“Joshua the son of Perachia would
say: Get yourself a teacher, acquire for yourself a friend, and judge every
person on the side of merit.”
Pirke Avot 1:6
You are free
to comment on the above text freely with your own personal thoughts and
reflections, and/or use the questions below to inspire your written responses.
1. What are the similarities and differences between teachers and friends? Why do you think the text highlights the importance of teachers and friends in this short excerpt?
2. Do you think that there is a connection between the
text’s emphasis on teachers/friends and the imperative to “judge every person
on the side of merit”?
3. How does this quote, early in the text of Pirke Avot, set the stage for the value
of learning, education, and friendship in Jewish life? What about in your own
life?
First, I am looking forward to learning with and from each of you, as we each are both teachers and students (as well as friends). To start this learning conversation, I offer my
ReplyDeleteinitial thoughts on the first two clauses ("get yourself a teacher, acquire for yourself a friend"). For me, these clauses speak to the importance of expanding beyond our inner self - our thoughts, beliefs, conclusions - by finding people who will challenge us, and help shape how with think and behave. It is far easier to convince ourselves that we are in the right - whether in our thoughts or actions - when we have no one with whom to interact, no one to whom we have to defend those thoughts or actions. Just as no person is an island, no person stands alone, each persons joy is joy to me, each persons' grief is my own" (variation on words by Peter Schickele), we need to recognize the importance of relationships with those from whom we can learn and those with whom we can share (which is admittedly a wide, probably unlimited, group). A second aspect of these clauses is that we also must learn to be teachers and friends, dual roles for all, both sides of the coin.
How interesting to have this conversation via blog-- great idea! Okay so Ron you took the first part of this phrase to comment on so I will take the second part, " judge each person on the side of merit." I always believe that people are basically good with positive intentions but are sometimes confused or misunderstood or assign negative motives to actions. If we choose to treat each person as if they "mean well" then we are more likely to have positive interactions and will stay on the side of merit!
ReplyDeleteMake a friend, look for the good in others - these instructions are easy to understand, even if they are difficult to follow. But wat does it mean to "Get yourself a teacher?" To teach what - a trade, Torah, how to swim? Perhaps, in context, the teacher that Joshua adjures us to find is one who will teach us to see the merit in another, and thereby to make a friend.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI wonder about the context, a self help for the first century!? Get a teacher, acquire a friend, look for the good in others excellent advice for leading a fulfilled life.
Could the phrase judge every person on the side of merit have an additional meaning beyond look for the good in others? Perhaps it is a reminder to keep what is truly meritorious upper most in our minds when we seek teachers and friends rather than be distracted by that which is superfluous? Could Joshua be saying find teachers and friends whose merits are in keeping with the highest standards of Joshua's own world view as a path to being a person of merit?
To me this passage is about being open minded and open hearted to a variety of people. First the teacher, someone with established wisdom or experience. To be open to learn and incorporate the teachings in our lives. An obvious source. Next our friends who by their very nature are out for our best interest. A reminder to be open and that every friendship is reciprocal in our learnings. And finally the world, the ones who we might never have met. It tells us to be open and positive to all. In a world that it is so easy to be cynical, it is hard to be trusting and open. This reminds us to be positive and believe in the best in people to maximize our own experience and knowledge in our life.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the difference between "get" and "acquire"?
ReplyDeleteHi! I think that the second part of the quotation, "judge every person on the side of merit" is much easier said than done, just like so much of Pirkei Avot, which makes it so interesting and so challenging to incorporate it into our lives. Thinking about this line, I wonder -- How often do I assume that my misplaced sweater was taken without asking by my sister? How often do I insist that my missing earrings were swiped by the painter? In these cases and many others throughout my day and I would guess the days of others, we assume the worst of the people around us. It is much easier to claim that the math teacher wanted us to fail than it is to admit that I just didn't grasp the material. I think that Pirkei Avot really forces us to examine our own actions and thought processes, and I'm excited to be studying in such a cool way! Thanks, Rabbi Lisa!
ReplyDeleteIn response to Ellen's question regarding the distinction between get and acquire, I think that may be a key (at least for me) to the passage. My first thought is that "acquiring" might be more difficult, as friendships are more of a challenge to develop and maintain. On the other hand, acquiring might be seen as more passive, which leads me to my next thought: Perhaps the three clauses (or at least the first two) are not meant to be separate ideas?
ReplyDeleteWhen you get yourself a teacher, you acquire for yourself a friend.
Interesting. Did anyone look at Hebrew root for those three words? Interesting. I'm going to try.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is such a great idea!! Hi from Spain!
ReplyDeleteI like this passage because it puts together three thoughts that might not seem to fit together at first, but really add great meaning to each other. If we see teachers as friends and friends as teachers, it raises our standards of both. Teachers are not just those who hand us information, but people who support us in our growth, as we would hope friends do as well. On the flip side, friends are not just people we've connected to on Facebook with the click of a button. Rather, we hope to learn from and grow from our friends, making them both friends and teachers. As for judging every person on the side of merit, this certainly has to do with friends and teachers as well. If we go beyond just seeing people in a positive light, but actually strive to see them as people from whom we could learn and grow, what a place the world would be!!
Carly's right- it's much easier to assume she stole my sweater than to remember that I left it in storage at college for the summer.
I need to put my posts into more than one window since I exceeded my space limit!!! So here is #1:
DeleteWhat a wonderful array of comments on our first perek (a perek is a verse or a section of text)! I think that the discussion and questions are particularly insightful. I am weighing in with some thoughts and classical interpretation not because I have THE answers…but because I want to see just how on-point and accurate your musings are. The questions and comments that you raise have been raised by generations of students and teachers – and there is truly no single authoritative answer or response. Remember, Jewish learning and even Jewish law are more about interpretation than ‘truth’… and because Pirke Avot is an ethical text, it is meant to guide one’s behavior but also inspire one’s study.
So, first, many scholars have, in fact, suggested – as did members of our group -- that these are to be seen as three related thoughts on a theme rather than as separate ideas or imperatives.
The first two thoughts are quite easily connected – and more than one of you offered quite a poetic synthesis of these two ideas regarding the importance and similarities between teachers and friends. In my own understanding of the text, the key to these first two passages actually rests in the Hebrew word “chaver” which is loosely translated in most versions as “friend.” Actually, in the language of the Rabbinic Academies, chaver may also specifically refer to one’s study partner. It was the custom – and remains so – that traditional Jewish learning is accomplished by pairs of students who study together, analyze meanings together, even disagree with one another. Yehoshua ben Perachiya -- the Sage to whom this perek is attributed -- lived in the Second Century of the Common Era, and was, himself, the study partner of another well-known Rabbi of the time whose name was Nittai of Arabel. While little is known of Nittai of Arabel or his work, he was and will always be connected to Yehoshua ben Perachiya and his writings because the two spent many years as partners or pairs (in Hebrew zugot) in their mutual learning. It is possible that Yehoshua ben Perachiya in this perek is actually commenting on the way in which he views and values the process of Jewish teaching and learning: The first priority is to get a teacher. But it is not only a teacher that one needs for Jewish learning to be effective and satisfying: one also needs the partnership of a fellow student. To me, this perek speaks volumes about the Jewish worldview that learning is a sacred and a social endeavor. It is personal. It needs not only to be directed by an instructor; it also needs to be lived and experienced directly – with a partner. As such, Jewish learning is both a sacred act and a religious obligation that one participates as a member of the community.
#2
DeleteIn answer to your great question about how the Hebrew root words “get for yourself” and “acquire” are/are not related…it is true that they are derived from different Hebrew roots. However, in this type of verse or saying, they are intended to be parallel in meaning. This parallelism is seen over and over again in the Hebrew Scriptures – in both poetry and prose – and, in my opinion, we have a similar parallelism at work here. Stylistically (and to some degree even from the standpoint of content) I compare this type of verse (saying or quip) to those that we find in the Book of Proverbs – where such parallelism is used in order to emphasize the idea that both friends/study partners and teachers are “must-haves”. The idea is: "REALLY get for yourself...." In this case, I think that the repetition does not signify a difference in meaning, but rather a similarity.
Finally, the third part of the phrase. I really appreciate your poetic interpretations of this final third of our perek! I agree with your interpretations that WHEN we learn from good teachers and WHEN we have amazing colleagues/study partners/friends, we are more likely to see the world and assess others in a more unbiased way. For me, like you, this is an expression of tolerance. While there is plenty of commentary in Jewish tradition that speaks about “learning for the sake of learning” we must remember that this text is one that is about ethics: it is about how we behave, the way in which we treat others, and even how we think about others in our hearts. The text seems to indicate that teachers and friends (study partners) keep us on the side of fairness, justice and tolerance…and that these people are so powerful in their influence that they have the potential to influence not only the way in which we act and behave, but also the way in which think about others. Every day, in our morning prayers, we read the Elu Devarim – the final line of the prayer below provides a clear illustration of the way in which the Rabbis believed that Torah (Jewish learning) serves as the foundation, the starting point, for all deeds of justice and lovingkindness. Truly, studying and behavior – even the private “judgments” of our own hearts – are intimately connected.
These are the things that are limitless,
of which a person enjoys the fruit of the world,
while the principal remains in the world to come.
They are: honoring one’s father and mother,
engaging in deeds of compassion,
arriving early for study, morning and evening,
dealing graciously with guests, visiting the sick,
providing for the wedding couple,
accompanying the dead for burial,
being devoted in prayer,
and making peace among people.
But the study of Torah encompasses them all.
I gave everyone an extra day to chime in since this was the first week of our course. The new week’s text and questions will be posted tomorrow.
Keep learning and thinking and writing….