Halakhah for Pirkei Avot 2:7

הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, מַרְבֶּה בָשָׂר, מַרְבֶּה רִמָּה. מַרְבֶּה נְכָסִים, מַרְבֶּה דְאָגָה. מַרְבֶּה נָשִׁים, מַרְבֶּה כְשָׁפִים. מַרְבֶּה שְׁפָחוֹת, מַרְבֶּה זִמָּה. מַרְבֶּה עֲבָדִים, מַרְבֶּה גָזֵל. מַרְבֶּה תוֹרָה, מַרְבֶּה חַיִּים. מַרְבֶּה יְשִׁיבָה, מַרְבֶּה חָכְמָה. מַרְבֶּה עֵצָה, מַרְבֶּה תְבוּנָה. מַרְבֶּה צְדָקָה, מַרְבֶּה שָׁלוֹם. קָנָה שֵׁם טוֹב, קָנָה לְעַצְמוֹ. קָנָה לוֹ דִבְרֵי תוֹרָה, קָנָה לוֹ חַיֵּי הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא:

He who increases flesh increases worms. [One who eats and drinks overmuch until he becomes fat and fleshy increases worms for himself in the grave, and "worms are as painful to the dead as a needle in the flesh of the living." This tanna comes to apprise us that all indulgences are detrimental to a man except indulgence in Torah, in wisdom, and in charity.] He who increases possessions increases worry, [lest they rob him or lest highwaymen fall upon him and kill him. (A certain chasid would pray: "May He preserve me from 'scattering my soul.'" When he was asked: "What is 'scattering of soul'?" He answered: "Having many possessions scattered in many places and having to 'scatter' one's soul to think in this direction and that."] He who increases wives increases witchcraft. He who increases maidservants increases lewdness. He who increases manservants increases theft. [The rationale for the sequence is as follows: First a man primps himself and eats and drinks and increases flesh. Then he seeks to increase possessions, and after he does so, he sees that he has enough to feed many wives. After he increases wives, each one needs a maidservant, which he supplies. Since he has many household members, he requires fields and vineyards to supply them with wine and food, and he increases servants to work the fields and the vineyards — thus the sequence.] He who increases Torah increases life, [as it is written (Deuteronomy 30:20): "For it is your life and the length of your days."] He who increases sitting (and learning) increases wisdom. [Many disciples gather and come to hear his conjectures. Some understand it as: He who increases disciples increases wisdom, for they sharpen him and add to his wisdom.] He who increases (the taking of) counsel increases understanding [one thing from another through the counsels of his advisers]. He who increases charity increases peace, [as it is written (Isaiah 32:17): "And the act of charity will be (i.e., will lead to) peace."] He who acquires a good name acquires it for himself. He who acquires words of Torah acquires for himself life in the world to come.

Abudarham

A person blesses these three blessings each day: the first is who has not made me a gentile, since "All nations are as naught in His sight; He accounts them as less than nothing" (Isaiah 40:17). The second is who has not made me a [Canaanite] slave since the slave is not commanded in positive commandments which are caused by time, and further, that they have no merit of ancestry, since their ancestors did not stand at Mount Sinai. And further, that we do not believe them, since "the more slaves, the more theft" (Pirkei Avot 2:7). And further, that it is forbidden for a slave to marry a Jewish woman, and that a slave is close to a gentile. The Rama"h questions if a convert blesses "who has not made me a gentile" and if a captive blesses "who has not made me a slave", and replies that so we have seen, the blessing applies specifically to the beginning of the creation of man, and as such a convert does not bless "who has not made me a gentile" except when they were entirely born and bred (pregnancy and birth) in holiness [Judaism]. But the captive blesses "who has not made me a slave", since this blessing was not established for slavery itself but rather since the slave is not obligated in commandments like a Jew, and is not fitting to enter the community [marry into it], and is unsuitable for many things. And the third blessing is who has not made me a woman, since she is not commanded in positive commandments that are caused by time as we have explaned in the introduction to this book. The man is similar to a labourer who enters a field and plants with permission, and the woman is similar to one who enters a field without permission. And further, that the fear of her husband is upon her and she is unable to perform even that which she is commanded in. And women are accustomed to bless instead of "who has not made me a woman", "who has made me according to His will", like one who justifies the Judgement regarding the evil that has come upon them.

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