Aligned sentence by sentence
.
He laid it down that prayer should weigh heavily upon a person, and that he should reckon it as one who has been assigned a task to perform and seeks to be relieved of it.
[]
Mishnah [17]
.
He said: "Know what to answer" concerning the heretics among the [gentile] religious communities, and how to debate them and reply to them should they raise objections against you.
, , , .
They said: "They taught this only of an Epicurean who is a gentile, but an Epicurean who is an Israelite—all the more so does he deny" (BT Sanhedrin 38b)—meaning that such a one only grows more brazen in his contempt and mockery. For this reason one ought not engage him in disputation at all, since he is past mending and there is no remedy for him whatsoever: "none who go to her return, nor do they reach the paths of life" (Prov 2:19).
, .
And he said: even while you study the doctrines of the [gentile] communities so as to learn how to refute them, beware lest anything of that cling to your mind. And know that the One before whom you serve knows your innermost secrets—this is his saying, "and know before whom you toil."
[]
Mishnah [18]
, , , , .
This is a parable concerning the brevity of life, the abundance of knowledge to be acquired, and people's sloth in pursuing it—despite the great reward for it, and despite the Torah's urging and its insistence upon its pursuit and study.
[]
Mishnah [19]
, .
He means "for the World to Come." We have already spoken about the meaning of the World to Come in [our comment on] the tenth chapter of Sanhedrin (M. Sanhedrin 10), to the extent fitting to mention in keeping with the brevity of this commentary.
. .
*Chapter Three.*
[]
Mishnah [1]
. .
This reflection imposes humility upon a person—by his considering whence he came. His reflecting upon where he is going imposes upon him contempt for the goods of this world.
. .
And his reflecting upon the greatness of the Matter imposes upon him eagerness to comply with His command. When these three things are attained, there is no sin at all.
[]
Mishnah [2]
.
He means: were it not for fear of the government, we would have swallowed one another alive.
[]
Mishnah [3]
, .
His proof that any gathering in which words concerning the excellence of the Torah are not spoken is called "a session of scoffers" derives from the end of the verse that says, "but his delight is in the Torah of the Lord" (Ps 1:2). It is as though he were saying: since his delight was in the Torah of the Lord, he did not sit in a session of scoffers, in which there is no Torah of the Lord.
, .
And his interpretation of *wa-yiddom* ["and he was silent"] as belonging to the category of faint speech derives from the phrase "a thin, faint sound" (1 Kgs 19:12); and from this too is the interpretation of the Targum's rendering of "and Aaron was silent" (Lev 10:3) as "and Aaron praised."
, .
And his proof that [the one who studies Torah] is like one who has borne the whole burden of the Law derives from the phrase "[a portion] was set upon him"—as though the descent of the entire Law had been upon him alone.
[]
Mishnah [4]
, . .
"Sacrifices of the dead" (Ps 106:28) is a designation for an idolatrous offering, just as Scripture named it so, according to what we explained in the third chapter of [tractate] Avodah Zarah. He also named it "vomit and filth" as a way of disparaging it, just as idolatry itself is called "dung-idols" and "abominations."
, .
Before this verse there comes a verse indicating preoccupation with eating and drinking and the abandonment of the Torah and of intelligent reflection upon it; for this reason all the "tables" become as though nothing were eaten upon them but filth and refuse—that is, the foods [offered to] the idol. This is his statement before this verse: "But these too reel with wine and stagger with strong drink: priest and prophet reel with strong drink, they are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink, they reel in vision, they totter in judgment; for all tables [are covered with vomit and filth]" (Isa 28:7–8).
[]
Mishnah [5]
.
Rabbi Ḥananyah ben Ḥakhinai said: one who wakes in the night from his sleep and travels along the road alone while pondering the neglect of religion has made himself deserving of punishment from God.
[]
Mishnah [6]
, , , . , , .
"The yoke of Torah" [means] the obligation of [Torah] study; "the yoke of government," the burdens of the ruler and his oppression; and "the yoke of worldly affairs," the burdens of the age. He says that in return for taking upon himself the yoke of Torah, God spares him the demands of kings and eases for him the burdens of the age.
. , .
And they said: "Whoever casts off the yoke—he who says, 'The Torah is from Heaven and I will not bear it'" [is removed from this and from that]. And they said: "Read not *ḥarut* ['engraved'] upon the tablets but *ḥerut* ['freedom'] upon the tablets" (BT Eruvin 54a)—meaning freedom from the calamities of time and the calamities of the ruler for whoever complies with what is set down upon the tablets.
[]
Mishnah [7]
. .
We explained at the beginning of Sanhedrin that the term "congregation" does not apply to fewer than ten. And there we explained that a court is no fewer than three—these being the ones called *elohim* in the sense of "judge."
, , , .
As for the interpretation of *agudah*, it is "a grasp"; the hand has within it five fingers with which one grasps, and the assembling of the five fingers is likewise called a "grasp."
[]
Mishnah [11]
, , .
This is a matter agreed upon by the philosophers as well: that if the habituation to the virtues precedes [the acquisition of] knowledge—until a strong disposition is formed in a person—and he afterward learns the wisdom that urges him toward those goods, then his delight in wisdom, his love of it, and his striving to increase it all grow, since it moves him toward what he has grown accustomed to.
.
But if the dispositions of the vices precede, and he afterward learns, so that wisdom comes to restrain him from what he desires by habit, then it weighs heavily upon him and he casts it off.
[]
Mishnah [13]
.
He says that these things nullify a person's virtue, so that he departs from the world a loser.
[]
Mishnah [14]
, . , . , .
"One who whitens the face of his fellow" [means] one who shames his companion and makes him pale. "And one who is brazen-faced toward the Torah" is the one who transgresses the statutes of the Torah, notorious and openly defiant—and this is the height of denial, as He, exalted, said: "But the person who acts with a high hand" (Num 15:30). The meaning of "brazen-faced" is one who uncovers his face and is impudent.
, , .
This is their text in interpreting it, in [tractate] Gemar Peʾah; they said: "'One who is brazen-faced toward the Torah'—this is one who transgresses the words of Torah in public, like Jehoiakim son of Josiah; 'who breaks the covenant'—this is one who draws his foreskin over himself," that is, one who was not circumcised in his maturity if he was not circumcised in his youth.
, , .
And there they said, concerning all the things about which the Sages declared that whoever does them "has no portion in the World to Come": "How do we stand? If he repented, there is nothing that can stand before one who repents; rather, [it speaks] of one who did not repent and died amid sufferings"—meaning that, given the gravity of those sins about which they said "he has no portion in the World to Come" relative to other sins, even sufferings together with death do not procure atonement for them.
[]
Mishnah [15]
, . , . , .
*Qalut* is lightness, and *naḥat* is gentleness and steadiness. He said in this counsel: when you are in the presence of a man of high rank, make yourself slight before him, conduct yourself before him however he wishes, and give yourself over to him.
.
But when you are in the presence of a man with black hair—that is, young in years—do not act thus; rather, comport yourself with dignity toward him and do not abandon restraint or grow overly familiar.
, , , , .
Then he said: do not suppose that, by forbidding you familiarity with the young, he means that you must meet such a one with a scowl and a frowning face. That is not the intent; rather, you ought to meet all people—young and old, free and slave, every individual of the human kind—with cheerfulness and joy. This goes beyond Shammai's saying, "with a pleasant countenance" (Avot 1:15).
[]
Mishnah [16]
, . , .
*Masoret* [means] the keeping of the precepts. He says that if a person makes vows concerning [various] matters and holds firm to them, there is formed in him a disposition of abstaining from whatever he wishes to abstain from; and there becomes established for him, and made easy for him, *perishut*—I mean the guarding of oneself from impurities, as they said in [tractate] Ḥagigah: "The garments of an ʿam ha-aretz are a source of *midras*-impurity for *perushim*" (M. Ḥagigah 2:7).
[]
Mishnah [17]
, .
He says that to acknowledge the one you have benefited according to the measure of the favor is itself a further favor; for one may bestow a benefit upon a person out of mercy for him and not acknowledge it according to the extent of what he did with him—out of slighting his due.
[]
Mishnah [18]
, . .
This section embraces exceedingly great themes, and a discourse such as this could belong to none but Rabbi Akiva. Here is its interpretation in brief, on the condition that you grasp what was set down in the foregoing sections.
.
He said: everything in the world is known to Him, exalted, and He apprehends it—this is his statement, "All is foreseen."
, , , .
Then he said: do not suppose that, by His, exalted, knowing the deeds, compulsion follows, and that a person is coerced in some deed among his deeds. The matter is not so; rather, every individual has free choice in what he does—this is his statement, "and freedom is granted," meaning "the freedom of every person is granted to him," as we explained in the eighth section [of the Eight Chapters].
, , .
He said: and God's judgment of people is according to grace, not according to the strict exaction of the right owed by them—as He, exalted, made clear among His attributes when He said, "long-suffering and abounding in lovingkindness" (Exod 34:6). They said: "'long-suffering'—toward both the righteous and the wicked." And the Prophet said, in describing [Him], "The Lord is good to all" (Ps 145:9).
, , , .
Then he said that the virtues are attained not according to the magnitude of the deed but according to the great number of deeds; for the virtues are attained only through the repetition of good acts many times, and by this the disposition is formed—not by a person's performing a single great act among the good acts, for that alone forms no disposition.
, , , .
An example: if a person gives a thousand dinars to a worthy recipient at a single moment and to a single individual, the virtue of generosity is not formed in him by this one great act as it is formed in one who acted generously a thousand times with a thousand dinars, disbursing each of those dinars in a manner of generosity—because in the latter the act of generosity was repeated a thousand times, so that a strong disposition was formed, whereas in the former, on one occasion only, the soul stirred itself with a great impulse toward a good act and then desisted from it.
. , .
So too in the Law: there is no reward for one who redeems a captive with a hundred dinars or gives charity to a needy man with a hundred dinars—that this should be "what he lacks" (Deut 15:8)—equal to one who redeems ten captives, or supplies the want of ten needy persons, even with [only] ten dinars. By this measure judge [the rest]. This is the meaning of his saying, "according to the abundance of the deed, and not according to the [magnitude of the] deed."
[]
Mishnah [19]
, . , , .
*Maqqif* [means] one who grants a respite in the debt and does not demand it on the spot. This parable is clear and evident. By his saying, "and whoever wishes to borrow may come and borrow," the aforementioned theme is reinforced: that there is no compulsion or coercion, but rather that by his own free choice a person does whatever he does among his deeds.
, . , .
And his saying, "and the collectors make their rounds," is a parable for death and the other punishments that befall a person. And "all is prepared for the banquet"—the whole purpose of all this is the life of the World to Come.
[]
Mishnah [20]
. , .
He intends by this that each of the two is profitable for the existence of the other and brings it to completion. As for his statement concerning *binah* and *daʿat*, this is an extremely subtle philosophical matter, which I will mention while relying upon the understanding of one who has reflected upon this subject.
, , , , .
[The matter is this:] this intellect which comes to be in us and which we acquire is nothing other than our apprehension of the intelligibles that we apprehend—either by our abstracting a form and conceiving it, or by our apprehending the separate forms which in their very existence are without our making them intellect; rather, they are in their existence [already] intellect. This apprehension is what is called *binah*, and it is the intellect.
, , , . , .
And by the intellect, too, we conceive, and it becomes possible for us to apprehend what we apprehend. It is as though he were saying: if we apprehend no intelligible, then we have no intellect; and if we have no intellect, then we apprehend no intelligible, since it is by the intellect that we apprehend it. Grasping this is difficult even from the books composed for it—how much more so from here; we have only directed you toward it as a mere pointing of the way.
[]
Mishnah [21]
.
We have already explained the meaning of this statement in this very chapter, in connection with the words of Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa.