Pirkei Avos Chapter Two Mishnah Nine

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IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF OUR FATHERS

Pirkei Avos Chapter Two Mishnah Nine

Harav Y. Reuven Rubin Shlita

Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai received the tradition from Hillel and Shamai. He used to say: If you have studied much Torah, do not take credit for yourself, because that is what you were created to do. (2:9)

As a frequent flyer I am a great student of the art of maximising one’s time in airport departure lounges. Throughout the world these enormous buildings have taken on a look that seems to come from one central designer. The same sort of duty-free shops vie for your attention as you schlep along the miles of hallways that lead from one gate to the next. I can never understand how it is that my particular departure gate is always the furthest away, nor why its waiting area is the one with just that less seats less seats than needed.

There was a time when planes weren’t usually full, and one could look forward to having plenty of room to spread one’s gear whilst in the waiting area. This is no longer the case; recently I have found that planes are fuller and the waiting areas smaller. One huge ray of light in all this is the sight of Heimishe Yidden learning the Daf. It is much more obvious today that this learning cycle has taken hold in many more lives. No matter where a yid travels the first thing he will do is check out if any other Heimishe counterparts are on his plane. More and more I find that my fellow Glatt kosher special meal eaters are using the stop-over time to learn their Daf. You look about and there you will find a Jew and his Gemora, something that is becoming as much a part of waiting lounge décor as the soft drinks machine.

I remember the quip of an older Rav just after the Siyum Hashas some years ago. He smiled and said that it will soon become necessary that at such occasions they will have to design one huge top table with a small row of seats in the back. When asked what he meant, he smiled, saying that the average Baal Habayis will have learnt the entire Shas, plus any other number of daily shiurim, so that he will be worthy to sit on the top table. Those few seats will be left over for the small number of people who will own up to not having learned as much as the rest.

In this small bit of humour lies a deeper truth, and this Mishnah talks about it. The truth is that we are seeing a huge upsurge of Torah learning in our midst. People are going to shiurim on a more regular basis and no matter where you find yourself you can be sure that some Yidel is there and that he is learning as well. With all this learning, there could come certain dangers as well. People could begin to think that they are so learned that they need not ask questions, nor heed the words of our sages. After all, haven’t we all visited the same pages of the Gemoro as our Rabbonim? Why should we think that our vast knowledge isn’t good enough? Yet, in truth, the more the average householder learns, the more he accepts that he knows all too little. This is a phenomenon that is unique to the Torah, and marks out how truly holy the Torah is.

The Sfas Emes explains that the Mishna is teaching us that if you learn much Torah, the insight gained from it will ensure that you will not take undue credit for yourself. It is only those that have learnt little who immediately give themselves huge credit for what they think they have accomplished.

I used to be astounded how those who have actually learnt so little would deign to speak and pontificate on Torah issues as if they were experts. Often as not their total base of understanding was a few years of pre- bar mitzvah playing about, and perhaps a cursory look at a tattered Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. Yet these gents will write letters in the general Jewish papers, and speak about subjects’ way out of their depth. I was once confronted by just such a soul, and after hearing his very in-depth understanding of the Halachos of an Aguna I asked him, “Tell me, if I read an article on heart surgery in the “Readers Digest” would you allow me to operate on you?” He was wise enough to step back somewhat, although something tells me it was only a momentary retreat.

The Sfas Emes continues his explanation of this Mishnah by pointing out the phrase: “Because that is what you were created to do”. He tells us that the expression can also be referring back to the preceding words, “Do not credit yourself.”  Hence the message of the Mishna is that it was worth creating man for the sole purpose that he not take credit for his learning accomplishments. Hashem is gratified if man does not take too much pride in his own accomplishments.

So, we travel through the world, physically and spiritually, with a sefer tucked beneath our arm….and we learn to be Torah Jews by knowing we have yet much more to learn.