פירוש על אבות 3:9

ANYONE WHOSE FEAR OF HEAVEN PRECEDES HIS LEARNING, ETC. Rav: I heard this explained as follows: one who thinks primarily of fear of Heaven over learning, in that he wants to study so that he come to fear of Heaven. If so, we can avoid a potential contradiction between this mishna and the mishna of Hillel who said in 2:5 that an unlearned person cannot be fearful of sin. For our mishna is discussing his intent, not his actual deeds, and while an unlearned person cannot know what is and isn’t a sin that he should fear it, he can determine his intent and generally fear whatever it is that might be a sin. Cf. mishna 17 [s.v. im ein chochma].
Midrash Shmuel points out the difficulty stemming from the two halves of this statement. For the first half implies that if they are at the same level his learning will not endure, whereas the second half implies that if they are at the same level his learning will endure. He answers by quoting the Talmud in Niddah 16b, that Heaven decrees whether a person will be a chacham¹⁰⁴The word can mean either a generally intelligent and clever person or a person who is learned in addition. The latter meaning will be discussed first, but the former will come into play in Tosafot Yom Tov’s bracketed comment. or a tipesh.¹⁰⁵A stupid or silly person. When our mishna says of one whose fear of heaven precedes his learning that his learning will endure it means that even if it was decreed that he be a fool, if his fear of heaven precedes his learning he can overcome that decree and G-d will cause his learning to endure, as per the Talmud in Megillah 6b: “to retain one’s learning requires the aid of heaven.” And if his learning precedes his fear of heaven, since he did not learn in order to do, even if it was decreed that he be a learned person G-d will make him into a fool and his learning will not endure on account of his sin, as he did not study the Torah with the proper intent of observing its laws. [He writes in his commentary to the second half of the mishna that the decree can be fulfilled in other areas in which he can be a chacham outside of Torah study.] If both are at the same level then whatever was decreed will come to pass, whether he was decreed to be a chacham or tipesh.
He also writes that there are versions that read: anyone whose fear of heaven precedes his learning, his learning will endure; anyone whose fear of heaven does not precede his learning, his learning will not endure. In his commentary to the next section of the mishna he rejects this version.

Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa says: Anyone whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom, his wisdom endures: The matter is said regarding effort: One who makes efforts to know wisdom in order to guard his soul from sin - and he becomes wise; his wisdom endures in his hand. And it comes out that when the studies and becomes enlightened, he removes himself from sins and does a commandment.

Behold this thing is agreed upon by the philosophers as well: That habituation of the virtues - when it comes before [acquisition of] wisdom to the point that it is a strong possession, and he studies wisdom afterwards such that it will give him alacrity for those goods - will add joy and love to his wisdom and industriousness to increase upon it; since [wisdom] stimulates him to [do] that to which he is [already] accustomed. But when the acquisition of knowledge comes first, and he studies [the virtues]afterwards, his wisdom will prevent him from that which he desires according to his habit. [And so] wisdom will weigh upon him and he will leave it.

And with this [explanation, Rabbi Bartenura] answers that he is not disagreeing with Hillel, who said in Mishnah 5 of the previous chapter, "A boor cannot fear sin;" as here it is talking about thought and not action. As a boor does not know what is a sin to fear from it; but in thought, one can think and fear from everything that might be a sin. And see Tosafot Yom Tov.

"Anyone whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom": I heard that [it means that] he makes his fear of sin precede his wisdom in his thought - that he thinks in his heart, "I will study in order that I will be one who fears sin." And this is in the way that they said, 'the beginning of thought is the end of the action.'

Introduction Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa, the author of this mishnah, was famous for his righteousness and for his close connection to God, a connection so close that God directly answered his prayers. For instance, the following story is told of him in the Talmud (Berachot 34b): It happened that Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa went to study Torah with Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai. The son of Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai fell ill. He said to him: Hanina my son, pray for him that he may live. He put his head between his knees and prayed for him and he lived. Said Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai: If Ben Zakkai had stuck his head between his knees for the whole day, no notice would have been taken of him. Said his wife to him: Is Hanina greater than you are? He replied to her: No; but he is like a servant before the king (who has permission to visit the king at any time), and I am like a nobleman before a king (who only visits at appointed times).” For a further reference see Mishnah Berachot 5:5. This mishnah clearly reflects Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa’s righteous qualities and his concern with instilling them in others.

WHOSE FEAR OF SIN [Heb. yir’at chet’o]. Since “there is no man on earth so righteous as to only do good and never sin” (Ecclesiastes 7:20), the mishna uses the words yir’at chet’o, literally “the fear of his sin,” meaning that he fears the sin that he was created to tend towards. And for this reason we needn’t ask why the mishna does not use the phrasing kol sheyir’ato mehachet—Maharal in Derech Chaim. Cf. the beginning of the next chapter, s.v. hakovesh et yitzro [one who overcomes his inclination].

And anyone whose wisdom precedes his fear of sin, his wisdom does not endure: He did not make efforts from the beginning to know wisdom in order to observe it, but rather to understand and be enlightened; and [so] it will not endure in his hand. And this is in line with justice. Another explanation: When a person's fear of sin precedes his wisdom, it comes out that when he studied, it guarded him and strengthened him to go on the path that he is accustomed to from many days; since when he fears sin and his heart adds great love for it and desires to add to it, it strengthens him to do that to which he is accustomed. But when the wisdom of a person precedes his fear of sin, it comes out that his wisdom [tries to] prevent him from sins that he is accustomed to. And in the end, he will rebel against it - as it will appear like a burden to him.

"whose [fear of] sin (literally, his sin)": As "there is no righteous man in the world, who does good and does not sin." And that is why it says "whose fear of his sin" - that he fears from the sin that he is is prepared [to transgress]. And [so], there is no objection that it should have said, "Anyone whose fear of sin precedes, etc." - Derekh Chaim.

"his wisdom endures": as wisdom brings him to what his heart desires, and he derives benefit from it.

Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa said: anyone whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom, his wisdom is enduring, but anyone whose wisdom precedes his fear of sin, his wisdom is not enduring. According to Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa a person who does not fear sin before he begins learning Torah, will not have his learning endure. In other words, his fear of sin must be what leads him to study and not his study lead him to fear of sin. Rabbi Hanina is saying that the purely intellectual study of Torah, a type of study that does not have an impact on one’s character, will not last. Maimonides extrapolated this to mean that proper moral behavior will lead to proper intellectual pursuit. However, one who pursues evil and is a great sinner, but hopes that his study will bring him to better deeds, will not succeed even in his study. Others comment on this mishnah that practice of the commandments is what leads to proper belief. One does not begin practicing Judaism by learning dogma or creed. One begins by the performance of the commandments and only then follows up with learning about them.

ANYONE WHOSE DEEDS ARE GREATER THAN HIS LEARNING. Rav: here the mishna discusses one who dutifully performs positive commandments, whereas the first section of the mishna, kol sheyir’at chet’o kodemet lechochmato, discusses one who takes care not to transgress a negative commandment. Why, then, does the mishna not say “precedes” as it did in the previous section? Midrash Shmuel writes in the name of Rabbenu Yonah: how is it possible for a person’s deeds to be greater than his learning? How can a person do what he has not learned about? The answer is that when a person accepts upon himself to do whatever the learned tell him and not veer from their words left or right, his “deeds are greater than his learning,” for from this point on he is considered as if he had fulfilled all the laws of the Torah, since he intends to do whatever the learned person tells him. This is also clear from a passage in Avot deRabbi Natan, 22:1: “anyone whose deeds are greater than his learning”—as the verse says “we shall do and we shall hear” (Exodus 24:7), for they put “we shall do” before “we shall hear” and received reward as if they had fulfilled every commandment before they had heard of it; “anyone whose learning is greater than his deeds”—a person should not say that he will first study a law and only then keep it.
Now we understand well why the mishna uses “greater than,” for “greater than” here is just like the “precedes” of the previous section.¹⁰⁶Per Rav’s explanation of the first section, cited in Tosafot Yom Tov above, that “precedes” refers to his intent to observe the laws he learns about. The reason the mishna didn’t simply use “precedes” is because the deeds themselves cannot really precede the learning since he does not know of them, but the resolution to heed those commandments can. When he takes that upon himself he is resolving to do everything, which is more than he can ever learn. The mishna therefore uses the language “greater than” to show that the precedence is in terms of the commitment, and the commitment is greater than the learning.¹⁰⁷I.e., he accepts more laws than he can ever actually learn about and keep.
With this we also remove the grounds for a different objection that people raise, as Maharal mentions in Derech Chaim, which is that there are many gentile scholars whose learning is greater than their deeds and yet it endures. He answers that the mishna is discussing an average person. He also answers that the mishna is discussing specifically Torah learning. But I do not see the problem to begin with. For since “greater than” is in terms of the commitment, it is possible that these scholars had committed to behave in accordance with the results of the discipline that they study, and therefore their learning endures.

He would [also] say: Anyone whose actions are more plentiful than his wisdom, his wisdom endures: When a person's actions are more plentiful than his wisdom, it comes out that his desire for wisdom is greater than his wisdom. And it comes out that his he will add wisdom to his wisdom each and every day.

"Anyone, etc.": This is [saying] that his merit in this or his punishment overcomes the decree that it is decreed upon [a person] whether he will be wise or foolish. (And the decree will be fulfilled in his other matters, but not in his Torah study.) And if [his fear of sin and his wisdom] came together [equally], he is left according to the decree; that if it be that he be wise, [his wisdom] will endure, and if if be that he be foolish, it will not endure. And so did he explain the second section - Midrash Shmuel.

"And anyone whose wisdom precedes his fear of sin": who does not study in order to do, since his heart does not aspire to be afraid of sin.

He [also] used to say: anyone whose deeds exceed his wisdom, his wisdom is enduring, but anyone whose wisdom exceeds his deeds, his wisdom is not enduring. This statement is similar to the previous one, except here Rabbi Hanina talks about works and not the fear of sin. Furthermore, whereas in the previous section he talked about chronological development, here he talks about a quantitative comparison. A person whose works exceed his knowledge, will retain his knowledge. However, a person whose knowledge exceeds his works, meaning he knows what he should do but does not carry it out, will in the end not retain his learning. Note that the worst consequence in these mishnayoth is forgetfulness. The punishment is not that he will be judged unfavorably by God, but that he will not remember that which he learned. As I mentioned in the previous mishnah, this is one of the great fears that the rabbis often had. In a culture where learning is basically oral, the fear of forgetfulness is omnipresent.

ANYONE WHOSE LEARNING ETC. Some change the text and simply have the negation of the first half appear here: “anyone whose deeds are not etc.” But there is no need for this if we use the same approach we used for “anyone whose fear of sin etc.”, which applies here as well—Midrash Shmuel.

And anyone whose wisdom is more plentiful than his actions, his wisdom does not endure: As it comes out that his desire for wisdom is less than his wisdom, and it will come out that his wisdom will continually lessen. So did the early scholars, may their memory be blessed, explain. However one should ask, how is it possible for his actions to be greater than his wisdom. If he doesn't know the Torah and the commandments; when he needs to do these actions, upon what [basis] will he do them? Rather this mishnah was speaking according to a fit, good and accepted advice for the one who doesn't know - so that he not destroy his soul. [That advice is] that he accept upon himself to do all of the things that the sages tell him to do, and not to veer from them to the right or to the left when he knows them. And he should act according to the Torah that they instruct him and according to the law that they tell him. And immediately when he accepts upon himself this acceptance with a full heart and a desiring soul, he brings [himself] reward, as if he [did] all of the commandments. And according to this approach, they said, "Anyone whose actions are more plentiful than his wisdom," [as] even for the one who does not know and does not do, they are called actions - since he has reward for them as if he did them, on account of [his] acceptance. And so is it explained in The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan 22:1, as we learned there, "Anyone whose actions are more plentiful than his wisdom, his wisdom endures, as it is stated (Exodus 24:7), 'we shall do and we shall understand.'" As Israel had doing precede understanding, [whereas] they should have said, "we will understand and we will do" - as before one can do an action, they need to understand what to do. However they accepted upon themselves first to do all that He would command them and [that] they would understand; and they received reward from it immediately as if they had done them. "And anyone whose wisdom is more plentiful than his actions, etc." - that he should not say, "I will study this law and [then] I will practice it, I will study the whole Talmud and [then] I will practice it." If he says like this, his wisdom will not endure - as one needs to perfect the traits first and then his wisdom will endure.

And if you ask, how is it possible for his actions to be more plentiful than his wisdom, as how will he do that which he does not know; [it is because], that which he accepts upon himself to do all of the things that the sages tell him and 'not to deviate to the right or to the left' - behold, that is [the meaning of] "whose actions are more plentiful than his wisdom" - Midrash Shmuel. And with this, it is well that it did not teach, "precede" [instead of "more plentiful"]. And see Tosafot Yom Tov..

"his wisdom does not endure:" Since [his wisdom] prevents him from following the whims of his heart, he despises it and is fed up with it and leaves it.

"Anyone whose actions are more plentiful than his wisdom": Here it speaks about him being eager [to do] positive commandments; and above, in "anyone whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom," it is speaking about him being careful about negative commandments.