Nissan 23, 5771 * April 27, 2011
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E T H I C S O F O U R F A T H E R S
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Barrier and Gateway
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Make a safety fence around the Torah
- Ethics of our Fathers, 1:1
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The Torah is a living document, to be applied to all societies and all generations of history. Thus, the Almighty entrusted the sages and Torah authorities of each generation with the responsibility of interpreting the Torah and implementing it in the specific conditions and circumstances of their time and place.
This also includes the task of constructing ``safety fences'' around the Torah. Each generation's leaders are to pinpoint the specific vulnerabilities of their community and enact the appropriate ordinances which will safeguard and strengthen the observance of Torah. For example, the Torah forbids transferring objects from a ``private domain'' to a ``public domain'' (e.g. from one's home out to the street) on Shabbos. As a safety measure, a rabbinic ordinance prohibits any handling of certain types of objects, lest one inadvertently come to violate the Shabbos. Other rabbinic institutions include making a blessing before eating, the mandated waiting period between meat and milk, praying three times a day, washing hands before meals, and the festivals of Chanukah and Purim. In fact, a major part of what we call ``Judaism'' is rabbinic in origin.
Indeed, a safety fence inevitably encloses more area than the thing it comes to safeguard. Thus, the rabbinic ordinances have the effect of broadening and extending Torah to areas where the strict letter of the law does not apply.
As a result, the sages are often perceived as having made Judaism more ``difficult.'' That while their ordinances may be necessary for the preservation of Torah, they unfortunately make it less accessible to the Jew who is not yet fully committed to its observance.
Actually, the very opposite is true. One of the most ``attractive'' things about Torah is its tremendous breadth and scope. Torah deals with virtually every area of life, on virtually every level of human discourse: the mystic, the philosopher and the psychologist will each find that the Torah speaks his language. Whether a person is looking for roots and tradition or transcendence and innovation, whether he seeks a pragmatic guide to life, an authoritative moral code or a spiritual experience, he will find the mitzvah or custom to identify with. Even if he is not yet ready to embrace the entirety of Torah, there will always be an insight or observance which will drew him in, stimulate his soul and whet his desire to learn and experience more.
So the more Torah is ``broadened'' by its application through the generations, the more ground it comes to cover via the fences that are erected to safeguard it, all the more does it become accessible to also the most diverse of its constituents.
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Introductory reading to Ethics of the Fathers:
All Israel has a share in the World to Come, as is stated: ``And your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever. They are the shoot of My planting, the work of My hands, in which I take pride.'' (Sanhedrin, 11:1)
Chapter One
1. Moses received the Torah from [G-d at] Sinai and gave it over to Joshua. Joshua gave it over to the Elders, the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets gave it over to the Men of the Great Assembly. They [the Men of the Great Assembly] would always say these three things: Be cautious in judgment. Establish many pupils. And make a safety fence around the Torah.
2. Shimon the Righteous was among the last surviving members of the Great assembly. He would say: The world stands on three things: Torah, the service of G-d, and deeds of kindness.
3. Antignos of Socho received the tradition from Shimon the Righteous. He would say: Do not be as slaves, who serve their master for the sake of reward. Rather, be as slaves who serve their master not for the sake of reward. And the fear of Heaven should be upon you.
4. Yossei the son of Yoezer of Tzreidah, and Yossei the son of Yochanan of Jerusalem, received the tradition from them. Yossei the son of Yoezer of Tzreidah would say: Let your home be a meeting place for the sages; dust yourself in the soil of their feet, and drink thirstily of their words.
5. Yossei the son of Yochanan of Jerusalem would say: Let your home be wide open, and let the poor be members of your household. And do not engage in excessive conversation with a woman. This is said even regarding one's own wife---how much more so regarding the wife of another. Hence, the sages said: One who excessively converses with a woman causes evil to himself, neglects the study of Torah, and, in the end, inherits purgatory.
6. Joshua the son of Perachia and Nitai the Arbelite received from them. Joshua the son of Perachia would say: Assume for yourself a master, acquire for yourself a friend, and judge every man to the side of merit.
7. Nitai the Arbelite would say: Distance yourself from a bad neighbor, do not cleave to a wicked person, and do not abandon belief in retribution.
8. Judah the son of Tabbai and Shimon the son of Shotach received from them. Judah the son of Tabbai would say: When sitting in judgement, do not act as a counselor-at-law. When the litigants stand before you, consider them both guilty; and when they leave your courtroom, having accepted the judgement, regard them as equally righteous.
9. Shimon the son of Shotach would say: Increasingly cross-examine the witnesses. Be careful with your words, lest they learn from them how to lie.
10. Shmaayah and Avtalyon received from them. Shmaayah would say: Love work, loath mastery, and avoid intimacy with the government.
11. Avtalyon would say: Scholars, be careful with your words. For you may be exiled to a place inhabited by evil elements [who will distort your words to suit their negative purposes]. The disciples who come after you will then drink of these evil waters and be destroyed, and the Name of Heaven will be desecrated.
12. Hillel and Shammai received from them. Hillel would say: Be of the disciples of Aaron---a lover of peace, a pursuer of peace, one who loves the creatures and draws them close to Torah.
13. He would also say: One who advances his name, destroys his name. One who does not increase, diminishes. One who does not learn is deserving of death. And one who make personal use of the crown of Torah shall perish.
14. He would also say: If I am not for myself, who is for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?
15. Shammai would say: Make your Torah study a permanent fixture of your life. Say little and do much. And receive every man with a pleasant countenance.
16. Rabban Gamliel would say: Assume for yourself a master; stay away from doubt; and do not accustom yourself to tithe by estimation.
17. His son, Shimon, would say: All my life I have been raised among the wise, and I have found nothing better for the body than silence. The essential thing is not study, but deed. And one who speaks excessively brings on sin.
18. Rabbi Shimon the son of Gamliel would say: On three things the world endures: law, truth and peace. As is stated, ``Truth, and a judgement of peace, you should administer at your [city] gates.''
Studied at the conclusion of each lesson of the Ethics:
Rabbi Chananiah the son of Akashiah would say: G-d desired to merit the people of Israel; therefore, He gave them Torah and mitzvot in abundance. As is stated, ``G-d desired, for sake of his righteousness, that Torah be magnified and made glorious.'' (Makot, 3:16)
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