Pirkei Avot
What is Pirkei Avot?
What are some famous quotes from Pirkei Avot?
When is Pirkei Avot read and studied?
Pirkei Avot, in Judaism, a tractate within the Mishnah that focuses on ethical, communal, and religious values. It appears in the Mishnah in section Seder Nezikin (“Order of Damages”), and the first five chapters were compiled about 200 ce, although it contains material attributed to figures dating to 300 bce. Unlike the majority of the Mishnah—the codification of the Jewish Oral Law—Pirkei Avot has very little Halakhic content and instead emphasizes general ethical matters conveyed through aphorisms attributed to ancient rabbinic sages. Its guidance is frequently quoted and some of its pithy statements are well known in Jewish ethical thought. In some Jewish congregations Pirkei Avot is recited and studied on the Sabbath, typically on Sabbaths from Passover until Shavuot, or in some Jewish communities until Rosh Hashanah.
Contents
Pirkei Avot is divided into six chapters. The first chapter describes the transmission of the Oral Law starting with Moses. The next three chapters offer an anthology of sayings from rabbis who were active in the early centuries of the Common Era, including Hillel and Johanan ben Zakkai, among many other tannaim. The fifth chapter contains quotations structured on enumerated lists in tens, sevens, and fours; for example, there are lists of the ten miracles in the Temple, the seven kinds of punishment for sin, and the four types of students. The sixth chapter emphasizes the importance of Torah study, and it was added later, likely by about the 9th century. The contents of the sixth chapter were initially Baraitot, oral teachings passed down alongside the Mishnah. Scholars suggest that the final chapter was appended to Pirkei Avot to create a set of six readings corresponding to the six Sabbaths between Passover and Shavuot.
Selected sayings
Pirkei Avot is a short work, and some of its aphorisms are often quoted in Jewish communities to provide general ethical guidance. The following selected quotes from the text are some of the more popular and representative examples. The first aphorism in Pirkei Avot (1:1) is well known in Jewish thought and encapsulates both the first chapter’s focus on transmission and the centrality of the Torah. The idea of putting up “a fence around the Torah” to safeguard it is influential and variously interpreted.
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Moses received the Torah from Sinai, and handed it down to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets delivered it to the men of the Great Synagogue. They said three things, “Be deliberate in judgment; raise up many disciples; and make a fence about the Torah.”
A similar tripartite ethical formulation, with some different emphases, is suggested in Pirkei Avot 1:2. Attributed to a member of the Great Assembly (Kneset ha-Gedola), it emphasizes Torah study, ritual activity in the Temple, and kindness to others. After the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, interpreters understood Temple service broadly in terms of study, prayer, and upholding the commandments.
Simon, the Just, was of the last survivors of the Great Synagogue. He used to say, “Upon three things the world rests: upon the Torah, upon the Temple service, and upon the doing of acts of kindness.”
The importance of surrounding oneself with wise people, even in one’s own home, and committing to study is exemplified in Pirkei Avot 1:4.
Jose, the son of Joezer, of Zeredah said, “Let thy house be a meeting-place for the wise; cover thyself with the dust of their feet, and drink in their words with thirst.”
The phrase “Make for yourself a teacher and acquire for yourself a friend” is a popular saying in Judaism about building a community of learning, and it comes from Pirkei Avot 1:6.
Joshua, the son of Perachyah, said, “Provide thyself with a teacher, and possess thyself of a companion; and judge every man in the scale of merit.”
A series of questions attributed to Hillel in Pirkei Avot 1:14 has been invoked in contexts of personal and communal responsibility, as well as modern social justice efforts.
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He used to say, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I care for myself only, what am I? And if not now, when?”
One of Hillel’s most famous quotes, often said to be similar to the Golden Rule, echoes these ethical sentiments and is found in the Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 31a: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor, that is the entire Torah, the rest is just commentary, now go and study.” These emphases on study and community are also found in Pirkei Avot 2:4, further guidance attributed to Hillel.
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.
Another saying, also attributed to Hillel, stresses the interdependence of learning and moral strength (Pirkei Avot 2:5). The last sentence often appears in Jewish writings, sometimes using non-gendered language, that emphasize taking responsibility when no one else does.
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.
Later in the second chapter, Rabbi Tarfon emphasizes the importance of studying the Torah, the greatness of the reward for doing so, and the monumental nature of the task. Modern Jewish progressives have adopted one of his aphorisms (Pirkei Avot 2:16) concerning the duty of studying Torah and reinterpreted that effort in the context of the social justice project.
He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say: It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.
Chapter 4 of Pirkei Avot opens with rhetorical questions and answers that weave together ethical concerns, the importance of study, and excerpts from Psalms and Proverbs.
Ben Zoma says: Who is the wise one? He who learns from all men, as it says, “I have acquired understanding from all my teachers” (Psalms 119:99). Who is the mighty one? He who conquers his impulse, as it says, “slowness to anger is better than a mighty person and the ruler of his spirit than the conqueror of a city” (Proverbs 16:32). Who is the rich one? He who is happy with his lot.…Who is honored? He who honors the created beings.
Chapter 6 extols Torah study as the quintessential act of religious devotion, to be pursued within a community of mutual respect and honor for teachers. These themes are exemplified in Pirkei Avot 6:3.
One who learns from his fellow one chapter or one law or one verse or one utterance or even one letter must treat him with honor.…And there is no honor except Torah, as it is said (Proverbs 3:35) “The wise shall inherit honor,” and “the whole-hearted shall inherit good” (Proverbs 28:10), and there is no good except Torah.