Humanities 110 Reed College
Michael Feener 27 March, 2002
The Tractate Avot and Rabbinic Judaism
Passages:
1) Moses received the Torah at Sinai. He conveyed it to Joshua; Joshua to the elders; the elders to the prophet; and the prophets transmitted it to the men of the Great Assembly. Th latter emphasized three principles: Be deliberate in judgement; raise up many disciples; and make a fence to safeguard the Torah. [Tractate Avot I.1, trans. Bokser 219]
3) Abbaye said: Jerusalem was destroyed only because the Sabbath was desecrated there. Thus it is written" "They have disregarded my Sabbath, so that I am profaned among them." (Ez. 22:26)
R. Abbahu said: Jerusalem was destroyed because the recitation of the Shema morning and evening prayers was neglected there. Thus it is written: "Woe to them who rise up early in the morning that they may run after strong drink, (Is. 5: 11); and it is further written: "They have lyre and harp, timbrel and flute and wine at their feasts, but they do not consider the deeds of the Lord (Is. 5.12); and then it is written: "Therefore are My people gone into exile for lack of knowledge (Is. 5: 13)
R. Hamenuna said: Jerusalem was destroyed because the education school children was neglected there… [Tractate Shabbat, 118b/ trans. Bokser, 93]
4) R. Akiba said... Tradition is a fence for safeguarding the Torah; tithing is a fence for wealth; vows are a fence for self-restraint; silence is a fence for wisdom. [Tractate Avot, III.17, trans. Bokser, 227]
5) The rabbis taught: When the Second Temple was destroyed, many turned to asceticism, committing themselves not to eat meat and not to drink wine. R. Joshua approached them and said, My children, why do you not eat meat and drink wine? They replied to him: Shall we eat meat which used to be offered on the altar as a sacrifice, and now has been voided? Shall we drink wine, which used to be brought as a libation on the altar, and now has been voided?" The rabbis urged moderation in response to this extremism, a position that is summed up in the words of R. Ishmael, "…we do not impose measures on the public unless the majority would find them bearable." [Baba Batra 60b/ trans. Bokser, 196-197]
6) R. Nehunia ben Hakaneh said: He who submits to the yoke of the Torah liberates himself from the yoke of circumstance. He rises above the pressures of the state, and above the fluctuations of worldly fortune… [Tractate Avot, III.6, trans. Bokser, 225]
7) …he who does not increase his knowledge, decreases it; he who does not study has undermined his right to life; and he who makes unworthy use of the crown of the Torah will perish. [Tractate Avot I.13, trans. Bokser, 221]
8) The Rabbis taught: A gentile once came before Shammai and asked him: How many Torahs do you have? He replied: Two, a written Torah and an Oral Torah. The gentile said to him, I believe you with reference to the Written, but with reference to the Oral, I do not believe you. Make me a proselyte by teaching me the Written Torah. Angrily he scolded him and told him to leave. He then came before Hillel who made him a proselyte. The first day he taught him aleph, beth, gimmel, the second day he reversed the names of the letters. He protested to him: But yesterday you did not teach me thus! Hillel replied to him: Did you not depend on me [with reference to the names of the letters of the alphabet]? Then depend on me also with reference to the Oral Torah. [Tractate Shabbat , 30-31b/ trans. Bokser, 86]
9) These things it is forbidden to sell to gentiles: fir cones, white figs with their stalks, frankincense, or a white cock. R. Judah says: One may sell a gentile a white cock among other cocks, or, if it is by itself, cut off its spur and sell it to him, because they do not sacrifice to an idol what is defective….
[Mishna Eduyoth 8.3 — Abodah Zarah 1.6/ trans. Danby, 437]
10) "A white cock," etc. R. Jonna in the name of R. Zara according to others quoting R. Zebid, said: If the buyer is searching for a cock anonymously, even a white one may be sold to him. But if he asks for a white cock, then such must not be sold to him. There is an objection from the Mishna. R. Jehudah said: It may be sold among others. Now, let us see the nature of the case. If the buyer asks for a white cock, then certainly it must not be sold, even among others; we must then say that he asks for a cock in general, and notwithstanding this, is allowed to sell it among the others, but not singly, even according to R. Jehudah. And, according to the first Tana, not even among the others? Said R. Nahman b. Itzhak: The Tanaim of our Mishna speaks of a case when the buyer mentioned a black, red and white one. According to the first Tana, as soon as a white is mentioned, it must not be sold even among others, and according to R. Jehudah, it may, on the supposition that as the other colors are not for sacrificing, the white is not either. But if color was not mentioned at all, even according to the first Tana, the white may be sold among other colors. And there is a Boraitha in accordance with R. Na’hman b. Itzchak, as follows: R. Jehudah said: The prohibition is in force only when the buyer says, Sell me this white cock; but if he said, Sell me this and other colors you have, it is not. And even in the former case, if the buyer has a sick person in his house, or he is preparing a banquet for his son, it is permitted. But does not our Mishna state above: That in such a case that man as well as that day is prohibited? Said R. Itzchak b. R. Mesharshia: R. Jehudah, but the word banquet means a dancing banquet, on which sacrificing is not used, and not a wedding banquet. R. Ashi propounded a question: If the buyer asks for a blemished white cock (which is not used for sacrificing), may one sell him a good white cock, or is it to be feared that because he knows that an Israelite would not sell him a white cock, he deceives him by asking for a blemished one; and should you decide that such is prohibited? Furthermore, how is the law in case he asks for a white one and, nevertheless, takes also a black one and a red one; may one of then sell him a white one also, as it is to be supposed that he does not take them for sacrificing; or here, also, it may be feared that he bought the other colors only because he needs the white one. The question remains undecided.
[Gemara, Tractate Abuda Zara VI/ trans. Rodkinson, X: 23-24]
Readings:
Bokser, Ben Zion. The Talmud: Selected Writings. New York: Paulist Press, 1989.
Cohen, Shaye. From Maccabees to the Mishnah. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1987.
Danby, Herbert. (trans.) The Mishnah. Oxford University Press, 1933.
Fishbane, Michael. The Exegetical Imagination: On Jewish Thought and Theology. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998.
Hecht, N.S. et al., Eds. An Introduction to the History and Sources of Jewish Law. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.
Patai, Raphael. Man and Temple in Ancient Jewish Myth and Ritual. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, LTD, 1947.
Rodkinson, Michael L. (trans.) Babylonian Talmud (18 vols.). Boston: The Talmud Society, 1918.
Smith, Jonathan Z. To Take Place: Toward Theory in Ritual. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1987.
Contents of the Mishnah
First Order, Zeraim (‘Seeds’: largely agricultural law) Berakoth (Benedictions)
Peah (Gleanings)
Demai (Produce)
Kiliam (‘Diverse kinds’)
Shebiith (The Seventh Year)
Terumoth (Heave offerings)
Maaseroth (Tithes)
Maaser Sheni (Second tithes)
Hallah (Dough offering)
Orlah (Fruit of young trees)
Bikkurim (First Fruits)
Second Order Moed (‘Feasts’: religious festivals) Shabbath (The Sabbath)
Erubin (Fusion of Sabbath limits)
Pesahim (Feast of Passover)
Shekalim (Shekel dues)
Yoma (Day of Atonement)
Sukkah (Feast of Tabernacles)
Yom Tob/ Betzah (Festival Days)
Rosh ha-Shanah (Feast of the New Year)
Taanith (Days of Fasting)
Megillah (Scroll of Esther)
Moed Katan (Mid-Festival Days)
Hagigah (Festal Offering)
Third Order Nashim (‘Women’) Yebamoth (Sisters-in-law)
Ketuboh (Marriage deeds)
Nedarim (Vows)
Nazir (Nazirite vows)
Sotah (Suspected adulteress)
Gittin (Bills of Divorce)
Kiddushin (Betrothals)
Fourth Order Nezikin (‘Damages’) Baba Kamma (The First Gate)
Baba Mezia (The Middle Gate)
Baba Batra (The Last Gate)
Sanhedrin (The Sanhedrin)
Makkoth (Stripes)
Shebuoth (Oaths)
Eduyoth (Testimonies)
Aboda Zara (Idolatry)
Avot (The Fathers)
Horayoth (Instructions)
Fifth Order Kodashim (‘Hallowed Things’) Zebahim (Animal offerings)
Menahoth (Meal offerings)
Hullin (Animals killed for food)
Bekhoroth (Firstlings)
Arakhin (Vows of Valuation)
Temurah (Substituted offering)
Kerithoth (Extirpation)
Meilah (Sacrilege)
Tamid (The Daily whole offering)
Middoth (Measurements)
Kinnim (Brid offerings)
Sixth Order Tohoroth (‘Purifications’) Kelim (Vessels)
Oholoth (Tents)
Negaim (Leprosy signs)
Parah (The Red Heifer)
Mikwaoth (Immersion baths)
Niddah (The Menstruant)
Makshirin (Predisposers)
Zabim (The that suffer a flux)
Tebul Yom (He that immersed himself)
Yadaim (Hands)
Uktzin (Stalks)
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