פירוש על אבות 2:15

Rabbi Tarfon said, the day is short and the work is great: The day is short - these are [a person's] days, which are short compared to the Torah, as it is greater. 'Its measure is longer than the earth and it is wider than the sea,' and none can reach down to its end. And this is what they said (Shemot Rabbah 47:7) - those forty days that our teacher Moshe, peace be upon him, stood at Mount Sinai, he did not sleep. There is a parable [relevant to this, about] a king that said to his servant, "Measure gold coins from now until tomorrow, and everything that you measure will be yours." How can he sleep, and will he not lose very much at that time? So [too] did Moshe say, "If I sleep, how many pearls of words of Torah will I lose?" All the more so us, that we should not give 'sleep to our eyes nor slumber to our eyelids.'

This is a metaphor for the brevity of years and multitude of wisdoms and the laziness of men to seek it, in spite of the great reward for them and the multitude of notices in the Torah and its warnings to seek wisdom and study.

"The day is short": The life in this world is short.

Introduction Up until this point the statements in Avoth have been organized mostly according to chronological order, with a few minor excursions that also serve the overall order. From this point and onwards the statements are not in chronological order. The general order of the remainder of the tractate is more difficult to discern. The reason that Rabbi Tarfon’s statement is brought here is its similarity to the statement of Rabbi Elazar in the previous mishnah. Both compare the Torah to “labor” and both talk about the reward for performing this labor. Rabbi Tarfon was also a student of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai, but younger than the others. He was one of the leading sages in Yavneh, after the destruction of the Temple.

The workers are lazy and the reward is great: These are people that are lazy in their study of Torah; as even the alacritous sages show laziness. Since it is in the nature of a person to show laziness and no one escapes from it - some do more and some do less.

"and the work is much": The Torah's 'measure is longer than the earth.'

Rabbi Tarfon said: the day is short, and the work is plentiful, and the laborers are indolent, and the reward is great, and the master of the house is insistent. Rabbi Tarfon compares the study of Torah to pressing matters of work. There is never enough time, because our lives are so short. There is so much Torah to be learned and relearned that a person could never truly learn it all in his lifetime. The laborers are indolent and put off the study of Torah and instead engage themselves in other matters. The reward for the study of Torah is great, and the master is pressing his workers to work harder, as it says in Joshua 1:8, “and you shall meditate upon it night and day”. Rabbenu Jonah makes an interesting parable. He teaches that when Moses went up to Sinai he did not sleep at all. Compare this to a king who said to his servant: “Count gold pieces from now until tomorrow, and whatever you count off will be yours.” How can such a person sleep? Why the time he spent in sleep he would be losing a fortune! So said Moses, “If I go to sleep, how many precious words of Torah I would lose!”

and the Master of the house is pressing: The One who controls His world that commanded about it. And you are not like a worker who works on consignment. If he does a little, he is given a small wage and if does much, he is given a large wage - according to the calculation that was agreed for him with the entire job. And [in this arrangement,] the masters are not exacting. But rather the Holy One, blessed be He, commands you the work of the Torah, and the work is not made dependent on you according to all that you are able to do. But [rather,] if you transgress His command, you will be punished with a big punishment - as you do not have a right to desist [from it] even one minute.

"and the Master of the house is pressing": as it is stated, (Joshua 1:8), "and you shall contemplate it day and night."