Halakhah su Pirkei Avoth 5:25

One should strengthen himself like a lion to get up in the morning to serve his Creator, so that it is he who awakens the dawn. Rem"a: At least, one should not delay beyond the time when the congregation prays (Tur). Rem"a: "I have set the Lord before me constantly" (Psalms 16:8); this is a major principle in the Torah and amongst the virtues of the righteous who walk before God. For a person's way of sitting, his movements and his dealings while he is alone in his house are not like his way of sitting, his movements and his dealings when he is before a great king; nor are his speech and free expression as much as he wants when he is with his household members and his relatives like his speech when in a royal audience. All the more so when one takes to heart that the Great King, the Holy One, Blessed Is He, Whose glory fills the earth, is standing over him and watching his actions, as it is stated: "'Will a man hide in concealment and I will not see him?' - the word of God" (Jeremiah 23:24), he immediately acquires fear and submission in dread of God, May He Be Blessed, and is ashamed of Him constantly (Guide for the Perplexed III 52). And one should not be ashamed because of people who mock him in his service of God, and should also go modestly. And when he lies on his bed he should know before Whom he lies, and as soon as he wakes up from sleep he should rise eagerly to the service of his Creator, May He Be Blessed and Exalted (Tur).

And [it] is practiced in every place and at all times (Kiddushin 36b), and a person is obligated to be involved with it from when it is fitting for him, and this is the age which the sages (Avot 5:21) designated to marry a woman. And this commandment is not incumbent upon women. And one who negates it violates a positive commandment; and his punishment is very great (Kiddushin 29b), as he shows that he does not want to fulfill God's will to settle His world.

And from this we can understand that lashon hara is certainly forbidden in an instance where only one's personal honor is at stake. As when one is sitting in a company of men and has no way of avoiding them, and they are speaking of things which are forbidden according to the din. If he sits in silence and in no way abets them in their talk, he will be regarded as "crazy." Of this and all such things, Chazal have said (Eduyoth 5:6): "Better that a man be called 'a fool' all of his days rather than be wicked one moment before the L-rd." He must harness all of his powers at that moment to withstand the trial, and [if he does so], he may be completely confident that his reward for this from the Blessed L–rd will be without end. As Chazal have stated (Avoth 5:23): "According to the strain is the reward." And, in Avoth d'R. Nathan: "One time with strain for a hundred times without strain." (That is, the reward for the performance of a mitzvah or the abstention from an issur, which entails strain, is a hundredfold more than for that of the same kind, which entails no strain.) And to such a time [of trial as the above] there certainly applies the statement of Chazal in the Midrash: "For every moment that one 'muzzles' his mouth, he attains to such secreted light that no angel or [Divine] creature can conceive of." (As to how one should conduct himself in respect to reproof and listening if one is "caught" in such an evil company as this one, see below Principle VI, sections 4-6, and above, in the introduction to the negative commandments, section 16.)

A woman who wishes to voluntarily fulfill the positive time-bound mitzvot receives reward for doing so, although it is not the same as a man’s reward. As R. Ḥanina states, “Greater is the [reward for] one who is commanded to do and does than one who is not commanded and does” (Kiddushin 31a). Ritva explains that the reason for this is that one who is commanded to perform a mitzva encounters the resistance of his; therefore his reward is greater, as the Sages say, “lefum tza’ara agra” (according to the torment is the reward) (m. Avot 5:23).

The Mishnah (Avot 5:10) condemns individuals who act in the manner of Sedom by claiming, “What is mine is mine, and what is yours is yours.” This implies that one should not always demand from another exact payment to which one is entitled. Thus, one should not demand payment for gas and tolls from another who has asked him to ride home in his automobile if the latter did not take the former out of his way. Despite the fact that the rider has saved money, since he does not have to pay transportation costs, it is nonetheless Somodite behavior for the driver to demand payment if he has lost nothing. In fact, the Ri (presented in Tosafot ad. loc.) implies that the rule of kofin al middat Sedom is a Torah level law and not merely a rabbinic enactment.

We have mentioned before (Chapter 1: 3) the saying of Rabbi Yehudah ben Teima,²⁸Mishnah Avos 5:3. "Be bold as a leopard…" [which teaches] not to be ashamed before people who deride you when you worship the Creator, blessed is He. Nevertheless, you should not answer them rudely,²⁹This paragraph refers to the case where an individual is being mocked for his performance of a certain mitzvah. However, if the mockery is intended as a flagrant demonstration against Torah Judaism as a whole, as an attempt to influence others to abandon God’s way by holding an observant Jew up to ridicule, then these efforts must be thwarted by whatever means possible, no matter how harsh or drastic they may be. (Biur Halachah 1:1) so that you will not acquire the habit of being impertinent even in situations not involved with the worship of God, blessed be His Name.

Rav J. David Bleich (Tradition Summer 1999 - vol. 33 no. 4: 56-60), in turn, explains the argument of the Imrei Yosher. Rav Bleich notes that if one experienced pain in the process of a performing a mitzvah, such as obtaining an etrog that was ensconced in thorns, he would not receive any additional reward for the pain he endured in order to obtain the etrog¹³³Avi Levinson asks why does he not receive extra reward due to the Mishnah’s teaching “The reward is in accordance with the pain one endures” (Avot 5:19). One may respond that the Rambam mentions this rule only once in his entire Mishnah Torah, in the context of the mitzvah of Torah study (Hilchot Talmud Torah 3:6). I heard reported in the name of Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik that we may infer from the Rambam that this rule applies only to the mitzvah of Talmud Torah. Indeed, the Mishnah in Pirkei Avot is addressing the mitzvah of Talmud Torah. However, the fact that the Rambam does not present this rule in the context of brit milah might serve as evidence that the Midrash cited by Rav Arik does not reflect normative Halachah. . Why, then, does the Midrash state that Avraham received reward for the pain he endured during brit milah? Rav Arik's answer is that experiencing pain is not an aspect of the mitzvah of taking an rtrog, but it does constitute an aspect of the mitzvah of brit milah.

And I will say that the matter of all of the sacrifices is to arouse the thoughts of the one that offers [them]; and according to that act, he shall take its similarities into his soul - all as we have already written (Sefer HaChinukh 95, 116). Hence in distancing chamets, which is made with great delay, he will take the similarity from his sacrifice to acquire the trait of alacrity, of lightness and of speed in [doing] the act of God, blessed be He. And as they, may their memory be blessed, said (Mishnah Avot 5:20), "Be[...] light like the eagle, swift like the deer, and mighty like the lion to do, etc." And we are obligated in the matter with the meal-offering of individuals more than with the communal meal-offering; since discouragement and laziness are found more with the individual - as the many will flag one another. And therefore the Torah did not concern itself about this with a communal meal-offering that comes from time to time, such as two breads of [Shavouot]. But with the bread of display - even though it is also called a communal meal-offering - since it is a constant meal-offering on each and every Shabbat, the Torah concerned itself about it and also commanded us about it that it should be matsa.