Commentaire sur Avot 1:12

CHASING AFTER PEACE. As the verse says, “Seek out peace and chase after it” (Psalms 34:15).

Hillel and Shammai received from them: From Shemayah and Avtalyon.

"Of the disciples of Aharon": They said (The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan 12) that when Aharon, peace be upon him, sensed that the insides of a person were bad or they told him that his insides were bad or that he had a sin in his hand, he would greet him first and would be friendly towards him and would speak much with him. And that man would become embarrassed about himself and say, "Woe is to me! If Aharon knew what is hidden in my heart and the evil of my actions, he would not permit himself to [even] look at me, all the more so to speak to me. And yet he treats me with the presumption that I am a proper man. [Hence] I will confirm his words and his thought and I will return to the good." And he would become from his students who learn from him. And the Holy One, blessed be He, stated when He described him with this trait (Malachi 2:6), "He walked with Me in peace and righteousness, and brought many back from iniquity." And it is this famous matter about him that Hillel had in mind. And he also said when a man's name spreads for greatness, its termination will be announced. And he would also say, that God, may He be blessed, kills the one who doesn't read [the Bible] much, but the one who does not learn at all is fitting to be killed [now]. And [he also said] that one who "uses the crown" will die, meaning to say one who earns a livelihood from Torah and receives [tangible] benefit from it. And this was his intention in this statement, as will be explained in this tractate (Rambam on Pirkei Avot 4:5). And it is stated by way of mnemonic, "Student (yes), another man (no)," meaning to say that it is not permissible for a Torah scholar to receive service from any man except for his students.

"Pursuing peace": As the matter is stated (Psalms 34:15), "seek peace and pursue it."

"Be of the disciples of Aharon, loving peace and pursuing peace": They explained in Avot DeRabbi Natan how Aharon loved peace: When he would see two people quarreling, he would go to each one of them without the knowledge of his fellow and say to him, “Behold how your fellow is regretting and afflicting himself that he sinned against you; and he told me that I should come to you so that you will forgive him. And as a result of this, when they bumped into each other, they would kiss each other. And how would he bring people closer to the Torah? When he would know about someone that he committed a sin, he would befriend him and show him a friendly demeanor; and that man would be embarrassed and say [to himself], “If that righteous man would know my evil deeds, how much would he distance himself from me? And as a result of this, [that man] would change for the better. And this is what the prophet testifies about [Aharon] (Malachi 2), “In peace and in straightness did he walk with Me and he brought back many from sinning."

Introduction Hillel and Shammai, the fifth “pair” are probably familiar to many of you, for they were the founders of that two great schools, Beth Shammai (the House of Shammai) and Beth Hillel (the House of Hillel), that truly begin a new era in Jewish history. Hillel and Shammai lived during Herod’s rule, which began in 37 B.C.E. and lasted until 4 C.E. Hillel was actually an immigrant from Babylonia. He is known for his kindness and love of fellow human being. Many legends exist about Hillel, most of them are about his great humility and love.

LOVING [THE PEOPLE,] HIS CREATIONS. Because they are creations of the Holy One, you should love them; further, the love should be for this reason, and not for other reasons, such as the use you might derive from them. Midrash Shmuel explains similarly.

Hillel says, "Be of the disciples of Aharon, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving the creatures and bringing them closer to Torah." He means to say that he loves truth and peace in his heart and pursues it with the actions of his hands. As there are people that love it in their hearts that don't trouble themselves to bring peace to the world and don't walk in the paths of peace. But those that do actions and bring peace between a man and his friend and love to do this work - as it is stated (Psalms 34:15), "seek peace and pursue it" - those are from the students of Aharon, who would act like this.

"loving, etc.": Because they are the creatures of the Holy One, blessed be He. And therefore it is fitting that you should love them. And [it is] also [fitting] that the love should be from this side and not from any other side - for example, because of the benefit that comes to you from them.

Hillel and Shammai received [the oral tradition] from them. Hillel used to say: be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving mankind and drawing them close to the Torah. According to a legend in Avoth de Rabbi Nathan, when two men had quarreled with each other, Aaron would go and sit down with one of them and say to him: “My son, mark what your fellow is saying! He beats his breast and tears his clothing, saying, ‘Woe unto me! How shall I lift my eyes and look upon my fellow! I am ashamed before him, for I it is who treated him badly.’” He would sit with him until he had removed all anger from his heart, and then Aaron would go and sit with the other one and say to him the same thing that he had said to the first. And when the two men met each other they embraced and kissed one another. Aaron brought peace between Jews. A lesson that Jews have learned throughout history, and that they continue to learn today, is that when peace reigns between them, even if they worship idols, they can have their independence. And when Jews fight with one another, no matter how many commandments they keep, they are easily conquered. Hillel also teaches that one should love other people. Hillel taught that it was much easier to influence people with love than with fear, for love is truly the best motivation in life. By acting in such a manner, Aaron was able to draw people closer to Torah. According to another story about Aaron, he would make a habit of associating with evil people until they grew embarrassed and thought, “Woe unto us! If Aaron knew what we are like, what our life is like, he would resolve never again to set eye upon us. He must think we are worthy people. We ought at least to try to make our conduct correspond to his thinking.” In that way they would be drawn to association with him and learning Torah from him.

AND DRAWING THEM CLOSE TO TORAH. Rav: when Aaron knew that someone had sinned, he would keep company with him, etc. There might be a difficulty here, as this seems to oppose the words of Nitai the Arbelite, who said “do not keep the company of a wicked person” (Avot 1:7). I saw in Avot deRabbi Natan, 12:3: what is the meaning of “He has brought many back from sin” (Malachi 2:6)? When Aaron would walk down the road and meet a wicked person he would greet him. The next day, that wicked person would desire to do some sin and say, Woe is me! How shall I raise up my eyes afterwards and see Aaron? I feel such shame; he even greeted me! And that person would end up desisting from sin. So also Rambam: he would begin greeting him, become friendly with him, and speak with him more often. The man would be ashamed of himself, etc.⁴²Thus, Aaron did not keep their company; he merely greeted them and was friendly.

"loving the creatures and bringing them closer to Torah": When Aharon would sense that a person had sinned in private, he would go to him and befriend him and make him into his friend. And the sinner would put in his heart that if Aharon would know the hidden matters in my heart, would he ever want my friendship? Rather, it is that I am assumed by him to be a proper man and one who does the commandments. However if he knew my bad thought, he would distance himself from me - from befriending an evildoer like me today. And [so] he would regret his evil and contemplate repentance. And this is very effective and beneficial for him in undoing his evil thought, as is is stated (Malachi 2:6), "He walked with Me in peace and righteousness, and brought many back from iniquity."

Seemingly, [Rabbi Bartneura's explanation] contradicts the statement, "Do not befriend an evildoer." And this is the language of [Rambam]: "He would greet him first and he would become beloved to him and he would increase his talking with him."