(2) Shimon the Tzadik was of the last of the Great Assembly. He has said, On three things the world stands– On the Torah, and on the Avodah, and on Deeds of Lovingkindess.

Yosei ben Yoezer of Tzreida says, "Make your house a meeting house for the sages; and get sooty in the dust of their feet, and drink with thirst their words."

And it was taught: Any city that does not have in it these ten things, it is not appropriate for a Sage to live within it. A court that metes out punishments, a charity fund collected by two and distributed by three, a synagogue, a bathhouse, a restroom, a doctor [for circumcision], a bookkeeper, a notary [for writing scrolls], a butcher, and a teacher of children. In the name of Rabbi Akiva, they said, even types of fruit because there are types of fruit that help eyesight.

Rabbi Yishmael would say: One who studies Torah in order to teach will be given the opportunity to both study and to teach. One who studies in order to practice will be given the opportunity to study, to teach, to observe, and to practice.

And these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall speak of them when you sit at home, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and arise. And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. And your shall write them upon the door-posts of your house, and upon your gates.

Just as a person is obligated to teach his son, so too he is obligated to teach his grandson, as it says, "And make them known to your children, and to your children's children" (Deut 4:9). And not just his son and his grandson: rather, there is a command upon each and every wise-man [heb. chacham] in Israel to teach all students, even though they are not his children. As it says, "And you shall teach them to your children" (Deut 6:7) - from an [Oral] Tradition they learned that "your children" [here] refers to your students, for students can be called children, as in "And the children of the prophets left" (I Kings 2:3).

There are four types who sit before the sages: the sponge, the funnel, the strainer, and the sieve.

The Sponge - because it absorbs everything;

The Funnel - because it let's in at one end and out the other;

The Strainer - because it lets the wine out and retains the sediment;

The Sieve - because it lets out the bran and retains the fine flour.

Educate a child according to his way, And even when he is old, he will not depart from it.

(14) This was another favorite teaching of his: If I am not for me, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?

Rabbi Ami said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “If the iron is blunt, and does not whet the edge” (Ecclesiastes 10:10)? If you see a sky that is blunt as iron, in that it does not bring down dew and rain, this is due to the deeds of the generation, which are corrupt, as it is stated: “And does not whet [kilkal] the edge [panim].”Panim, which also means face, is often used in reference to the leaders of a generation, while the term kilkal is similar to the word for corrupt, mekulkalin. What is their remedy? They must increase their prayers for mercy, as it is stated in the same verse: “Then must he increase his strength, but wisdom is profitable to direct” (Ecclesiastes 10:10). This verse hints that rain will fall if one increases his strength, i.e., his prayers for mercy. The last part of the verse means that, all the more so, if their deeds had been righteous and direct from the beginning, the rains would not have been withheld.

The Gemara cites a different interpretation of the same verse. Reish Lakish said: If you see a studentwhose studies are hard as iron for him, i.e., difficult to understand, this is due to his lack of familiarity with the Mishna, which is not organized for him. If the Mishna is unclear, any further study of Gemara is rendered all the more difficult, as it is stated: “And does not whet [kilkal] the edge [panim]” (Ecclesiastes 10:10). As panim can also mean surface, this indicates that the surface, i.e., the basic statements of the Mishna, is corrupted. As stated previously, kilkal can also mean corrupted. What is his remedy? He must increase the time he sits and studies, as it is stated: “Then must he increase his strength” (Ecclesiastes 10:10). The last part of the verse: “But wisdom is profitable to direct,” means that all the more so, if his study of the Mishna is organized for him from the beginning, he will avoid this trouble. That is like this practice of Reish Lakish, who would review his studies forty times, corresponding to the forty days in which the Torah was given to Moses at Sinai, and only afterward would he go before Rabbi Yoḥanan to study from his teacher. Similarly, Rav Adda bar Ahava would review his learning twenty-four times, corresponding to the twenty-four books in the Torah, Prophets, and Writings, i.e., the Bible, and only afterward go before Rava to study with him.

Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend” (Proverbs 27:17)? This verse comes to tell you that just as with these iron implements, one sharpens the other when they are rubbed against each other, so too, when Torah scholars study together, they sharpen one another in halakha.Rabba bar bar Ḥana said: Why are matters of Torah compared to fire, as it is stated: “Is not My word like fire, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:29)? To tell you: Just as fire does not ignite in a lone stick of wood but in a pile of kindling, so too, matters of Torah are not retained and understood properly by a lone scholar who studies by himself, but by a group of Sages.

Rabbi Yirmeya said that Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Two Torah scholars who are agreeable to each other when engaging in discussions of halakha, the Holy One, Blessed be He, listens to them, as it is stated: “Then they that feared the Lord spoke [nidberu] one with another; and the Lord hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him, for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name” (Malachi 3:16). And the term speech [dibbur] means nothing other than calm ...Rabbi Abba said that Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Two Torah scholars who listen to each other in the discussion of halakha, the Holy One, Blessed be He, hears their voice, as it is stated: “You who dwell in gardens, the companions heed your voice, cause me to hear it” (Song of Songs 8:13). And if they do not do so, i.e., they do not listen to each other, they cause the Divine Presence to depart from among Israel, as it is stated in the following verse: “Run away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young hart upon the mountains of spices” (Song of Songs 8:14).

The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the phrase “enemies in the gate” with regard to Torah study? Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba says: Even a father and his son, or a rabbi and his student, who are engaged in Torah together in one gate become enemies with each other due to the intensity of their studies. But they do not leave there until they love each other, as it is stated in the verse discussing the places the Jewish people engaged in battle in the wilderness: “Therefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord, Vahev in Suphah [beSufa], and the valleys of Arnon” (Numbers 21:14). The word “vahev” is interpreted as related to the word for love, ahava. Additionally, do not read this as “in Suphah [beSufa]”; rather, read it as “at its end [besofa],” i.e., at the conclusion of their dispute they are beloved to each other.