Comentario sobre Pirkei Avot 1:10
שְׁמַעְיָה וְאַבְטַלְיוֹן קִבְּלוּ מֵהֶם. שְׁמַעְיָה אוֹמֵר, אֱהֹב אֶת הַמְּלָאכָה, וּשְׂנָא אֶת הָרַבָּנוּת, וְאַל תִּתְוַדַּע לָרָשׁוּת:
Shmayah y Avtalyon lo recibieron de ellos. [Shmayah y Avtalyon eran conversos justos, de los descendientes de Sancheriv. Escuché decir que debido a que Avtalyon era el beth-din av, lo llamaban por este nombre, que significa "padre de los jóvenes", "talya" en arameo que significa "joven", como en (Meguilá 5b): R. Yochanan dijo: "Cuando era joven (talya)" (Yevamoth 114a): "Que vengan el niño (talya) y la niña (talyata)". Aquí, también, "Avtalyon", el padre de jóvenes huérfanos.] Shmayah dice: Ama el trabajo. [Incluso si uno tiene suficiente para ganarse la vida, debe trabajar, porque "la ociosidad conduce a la lasitud" (Kethuvoth 59b).], Y odia la estación alta. [No digas que soy un hombre de eminencia y el trabajo es degradante para mí, a saber. (Pesachim 113a): Rav le dijo a R. Kahana: "Destroza un cadáver en el mercado y paga (por ello), y no digas: 'Soy un personaje distinguido y está debajo de mí'". Alternativamente: "Y odio la autoridad ". No lo domines sobre la gente, porque "el señorío entierra a sus practicantes"], y no te congratules con las autoridades (rashut) [para asumir la autoridad de ese modo. O: No lo hagas, para que no te aparten de tu fe, como sucedió con Doeg el Edomita. (Las autoridades se llaman "rashut" (literalmente, "permiso"), ya que se les "permite" hacer lo que quieran).]
Tosafot Yom Tov on Pirkei Avot
SHEMAYA AND AVTALION. Rav writes that they were converts. So also Rambam in the introduction to his Mishneh Torah. Both make it sound like Shemaya and Avtalion were themselves converts, and this cannot be, as they were the nasi and av beit din, as Rav writes on mishna 4; a convert cannot adjudicate capital cases, as Rav writes in Sanhedrin 4:2, and certainly cannot be an av beit din, per the mishna in Horayot 1:4.
Maharal writes in Derech Chaim: It is said that Shemaya and Avtalion were descended from converts, and this can be proven from the Talmud in Gittin 57b and Yoma 71b. But they themselves cannot have been converts, for then how could they have been appointed nasi and av beit din? Rather, they descended from converts, but their mothers were certainly Jewish and they were therefore legitimate candidates for nasi and av beit din. But there are those who say that they themselves were converts, which is completely mistaken.
Maharal writes in Derech Chaim: It is said that Shemaya and Avtalion were descended from converts, and this can be proven from the Talmud in Gittin 57b and Yoma 71b. But they themselves cannot have been converts, for then how could they have been appointed nasi and av beit din? Rather, they descended from converts, but their mothers were certainly Jewish and they were therefore legitimate candidates for nasi and av beit din. But there are those who say that they themselves were converts, which is completely mistaken.
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Rabbeinu Yonah on Pirkei Avot
Shemayah and Avtalyon received from them. Shemayah says, "Love work": So that a man not be idle from work, since idleness brings a person to ennui (Ketuvot 59b); and that is a trait of illness, as it is stated about it (Proverbs 21:25), "The craving of a lazy man kills him, for his hands refuse to do." It means to say, when he accustoms his limbs to be idle from work, his hands refuse, since habit rules over them. And it also states about it (Proverbs 20:4), "From the winter the lazy man does not plow; at harvest time he seeks, and there is nothing." As he thinks when he is idle from work that it is rest for him, but it is the opposite; as [it is] with exertion [that] he will have rest. As with the winter he will rest and stay in his house and not plow and seek to reap and gather the grain [when] there is none and die of hunger. But the one who plows in the winter - 'he who tills his land will be sated with bread,' as a man cannot reach rest without exertion first. 'But he who pursues vanities' and pursues the ones that sit in the corners idle from work 'will be sated with poverty.'
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Rambam on Pirkei Avot
This 'government' (rishut) is the authorities. And in these three traits there is refinement of faithfulness and of the world. As with the absence of work, things will be tight for him and he will rob and be unfaithful. And with the pursuit of lordship, he will have challenges in the world and bad things; as since people will be jealous of him and disagree with him, he will lose his faithfulness. [It is] as they said (Sanhedrin 103b), "Once a man is appointed an officer over the community below, he becomes an evildoer above." And so [too, regarding] familiarity with the government in the early days and coming close to it, it was very unusual to escape from [the damage caused by] it in this world. As he will not pay attention to anything except that which brings him close to it. And you know the matter with Doeg - and even though the authority with which Doeg became close was the anointed of God and a prophet and God's chosen one, may He be blessed.
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Ikar Tosafot Yom Tov on Pirkei Avot
It should not be explained that they themselves were converts - since, if so, how was it possible to appoint them as nassi and head of the court? Rather, they [were only descended] from converts but their mother was certainly Jewish, and therefore they were permissible to appoint as Nassi and Head of the court. Derekh Chaim
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Bartenura on Pirkei Avot
Shamaya and Avtalyon: were righteous converts and were from the descendants of Sancheriv. And I have heard that it is because Avtalyon was the head (av) of the court that he was called by this name, as its meaning is 'father (head - av) to the small ones.' As talya in Aramaic is small, like (Megillah 5b), “Rabbi Yochanan said, 'When I was talya'” - when I was small; (Yevamot 114a) “let them bring a talya and a talyatta” - let them bring a small male and a small female. Here too, Avtalyon was the father of small orphans.
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English Explanation of Pirkei Avot
Introduction
Shemaiah and Abtalion, the fourth pair, lived at the end of the period of Hasmonean rule and towards the beginning of Herod’s reign. According to the Talmud both were converts. Mishnah nine contains Shemaiah’s teachings.
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Tosafot Yom Tov on Pirkei Avot
LOVE LABOR. Rav: even if he has a living, he must engage in some kind of labor. In such a case, one works not for the pay but for love of labor itself, which fits the mishna’s choice of words: “love labor” as opposed to “do labor.”
Rav: because idleness leads to listlessness, which is per the words of Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel in the mishna in Ketubot 5:5 concerning a wife who does not need to work. I find this odd, because the law follows Rabbi Eliezer there, who says that idleness leads to impropriety. A point of difference between the two opinions would be the case of a woman who entertains herself all day, which does not lead to listlessness but can still lead to impropriety, as Rav explains there in Ketubot.
It is possible that Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion is restricted to the case of a wife, for women are easily seduced. We do find in Avot 2:7 that keeping many maidservants is said to lead to impropriety, whereas keeping many servants is said to lead to theft.
Rav: because idleness leads to listlessness, which is per the words of Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel in the mishna in Ketubot 5:5 concerning a wife who does not need to work. I find this odd, because the law follows Rabbi Eliezer there, who says that idleness leads to impropriety. A point of difference between the two opinions would be the case of a woman who entertains herself all day, which does not lead to listlessness but can still lead to impropriety, as Rav explains there in Ketubot.
It is possible that Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion is restricted to the case of a wife, for women are easily seduced. We do find in Avot 2:7 that keeping many maidservants is said to lead to impropriety, whereas keeping many servants is said to lead to theft.
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Rabbeinu Yonah on Pirkei Avot
"hate lordship": He made this adjacent to the activity of work, as they are one topic - that he hate lordship and the advantage of the idle ones, as their end is to come to the trait of poverty. But [rather] he should be involved in his work the whole day, as it said (Pesachim 113a), "Flay a carcass in the marketplace and eat [from] your wage, and do not say, 'I am a priest, I am an important man.'" And about this Shlomo, peace be upon him, stated (Proverbs 12:9), "Better to be a lowly one and a servant to himself than to be honored and have no food." And the explanation of "lowly one" is not like its literal understanding, but rather it is the opposite of honored lordship.
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Ikar Tosafot Yom Tov on Pirkei Avot
Since now he is not doing work for its reward but for its own love. And see Tosafot Yom Tov.
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Bartenura on Pirkei Avot
"Love work": Even if he has from what to sustain himself, he is obligated to work, as idleness leads to distraction (Ketuvot 59b)
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English Explanation of Pirkei Avot
Shemaiah and Abtalion received [the oral tradition] from them. Shemaiah used to say: love work, hate acting the superior, and do not attempt to draw near to the ruling authority. In many places we see that the rabbis considered work to be important to proper moral behavior. This is learned from Exodus 20:9, “six days shall you work… and on the seventh day you shall rest.” Just as on the seventh day it is a commandment not to work, so too on the first six days it is a commandment to work. Even the wealthy should work, for idleness may lead a person into depression and perhaps even into licentiousness. A person should not seek positions of superiority over others. Although society does need leaders, such leadership can take its toll on a person. It is also dangerous to the person’s own proper behavior, for often times people in leadership abuse their positions. This statement also connects to the previous statement. No person should consider himself so important as not to engage in work. Shemaiah certainly lived at a time when avoiding close contact with the government was good advice. Although one may be able to gain some benefit from having good contacts with powerful people, in the end rulers do only what is good for themselves. Furthermore, when the tides turn, those who were too close to the ruling parties are often the first to suffer. This is has been demonstrated throughout history in dictatorships and other tyrannical forms of government. A person who is closely identified with one ruler, is often killed or jailed when the next ruler takes power.
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Tosafot Yom Tov on Pirkei Avot
AND DESPISE POSITIONS OF POWER. Rav writes in his second interpretation that positions of power bury those who occupy them. This is per the passage in Sotah 13b: why did Joseph die before his brothers? Because he occupied a position of power—Rashi. [He should distance himsef out of contempt for it, which is the opposite of loving labor, as Tosafot Yom Tov explained.40This comment was inserted by the printers of the Vilna edition of the Mishna.]
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Rabbeinu Yonah on Pirkei Avot
"and do not become familiar with the government": As service for the government is very difficult. And regardless, once he accepts the yoke of the king, his end is to break the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven and to refrain from this commandment. Since he will be afraid of the government and his work will be extensive, he will make the service of God a farce in the face of this work. And also at the end, they will strip him of his assets without gain, as they only bring someone close for their own purpose. And regardless, once he accepts the yoke of a king of flesh and blood at one time, he can not [longer] do that which the Master requires.
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Bartenura on Pirkei Avot
"hate lordship": and do not say, “I am a great man and it is a disgrace for me to work" - since Rav said to Rav Kahana (Pesachim 113a), "Flay a carcass in the market and take your pay, and do not say, 'I am a priest, I am a great man and the matter is a disgrace to me.'" Another explanation: “hate lordship,” [meaning] distance yourself from the taking of authority over the public, as lordship buries those that have it.
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Tosafot Yom Tov on Pirkei Avot
AND DO NOT GET CLOSE TO THE AUTHORITIES. Rav: in order to use them to get a powerful position. Rashi adds: because they only bring a person close for their own purposes. If so, this is the same as the mishna in 3:1 later.
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Bartenura on Pirkei Avot
"and do not become familiar with the government": in order to receive lordship through it. And also (another possibility is) “do not become familiar with the government” so that they will not make you transgress the doctrine of your Maker, as happened with Doeg the Edomite. "with the government" (rishut which literally means permission): Dominion is called permission, as the government has permission in its hand to do according to its will.
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