CHAPTER VI.

[Wise men have taught in the Mishna tongue. Blessed is He that made choice of them and their Mishna.]

MISHNA A. R. Meir said: "Whosoever is busied in Torah for the love thereof merits many things; and not only so, but he is worth the whole world, as he is called friend, beloved, loves the Omnipotent and mankind; pleases the Omnipotent and mankind. And it clothes him with meekness and fear, and fits him to become righteous, pious, upright, and faithful; and removes him from sin, and brings him toward the side of merit. And they derive from him the benefit of good counsel, and sound wisdom, understanding, and strength, as it is written [Prov. viii. 14]: 'Mine are counsel and sound wisdom: I am understanding; mine is might.' And it gives him kingdom and dominion, and faculty of judgment. And they reveal to him secrets of Torah; and he is made, as it were, a spring that ceases not and as a river that flows on increasing. And he becomes modest and long-suffering, and forgiving of insult, and it magnifies him and exalts him over all things."

MISHNA B. Said R. Jehoshua b. Levi: "Every day a Heavenly voice goes forth from Mount Horeb, and proclaims as follows: 'Woe to the creatures for contempt of the Law, for whosoever does not occupy himself in the Law is called "blameworthy," as it is written [Prov. xi. 22]: 'As a golden ring in a swine's snout, so is a handsome woman that hath thrown off discretion'; and it is also written [Ex. xxxii. 16]: 'And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved (charuth) upon the tables.' Do not read charuth, graven,

but cheruth, freedom, for there is no free man but him who is occupied in the study of the Law; as whosoever is occupied in such study, behold he exalts himself, as it is written [Numb. xxi. 19]: 'And from Mattanah to Nachaliël; and from Nachaliël to Barmoth.""

MISHNA C. He who learns from his companion one chapter, or one Halakha, or one verse, or one word, or even one letter is bound to do him honor, for thus we find with David, King of Israel, who learned from Achitophel two things only, and nevertheless he named him his master, his guide, and his acquaintance, as it is written [Ps. lv. 14]: "But it is thou, a man my equal, my guide, and my acquaintance." And is there not an a fortiori conclusion to be drawn from this, that as David, King of Israel, who learned from Achitophel two things only, called him his master, his guide, and his acquaintance, he who learns from his companion one chapter, or one Halakha, or one verse, or even one letter is so much the more bound to do him honor? And honor is nothing but the Torah, as it is written [Prov. iii. 35]: "The wise shall inherit glory"; and also [ibid. xxviii. 10]: "But the men of integrity will inherit what is good"; and good is nothing but the Torah, as it is written [ibid. iv. 2]: “For good information do I give you, my teaching (Torah) must ye not forsake."

MISHNA D. This is the path of Torah: A morsel with salt shalt thou eat. Thou shalt drink also water by measure (Ezek. v. 11) and shalt sleep upon the ground, and live a life of painfulness, and in Torah shalt thou labor. If thou doest thus, "happy shalt thou be and it shall be well with thee" [Ps. cxxviii. 2]. Happy shalt thou be" in this world, and "it shall be well with thee" in the world to come.

MISHNA E. Seek not greatness for thyself, and desire not honor. Practise more than thou learnest, and lust not for the table of kings, for thy table is greater than theirs, and thy crown greater than their crown, and faithful is

thy taskmaster, who will pay thee the wage of thy work.

MISHNA F. Greater is Torah than the priesthood, and than the kingdom; for the kingdom is acquired by thirty degrees, and the priesthood by twenty-four, and the Torah is acquired by forty-eight. And these are they by learning, by a listening ear, by orderly speech, by discernment of heart, by reverence, by fear, by meekness, by cheerfulness, by purity, by attendance upon the wise, by discussion with associates, by argumentation of disciples, by sedateness, by Scripture, by Mishna, by moderation of business, limitation of worldly things, by temperance in pleasure, by little sleep, by lessening converse, by reducing merriment, by long-suffering, by a good heart, by faith in the wise, by acceptance of chastisements; he that knows his place, and that rejoices in his portion, and that makes a face to his words, and does not claim merit to himself he is loved, loves God, loves all creatures, loves righteousness, loves uprightness, loves reproofs, and retires from honor, and does not puff up his heart on account of his learning, and does not rejoice because he is privileged to give decision, bears the yoke with his associates, and inclines him to the scale of merit, and grounds him upon the truth and upon peace, and concentrates his mind in study, asks and answers, hears and adds thereto; he that learns in order to teach, and learns in order to practise; that makes his master wiser, and that considers what he has heard, and tells a thing in the name of him that said it. Lo, thou hast learned that whosoever tells a thing in the name of him that said it brings redemption to the world, as it is written [Esther, ii. 22]: "And Esther said it to the king in the name of Mordecai."

Tosephtha-Aboth of R. Nathan.

* There are four things which bear good fruit in this world, and yield greater benefits for the world to come, if man observes

* Chapter XL. of the original.

them. They are honoring of parents, conferring favors, reconciliation of adversaries, and, above all, the study of the Law. There are four things for which one who is guilty of them is punished both in this and in the world to come; namely, idolatry, incest, shedding of blood, and, above all, slander.

A meritorious act has both principal and benefit, as it is written [Is. iii. 10]: "Say ye to the righteous, that he hath done well; for the fruit of their doings shall they eat." A transgression has principal but no benefit, as it is written [ibid. 11]: Woe unto the wicked for the recompense of his hands," etc. According to others, transgressors have benefit, as it is written [Prov. i. 31]: "Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way," etc.

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"One who causes many to be righteous, no sin prevails upon him." In order that he might not go to Gehenna, while his disciples will enjoy the world to come, as it is written [Ps. xvi. 10]: "For thou wilt not abandon my soul to the grave." On the other hand," One who causes others to sin is never afforded the faculty to repent"—also for the reason that the reverse of the above shall not be the case, as it is written [Prov. xxviii. 17]: A man oppressed by the load of having shed human blood will flee even to the pit."

One who says, "I will sin and then do repentance," is not afforded the opportunity to repent; "I will sin, and the Day of Atonement will atone for it," or, "I will sin, and the day of death will wipe it out "-it does not do so.

R. Elazar b. Jose says: "One who has sinned and repented, and thenceforward seeks to perfect himself, does not move from his place until he is forgiven; and one who says that he will sin and repent thereafter, he is forgiven only up to three times, and no more.'

"

"There are four characters among men," etc. There are four characters among disciples: one who desires to teach and that others shall do likewise, he is of a good disposition; if he desires to teach, but does not like to see others do the same thing, he is of bad disposition. That others shall teach, and not he-this is medium. According to others, this is the character of Sodom (as the Sodomites did not want any one to derive any benefit from them). If, however, he wishes that neither he nor others shall teach, he is decidedly wicked.

There are four characters among those who sit in the house of learning. One who becomes friendly (with the sages who

study there) and studies with them has a share (with the sages); one who befriends himself but does not study with them has no share; one who estranges himself (from the sages) but studies himself has a share; and the one who both estranges himself and does not study has no share.

One who propounds questions and gives their answers has a share (in the world to come); one who only questions has none; one who sits and keeps silent has a share. One who befriends. himself in order that he might listen and learn has a share; if he befriends himself in order that others might say that he befriends himself and sits before a wise man, he has none. If he sits at a distance in order to accord honor to one who is superior to him, he has a share; if, however, the reason is that others might say that he does not need that sage, he has none. One that propounds questions and gives their answers in order that others might say that he propounds questions and gives their answers and serves the scholars, has no share; if, however, he does so in order really to learn something, he has. If he sits silent in order to listen and learn, he has a share; if, however, the purpose is that others might say that he does so, he has

none.

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There are four different characters among students,” etc. One resembles a sponge: as a sponge absorbs all liquids, so does that kind of student absorb all that he studies: Scripture, Mishnah, Midrash, Halakhoth, and Agadoth. One is like a sieve: as a sieve passes through the fine flour and retains the coarse particles, so an intelligent student retains what is good in the study and leaves out what is not. One is like a funnel: as it lets in the liquid through one opening and lets it out through the other, so is it with the unintelligent student-what enters his one ear goes out through the other, until all is gone. The fourth student is like a wine-strainer which lets the wine pass through and absorbs the dregs: so also the wicked student forgets the good teachings and retains the bad ones.

R. Eliezer b. Jacob named the last one a horn (which lets in the liquids at one end and lets them out at the other). How so? For instance, a child who is given a pearl, he will drop the latter when given a slice of bread; and when given a potsherd he will drop the bread, and finally he has nothing but the potsherd.

As to disciples, R. Gamaliel the elder compares them to the following four kinds of fish: an unclean, a clean fish, a fish found