I put the box with my new computer part on the table in the salon, relieved that it had at last arrived. Meanwhile, my cleaner was busy sweeping and washing the floor. He looked at the box and said quietly, “Don’t use that; it’s old and not good.”
My first thought was to ignore the remark. I mean, I pay my computer ‘geek’ 8 times what I pay my cleaner so I should take his advice, right?
But something made me ask: “Why?”
“It’s the old version.”
“How do you know?”
“In Sri Lanka, I had a computer business. That model was already old then and not very good. There are newer, better ones out now.”
“Could you get me a better one? I wouldn’t know what to ask for.”
“Sure, I’ll bring it next week.”
I could have missed out on that very useful information had I not remembered what Ben Zoma said in Pirkei Avot: “Who is wise? One who learns from everyone.”
Pirkei Avot, known as Ethics of the Fathers, is one of the 63 tractates of the Mishnah and the only one that deals not with laws but morals, wisdom and advice on how to live a worthwhile life. These chapters are learned in many shuls on Shabbat afternoon between Pesach and Shavuot. These are also the weeks of the Counting of the Omer, when we mourn the death of thousands of Rabbi Akivah’s students. We are told they died because they did not treat each other with respect, something that was unacceptable in such illustrious scholars.
It is also the time leading up to our receiving the Torah on Mt. Sinai on Shavuot, and for both these reasons, it is a very opportune time for refining our character and improving our relationship with our friends, neighbors, and acquaintances.
I have heard someone ask what he should do if he is davening as chazan in a community and his particular custom is to say something differently than the way this community does. The answer usually given is to quote Hillel in Pirkei Avot: “Do not separate yourself from the community.”
Have you ever heard someone say, “When I retire or when the children are all at school, I’ll write a book/go to shiurim/learn Daf Yomi/I’ll go back and study medicine…”
Many years ago, Hillel warned: “Do not say when I free myself of my concerns I will study, for perhaps you will never free yourself.”
Regarding the most important trait for a person to have, Rabbi Shimon suggests that it is Ha’roeh et ha’nolad; he who sees the consequences of what he is about to do.
Have you ever been asked to do some chesed for someone? Perhaps make a meal or babysit for a new mother, or make up a minyan, or join a group to pray for a refuah sheleima for someone sick? Maybe your first thought was oh gosh, I may have time today, but who says I’ll be able to do it next time I’m asked? Maybe I won’t have time then…perhaps it’s better to say ‘no’ now.
Rabbi Tarfon has the answer for you. He said, “You don’t have to finish the job, but nor are you free to absolve yourself from doing it.”
Perhaps you remember the 1980s fitness adage ‘no pain, no gain,’ which encouraged exercising until your body was aching.
Even that originated in Pirkei Avot, but with a different meaning. L’fum tzara agra is the idea that the more effort you put into something, the more you will get out of it. But I don’t think exercising was on their minds at the time.
Other important advice you will find among the pages :
- Always greet everyone with a smile.
- Treat other people’s property as if it is your own.
- If a person is pleasing to others, then Hashem is pleased with him. If he is not pleasing to others, then Hashem is not pleased with him.
Of course many of the pieces of advice are to do with Judaism and learning Torah.
Do not say your prayers by rote is something that applies to many of us today
Pirkei Avot is possibly the quintessential guide to living your life as a Jewish mensch. It is worth delving into at any time of the year.