Pirkei Avot 1

משֶׁה קִבֵּל תּוֹרָה מִסִּינַי, וּמְסָרָהּ לִיהוֹשֻׁעַ, וִיהוֹשֻׁעַ לִזְקֵנִים, וּזְקֵנִים לִנְבִיאִים, וּנְבִיאִים מְסָרוּהָ לְאַנְשֵׁי כְנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה. הֵם אָמְרוּ שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים, הֱווּ מְתוּנִים בַּדִּין, וְהַעֲמִידוּ תַלְמִידִים הַרְבֵּה, וַעֲשׂוּ סְיָג לַתּוֹרָה:

Moses received Torah from Sinai. [I say that because this tractate is not founded on any explanation of a mitzvah of the mitzvoth of the Torah as are the other tractates of the Mishnah, but is entirely mussar and middoth, and the sages of the gentiles have also written books from the musings of their heart on the ways of mussar — how a man should deport himself with his neighbor — therefore, the tanna begins this tractate: "Moses received Torah from Sinai," to teach us that the middoth and mussar in this tractate were not conjured up by the sages of the Mishnah, but these, too, were stated on Sinai, (i.e., by Him who revealed Himself on Sinai)]. And He gave it to Joshua; and Joshua, to the elders, [who lived on after Joshua, until the advent of the first prophets, Eli the high-priest and Shmuel Haramati]; and the elders, to the prophets; and the prophets gave it to the men of the great assembly (anshei knesseth hagedolah). [They were 120 elders: Zerubaval, Seraya, Re'elayah, Mordecai-Bilshan, who lived in the days of Ezra, when they went up from the exile to the second Temple, among them, Chaggai, Zechariah, Malachi, and Nechemiah ben Chachalyah and their colleagues. They were called "the men of the great assembly" for having restored the "Crown" to its pristine (greatness). For Moses said (Deuteronomy 10:17): "The great, mighty, awesome, G-d." Jeremiah and Daniel came and (Daniel) did not say "great," and (Jeremiah) did not say "awesome," and they (the men of the great assembly) restored them ("great and awesome") as at first," saying "this (as stated there [Yoma 69b]) is precisely His greatness"; "this is precisely His awesomeness"; "for if not so (i.e., if He were not great and awesome), how could one nation endure against seventy nations (intent upon annihilating it, etc.)!"] They were wont to say three things. [They said many things; but they were wont to say these three things to uphold the integrity of Torah]: Be patient ("metunim") in judgment [i.e., if something comes before you for judgment, do not say: "Such a case has come before me two or three times before," but be patient; that is, "wait" ('mamtinim') before you rule upon it.] And set up many disciples, [(as opposed to the view of R. Gamliel, who says (Berachoth 28a): "Let no disciple whose inside is not like his outside enter the house of study.") We are hereby taught that Torah is taught to every man, and there is no need to "search him out," so long as he is not known to be a man of ill conduct and of ill repute. Or, we are (hereby) being taught that if one set up disciples in his youth, he should continue doing so in his old age, as it is written (Koheleth 11:6): "In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening let your hand not rest."] And make a fence for the Torah, [so that you not come to violate the issur of the Torah itself (e.g., the secondary class [shniyoth] of forbidden relations) and shvuth (rabbinically interdicted occupation) on Sabbath, as it is written (Leviticus 18:30): "And you shall keep My charge" — Make a "keeping" for My charge.]

שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק הָיָה מִשְּׁיָרֵי כְנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עַל שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד, עַל הַתּוֹרָה וְעַל הָעֲבוֹדָה וְעַל גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים:

Shimon Hatzaddik was the last of the men of the great assembly [and the tradition (hakabalah) remained in his hand. He was high-priest after Ezra.] He was wont to say [(And thus all "R. Ploni says" and "He was wont to say" in this tractate are understood as "This is what he would say always.")]: The world stands on three things [i.e., the world was created for these three things alone]: on Torah [(Shabbath 88a) If Israel had not accepted the Torah, heaven and earth would not have been created, as it is written (Jeremiah 33:25): "If not for My covenant (of Torah), day and night, the statutes of heaven and earth I would not have made"], on avodah [the sacrificial service. For thus did we learn in tractate Ta'anith (27b): If not for the ma'amadoth (the "watches" at the sacrificial services), heaven and earth could not endure. And we find that because of the sacrifices offered up by Noach, He swore that He would never again bring a flood over the world — whence we see that the world endures because of the sacrifices], and on lovingkindness, [as it is written (Psalms 89:3): "The world is built on lovingkindness." Lovingkindness consists of: rejoicing the groom, consoling mourners, visiting the sick, attending upon the dead, and the like.]

אַנְטִיגְנוֹס אִישׁ סוֹכוֹ קִבֵּל מִשִּׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, אַל תִּהְיוּ כַעֲבָדִים הַמְשַׁמְּשִׁין אֶת הָרַב עַל מְנָת לְקַבֵּל פְּרָס, אֶלָּא הֱווּ כַעֲבָדִים הַמְשַׁמְּשִׁין אֶת הָרַב שֶׁלֹּא עַל מְנָת לְקַבֵּל פְּרָס, וִיהִי מוֹרָא שָׁמַיִם עֲלֵיכֶם:

Antignos Ish Socho received it from Shimon Hatzaddik: He was wont to say: Do not be like servants who serve their master in order to receive pras ["valuation," as in the targum of (Leviticus 5:15): "your valuation" — "bepursaneh," what one gives one who serves him, though he is not required by law to give him anything, as what one gives his young son or his wife or his servant because of the pleasure that he gives him. One should not serve his Creator even in the expectation of such pras], but be like servants who serve their master not in order to receive pras, [but out of love alone]. And let the fear of the L rd be upon you. [Even though you serve Him out of love, serve Him also out of fear. For one who serves out of love is zealous in the performance of positive commandments, while one who serves out of fear is heedful in the observance of negative commandments, so that his service is found to be complete. And thus did our sages say: "Serve out of love and serve out of fear. Serve out of love, so that if you are moved to hate, know that you love, and a lover does not hate. Serve out of fear, so that if you are moved to "kick," know that you fear, and a fearer does not kick."]

יוֹסֵי בֶן יוֹעֶזֶר אִישׁ צְרֵדָה וְיוֹסֵי בֶן יוֹחָנָן אִישׁ יְרוּשָׁלַיִם קִבְּלוּ מֵהֶם. יוֹסֵי בֶן יוֹעֶזֶר אִישׁ צְרֵדָה אוֹמֵר, יְהִי בֵיתְךָ בֵית וַעַד לַחֲכָמִים, וֶהֱוֵי מִתְאַבֵּק בַּעֲפַר רַגְלֵיהֶם, וֶהֱוֵי שׁוֹתֶה בְצָמָא אֶת דִּבְרֵיהֶם:

Yossi ben Yoezer Ish Tzreidah [the Nassi] and Yossi ben Yochanan Ish Yerushalayim [the av beth-din] received it from them. [All the tannaim mentioned in this chapter by pairs — "This and this tanna received it from these and these" — the first is the Nassi and the second, the av beth-din.] Yossi ben Yoezer says Let your house be a house of gathering for the sages. [When the sages wish to convene somewhere, let your house be the designated place, that they be accustomed to say: Let us meet in this and this one's house. For it is impossible that you not learn of them (thereby) some article of wisdom. To what may this be compared? To one's entering a spice shop. Even if he takes nothing, he absorbs the aroma and it leaves with him], and be dusted by the dust of their feet. [That is, follow them. For a walker raises dust with his feet, and one who walks after him is dusted by this dust. Alternately, sit at their feet on the ground. For that was the practice. The teacher would sit on a bench and the disciples would sit at his feet on the ground], and drink their words with thirst, [as a thirsty man, who drinks to quench his thirst, and not as a sated man, who despises his food, even what is tasty and good.]

יוֹסֵי בֶן יוֹחָנָן אִישׁ יְרוּשָׁלַיִם אוֹמֵר, יְהִי בֵיתְךָ פָתוּחַ לִרְוָחָה, וְיִהְיוּ עֲנִיִּים בְּנֵי בֵיתֶךָ, וְאַל תַּרְבֶּה שִׂיחָה עִם הָאִשָּׁה. בְּאִשְׁתּוֹ אָמְרוּ, קַל וָחֹמֶר בְּאֵשֶׁת חֲבֵרוֹ. מִכָּאן אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים, כָּל זְמַן שֶׁאָדָם מַרְבֶּה שִׂיחָה עִם הָאִשָּׁה, גּוֹרֵם רָעָה לְעַצְמוֹ, וּבוֹטֵל מִדִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה, וְסוֹפוֹ יוֹרֵשׁ גֵּיהִנֹּם:

Yossi ben Yochanan Ish Yerushalayim says: Let your house be open wide, [like the house of our father Abraham, may peace be upon him, which was open on all four sides, so that guests would not have to make a circuit to find the door], and let the poor [of Israel] be the dwellers of your house, [— that one not hire (gentile) servants to serve him. Better that Jews benefit from his possessions and not the seed of the accursed Canaan.], and do not overindulge in speech with the woman. [From "the woman" as opposed to "a woman" we derive that they said this] of one's own wife; how much more so (does this apply) with the wife of one's neighbor! [Others explain that this applies to his wife in a state of niddah, so that he not come to the sin itself; but the language of the Mishnah seems to imply that even his wife in a non-niddah state is intended. And thus have the sages (Chagigah 5b) said (Amos 4:13): "And He tells a man what his converse is" — Even superfluous converse between a man and his wife is recounted to a man at the time of judgment (and he is held accountable for it — unless he must predispose her to the act of mitzvah [i.e., cohabitation], as in the instance of Rav, who would converse and "play" (with her) and then live with her] — whence the sages derived: When a man engages in superfluous converse with his wife, he brings evil upon himself. [Rabbeinu Hakadosh, who codified the Mishnah, wrote: From the words of this sage, who said: "And do not overindulge in speech with the woman," the sages taught that whenever a man engages in superfluous converse with his wife he brings evil upon himself. (I found it written that when a man relates to his wife: "This and this is what happened to me with that man," she teaches him to stir up strife, as in the instance of Korach, who related to his wife that Moses had "lifted up the Levites" — her reply incited him to strife.) Or, when he tells her that his friends demeaned and humiliated him, she, too, scorns him in her heart, and he thereby brings evil upon himself], and, [by preoccupying himself with idle talk,] he neglects Torah study, and, in the end, inherits Gehinnom.]

יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן פְּרַחְיָה וְנִתַּאי הָאַרְבֵּלִי קִבְּלוּ מֵהֶם. יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן פְּרַחְיָה אוֹמֵר, עֲשֵׂה לְךָ רַב, וּקְנֵה לְךָ חָבֵר, וֶהֱוֵי דָן אֶת כָּל הָאָדָם לְכַף זְכוּת:

Yehoshuah ben Prachya and Nitai Ha'arbeli received it from them. Yehoshua ben Prachya says: Make a teacher for yourself. [Rambam explains: Even if he is not fit to be your teacher, still make him your teacher, and do not learn by yourself. And I have heard: "Make a teacher for yourself" that you learn from constantly, and do not learn today from one and tomorrow from another. And even though they said (Avodah Zarah 19a): "If one learns Torah from only one master, he never sees a sign of blessing," they have already explained: That is true of svara (sharpening in dialectics after the "substance" has been acquired), it being beneficial for one to hear the svara of the many; but in gemara (acquiring the "substance" itself), one master is preferable, to avoid differences in formulations of the same (oral learnings)], and acquire a friend for yourself, [even if it is very costly for you to do so, and you must spend much to acquire his love. But it cannot be stated "Acquire a teacher for yourself," a teacher being obliged to teach gratis], and judge each man in the scales of merit. [This is so when the act is in the balance, it not being discernible from his deeds whether he is righteous or wicked and he performs a deed which permits of judging him in the scales of merit or in those of guilt; it is the way of lovingkindness to judge him in the scales of merit. But if one is confirmed in evil, it is permitted to judge him in the scales of guilt, their having stated only (Shabbath 97a): "If one suspects the innocent he is smitten in his body," implying that if he suspects the wicked he is not smitten.]

נִתַּאי הָאַרְבֵּלִי אוֹמֵר, הַרְחֵק מִשָּׁכֵן רָע, וְאַל תִּתְחַבֵּר לָרָשָׁע, וְאַל תִּתְיָאֵשׁ מִן הַפֻּרְעָנוּת:

Nittai Ha'arbeli says: Distance yourself from an evil neighbor, [so that you not learn from his deeds, and, also, so that you not share in his downfall, for "Woe to the wicked and woe to his neighbor!"], and do not befriend the wicked one. [For thus did the sages say: All who attach themselves to the wicked, even though they do not emulate them, receive recompense as they do. To what may this be compared? To one's entering a spice shop. Even if he takes nothing, he absorbs the aroma and it leaves with him], and do not "despair" of [the arrival of] punishment [i.e., do not say: "I shall cleave to this wicked one, whose deeds are prospering, for fortune is favoring him." He, therefore, says: "Do not despair of punishment." That is, know that punishment will quickly come upon him, his undoing overtaking him of a sudden.]

יְהוּדָה בֶן טַבַּאי וְשִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן שָׁטָח קִבְּלוּ מֵהֶם. יְהוּדָה בֶן טַבַּאי אוֹמֵר, אַל תַּעַשׂ עַצְמְךָ כְעוֹרְכֵי הַדַּיָּנִין. וּכְשֶׁיִּהְיוּ בַעֲלֵי דִינִין עוֹמְדִים לְפָנֶיךָ, יִהְיוּ בְעֵינֶיךָ כִרְשָׁעִים. וּכְשֶׁנִּפְטָרִים מִלְּפָנֶיךָ, יִהְיוּ בְעֵינֶיךָ כְזַכָּאִין, כְּשֶׁקִּבְּלוּ עֲלֵיהֶם אֶת הַדִּין:

Yehudah ben Tabbai and Shimon ben Shetach received it from them. Yehudah ben Tabbai says: Do not you, [(a judge)], make yourself like [those] orchei hadayanim [(lawyers), who arrange ("orchim") cases for the litigants before the judges, it being forbidden for one (a judge) to reveal his judgments to one of the litigants, telling him: Do thus and thus so that you win your case — even if he knows that he is in the right. Alternately, "ke'orchei hadayanin," like the great among the judges. This, in reference to a disciple sitting before his master, that he not make himself like the great among the judges, to speak before his master as a decisor of the law. "Orchei" as in "the erkaoth of the gentiles," the erkaoth of the House of David." And from others I have heard: "Do not make yourself as the great ones of the judges to force the litigants to come to judgment before you.] And when litigants stand before you, let them be in your eyes like wicked ones, [that you not favor one of them, saying "This one is a distinguished man and will not make a false claim." For if you say this, you will see no guilt in him.], and when they take their leave of you, let them be innocent in your eyes when they have taken the judgment upon themselves. [Do not suspect the arraigned one as a thief but as one who erred and had no intention of stealing. Or, if an oath was imposed upon one of them and he swore, do not say that he swore falsely.]

שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן שָׁטָח אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי מַרְבֶּה לַחְקֹר אֶת הָעֵדִים, וֶהֱוֵי זָהִיר בִּדְבָרֶיךָ, שֶׁמָּא מִתּוֹכָם יִלְמְדוּ לְשַׁקֵּר:

Shimon ben Shetach says: Be thorough in cross-examining the witnesses, and be circumspect in your words, lest from them they learn to lie. [Let the judge not say: "Perhaps this and this is what happened," or "If this were the case, Ploni would be innocent." From such words, the litigant or the witnesses learn to say what never happened.]

שְׁמַעְיָה וְאַבְטַלְיוֹן קִבְּלוּ מֵהֶם. שְׁמַעְיָה אוֹמֵר, אֱהֹב אֶת הַמְּלָאכָה, וּשְׂנָא אֶת הָרַבָּנוּת, וְאַל תִּתְוַדַּע לָרָשׁוּת:

Shmayah and Avtalyon received it from them. [Shmayah and Avtalyon were righteous converts, of the descendants of Sancheriv. I heard it said that because Avtalyon was the av beth-din he was called by this name, which means "a father to the young ones," "talya" in Aramaic meaning "young," as in (Megillah 5b): R. Yochanan said: "When I was young (talya)," (Yevamoth 114a): "Let the young boy (talya) and the young girl (talyata) come." Here, too, "Avtalyon," the father of young orphans.] Shmayah says: Love labor. [Even if one has enough for his livelihood, he should work, for "idleness leads to lassitude" (Kethuvoth 59b).], and hate high station. [Do not say I am a man of eminence and work is demeaning to me, viz. (Pesachim 113a): Rav said to R. Kahana: "Flay a carcass in the marketplace and take pay (for it), and do not say: 'I am a distinguished personage and it is beneath me.'" Alternately: "And hate authority." Do not lord it over the people, for "lordship buries its practitioners."], and do not ingratiate yourself with the authorities (rashut) [in order to assume authority thereby. Or: Do not do so, so that they not turn you from your faith, as happened with Doeg the Edomite. (The authorities are called "rashut" (lit., "permit"), for they are "permitted" to do as they will.)]

אַבְטַלְיוֹן אוֹמֵר, חֲכָמִים, הִזָּהֲרוּ בְדִבְרֵיכֶם, שֶׁמָּא תָחוּבוּ חוֹבַת גָּלוּת וְתִגְלוּ לִמְקוֹם מַיִם הָרָעִים, וְיִשְׁתּוּ הַתַּלְמִידִים הַבָּאִים אַחֲרֵיכֶם וְיָמוּתוּ, וְנִמְצָא שֵׁם שָׁמַיִם מִתְחַלֵּל:

Avtalyon says: Sages, take heed of your words [that leave an opening for heretics to stray through them], lest you incur the punishment of exile and you be exiled to a place of "evil waters" and the disciples that come after you drink them and die and the Name of Heaven be profaned. [That is, even though in the place in which you find yourselves there are no heretics, it is to be feared that you may incur the punishment of exile because of a sin of yours and you be exiled to a place where there are people who interpret the Torah at variance with the halachah (this being the "place of evil waters") and they will understand from your words improper things, and the disciples who come after you will "drink" from those things and die in their sin and the Name of Heaven will be profaned. For those vain ideas will remain in the world. As happened in the instance of Antignos Ish Socho and his disciples, Tzaddok and Baythus, whom he told (viz. 1:3): "Do not be like servants who serve their master in order to receive pras" and who said: "Is it conceivable for a worker to labor and exert himself a whole day and not receive a wage at night!" They subsequently succumbed to heresy (and their disciples are called "Tzdokkim" and "Baythusim" to this day.)]

הִלֵּל וְשַׁמַּאי קִבְּלוּ מֵהֶם. הִלֵּל אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי מִתַּלְמִידָיו שֶׁל אַהֲרֹן, אוֹהֵב שָׁלוֹם וְרוֹדֵף שָׁלוֹם, אוֹהֵב אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת וּמְקָרְבָן לַתּוֹרָה:

Hillel and Shammai received it from them. Hillel says: Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving men and drawing them close to Torah. [They explained in Avoth d' R. Nathan how Aaron loved peace. When he saw two men quarreling, he would go to each one without the knowledge of the other and say to him: "Look at your friend. See how he regrets what he has done and how he smites himself for having sinned against you. He asked me to come to you and beg you to forgive him." Afterwards, when they met, they would kiss each other. And how would he draw men close to Torah? When he knew a man to have transgressed, he would befriend him and look kindly upon him — whereupon the other would think, in shame: "If that tzaddik knew of my evil deeds, how he would distance himself from me!" As a result, he would repent. This is the testimony of the prophet (Malachi 2:6): "In peace and justness did he (Aaron) walk with Me, and many did he turn from sin."]

הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, נָגֵד שְׁמָא, אָבֵד שְׁמֵהּ. וּדְלֹא מוֹסִיף, יָסֵף. וּדְלֹא יָלֵיף, קְטָלָא חַיָּב. וּדְאִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בְּתָגָא, חָלֵף:

He (Hillel) was wont to say: One who projects ("negad") his name loses his name. [One who "stretches out" his name (afar) in lordship and authority will soon lose his name, for "lordship buries its practitioners." (The targum of "mishchu" is "negidu.")], and he who does not add [to his learning], there will end (yasif) [from his mouth what he has already learned and he will forget his learning. Others read it "ye'asef (i.e., "he will be gathered in" to his people and he will die before his time.], and he who does not learn [(ab initio, which is more severe than not adding to one's learning,)] incurs the penalty of death. [That is, he deserves to be killed (viz. Pesachim 49b): "It is permitted to rip an ignoramus open, like a fish — and from his back," (such "ripping" being mortal)], and one who "uses" (i.e., exploits) the "crown" (taga) [of Torah (as one who "uses" his dishes)] passes away [from the world. There are some who explain "taga" as "talmid" (disciple); "gavra" (a man); "achrina" (another) — i.e., it is forbidden for a man to employ for his benefit disciples who are not his own. And I have heard: "And one who uses taga (the ineffable Name) passes away and is lost (from the world), not having a share in the world to come.]

הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, אִם אֵין אֲנִי לִי, מִי לִי. וּכְשֶׁאֲנִי לְעַצְמִי, מָה אֲנִי. וְאִם לֹא עַכְשָׁיו, אֵימָתָי:

He was wont to say: If I do not [acquire merit] for myself, who [will acquire it] for me? And [even] if I do [acquire it] for myself, what [is it, relative to what] I am [obliged to acquire (i.e., relative to my potential)?] And if not now [i.e., in this world], then when? [For after I die, I can no longer acquire merit. Alternately: If not now (in my youth), then when? (Perhaps, in my old age, I will no longer be able to acquire it)].

שַׁמַּאי אוֹמֵר, עֲשֵׂה תוֹרָתְךָ קֶבַע. אֱמֹר מְעַט וַעֲשֵׂה הַרְבֵּה, וֶהֱוֵי מְקַבֵּל אֶת כָּל הָאָדָם בְּסֵבֶר פָּנִים יָפוֹת:

Beth Shammai say: Make your Torah primary [i.e., let your principal endeavor, day and night, be in Torah. And when you tire from learning engage in some occupation; and do not make your occupation primary and your learning secondary. [I have found it written: "Make your Torah consistent. Do not be stringent (in ruling) for yourself and lenient for others, or stringent for others and lenient for yourself. But make your Torah consistent — for yourself as for others. And thus is it written in Ezra (7:10): 'For Ezra set his heart to expound the Torah of the L rd and to do and to teach the children of Israel' — just as he set his heart to do, so did he teach the children of Israel (to do).], say little and do much, [as we find with our father Abraham, of blessed memory, who first said (Genesis 18:5): "I will take a loaf of bread," and then (Ibid. 7): "And he took a calf, tender and good."], and receive all men with a kindly countenance. [When you invite guests to your house, do not receive them with your face "sunk in the ground," for if one does so, even if he bestowed upon them all the gifts in the world, it is accounted to him as if he gave them nothing. Shammai adduces three exhortations relating (respectively) to the three eminences mentioned by Jeremiah (9:22): wisdom, strength and wealth. Relative to wisdom he says: "Make your wisdom primary"; relative to wealth, "Say little and do much"; and relative to strength, "Receive all men with a kindly countenance. That is, one should suppress his inclination not to give and wage war with his recalcitrant heart. And we learned: "Who is strong? One who suppresses his (evil) inclination.]

רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עֲשֵׂה לְךָ רַב, וְהִסְתַּלֵּק מִן הַסָּפֵק, וְאַל תַּרְבֶּה לְעַשֵּׂר אֹמָדוֹת:

R. Gamliel was wont to say [in respect to hora'ah (halachic rulings): If a question comes before you and you are in doubt (as to the halachah),] make a rav for yourself, and remove doubt from yourself [(and do not rule alone) as in the instance of Rava (viz. Horiyoth 3b). When a question of treifah (ritually unfit meat) came before him, he would gather together all the butchers of Mata Mechasia, saying "so that each take a chip of the beam" (i.e., so that the entire onus not fall on him alone)]. And do not tithe overmuch by estimate. [For one who does so is not spared defect. If he tithes too little, his tithes are correct, but his fruits are "defective"; and if he tithes too much, his fruits are "corrected," but his tithes are defective.]

שִׁמְעוֹן בְּנוֹ אוֹמֵר, כָּל יָמַי גָּדַלְתִּי בֵין הַחֲכָמִים, וְלֹא מָצָאתִי לַגּוּף טוֹב אֶלָּא שְׁתִיקָה. וְלֹא הַמִּדְרָשׁ הוּא הָעִקָּר, אֶלָּא הַמַּעֲשֶׂה. וְכָל הַמַּרְבֶּה דְבָרִים, מֵבִיא חֵטְא:

Shimon, his son, says: All my days I have grown up among the wise, and I have found nothing better for (my) body than silence [i.e., hearing myself shamed and remaining silent.] And it is not the expounding which is primary but the act [i.e., and know that silence is good, for even for expounding and speaking in Torah, than which there is nothing greater, the primary reward is for the act (which follows from it); and if one expounds and does not act (upon what he says), it would be better if he remained silent and did not expound.] And all who increase words bring sin. [For thus do we find with Eve, who "increased words" in saying (Genesis 3:3): "G-d said: 'You shall not eat of it and you shall not touch it.'" She added "touching," which had not been forbidden to her, and the serpent pushed her until she touched it. And he said to her: "Just as there is no death in touching it, so there is no death in eating it." And this led to her sin of eating from the fruit. As Solomon says (Proverbs 20:6): "Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you and you be proven false."]

רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר, עַל שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד, עַל הַדִּין וְעַל הָאֱמֶת וְעַל הַשָּׁלוֹם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (זכריה ח) אֱמֶת וּמִשְׁפַּט שָׁלוֹם שִׁפְטוּ בְּשַׁעֲרֵיכֶם:

R. Shimon b. Gamliel says: On three things the world subsists [(This is not like "the world stands on three things" (viz. 1:2)]: on justice [to exonerate the innocent and incriminate the guilty], and on truth, [that one not cheat his friend], and on peace, as it is written (Zechariah 8:16): "(With) truth and justice and peace shall you judge in your gates."]