altogether? Rather, it must be that the unknown here is only the reward for the effort and cost involved. But as for the reward for the commandment itself, the mishna concludes “this is certainly so for a weighty commandment.”
He further writes that the mishna at the beginning of Peah (1:1) which says “these are the commandments whose interest one consumes in this world, while the principal is stored away for the next: honoring one’s mother and father, etc.” is discussing the type of reward, but not its extent.⁵⁵I.e., these are not the commandments whose reward is so great that some of it must be dealt out in this world, as opposed to other commandments that carry less reward, which is entirely distributed in the next world. That is, these are the commandments for which the reward must be received in two stages, in this world and in the next. But it is entirely possible that the reward for some other commandment in the next world is greater than the combined interest and the principal of the ones in this list, for “one moment of pleasure in the next world is greater than an entire life of it in this one” (Avot 4:17). And the end of that mishna, which says “and Torah study is greater than them all,” has nothing to do with our present discussion, which deals only with comparing two commandments, but not with comparing a commandment to Torah study; for the reward for Torah study is obviously much greater.

(2) Rabban Gamaliel the son of Rabbi Judah Hanasi said: excellent is the study of the Torah when combined with a worldly occupation, for toil in them both keeps sin out of one’s mind; But [study of the] Torah which is not combined with a worldly occupation, in the end comes to be neglected and becomes the cause of sin. And all who labor with the community, should labor with them for the sake Heaven, for the merit of their forefathers sustains them (the community), and their (the forefather’s) righteousness endures for ever; And as for you, [God in such case says] I credit you with a rich reward, as if you [yourselves] had [actually] accomplished [it all].

(3) Be careful [in your dealings] with the ruling authorities for they do not befriend a person except for their own needs; they seem like friends when it is to their own interest, but they do not stand by a man in the hour of his distress.

(4) He used to say: do His will as though it were your will, so that He will do your will as though it were His. Set aside your will in the face of His will, so that he may set aside the will of others for the sake of your will. Hillel said: do not separate yourself from the community, Do not trust in yourself until the day of your death, Do not judge your fellow man until you have reached his place. Do not say something that cannot be understood [trusting] that in the end it will be understood. Say not: ‘when I shall have leisure I shall study;’ perhaps you will not have leisure.

MAKE HIS WILL AS YOUR WILL [Heb. kirtzonecha]. This is the version in our editions. Midrash Shmuel writes in the name of R. Yosef ibn Nahamias that in an edition of the Mishna from Jerusalem, the text reads “do his will with your will [Heb. birtzonecha],” with a bet, and the idea is that you shouldn’t perform a commandment in irritation, anger and frustration, but willingly and with a happy heart, in order that G-d should do your will willingly. For sometimes G-d will “do the will” of a man in anger, with the intent of punishing him in the end, as per the verse “to eventually destroy them forever” (Psalms 92:8) and to make him perish. But when He does this with pleasure, “your future will be very great” (Job 8:7).

AND DO NOT SAY, “WHEN I HAVE A FREE MOMENT, I WILL STUDY.” According to Rashi, who reads in our mishna “do not say of something that you can hear now that you will hear it later,” and understands that part of the mishna as referring to Torah study, this dictum might appear unnecessary. It is not, however. Firstly, the repetition is for emphasis. Secondly, the mishna might see a need to point out that this dictum applies not only to hearing words of Torah from others, but even to studying on one’s own.

(5) He used to say: A brute is not sin-fearing, nor is an ignorant person pious; nor can a timid person learn, nor can an impatient person teach; nor will someone who engages too much in business become wise. In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man.

ONE WHO ENGAGES IN MUCH BUSINESS. Specifically “much” business, for without some kind of business that will sustain his body his Torah will not last, per the mishna later: “where there is no flour, there is no Torah” (Avot 3:17), and the mishna earlier: “the study of Torah goes well with a trade” (Avot 2:2).

(6) Moreover he saw a skull floating on the face of the water. He said to it: because you drowned others, they drowned you. And in the end, they that drowned you will be drowned.

BECAUSE YOU DROWNED SOMEONE, YOU WERE DROWNED, AND THOSE WHO DROWNED YOU WILL IN THE END THEMSELVES DROWN. One might ask, if we follow the chain back to its starting point, won’t we find that the first one to have been killed did not kill anyone himself? Indeed, Abel, who was killed by Cain, hadn’t killed anyone. If so, how did Hillel know that it was on account of drowning someone else that this person had been drowned?
The second part of his saying, “and those who drowned you will in the end themselves drown,” is even more difficult, as this is not necessarily so! We regularly encounter cases of murderers who die in their beds at the hands of Heaven. [*I saw this question raised in Devarim Rabbah to parashat Va’Etchanan (2:25), discussing the verse “he who spills man’s blood, his blood will be spilled by man” (Genesis 9:6): R. Levi said: but are there not many men who kill and yet die in their beds? They answered him: the meaning of “his blood will be spilled by man” is that when that man arrives in the future world, at that point his blood will be spilled. As for the first question, concerning the first part of the mishna, I saw this mishna brought in the Talmud in tractate Sukkah 53a, and there Rashi explains that the body was thrown into the water and Hillel recognized him as a murderer.]
In Rashi’s commentary to our tractate, he notes that in some places people do not recite this mishna. But Rambam, Rav, and all the other commentators have it in their texts.
Midrash Shmuel, in answer to the second question, explains that “in the end” in the phrase “in the end they themselves will drown” means that through reincarnation, which is an established belief not only of the Sages but also of Pythagoras [and the rest of the wise of the nations, whom Abarbanel mentions in his commentary to parashat Ki Tetze], he eventually will end up drowning. And he gives a rather forced answer to the first question, saying that the case of Abel is different because the Sages say that he “gazed at holiness,” and Hillel, upon seeing this skull, assumed that it was that of a murderer, and not one who “gazed,” because murder is more common than this gazing.
In my opinion, it is totally untenable to claim that Hillel said something that could only be understood through the doctrine of reincarnation, which is an esoteric doctrine, and which ought to be concealed from all but the select few that G-d calls upon. And Rabbi Yehudah HaNassi, the redactor of the Mishna, would not have put this dictum into our mishna. For just as a verse in the Tanakh must always be readable in its plain sense, in addition to whatever other meanings it may harbor, the words of a mishna must always be readable in the plain way that all understand. And if there were only a kabbalistic interpretation to this mishna, Rabbi Yehudah HaNassi would have left it an oral teaching, along with the other kabbalistic teachings that remained oral and were not inluded in the Mishna.
Besides, the mishnayot seem to be out of order. For since this is merely something that Hillel said on a particular occasion, it shouldn’t have been included among the other mishnayot, which are all of the “he used to say” type, i.e. ethical teachings that were constantly being emphasized, and should rather have been appended to the end of this series of mishnayot. All the more so since this mishna is in Aramaic and shouldn’t come between two mishnayot that are in Hebrew.
Also, Hillel is speaking in the second person, directing his words towards the skull itself. Why wouldn’t he have turned towards his listeners and addressed them? He should have said “because he drowned someone, he was drowned, and those who drowned him will in the end themselves drown.”
Also, what is the meaning of the modifier af—“even, also”— here?
It seems that the mishna intends the following. Hillel taught in the previous mishna that an unlearned person cannot be one who fears sin and so on, in order to steer people clear of personal deficiencies. He also once saw a skull, etc., and from that experience onwards he used to say “increasing the flesh only increases worms, etc.” in the next mishna, which is another list of personal deficiencies and virtues.
This is because when he saw this skull, he said to it, “because you drowned someone, etc.”, i.e. one would think it only logical that because you drowned someone, you were drowned, and those who drowned you will in the end themselves drown, because “the measure one uses to dole out is the one used to dole out to him” (Sotah 1:7), for this is only proper and logical. But regardless of what should be, reality contradicts this hypothesis; many people who have never killed anyone are killed and many people kill others and are not themselves killed.
In order to bring reality into harmony with theory, so that it doesn’t contradict the logical necessity that everything ultimately comes about through one consistent system and is judged fairly, he used to say from that moment on that “increasing the flesh only increases worms, etc.” in order to accustom people to thinking that everything is truly necessary and just. For one does find, overall, that “increasing the flesh only increases worms, etc.”, regarding defiencies, and “increasing Torah increases life, etc.”, regarding virtues. It is evident, then, that the laws in place in the world are just and perfect, and we can infer from cases that are clearly just to those whose justness is concealed, and understood only by G-d; those, too, are based on what is righteous and just, as per the verse, “For my thoughts are not as your thoughts, nor are my ways like your ways” (Isaiah 55:8).
It follows, then, that Hillel did not say “because you drowned someone, etc.” because he felt it was certainly true, i.e. that of necessity this is what happened and what will happen, but as a first premise, that logic would dictate that this be so. But because there are well-known cases that contradict this, and these might cause a person to say that “there is no judgement and no judge,” Hillel began to regularly propagate his teaching that “increasing the flesh only increases worms… increasing Torah increases life, etc.” among the people. The intent is that we should use our experiences and sound judgment to conclude that just as in these cases the result follows logically from the action, whether for good or ill, so also what befalls people in general follows logically, though it is beyond our understanding.
Since the words “because you have drowned someone, etc.” are not an absolute statement describing what will happen with certainty, as it is possible that this drowned person had not drowned anybody and that the one who drowned him might not be drowned, Hillel did not utter them as a public teaching. While facing the skull, an unhearing piece of bone, he said to himself that what ought to be is that “because you drowned someone, etc.”
And the fact of reality contradicting this statement is also not at all explicit, but is implicit in his following dictum, that from this point on he used to say “increasing the flesh only increases worms, etc.,” which the discerning will understand well as addressing this point. All such things ought to be said in such a manner as to be apparent to the discerning scholar but not to all those listening, lest they who will not understand the answer “decide by what their ears hear” and “judge by what their eyes see” (Isaiah 11:3) that the question is truly difficult and has no answer, and remain confounded by it and thereby falter, G-d forbid.
Hillel said these words in Aramaic, the language of the masses at the time per the mishna in Shekalim 5:3, because he said them as though speaking to the skull of a bandit. He also did this so that the people should take his words at face value, that it is indeed the case that “because you drowned somebody, etc.,” and for the discerning students he explained his words by affixing to them the dictum “increasing the flesh only increases worms, etc.,” which he said in Hebrew. This is what seems correct to me.

(7) He used to say: The more flesh, the more worms; The more property, the more anxiety; The more wives, the more witchcraft; The more female slaves, the more lewdness; The more slaves, the more robbery; [But] the more Torah, the more life; The more sitting [in the company of scholars], the more wisdom; The more counsel, the more understanding; The more charity, the more peace. If one acquires a good name, he has acquired something for himself; If one acquires for himself knowledge of Torah, he has acquired life in the world to come.

(8) Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai received [the oral tradition] from Hillel and Shammai.He used to say: if you have learned much Torah, do not claim credit for yourself, because for such a purpose were you created. Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai had five disciples and they were these: Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah, Rabbi Yose, the priest, Rabbi Shimon ben Nethaneel and Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach. He [Rabbi Johanan] used to list their outstanding virtues: Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus is a plastered cistern which loses not a drop; Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah happy is the woman that gave birth to him; Rabbi Yose, the priest, is a pious man; Rabbi Simeon ben Nethaneel is one that fears sin, And Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach is like a spring that [ever] gathers force. He [Rabbi Yohanan] used to say: if all the sages of Israel were on one scale of the balance and Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus on the other scale, he would outweigh them all. Abba Shaul said in his name: if all the sages of Israel were on one scale of the balance, and Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus also with them, and Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach on the other scale, he would outweigh them all.

RECEIVED THE TRADITION FROM HILLEL AND SHAMMAI. While the Mishna was recording the teachings of the line of Hillel, there was no need to mention that those sages had received the tradition from him, but now it is necessary to do so before the teachings of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, who was not a descendant of Hillel. Also, because he had numerous students and legal disputes proliferated thenceforth, the mishna points out that although there were several disputes their Torah was in the main a received tradition, as I mentioned at the beginning of the first chapter.

(9) He [Rabban Yohanan] said unto them: go forth and observe which is the right way to which a man should cleave? Rabbi Eliezer said, a good eye; Rabbi Joshua said, a good companion; Rabbi Yose said, a good neighbor; Rabbi Shimon said, foresight. Rabbi Elazar said, a good heart. He [Rabban Yohanan] said to them: I prefer the words of Elazar ben Arach, for in his words your words are included. He [Rabban Yohanan] said unto them: go forth and observe which is the evil way which a man should shun? Rabbi Eliezer said, an evil eye; Rabbi Joshua said, an evil companion; Rabbi Yose said, an evil neighbor; Rabbi Shimon said, one who borrows and does not repay for he that borrows from man is as one who borrows from God, blessed be He, as it is said, “the wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous deal graciously and give” (Psalms 37:21). Rabbi Elazar said, an evil heart. He [Rabban Yohanan] said to them: I prefer the words of Elazar ben Arach, for in his words your words are included.

(10) They [each] said three things: Rabbi Eliezer said: Let the honor of your friend be as dear to you as your own; And be not easily provoked to anger; And repent one day before your death. And [he also said:] warm yourself before the fire of the wise, but beware of being singed by their glowing coals, for their bite is the bite of a fox, and their sting is the sting of a scorpion, and their hiss is the hiss of a serpent, and all their words are like coals of fire.

BEWARE OF THEIR COALS. Rav: do not treat them with frivolity. Rambam: when you come together with the sages, do not be playful or arrogant in their presence. When in their presence, act in such a way as lets them understand that you will allow yourself to be drawn near to them when they decide to draw you near. And do not attempt to draw closer to them than they draw you themselves, that you not ruin their designs for you and turn their love to contempt, at which point you will not receive the benefit you had hoped for. The tanna compares this to someone warming himself at the fire. If he maintains his distance, the fire will warm him, and if he draws too near, he will get burnt.

(11) Rabbi Joshua said: an evil eye, the evil inclination, and hatred for humankind put a person out of the world.

(12) Rabbi Yose said: Let the property of your fellow be as precious unto you as your own; Make yourself fit to study Torah for it will not be yours by inheritance; And let all your actions be for [the sake of] the name of heaven.

PREPARE YOURSELF FOR TORAH STUDY, AS IT IS NOT YOUR INHERITANCE. Rav: you should not say that since your father and grandfather are sages the Torah will “return to its lodgings” and you need not seek it out. For the Sages have indeed expounded thus on the verse “they will not depart from your mouth, the mouth of your children, and the mouth of your children’s children from now on, forever” (Isaiah 59:21) in Bava Metziah 85a. R. Yossi informs us that this rule applies only to one who prepares himself for study, in which case he is more successful in his Torah study than others are. But one who does not, will not be.

(13) Rabbi Shimon said: Be careful with the reading of Shema and the prayer, And when you pray, do not make your prayer something automatic, but a plea for compassion before God, for it is said: “for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, and renouncing punishment” (Joel 2:13); And be not wicked in your own esteem.

(14) Rabbi Elazar said: Be diligent in the study of the Torah; And know how to answer an epicuros, And know before whom you toil, and that your employer is faithful, for He will pay you the reward of your labor.

(15) Rabbi Tarfon said: the day is short, and the work is plentiful, and the laborers are indolent, and the reward is great, and the master of the house is insistent.

(16) He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say: It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it; If you have studied much Torah, you shall be given much reward. Faithful is your employer to pay you the reward of your labor; And know that the grant of reward unto the righteous is in the age to come.