Shalom Chaverim,
It is customary to study a chapter of Pirke Avot – the Wisdom of our Fathers – each week during the weeks between Passover and Shavuot. Let’s do that for these remaining weeks. There are two shabbatot remaining before Shavuot, so let’s explore a teaching from chapter 2 this week.
הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עֲשֵׂה רְצוֹנוֹ כִרְצוֹנְךָ, כְּדֵי שֶׁיַּעֲשֶׂה רְצוֹנְךָ כִרְצוֹנוֹ. בַּטֵּל רְצוֹנְךָ מִפְּנֵי רְצוֹנוֹ, כְּדֵי שֶׁיְּבַטֵּל רְצוֹן אֲחֵרִים מִפְּנֵי רְצוֹנֶךָ. הִלֵּל אוֹמֵר, אַל תִּפְרֹשׁ מִן הַצִּבּוּר, וְאַל תַּאֲמִין בְּעַצְמְךָ עַד יוֹם מוֹתְךָ, וְאַל תָּדִין אֶת חֲבֵרְךָ עַד שֶׁתַּגִּיעַ לִמְקוֹמוֹ, וְאַל תֹּאמַר דָּבָר שֶׁאִי אֶפְשָׁר לִשְׁמֹעַ, שֶׁסּוֹפוֹ לְהִשָּׁמַע. וְאַל תֹּאמַר לִכְשֶׁאִפָּנֶה אֶשְׁנֶה, שֶׁמָּא לֹא תִפָּנֶה:
He [Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel, the son of Rabbi Judah HaNanasi] 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.
Commentary from Dr. Joshua Kulp
Rabban Gamaliel the son of Rabbi Judah Hanasi, is chronologically the last patriarch mentioned in Mishnah Avot. Although he lived after what is normally termed the “tannaitic period” some of his statements were nevertheless included in the Mishnah.
One way of understanding Rabban Gamaliel’s statement is that a person should do God’s will with such fervor that it is as if that action is their own will. In that way, a person’s will consequently will be done for them by God. The first half of Rabban Gamaliel’s statement deals with positive commandments, those which a person “does” and the second half, “set aside your will” etc., deals with negative commandments, those things that a person should refrain from doing. A person should negate their own desires before the commandments given by God. In this way God will protect them against the evil designs of other people.
The last half of this statement can also be understood as referring in a respectful way to God. That is to say, God will annul God’s own will to punish human beings, if that human being performs God’s will. Understood in this way, the overall message is one of the unity of the divine and human will. As one commentator (Rabbi Jonah) said, “There should be no distinction between the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, and one’s own will. Both should be the same.”
DO NOT SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM THE COMMUNITY: Hillel’s first statement means that a person should join the community for both its celebrations and for its trials and tribulations. This also has been understood as the reason for praying together as a community. For, when one prays by themselves, they might ask for things that are detrimental to some. But the community only prays for things which are of benefit to everybody. A reed on its own is easily broken but a bundle of reeds standing together cannot be broken even by the strongest winds.
DO NOT TRUST IN YOURSELF UNTIL THE DAY OF YOUR DEATH: do not be sure of your righteousness until the day of your death, for a person can lose a lifetime of merit by doing the wrong things at the end of their life. This lesson is learned from John Hyrcanus, the high priest from the Hasmonean dynasty who at the end of his life became a Sadducee.
DO NOT JUDGE NOT YOUR FELLOW MAN UNTIL YOU HAVE REACHED HIS PLACE: just as you cannot be sure of your own merits, all the more so you cannot be sure of the merits and liabilities of your fellow. You do not know what you would do were you in their situation. A clever interpretation of this statement offered by the Meiri is that if one sees a person outside of his city and you find him full of extraordinary virtues, do not conclude that this is his true personality. You can only judge his character by seeing if he acts the same way in “his place”.
DO NOT SAY SOMETHING THAT CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD: a person should make their words clear from the outset, and not speak or write in an unclear manner. Although in the end the matter might be cleared up, in the meanwhile the listener might make mistakes.
SAY NOT: ‘WHEN I SHALL HAVE LEISURE I SHALL STUDY: this is similar to the statement that Hillel made in chapter one, mishnah fourteen, “if not now, when?” A person cannot delay studying Torah, saying that they will never have the opportunity to learn. Thus Shammai stated, “make your Torah study a fixed practice” despite your being extremely busy.
As you light your shabbat candles this week, consider that:
“There are two ways of spreading light:
To be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”
– Edith Wharton
The traditional Shabbat candle lighting time this week in Marblehead at 7:33pm.