Commento su Pirkei Avoth 5:18
כָּל הַמְזַכֶּה אֶת הָרַבִּים, אֵין חֵטְא בָּא עַל יָדוֹ. וְכָל הַמַּחֲטִיא אֶת הָרַבִּים, אֵין מַסְפִּיקִין בְּיָדוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹת תְּשׁוּבָה. משֶׁה זָכָה וְזִכָּה אֶת הָרַבִּים, זְכוּת הָרַבִּים תָּלוּי בּוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים לג) צִדְקַת ה' עָשָׂה וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו עִם יִשְׂרָאֵל. יָרָבְעָם חָטָא וְהֶחֱטִיא אֶת הָרַבִּים, חֵטְא הָרַבִּים תָּלוּי בּוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (מלכים א טו) עַל חַטֹּאות יָרָבְעָם (בֶּן נְבָט) אֲשֶׁר חָטָא וַאֲשֶׁר הֶחֱטִיא אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל:
Se uno porta merito ai molti, il peccato non viene dalla sua mano, [in modo che non sia a Gehinnom e ai suoi discepoli a Gan Eden]; e se uno fa peccare i molti, non gli viene data l'opportunità di pentirsi, [così da non essere in Gan Eden e i suoi discepoli in Gehinnom.] Mosè fu meritorio e portò merito a molti [(Insegnò la Tora a tutti di Israele)]— il merito di molti è attribuito a lui, come è scritto (Deuteronomio 33:21): "Ha fatto la giustizia della L e [ha fatto] i suoi giudizi con Israele" [vale a dire, "I suoi giudizi che sono con Israele " — è come se lui (Mosè) li avesse fatti.] Yeravam peccò e fece peccare molti —il peccato di molti è attribuito a lui, come è scritto (I Re 15:30): "Per i peccati di Yeravam, che ha commesso e che ha fatto commettere ad Israele". [Non essere scritto "per i peccati di Yaravam e Israele" implica che tutto è attribuito a Yeravam.]
Tosafot Yom Tov on Pirkei Avot
WHOEVER BRINGS THE PEOPLE TO DO GOOD, NO SIN WILL COME ABOUT THROUGH HIM. Rav: in order that he shouldn’t end up in Gehinnom while his students are in the Garden of Eden. This is from the Talmud in Yoma 87a, which derives this from the verse “for you will not leave my soul to Sheol, and will not allow your devoted one to see destruction” (Psalms 16:10). The reading seems to be as follows: “you will not leave my soul” to come to sin, such that I will go “to Sheol”, because “you will not allow your devoted one to see destruction.” Now “your devoted one” is written as a plural, “your devoted ones”,233The ketiv or written text is chasidecha, while the keri or reading tradition is chasidcha. which means the students who did good through my instructions, so the end of the verse reads “you will not allow your devoted ones to see” me in “destruction” while they are in the Garden of Eden. And the word “to see” means specifically “to see” and not “to come”.234Indicating that the students in question are observing from a different point—the Garden of Eden—and have not themselves come to Gehinnom.
If so, we see that this is specifically when there are many students, as the verse says “your devoted ones”.
If so, we see that this is specifically when there are many students, as the verse says “your devoted ones”.
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Rabbeinu Yonah on Pirkei Avot
Anyone who brings merit to the many, sin does not result from him: So that his students not be in the Garden of Eden while he is in Gehinnom, as it is written (Psalms 16:10), "For You will not abandon my soul to the grave, or let Your pious one see the pit." And how is it possible that one who is pious should see the pit? Rather, since [(the following is) from a manuscript: He is pious, He does not let him commit a sin - so that he should not see the pit on its account.]
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Rambam on Pirkei Avot
This is all clear, as these matters are from the angle of reward and punishment. So that anyone who disagrees not with the intention to contradict the words of his fellow but from his wanting to know the truth, his words will endure and not end. And anyone who makes people straight, God, may He be blessed, will reward him by preventing him from transgression. And anyone who deceives people, God, may He be blessed, will punish him by preventing him from repentance. And this is clear and there is no difficulty in it, if you understand what we have outlined in the eighth chapter (Eight Chapters 8:14-16).
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Ikar Tosafot Yom Tov on Pirkei Avot
In the gemara, it derives it from verses. And see Tosafot Yom Tov.
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Bartenura on Pirkei Avot
Sin does not result from him: So that he will not be in gehinnom and his students in the Garden of Eden.
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English Explanation of Pirkei Avot
Introduction
Our mishnah talks about the responsibility of leadership, its rewards and its punishments.
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Derekh Chayim
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Tosafot Yom Tov on Pirkei Avot
AND WHOEVER BRINGS THE PEOPLE TO SIN WILL NOT BE GIVEN THE MEANS TO REPENT. Rav: in order that he shouldn’t end up in the Garden of Eden while his students are in Gehinnom. This is from that same passage in the Talmud, where it is derived from the verse “let a man crushed [by guilt] over the bloodshed [lit. blood of a soul] flee to a pit and let none support him” (Proverbs 28:17). Although the verse says “blood of a soul”, even one soul, the mishna says “whoever brings the people to sin” because G-d has a greater tendency to reward than to punish, and even so only one who brings “the people” to do good is saved from sin by his deed—it is all the more true, then, that G-d would only punish one who brings the people to sin.
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Rabbeinu Yonah on Pirkei Avot
"He fulfilled the righteousness of God and His statutes with Israel": [This is] to say that he completed and fulfilled the entire Torah - he and all of Israel with him.
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Ikar Tosafot Yom Tov on Pirkei Avot
is not given, etc.: meaning to say, he is not helped, etc.; which is not the case with other perpetrators of sin: When [they] put into [their] hearts to repent, they are certainly in the category of '[one who] comes to purify, he is aided.' And see Tosafot Yom Tov.
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Bartenura on Pirkei Avot
is not given enough [time] to repent: So that he not be in the Garden of Eden and his students in gehinnom.
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English Explanation of Pirkei Avot
Whoever causes the multitudes to be righteous, sin will not occur on his account; And whoever causes the multitudes to sin, they do not give him the ability to repent. One who causes, through his example and his teaching, others to be righteous, will not accidentally sin or accidentally cause others to sin. He will receive help from Heaven in his endeavors. This is to prevent a situation whereby his followers are rewarded for following his teachings and he is punished for the sins upon which he stumbled. The opposite is true of one who himself sins and causes others to sin as well. Although in general anyone may repent of his sins, this person will not be given the opportunity to do so. According to the Rambam, this means that he does not have the free will to not sin. It would, after all, not be right for him to repent and earn a place in the world to come, while his students are punished for the sinful ways which he taught them.
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Tosafot Yom Tov on Pirkei Avot
WILL NOT BE GIVEN THE MEANS TO REPENT. I.e., G-d will not aid hm, as the verse says, “let none support him”. This is unlike all other sinners who decide to repent, as they certainly are included in the rule “G-d aids whoever wishes to purify himself” (Yoma 39a).
Rambam, however, explains that G-d will prevent him from repenting, just as it is said of Pharaoh that “G-d hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (Exodus 9:12). In the eighth of the Eight Chapters he appends as an introduction to this tractate he explains that there are sins for which one absolutely must be punished, to the point that G-d will prevent the sinner from repenting in order that he receive the punishment he deserves. He writes as much in Mishne Torah, Hilchot Teshuva 6:6-7, where he furnishes scriptural proofs.
Rambam, however, explains that G-d will prevent him from repenting, just as it is said of Pharaoh that “G-d hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (Exodus 9:12). In the eighth of the Eight Chapters he appends as an introduction to this tractate he explains that there are sins for which one absolutely must be punished, to the point that G-d will prevent the sinner from repenting in order that he receive the punishment he deserves. He writes as much in Mishne Torah, Hilchot Teshuva 6:6-7, where he furnishes scriptural proofs.
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Bartenura on Pirkei Avot
and brought merit to the many: since he taught Torah to all of Israel.
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English Explanation of Pirkei Avot
Moses was righteous and caused the multitudes to be righteous, [therefore] the righteousness of the multitudes is hung on him, as it is said, “He executed the Lord’s righteousness and His decisions with Israel” (Deut. 33:21). Jeroboam, sinned and caused the multitudes to sin, [therefore] the sin of the multitudes is hung on him, as it is said, “For the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he caused Israel to sin thereby” (I Kings 15:30). Moses is the greatest example of leadership that the Jewish people has ever known. He was righteous in his own right and he taught others to be righteous as well. As a reward, the righteous acts that the people performed are accredited to him, as if he himself performed them. The verse in Deuteronomy quoted in the mishnah is understood as referring to Moses (although this is not at all clear from the verse itself). According to the mishnah’s understanding, the verse states that Moses did God’s righteousness, and that all of the acts of Israel were counted as his acts as well. From here we learn that when students perform the righteous acts which they have learned from their teachers, the teachers receive credit themselves. Jeroboam was the first king of the northern kingdom (Israel) when it split from the southern kingdom (Judea) after Solomon’s death. Jeroboam told Israel that they no longer had to go to Jerusalem to worship, but could worship at Bethel as well as other places in the north. He made two golden calves and told the people “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt” (I Kings 12:28). Jeroboam did not only himself sin, but he caused others to sin as well. In I Kings 15:25-30, Baasha son of Ahijah kills Nadav, son of Jeroboam and all of Jeroboam’s house as well (Jeroboam himself had already died). Verse 30 concludes that the Jeroboam’s house was killed on account of Jeroboam and his sin and the sins that he caused Israel to sin. From here we can conclude that Jeroboam himself was held accountable for those sins which he caused others to do.
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Bartenura on Pirkei Avot
"He fulfilled the righteousness of God and His statutes with Israel": [Meaning] and His statutes that are with Israel, as if he had [also] done them.
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English Explanation of Pirkei Avot
Questions for Further Thought:
• What is the overall statement of the mishnah with regards to education and the educator?
• What is the overall statement of the mishnah with regards to education and the educator?
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Bartenura on Pirkei Avot
who sinned and caused the many to sin: From that which it did not state, "for the sins of Jeroboam and Israel"; we understand from it that all was dependent upon Jeroboam
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