Avot Chapter 2 Class at SOY Shabbat (1989)

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Interpretation of Avot, Chapter One (1976)

יהושע בן פרחי... עשה לך רב וקנה לך חבר והוי דן את כל האדם לכף זכות. What does the last of these three items have to do with the two preceding ones? The next Mishnah reads: נטע הארבלי אומר: הרחק משכן רע ואל תתחבר לרשע ואל תתייאש מן הפורענויות. The second Mishnah, that of Nitai, is one which presents us with a brooding awareness of the presence of evil in life, both moral and natural evil. Nitai tells us to keep far away from an evil neighbor, because such people become the most efficient teachers, insinuating their poinson into our own systems. Similarly, he warns us against adopting an evil person as a friend. Finally, he is aware of פורענויות or natural evil. He tells us never to be fully secure, always to be aware of the possibility of catastrophe and cataclysm.Joshua b. Perachia does not dispute these things, but gives us the positive formulation, the negative. He is not so much afraid of evil, as he is anxious agressively to find the way of the right and the good. He therefore tells us not to beware of the noxious pedagogic influences of the bad neighbor, but advises us to go out and make ourselves the right kind of teacher. Similarly, instead of being chary of having-a bad Triend, he tells us to acquire, a^gpod one. However, this does not mean that ,Joshua b. Perachia sees the world through rose-colored glasses! He is fully aware of the possibility of evll, and he is especially mindful of moral failure. He therefore is concerned that if we get ourselves a teacher," and begin to acrmire and worship theh be faced, suddenly and unexpectedly, "with the There is little that can compare disappointment of a student who admires a teacher or a rabbi and discovers that he is — merely human... Similarly, we have friends and think we know them well, and then we find that we are deep l׳y'disappointed by them. At such, a time your inclination is to go complete to the other extreme, and to say that everyor rotte Therefore he tells us:"to judge people by the scale of merit, t…

Pirkei Avot

Perek Class - For Avot Chapter 1 (1951)

I. Most of פרק directed towards רב, דיין, ראש קהל. By studying the requirements of their leaders, all Jews will know what is ideally expected of them. II. read Mishna הוי זהירין ברשות וכו. III. ברשות, not מרשות. i.e. Jewish official showed not copy others. Others use the people in own job. example: Jacob saw סולם, is symbol of Jew, way used as means. Same is Jew. Einstein – scie___, Bapysm – France, etc. J. leads, not so. IV. days of "Thursday" thrown at religious Jews. False. " means no

Pirkei Avot