Audio for this class
Welcome! Catching up. Our goals for this course
Opening Prompt
Share the name of an English-language book that you particularly value and why is it important to you.
Zooming out and Zooming in
With appreciation of the artistry of Istvan Banyai (1949-2022), author of Zoom. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/18/arts/istvan-banyai-dead.html
Course Overview
Pirkei Avot, literally “the Chapters of the Fathers,” is a unique collection of ethical teachings in the collection of rabbinic legal traditions known as the Mishnah. What is Mishnah, and how does Pirkei Avot fit into it? Discover some of the remarkable teachers in this book and learn how they preserved their traditions and community during a period of devastating change. What was happening in the land of Israel during the era leading up to and following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE? We will explore the life, times, and representative teachings of such leaders as Hillel, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, and Rabbi Akiva and their contemporaries and students.
Our Plan for this course
- Introduction to the Sages, the Mishnah, and Pirkei Avot - Text: 1:1 "Moses received"
- Memories of Jewish life before the Hasmoneans - Simon the Just - Text: 1:2 "Simon the Righteous"
- From Pharisees to Rabbis - Hillel and Shammai - Texts: 1:14 "If I am not for myself...?" and 2:6 "he saw a skull floating"
- Recovering from the Destruction of the Second Temple (after 70 CE) - Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai - Texts: 2:8 and 2:9 "Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai received"
- The Bar Kochba Revolt and Persecution - Rabbi Akiba (130s CE) - Text: 3:14 "Beloved is humanity... Beloved are Israel"
- Flourishing in the Galilee - The Students of Rabbi Akiba - Texts: 4:17 Rabbi Judah, Rabbi Shimon; 4:10 Rabbi Meir
- The Patriarchate is reestablished in the Galilee - Text 1:18 "Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel says"
- How the Mishnah came to be - The Mishnah is published c. 200 CE - Rabbi Judah the Prince - Text 2:1 "Rabbi said..."
- Navigating relations with the Roman Empire, c. 220 CE - Gamliel son of Rabbi Judah the Prince - Texts 2:3 "Be careful with the Authorities" and related passages
- Numbered, anonymous teachings (Chapter 5) - Texts 5:9 (the golem) and 5:14 (what's mine is...) - Summary
Resource: Glossary and Reference
Plan for this class
- The world out of which the Mishnah sprang: the times and the people
- What is the Mishnah? Purpose, structure
- Ethics of the Fathers / Pirkei Avot as part of the Mishnah; its purpose, structure, content, and ritual use
- How do we encounter Pirkei Avot?
- Our Text: Avot 1:1
- Summary and next class
The world out of which the Mishnah sprang: the times and the people
The Times
- End of Hasmonean era (reign of descendants of the Maccabees: Roman Empire gains control of the Land of Israel c. 57 BCE, allowing for Jewish local control
- Herod (the Great) reigns 37 BCE - 4 CE
- Judea becomes a Roman province in 6 CE governed by procurators.
- “…relations deteriorated for a number of reasons: Roman insensitivity to Jewish religious feelings, high taxes, corrupt governors, the stationing of troops in Jerusalem, and rising messianic yearnings.” (Schiffman, p.232)
- Jewish Revolt of 66-73 CE
- Bar Kochba Revolt of 132-135 CE
The People: Who they were and what roles they played
- Sadducees and Pharisees
- “The oral law concept which grew from the Pharisaic ‘tradition of the fathers’ provided Judaism with the ability to adapt to the new and varied circumstances it would face in talmudic times and later. As such, Pharisaism would become rabbinic Judaism, the basis for all subsequent Jewish life and civilization.” Schiffman, p. 15.
- “By the latter part of the first century, the religious trend associated with the Pharisees had emerged from the revolt against Rome as the dominant form of Judaism.” Schiffman, pp. 236-7.
- Dead Sea Sect
- Christianity
What is the Mishnah? Purpose, nature, structure
Purpose and Nature
- "a curriculum for the study of Jewish law." Schiffman, p. 304.
- The Mishnah "focuses on apodictic law-rules stated without conditions, reasons, or biblical sources." Schiffrman, p. 297.
- “The vast part of the Mishnah…covers the teachings of Sages who lived from about 100 BCE to 200 CE. On the whole, the Mishnah is arranged in two basic ways: thematically and structurally. Nearly all of the sixty-three 'tractates' that make up its six ‘Orders’ are centered about separate subjects. Nevertheless, included in most tractates are digressions springing from the subject at hand that form independent units.” Zlotnick, pp. 43-44.
- Masterpiece of the Tannaim, who collected traditions in an organized way, in contrast to their predecessors, the Pharisees
Structure of the Mishnah
Orders, Tractates, Chapters, single Mishnahs/Mishnayot/ teachings of the Mishnah
The very first teaching in the Mishnah from Tractate Berachot ('Blessings'), beginning with 1:1 (chapter one, Mishnah one): "Starting when do we say the Shema at night?..." The first page of the Kaufmann Manuscript of the Mishnah http://kaufmann.mtak.hu/en/ms50/ms50-001v.htm
Ethics of the Fathers / Pirkei Avot as part of the Mishnah; its purpose, structure, and content
Purposes
- “Avot is a unique mishnaic treatise in at least three respects: (1) From beginning to end it is haggadic, with no halakhah in it at all. (2) By tracing (in its first two chapters) the uninterrupted transmission of tradition from the Sinaitic revelation through the leading tannaim of the generation after the destruction of the Second Temple, the treatise provides the credentials, as it were, of these teachers and their subsequent students. In effect, it declares that in these teachers and their loyal disciples will be found the unbroken and authoritative instruction which began at Sinai. Thus Avot serves as the underpinning of the authority of the Mishnah as a whole. (3) The sages in this continuous tradition from the Men of the Great Assembly are not merely listed in ‘genealogical’ or roll-call fashion but their ‘platforms’ are also quoted.” Judah Goldin, "Avot," Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 3, col. 983.
- “…the first four chapters…preserved those teachings and emphases of the tannaim which reflected what most concerned classical Judaism: the claim of high antiquity for the Oral law; the nature and destiny of man; the permanent centrality of Torah; the doctrine of reward and punishment; the approved course for man in his life and in this world in expectation of the world to come.” Judah Goldin, ibid.
- “Our sages of the second and third centuries confronted a world of chaos and disorder. As we now understand, the old regularities faded, and established certainties lost all credibility. The familiar ways of organizing the world led to destruction, the reliable patterns were shattered. …by making lists [in chapter 5], by thinking in the orderly way in which the Mishnah’s masters pursue thought, we master and make sense of whatever is to be known.” Neusner, p 169.
Formal Elements: Name, Placement, Structure and Content, Ritual use
Name: פרקי אבות / Pirkei Avot / Chapters of Fathers / Ethics of the Fathers: Rabbinical fathers, Foundations, Founders, Principles
Placement: In the order of Nezikin / Damages
Structure and Content: 5 chapters. Described by Neusner in this way:
- 1-2 (beginning): Moses - Rabbi (and the next generation)
- 2 (remainder): [Moses]-Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai (and succeeding generation(s))
- 3 Scholars between the Great Revolt (66-73) and the Bar Kochba Revolt (132-135) - including Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiba
- 4 scholars after Bar Kochba (135-250) (‘renewal and reconstruction’ Neusner, p. 90)
- 5 ‘Tens, Sevens, Fours, Twos, and Threes’ (Neusner, p. 149)
Ritual Use: Often read in synagogues on the Shabbats between Passover and Shavuot (and often through Rosh Hashanah)
- “Pirkei Avot…is the one classical Judaic text, besides the Siddur (prayer book) and the Hebrew bible, that most Jews are most likely to confront.” Neusner, p. 3.
How do we encounter Ethics of the Fathers
- “Sayings of wisdom, whether deriving from ancient India or China or Israel or Mesopotamia or Egypt, have in common the power to come right to the point and to say only what urgently demands statement.” Neusner, p. 4.
- Neusner suggests that we approach Pirkei Avot:
- As Jews living after Destruction (Shoah, particularly) and in light of the reestablishment of Jewish Sovereignty (Israel)
- As Americans who speak English and read texts in certain ways
Our Text: Avot 1:1
(א)משֶׁה קִבֵּל תּוֹרָה מִסִּינַי, וּמְסָרָהּ לִיהוֹשֻׁעַ, וִיהוֹשֻׁעַ לִזְקֵנִים, וּזְקֵנִים לִנְבִיאִים, וּנְבִיאִים מְסָרוּהָ לְאַנְשֵׁי כְנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה.
הֵם אָמְרוּ שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים, הֱווּ מְתוּנִים בַּדִּין, וְהַעֲמִידוּ תַלְמִידִים הַרְבֵּה, וַעֲשׂוּ סְיָג לַתּוֹרָה:
הֵם אָמְרוּ שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים, הֱווּ מְתוּנִים בַּדִּין, וְהַעֲמִידוּ תַלְמִידִים הַרְבֵּה, וַעֲשׂוּ סְיָג לַתּוֹרָה:
Questions and Discussions
Parallels, Commentaries
(ט) וַיִּכְתֹּ֣ב מֹשֶׁה֮ אֶת־הַתּוֹרָ֣ה הַזֹּאת֒ וַֽיִּתְּנָ֗הּ אֶל־הַכֹּֽהֲנִים֙ בְּנֵ֣י לֵוִ֔י הַנֹּ֣שְׂאִ֔ים אֶת־אֲר֖וֹן בְּרִ֣ית ה׳ וְאֶל־כׇּל־זִקְנֵ֖י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
(9) Moses wrote down this Teaching and gave it to the priests, sons of Levi, who carried the Ark of ה׳’s Covenant, and to all the elders of Israel.
(ח) וּלְלֵוִ֣י אָמַ֔ר תֻּמֶּ֥יךָ וְאוּרֶ֖יךָ לְאִ֣ישׁ חֲסִידֶ֑ךָ אֲשֶׁ֤ר נִסִּיתוֹ֙ בְּמַסָּ֔ה תְּרִיבֵ֖הוּ עַל־מֵ֥י מְרִיבָֽה׃ (ט) הָאֹמֵ֞ר לְאָבִ֤יו וּלְאִמּוֹ֙ לֹ֣א רְאִיתִ֔יו וְאֶת־אֶחָיו֙ לֹ֣א הִכִּ֔יר וְאֶת־בָּנָ֖ו לֹ֣א יָדָ֑ע כִּ֤י שָֽׁמְרוּ֙ אִמְרָתֶ֔ךָ וּבְרִיתְךָ֖ יִנְצֹֽרוּ׃ (י) יוֹר֤וּ מִשְׁפָּטֶ֙יךָ֙ לְיַֽעֲקֹ֔ב וְתוֹרָתְךָ֖ לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יָשִׂ֤ימוּ קְטוֹרָה֙ בְּאַפֶּ֔ךָ וְכָלִ֖יל עַֽל־מִזְבְּחֶֽךָ׃
(8) And of Levi he said: Let Your Thummim and Urim Be with Your faithful one, Whom You tested at Massah, Challenged at the waters of Meribah; (9) Who said of his father and mother, “I consider them not.” His brothers he disregarded, Ignored his own children. Your precepts alone they observed, And kept Your covenant. (10) They shall teach Your laws to Jacob And Your instructions/Torah to Israel. They shall offer You incense to savor And whole-offerings on Your altar.
(יח) וַיֹּאמְר֗וּ לְכ֨וּ וְנַחְשְׁבָ֥ה עַֽל־יִרְמְיָ֘הוּ֮ מַחֲשָׁבוֹת֒ כִּי֩ לֹא־תֹאבַ֨ד תּוֹרָ֜ה מִכֹּהֵ֗ן וְעֵצָה֙ מֵחָכָ֔ם וְדָבָ֖ר מִנָּבִ֑יא לְכוּ֙ וְנַכֵּ֣הוּ בַלָּשׁ֔וֹן וְאַל־נַקְשִׁ֖יבָה אֶל־כׇּל־דְּבָרָֽיו׃
(18) They said, “Come let us devise a plot against Jeremiah—for instruction/Torah shall not fail from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor oracle from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and we shall no longer have to listen to all those words of his.”
“In the description of the chain of tradition which opens Mishna Avot, the absence of the priests is striking….This absence cries out for an explanation, especially in light of the Bible’s description of the tribe of Levi in general, and the priests in particular, as being responsible for receiving and transmitting the Torah.” B. Lau, vol. 1, p. 8
“Accordingly, the number of the high priests, from the days of Herod until the day when Titus took the temple and the City, and burnt them, were in all twenty-eight; the time also that belonged to them was a hundred and seven years. Some of these were the political governors of the people under the reign of Herod, and under the reign of Archelaus his son, although, after their death, the government became an aristocracy, and the high priests were intrusted with a dominion over the nation.” Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, XX.10.
“Accordingly, the number of the high priests, from the days of Herod until the day when Titus took the temple and the City, and burnt them, were in all twenty-eight; the time also that belonged to them was a hundred and seven years. Some of these were the political governors of the people under the reign of Herod, and under the reign of Archelaus his son, although, after their death, the government became an aristocracy, and the high priests were intrusted with a dominion over the nation.” Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, XX.10.
דְּאָמַר רַב אַסִּי: תַּרְקַבָּא דְּדִינָרֵי עַיִּילָא לֵיהּ מָרְתָּא בַּת בַּיְיתּוֹס לְיַנַּאי מַלְכָּא עַל דְּאוֹקְמֵיהּ לִיהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן גַּמְלָא בְּכָהֲנֵי רַבְרְבֵי.
As Rav Asi said: The wealthy Marta, daughter of Baitos, brought a half-se’a of dinars in to King Yannai for the fact that he appointed Yehoshua ben Gamla as High Priest. This is an example of the appointment of High Priests by means of bribery and gifts. Since that was the practice, a totally ignorant High Priest could have been appointed.
“Torah at Sinai is passed on in an unbroken chain through Moses to Joshua and onward…to the very sages cited in the Mishnah itself. Now if you know that Torah at Sinai to others of that age—to the Christians, for example—meant only the written Torah, the Five Books of Moses, and the other prophetic books and the writings we know as Tanakh…you see everything clearly. Torah comes to Israel not only in the Scriptures. What our sages teach in the Mishnah is Torah, too.” Neusner, p. 45.
The Great Assembly. Lau dates the “Men of the Great Assembly” more or less to the Persian Period, c. 450-300 BCE (B. Lau, vol. I, p. 23).
The Great Assembly. Lau dates the “Men of the Great Assembly” more or less to the Persian Period, c. 450-300 BCE (B. Lau, vol. I, p. 23).
Summary and Next Class
Memories of Jewish life before Alexander the Great - Simon the Just - Text: 1:2 "Simon the Just"