Komentarz do Pirke Awot 5:22

BEN BAG BAG. Perhaps he and Ben Hey Hey did not live long, as Rav writes on the mishna in 4:1-2 concerning the names Ben Zoma and Ben Azai. Midrash Shmuel, however, writes that Rashbam writes that he heard from his uncle, R. Yehudah the son of Rosh, that they were converts and were called this to protect them from informers.²³⁸Who would have revealed their location to the government. This explanation presumes that conversion to Judaism was a crime under the Romans. Although Constantine made this the official rule of the empire only in 329 C.E., individual adverse reactions to conversion are attested (Dio Cassius reports that in 19 C.E. the Jews were expelled from Rome for “converting many of the natives to their ways”). They were thus the children of Abraham and Sarah, to whose names a hey was added and who were the first converts, for which reason all converts are considered their children. The alphanumeric value of Bag is five, as is that of the letter hey, and the two names are thus the same kind of name, with Ben Bag Bag being more cryptic and hidden; they gave them two different names to differentiate between the two.

Search in it, etc.: Review the words of Torah, as all the wisdom of the world is included in it.

He said about the Torah that one should search in it and meditate upon it, as everything is in it. And he said, "And in it should you see (techezei)," meaning to say the truth. [The explanation is that] you will see the truth with the eye of the intellect, like the [Aramaic] translation of vayira (and he saw) is vechaza. And afterwards he said, "and grow old and be worn in it" - to say, occupy yourself with it until the time of old age; and even then, do not veer from it to something else.

Ben Bag Bag: [That he is known by his patrimonial (Ben x)] can be explained as because he did not have length of days. But Rashbam explained that they were converts; and they are children of Abraham and Sarah, who had a [letter], hey added onto their names - and all converts are called their children. And the numerical equivalent of [the letters in] Bag is five (hey). And they called [Ben Bag Bag and Ben Hey Hey], one differently than the other, in order to recognize between one and the other - Midrash Shmuel.

"Search in it and search in it": in the Torah.

Ben Bag Bag said:
Turn it over, and [again] turn it over, for all is therein.
And look into it;
And become gray and old therein;
And do not move away from it, for you have no better portion than it.
According to legend, Ben Bag Bag and Ben He He (the author of the next mishnah) were converts. In order to hide them from the Roman authorities who forbade conversion, they were called by nicknames (these are obviously not real names). Both nicknames are in essence the letter “heh”, which is the letter that was added to Sarai and Avram’s, the first two converts, names. Bag Bag is in gematria (numerical value) five (bet is two and gimmel is three), which is equivalent to He He, the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The language of the next two mishnayoth is Aramaic, as are the sayings of Hillel that we saw in chapter one, mishnah thirteen. It is possible that these two sages are from the same time period as Hillel.
Ben Bag Bag’s four statements all refer to the study of Torah. The first statement teaches that one should continuously study Torah, turning it over and over, for all wisdom is contained in it. He also comes to warn man not to be satisfied with superficial learning of the Torah. Rather he must study it over many times to delve into its deeper meanings.
One should continue to look into Torah even after he has gotten old. Torah study does not end in youth but is a lifelong endeavor.
One should not leave the Torah for there is nothing better in the world than the study of Torah.
This mishnah is a quintessential example of how precious the study of Torah was in the eyes of the rabbis. It is one of the most studied books in human history and no people has ever developed such a devotion to the study of texts as have the Jews.

TURN IT OVER AND OVER, ETC. Rav: the Torah.
Midrash Shmuel writes in the name of Rabbenu Ephraim that because Torah is something that people greatly need, Ben Bag Bag said his dictum in Aramaic, which everyone knew upon their return from Babylon. Hillel did so as well, in the mishna of “and he who does not learn” (1:13).
Maharal writes in Derech Chaim that they were converts and they thus spoke Aramaic. He also writes that because the Torah was not given to the angels and they cannot receive reward for performing commandments, Ben Bag Bag said his dictum in Aramaic, which the angels do not understand.

And because words of Torah are a great need for people, [Ben Bag Bag] would say this in the Aramaic language, since they all understood it when they ascended [to Israel] from Babylonia - Midrash Shmuel. And see Tosafot Yom Tov.

"since everything is in it": as you will find everything in it.

TURN IT OVER AND OVER. The repetition is to strengthen the point and to teach the need for constant and great exertion. “Turning over” refers to reviewing what one has learnt.

"and search": The repetitive language is to strengthen and teach about [its] constancy and emphasis. And the matter of searching, itself, is the review of learning.

and grow old and be worn in it": Even until your old age and hoary-headedness, do not leave it.

AND IN IT YOU WILL SEE [Aram. techeze]. I.e., the truth. The meaning is that you will see the truth with the eyes of the mind, as the Targum translates “and G-d saw” by vechaza—Rambam.
Rashi has “and in it you should be”—that is, regularly.

"should you look (techeze)": ["It"] means to say the truth. The explanation is, and you should see the truth with the eye of the intellect, like the [Aramaic] translation of "and He saw," "vachaza." And see Tosafot Yom Tov.

"and from it do not move": [such] that you not say, "I have learned the wisdom of Israel, I will [now] go and learn Greek wisdom." As it is not permissible to learn Greek wisdom, except in a place that is forbidden to contemplate words of Torah - for example, in a bathhouse or in a bathroom. As they asked Rabbi Yehoshua, "What is [the law regarding] teaching one's son Greek wisdom?" He said to them, "He should teach it at a time which is not day and not night, as behold, it is written, 'and you will meditate upon them day and night.'"

AND DO NOT MOVE [Heb. lo tazua] FROM IT. Rav: you should not say, I have learnt the wisdom of Israel, now let me go learn chochmat yevanit.²³⁹Commonly translated as “the wisdom of the Greeks”. Rashi and Rambam, however, do not explain it this way whenever it comes up in the Talmud, writing rather that it is a kind of Greek cleverness of speech. Tosafot Yom Tov, in referring to Rav's commentary to the mishna in Sanhedrin, seems to see Rav as indeed understanding the phrase to mean “the wisdom of the Greeks”. See Rav’s comments on “outside books” in the mishna in Sanhedrin 10:1.
Some texts have lo tazuz.²⁴⁰A more standard verb meaning “to move”.

"greater than it": such that you not say that through the learning of Greek wisdom, "perforce I will learn from them politics and administration and virtues (good characteristics)." For this [reason], it said that "there is no characteristic greater than it," as all of the virtues are set up in all [that is in it] and preserved in it - Midrash Shmuel.

FOR THERE IS NO BETTER TRAIT [Heb. middah]²⁴¹Tosafot Yom Tov understands the word as “trait” or “characteristic”, the way it is indeed used in other contexts. The simple understanding of the word here, however, would be something like “way” or “lot”. THAN THIS. You should not think that through learning the wisdom of the Greeks you will certainly learn proper behavior and good character. The mishna says “there is no better trait than this”, for all good character traits are arranged and included in it. Alternatively, our tanna is addressing all of the ethical teachings of the Sages and saying that, from among all of the good character traits that the Sages have advised you to acquire and perfect yourself in, none is like this trait about which I have advised you, for it is the greatest of them all—Midrash Shmuel.