Quotation for Pirkei Avot 4:14

רַבִּי נְהוֹרַאי אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי גוֹלֶה לִמְקוֹם תּוֹרָה, וְאַל תֹּאמַר שֶׁהִיא תָבֹא אַחֲרֶיךָ, שֶׁחֲבֵרֶיךָ יְקַיְּמוּהָ בְיָדֶךָ. וְאֶל בִּינָתְךָ אַל תִּשָּׁעֵן (משלי ג):

R. Nehorai says: [If there are no Torah scholars in your place,] be exiled to a place of Torah, and do not say that it shall come after you [i.e., that Torah scholars will come here, (and)] that your fellows will fulfill it in your hand. [Do not rely upon your fellows, that when they come from the teacher's house they will fulfill the Torah in your hand, that you will learn from them what they learned from the teacher. But you, yourself, be exiled to the place of the teacher. For there is no comparison between one who hears it from a disciple and one who hears it from the teacher himself. Or: Why do I tell you to exile yourself to a place of Torah? Because your fellows will fulfill it in your hand. For even if you are sharper and more analytic than they, the Torah will not be fulfilled through you, but through your fellows, by interchange of ideas], "and do not rely upon your (own) understanding" (Proverbs 3:5).

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