THE ACQUISITION OF THE TORAH
All Israel have a portion in the world to come, and it is said, "And
thy people shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for
ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be
glorified".
The sages taught (the following) in the language of the
_Mishnah_--blessed be He that made choice of them and their _Mishnah_.
1. R. Meir said, "Whosoever labors in the _Torah_ for its own sake
merits many things; and not only so, but the whole world is indebted
to him: he is called friend, beloved, a lover of the All-present, a
lover of mankind: it clothes him with meekness and reverence; it fits
him to become just, pious, upright, and faithful; it keeps him far
from sin, and brings him near to virtue; through him are enjoyed
counsel and sound knowledge, understanding and strength, as it is
said, 'Counsel is mind, and sound knowledge; I am understanding; I
have strength.' It gives him sovereignty and dominion and discerning
judgment; to him the secrets of the _Torah_ are revealed; he is made
like a never-failing spring and like a river that flows on with
ever-increasing vigor; he becomes modest, long-suffering, and
forgiving of insults; and it magnifies and exalts him above all
things."
2. R. Joshua, the son of Levi, said, "Every day a _bat-kol_ goes forth
from Mount Horeb, proclaiming and saying, 'Woe to mankind for contempt
of the _Torah_, for whoever does not occupy himself in the _Torah_ is
said to be under the divine censure, as it is said, 'As a ring of gold
in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman who turneth aside from
discretion'; and it says, 'And the tables were the work of God, and
the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.' Read not
_charut_, but _cherut_, for no man is free but he who occupies himself
in the learning of _Torah_. But whosoever labors in the _torah_,
behold he shall be exalted, as it is said, 'And from _Mattanah_ to
_Nachaliel_, and from _Nachaliel_ to _Bamot_.'"
3. He who learns from his companion a single chapter, a single rule, a
single verse, a single expression, or even a single letter, ought to
pay him honor, for so we find with David, King of Israel, who learned
only two things from Ahitophel, and yet regarded him as his master,
his guide, and familiar friend, as it is said, "But it was thou, a
man, mine equal, my guide, and my familiar friend." Now, is it not an
argument from minor to major, that if David, the King of Israel, who
learned only two things from Ahitophel, regarded him as his master,
guide, and familiar friend, he who learns from his fellow a chapter,
rule, verse, expression, or even a single letter, is bound to pay him
honor. And "honor" is nothing but _Torah_, as it is said, "The wise
shall inherit honor and the perfect shall inherit good." And "good"
is nothing but _Torah_, as it is said, "For I give you good doctrine,
forsake ye not my _Torah_."
4. This is the way that is becoming for the study of the _Torah_: a
morsel of bread with salt thou must eat, "and water by measure thou
must drink," thou must sleep upon the ground, and live a life of
trouble the while thou toilest in the _Torah_. If thou doest thus,
"Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee," "happy shalt
thou be" in this world, and "it shall be well with thee" in the world
to come.
5. Seek not greatness for thyself, and court not honor; let thy works
exceed thy learning; and crave not after the table of kings; for thy
table is greater than theirs, and thy crown is greater than theirs,
and thy Employer is faithful to pay thee the reward of thy work.
6. The _Torah_ is greater than the priesthood and than royalty, for
royalty demands thirty qualifications, the priesthood twenty-four,
while the _Torah_ is acquired by forty-eight. And these are they: by
audible study; by a listening ear; by distinct pronunciation; by
understanding and discernment of the heart; by awe, reverence,
meekness, cheerfulness; by ministering to the sages, by attaching
one's self to colleagues, by discussion with disciples; by sedateness;
by knowledge of the Scripture and of the _Mishnah;_ by moderation in
business, in intercourse with the world, in pleasure, in sleep, in
conversation, in laughter; by long suffering; by a good heart; by
faith in the wise; by resignation under chastisement; by recognizing
one's place, rejoicing in one's portion, putting a fence to one's
words, claiming no merit for one's self, by being beloved, loving the
All-present, loving mankind, loving just courses, rectitude, and
reproof; by keeping one's self far from honor, not boasting of one's
learning, nor delighting in giving decisions; by bearing the yoke with
one's fellow, judging him favorably, and leading him to truth and
peace; by being composed in one's study; by asking and answering,
hearing and adding thereto; by learning with the object of teaching,
and by learning with the object of practising; by making one's master
wise, fixing attention upon his discourse, and reporting a thing in
the name of who said it. So thou hast learned, "Whosoever reports a
thing in the name of him that said it brings deliverance into the
world," as it is said, "And Esther told the king in the name of
Mordecai."
7. Great is the _Torah_, which gives life to those that practise it in
this world and in the world to come, as it is said, "For they are life
unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh"; and it
says, "It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones"; and
it says, "It is a tree of life to them that grasp it, and of them that
uphold it every one is rendered happy"; and it says, "For they shall
be a chaplet of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck"; and
it says, "It shall give to thine head a chaplet of grace, a crown of
glory it shall deliver to thee"; and it says, "For by me thy days
shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased";
and it says, "Length of days is in its right hand; in its left hand
are riches and honor"; and it says, "For length of days, and years of
life, and peace shall they add to thee."
8. R. Simeon, the son of Judah, in the name of R. Simeon, the son of
Yohai, said, "Beauty, strength, riches, honor, wisdom, old age, a
hoary head, and children are comely to the righteous and comely to the
world, as it is said, 'The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be
found in the way of righteousness'; and it says, 'The glory of young
men is their strength, and the adornment of old men is the hoary
head'; and it says, 'A crown unto the wise is their riches'; and it
says, 'Children's children are the crown of old men, and the adornment
of children are their fathers'; and it is said, 'Then the moon shall
be confounded and the sun ashamed; for the Lord of hosts shall reign
in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his elders shall be
glory.'" R. Simeon, the son of Menasya, said, "These seven
qualifications which the sages enumerated as becoming to the righteous
were all realized in Rabbi Judah, the Prince, and in his sons."
9. R. Jose, the son of Kisma, said, "I was once walking by the way,
when a man met me and saluted me, and I returned the salutation. He
said to me, 'Rabbi, from what place art thou?' I said to him, 'I come
from a great city of sages and scribes.' He said to me, 'If thou art
willing to dwell with us in our place, I will give thee a thousand
thousand golden dinars and precious stones and pearls.' I said to
him, 'Wert thou to give me all the silver and gold and precious stones
and pearls in the world, I would not dwell anywhere but in a home of
the _Torah';_ and thus it is written in the book of Psalms by the
hands of David, King of Israel, 'The law of thy mouth is better unto
me than thousands of gold and silver'; and not only so, but in the
hour of man's departure neither silver nor gold nor precious stones
nor pearls accompany him, but only _Torah_ and good works, as it is
said, 'When thou walkest it shall lead thee; when thou liest down it
shall watch over thee; and when thou awakest it shall talk with thee';
'when thou walkest it shall lead thee'--in this world; and 'when thou
awakest it shall talk with thee'--in the world to come. And it says,
'The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.'"
10. Five possessions the Holy One, blessed be He, made especially His
own in His world, and these are they, the _Torah_, heaven and earth,
Abraham, Israel, and the house of the sanctuary. Whence know we this
of the _Torah?_ Because it is written, "The Lord possessed me as the
beginning of his way, before his works, from of old." Whence of
heaven and earth? Because it is written, "Thus saith the Lord, the
heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what manner of
house will ye build unto me? and what manner of place for my rest?";
and it says, "How manifold are thy works, O Lord! In wisdom hast thou
made them all: the earth is full of thy possessions." Whence of
Abraham? Because it is written, "And he blessed him, and said,
'Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and
earth." Whence of Israel? Because it is written, "Till thy people
pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over which thou hast
acquired"; and it says, "As for the saints that are in the earth, they
are the noble ones in whom is all my delight." Whence of the house of
the sanctuary? Because it is written, "The place, O Lord, which thou
hast made for Thee to dwell in, the sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands
have prepared"; and it says, "And he brought them to the border of his
sanctuary, to this mountain which his right hand had acquired." 11.
Whatsoever the Holy One, blessed be He, created in His world He
created but for His glory, as it is said, "Everything that is called
by my name, it is for my glory I have created it, I have formed it,
yea, I have made it"; and it says, "The Lord shall reign for ever and
ever."
Rabbi Chanania, the son of Akashia, said, "The Holy One, blessed be
He, was pleased to make Israel worthy; wherefore He gave them a
copious _Torah_ and many commandments, as it is said, 'It pleased the
Lord, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the _Torah_ and make it
honorable'".
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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
CHAPTERS II through VI:
The source text included the following lines:
"All Israel," etc., p. 29
and
"Rabbi Chanania," etc., p. 38.
as the first and last line of each chapter, the page numbers referring
to the beginning and ending of Chapter I. Rather than reference these
two sentences in this manner, this text version copies the two
sentences to their intended locations. The transcriber believes this
better captures the intent and functionality of the text.
Chapter III:
R. Meir
umlaut over the i, wherever this name appears
CHAPTER IV:
happy art thou in this world, and
in the source text, the comma after 'worls' was a period. This
was corrected for this electronic text.
CHAPTER V:
tables of stone
are as written in the source text as a translation of the Hebrew
"luchot"; modern readers may better recognize the phrase 'tablets
of stone'.