Musar sobre Pirkei Avot 1:2

Among the positive commandments in the Torah are some of the weighty ones that the masses are not careful about - for example the mention of [God’s] name in vain, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 10:20), “You shall fear the Lord, your God.” And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Temurah 4:1), “We have been warned with this not to mention [God’s] name in vain.” And likewise acts of kindness, which is a positive commandment, as it is stated (Exodus 18:20), “and make known to them the way they are to go” - that is acts of kindness (Bava Metzia 30b). And they said (Sukkah 49b), “Acts of kindness are superior to charity, [since] charity is given to the poor, while acts of kindness are performed both for the poor and for the rich.” Therefore they said (Avot 1:2), “The world stands upon three things: On the Torah; on the service; and on acts of kindness.” And (Sukkah 49b) “charity can be performed only with one’s money, while acts of kindness can be performed both with his person and with his money.” For a person is obligated to exert himself in seeking good for his people and to dedicate himself to the betterment of his fellow - whether poor or rich. And this is one of the main weighty commandments required of a person, as it is stated (Micah 6:8), “He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you - only to do justice, and to love kindness.” And likewise to go beyond the law, as it is stated (Exodus 18:20), “and the practices they are to follow.” And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Bava Metzia 30b), “This is going beyond the letter of the law.” And there are many ways in this matter, such that this commandment would be from the weighty ones. It is all according to the contents of the case - as our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Bava Metzia 30b), “Jerusalem was destroyed only because they established their rulings on the basis of Torah law and did not go beyond the letter of the law.”

Behold acts of kindliness are of great primary importance to the Chasid (pious). For the term "Chasidut" itself comes from the term "kindliness" (Chesed). And our sages, of blessed memory, said (Pirkei Avot 1:2): "on three things the world stands", and one of whom is "acts of kindliness". Likewise, they counted them as one of those things which a person "eats of its fruits in this world while the principal [reward] is reserved for him in the World to Come."

Behold the story of Gedalia ben Achikam where it is clear to our eyes that due to his great Chasidut to not judge Yishmael ben Netanya negatively, nor to accept an evil report, he said to Yochanan ben Kareach "you are speaking falsely of Yishmael" (Yirmiyahu 40:16). What resulted from this? He was murdered, the Jews went into exile, and their last ember was extinguished. Scripture attributes the murder of these people as if Gedalyah himself murdered them, as our sages of blessed memory, said (Nida 61a) on the verse: "all the bodies of the men whom he had killed through Gedaliah" (Yirmiyahu 41:9).

The Torah writes in 11,33, הבשר עודנו בין שניהם טרם יכרת, ואף ה' וכו'. "The meat was still between their teeth, had not been chewed up yet, when the anger of the Lord was kindled, etc." We know that the world is based on תורה ועבודה, Torah study and service of the Lord. I have found an interesting commentary by the Rekanati on Song of Songs 6,6. We find in that verse that the teeth are described as שכולם מתאימות, "all of them like twins,” and in the next half of the verse ושכלה אין בהם, "none of them has suffered a bereavement.” The overall description is that of a flock of ewes which these teeth are compared to. A similar verse in Song of Songs 4,2, compares these teeth to a flock that has come up from being well washed. The verses are understood to describe aspects of Torah and Avodah. When Abraham had asked G–d: “How will I know that I will inherit it? (Genesis 15,8), he was told that the merit of the sacrifices or even the recital of the sacrificial service when there is no Temple would ensure that G–d could fulfil His promise (compare Megillah 31b). It is a scientific fact that every Jew has 32 teeth, 16 upper ones and 16 lower ones. The statement that שניך כעדר הרחלים, "your teeth are like a flock of ewes,” refers to the 16 public offerings consisting of sheep that were offered in the holy Temple every week, 12 on weekdays and the regular 2 plus an extra 2 on the Sabbath. This is what we call עבודה.

The third period, the one we described as commencing with the establishment of the second Temple, commenced with Shimon Hatzaddik, and continued during the entire period of the reign of the Greeks, and is called the domain of חציבה. Shimon Hatzaddik himself is described in Avot 1,2, as משירי אנשי כנסת הגדולה, "as a member of the remnants of the men of the Great Assembly, the period during which the last of the Books of the Bible were edited. The Holy Spirit that was available during those years continued to decrease until the destruction of the second Temple.

Ideally, the "crown" of Torah should be paired with two other "crowns," namely the "crown" of מלכות, Royalty, and the "crown" of כהונה, the "crown" of Priesthood. Torah was given in order to be studied, to be observed (negative commandments), and to be performed (positive commandments). The most important aspect of the "performance" is the sacrificial service performed by the priests. This is why that aspect of Torah performance is called עבודה, Service, [without any adjective defining the nature of the Service. Ed.] This then is the meaning of the כתר כהונה. The priests who perform their tasks in the Temple are perceived as wearing that "crown." There is also a need for the כתר מלכות, the "crown" of Royalty, in order to infuse the people with due respect for G–d's law. They must be encouraged to be diligent in observing Torah statutes. The function of Torah scholars has traditionally been to supervise, to exhort the people to perform their duties, just as it was the task of the prophets when we were still blessed with their presence among us. Moses, the greatest of the prophets, was described by our sages as "King," because he had the authority of a crowned king.

Let us first look at the statement in the Mishnah in Avot 1,2, that the world is supported by three things: by Torah, by Avodah and by the performance of kind deeds to one's fellow man. In this instance Tzedakah, commonly translated as the giving of charity, is identical with the term Gemilut Chassadim, mentioned in the Mishnah. Each one of the flags corresponded to one of the letters in the four-lettered name of G–d. Torah corresponds to the letter yud, the Ten Commandments, since the 613 commandments are all condensed within the Ten Ccommandments. The flag of the camp of Yehudah alludes to Torah; Rashi points out that Moses, Aaron, his sons and the Levites, camped close to that camp (2,2). The direction was the East, the direction from which light, i.e. enlightenment has come to the world. Torah, after all, is identical with "light." In front was the angel אוריאל, the numerical value of אור, being 207, which alludes to the secrets of the Torah. This angel is also known as נוריאל. Nur is a kind of fire which burns one up thoroughly, as happened to the youngster who tried to penetrate into the secrets of חשמל [what is commonly known as roam מעשה מרכבה, and should not be taught to anyone who is not capable of studying this on his own]. The Talmud reports in Chagigah 13 that a youngster undertook to study these matters and was fatally burned by heavenly fire [the expression used by the Talmud is נורא].