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The best summer reading
By Rabbi Berel Wein
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
DURING the time period between the end of Passover until Rosh
HaShana, the custom of the Jewish people is to recite one of the chapters of
Tractate Avos each and every Sabbath after the Mincha -- Afternoon -- prayer service. This
book of the Mishna has been loosely translated as the "Ethics of the
Fathers." It contains, in its original form in the Mishna, five chapters.
However, since there are six Sabbaths between Passover and Shavuos (Jewish Pentecost) and the
original custom was to read these portions of the Mishna only during that
period of time, a sixth chapter was created in addition to the
five of the Mishna. This sixth chapter, which was always read before
Shavuos, the holiday of the granting of the Torah, was therefore
appropriately titled Perek Kinyan Torah --- the Chapter of the Acquisition of
Torah. This chapter contains assorted statements of the rabbis regarding the
imporatnce of Torah study.
The custom of reciting Pirkei Avos --- the chapters of Tractate Avos plus the sixth chapter of Perek Kinyan Torah --- was so beloved among
Jews that they no longer restricted the recital of these chapters to the six
weeks between Pesach and Shavuot. The chapters of Pirkei Avos came to be
recited during the entire summer and the cycle (with doubling up the
chapters at the end of the summer if necessary) of reading these chapters
was completed five times. It also became customary to conduct classes in
depth during the summer regarding Pirkei Avos and not merely content one's
self or the congregation with the dry recitation of the words.
There is no Talmudic commentary to the contents of Tractate Avos. However, over the centuries many hundreds of great scholars wrote
commentaries to the work. And in our times, Pirkei Avos and many of the
commentaries to it have been translated and published in English as well as
French, Spanish and Russian. The lessons of Pirkei Avos are timeless and
pertinent. They deal with the basic Jewish value system of life --- of the
relationship between a Jew and his Creator and between a Jew and other Jews
and between Jews and all mankind. There are no metaphysical explanations of
G-d in the work, nor is there much theology to be found in its pages.
Rather
it deals directly with the problems of humans --- with arrogance and anger,
insensitivity and wrong behavior. It was not for naught that the rabbis of
the Talmud stated: "One who wishes to be pious, righteous and good should
dwell upon the words and teachings of Avos." Within Avos is found the key to
acceptable, if not even superior, human behavior.
The basic lesson of Avos however does have faith and theological
overtones to it. The work begins with the words: "Moses received the Torah
from Sinai..." That statement reiterates the Jewish position regarding human
morality and behavior. Moral goodness requires a faith foundation if it is
to be lasting and continuous. Man-made moralities, no matter how sincere and
logical they may be, do not stand up to the test of time. Moral relativism
is a human weakeness, almost inbred within the human psyche. It is one of
the major ills that afflicts our current society. An absolute, unwavering,
uncompromising system of morals is a much stronger brake to human desires,
faults and weaknesses.
Therefore, Avos introduces itself as a system of
morals that has been Divinely granted --- it is the book of instructions that
comes with human life and teaches us how to operate the machine correctly
and nobly. There is much wisdom in the book of Avos. It is practical and
realistic, preaching moderation and not abstinence or excess, good common
sense and not extremism, happiness and satisfaction and not frustration and
anger. Therefore, it is probably the best summer reading that we can hope to
accomplish in this season of warmth and
Rabbi Wein has two series of audio tapes on Avos available for purchase:
Vol.
1 Chapters 1 - 3
Vol.
2 Chapters 4 - 6
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