Joel’s Week 1: Introduction
Some of the first Jewish texts I ever learned were from Pirke Avot.
If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself what am I? And if not now, when?
It is not your duty to complete the work; neither are you free to desist from it.
On three things does the world stand—on Torah, worship, and acts of lovingkindness.
I sang these words in Hebrew during my first summer at camp; at the time, at age 10, to the extent I thought about who wrote them, I assumed that they were written by the legendary songleaders who had spent time only a few years earlier at the same camp—people like Debbie Friedman and Jeff Klepper.
These texts, and the melodies that Friedman and Klepper set them to, lit a fire under me. I wanted to be that songleader, getting 100 kids and 20 teenage counselors to sing with all of their might. And when I got old enough to think about the meaning of the words, I wanted to live up to their call.
It turns out, of course, that these and so many other pithy Jewish sayings weren’t composed in the 1970’s—just the melodies were. The words come down to us from a text nearly 2000 old—Pirke Avot, “The Ethics of our Ancestors.” For 50 generations, Jews have been studying them, pondering them, and debating them.
The words are pithy, filled with ethical teachings and folk wisdom, and they are among the best-known words of Jewish teaching after the Bible itself and the haggadah we read on Passover. The collection is one of the 63 tractates of the Mishnah, the first serious code of Jewish law dating to around the 3rd century C.E. Pirke Avot itself contains no halakhah—no binding legal—only aggadah-- sacred maxims.
But what critical maxims they are; they lay out the unbroken chain of transmission of Torah from God and Moses all the way down to the rabbis that kept Judaism together after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 C.E. Through these aphorisms, Torah study itself becomes a holy act. Here we meet Hillel and Shammai, great rival houses of study who remind us that, in struggling with Jewish text, we can find an incredible path for our everyday lives.
There is a custom in some Jewish communities of studying the words of Pirke Avot in the weeks between Passover and Shavuot—the holiday on which we celebrate the giving of Torah on Mount Sinai. It’s as if, in studying these words, we are preparing ourselves once again for that sacred and indescribably powerful moment.
One of the most famous sayings in Pirke Avot is: get yourself a teacher, and acquire yourself a friend. Fortunately for me, I have found both in our fellow congregant Beth Levine. When we spoke last autumn and she told me of her shared love of these texts, I asked her if we could learn together, and share what we had learned with the congregation . She immediately said yes, and this blog is the outcome of that ongoing conversation.
Each week we have chosen one of our favorite passages from each of the six chapters of the book. We will share the text, share some of the classic commentators on that text, and, as well, share our own gloss on the words. We invite you to study with us, ponder with us, and debate with us about the meaning of the words themselves, and the meaning they might bring to our modern lives. Feel free to comment (respectfully, of course).
I still want to sing the melodies to which modern Jewish troubadors set these ancient words, and we do at BHSS. I still want us as a sacred community to live up to these words. Through study, prayer, and action, we strive to do just that.
Join us. Blessed are You, Eternal our God, who makes us holy with commandments, and commands us to immerse ourselves in the waters of Torah.
Beth Levine - Week 1: Introduction
Rabbi Mosbacher has given you some history and context about Pirke Avot. Since I am new to the congregation I feel I should give you all a little introduction to me.
Hi. My name is Beth Levine. I was born into what could be called a typical Reform family. We went to services on the High Holy Days and the occasional Friday night. I became a Bat Mitzvah and went forward with Confirmation. As a child I enjoyed going to Hebrew school and studying in preparation for my Bat Mitzvah and then my Confirmation. I enjoyed learning about Judaism and did not complain about going. During my Bat Mitzvah studies, I asked my parents, if they were spending all this money on my Jewish education and going to spend even more money on my Bat Mitzvah why we rarely did anything “Jewish” at home. Thus began the weekly lighting of Shabbat candles, blessing challah & wine. We began to go to services a bit more frequently and when I got old enough to drive, I would buy flowers for my mom as part of the Shabbat celebration.
When I went away to college, I “dropped out” of Jewish scene for a while. I have no explanation other than it just didn’t take precedence in my life during those years. However, upon graduating and beginning to establish my adult life I renewed my interest in Jewish life, practice, and learning. I took adult ed classes in my local synagogue, went to services on a fairly regular basis and joined the choir.
A little history about how this blog came about. Once a month, I meet with a group of friends to celebrate Shabbat and study. I guess you can call us a chavurah. In the approximately 10 years we have been gathering, we have studied several texts together. The first text we studied together was Pirke Avot. It took us about 3 years to get through it in its entirety. Recently the group has changed with the loss of a few people and the addition of a few others. We decided to go back to Pirke Avot since it had been so long since we finished it and there were some new people. Just at this time, I mentioned our study group to Rabbi Mosbacher. He was very excited and mentioned that he had been wanting to do something with the congregation on this text. He asked if I would be willing to help him with this endeavor and I agreed!
I am a lifelong learner and believe the key to Reform Judaism is to continue studying and learning as much as possible. Learning enables me to make informed choices about my practice as well as to understand both the Jewish world and the broader human world in which we all live together.
While being a lifelong learner, I do not consider myself to be an expert or Jewish scholar. Some of you reading this may find yourselves more learned than me, some equally learned and others not as much. I am excited to hear all your views, ideas and feeling about about Pirke Avot as presented here.
I challenge you all to respond to this blog. Feel free to respectfully disagree, add your own thoughts, cite other sources and commentators, etc. I can’t wait to hear from everyone.
Respectfully Submitted
Beth F. Levine
