Parshat Re'eh - 5764

Pirkei Avot – Chapter Five – “Four Sets of Four”

Many communities have the custom of reading a chapter of Pirkei Avot every Shabbat after Minchah. Last Shabbat, we read Chapter Five. That chapter is the chapter of numbers and lists: “With ten Utterances, the world was created...” “There were ten generations from Adam till Noach...” and “...from Noach till Avraham,” “By ten tests of faith was our forefather Avraham tested...,” “Ten miracles...,” “Ten trials...,” “Ten (different) miracles...,” “Ten things were created on Erev Shabbat:...,” “Seven traits characterize an unlearned person, and seven a wise person,...” etc. In the Fifth Chapter, as well, seven Mishnayot begin with the words, “There are four...” Of course, the most famous of such descriptions of human behavior is in the Pesach Haggadah, where we find, “The Torah addresses itself to four types of sons: one is the wise son, another is the wicked son, one is the simpleton and one is unable even to formulate a question.” Hundreds of interpretations have been offered for that portion of the Haggadah, so we won’t add another one, at least not till Pesach.

The Mishnayot I’d like to focus on are Mishnayot 13, 14, 16 and 17, where we find four characterizations of human beings, including “chassid” (a righteous one) and “rasha” (a wicked one). In each of these, one may conclude that one is not a “rasha,” because of the principle “A person is not permitted to consider himself ‘wicked.’ ” (Yevamot 25b, Kesuvot 18b, Sanhedrin 9b)

Mishnah 13 describes four character types: “a) one who says ‘My property is mine and yours is yours,’ is an average character type, but some say this is characteristic of Sodom;...” This type should be avoided if only because of the “smell of Sodom.” Perhaps this is because this individual feels no connection with his fellow human beings. If his fellow suffers from poverty, it is none of his concern. “b) ‘Mine is yours and yours is mine’ is an unlearned person;...” This individual does not understand the concept of private property, which underlies Jewish monetary law. “c) ‘Mine is yours and yours is yours,’ is righteous;...” Aside from the fact that this individual is not very concerned about monetary wealth, he knows that all of his possessions are his only by the Will of HaShem, and not because of his skill or talent, and that his neighbor’s poverty therefore obligates him to help. This is the path that every Jew should adopt as their goal. “d) ‘Yours is mine and mine is mine,’ is the type characterized as ‘wicked.’ ” This character type is forbidden as a role-model, as mentioned above.

Mishnah 14 considers a person’s temperament, particularly with respect to the most important characteristic to be avoided; namely, anger. “There are four types of temperament: a) one who is angered easily and is pacified easily, his gain...” (being pacified easily) “...is offset by his loss.” (being brought to anger easily); “b) one who is hard to anger and hard to pacify, his loss...” (being hard to pacify) “...is offset by his gain” (being hard to anger); “c) one who is hard to anger and easy to pacify is righteous” – we are well-advised to emulate this characteristic, exhibited by HaShem, as we saw in Mishnah 6, “With ten trials did our ancestors test the patience of the Holy One, Blessed is He, in the Wilderness...,” and “d) one who is easily angered and hard to pacify is wicked” – by definition out of bounds for the Jew.

Mishnah 16 deals with the attitudes of Jews with regard to the Mitzvah of Tzedakah: “There are four types of donors to charity: a) one who wishes to give himself, but wants others not to give, he is stingy with regard to others;...” He wants all the credit, earthly and heavenly, for himself. “b) that others should give, but he should not give; he is stingy with regard to himself;...” Perhaps he uses his modest means as an excuse. “c) that he should give and that others should give, is righteous;...” He is interested in sharing any reward, earthly or heavenly. “d) that he should not give and that others should also not give, is wicked.” He has cast off all connection with his fellow human beings.

Mishnah 17 deals with the attitudes and behavior of individuals with regard to the study of Torah. “There are four types among those who go to the House of Study: a) one who goes but does not study has the reward for going; b) one who studies at home but does not go to the House of Study, has the reward for accomplishment; c) one who goes and studies is righteous; d) one who does not go and does not study, is wicked.” He has severed his bonds with the Jewish Community.

We study this chapter full-of-numbers in honor of the One Who is described by Yeshayahu HaNavi who gazed at the heavens, full of stars and wrote (Yeshayahu 40:26), in the last verse of the Haftarah of Shabbat Nachamu, “Raise your eyes on high and see Who created these. He brings forth their legion by number; He calls them all by name. Because of His abundant might and powerful strength, there is not missing even one.”

(P.S. The annual mid-August “heavenly” event, the Perseids Meteor Shower, will take place this year on Wednesday night, August 11, 2004 into Thursday, August 12, 2004.

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel

Archive