Dual Preparations

Two Customs

There are two customs concerning the recitation of Pirkei Avos: The first is to recite it every Shabbos between the Holidays of Passover and Shavuos. The alternate custom is to continue saying it throughout the Sabbaths of the summer up until Rosh Hashanah.

Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, known as the Alter Rebbe writes:¹

It is customary to recite² Chapters of the Fathers, a chapter each Sabbath, between Passover and Shavuos.³… Some have the custom to continue this practice throughout all the Sabbaths of the summer.⁴ The simple reason for the custom of reciting Pirkei Avos is to serve as a preparation for the receiving of the Torah, which occurs on Shavuos.⁵ Our Sages state, “Derech Ertezproper comportment and ethical behavior comes before the Torah.”⁶ Therefore, the recitation and study of Avos, which is devoted to the theme of character refinement and the acquisition of a good character, ought to precede the receiving of the Torah.⁷ However, the second custom of reciting Pirkei Avos throughout the summer needs some clarification.

One explanation of this custom revolves around the second reason given by commentators as to why we recite Pirkei Avos,⁸ which focuses on the relevance of Pirkei Avos to the summer season. And this is alluded to in the words of the Alter Rebbe: “Some have the custom to continue this practice throughout all the Sabbaths of the summer.” The Alter Rebbe does not write “continue this practice until Rosh Hashanah,” or a similar expression. This supports the thesis that recitation of Avos relates to the extra challenge posed by the summer season.

The summer is a time when the world experiences renewal and the nature is at its peak. The trees blossom and one’s own bodily desires likewise are more pronounced. The beauty of nature that is apparent during the summer can distract one from his moral, re- ligious and spiritual responsibilities. As the Mishnah in Avos states: “One who is traveling and studies Torah and remarks, ‘How beautiful is this tree! How beautiful is this plowed field!’ Scripture considers it as if he were guilty of a mortal sin.”⁹ The enhanced state of nature and natural forces both outside and inside of man during the summer months can even render one incapable of overcoming his bodily desires. In short, we are more vulnerable in the summer than in the winter.

To deal with this summer phenomenon, the custom of reciting Pirkei Avos was developed. Pirkei Avos is devoted to refinement of character and sensitizes one to not only avoid causing damage, but also to go to the opposite extreme—to go beyond the dictates of the law.¹⁰ Because of the need to deal with the challenges of the summer months, it makes a lot of sense to continue reciting Avos throughout the summer Sabbaths, not only in the weeks preceding Shavuos. And once one recites Avos during all the summer Sabbaths, it has the desired effect on the weekdays as well, in accordance with the principle that “from it [the Shabbos] all the days of the week [that follow] are blessed.”¹¹ This means that Shabbos has the ability to energize and inspire us for the entire week.

This thought is alluded to in the initials of the three weeks, throughout the summer when we begin reciting Avos anew. They are the weeks of Naso, Pinchas and Shoftim. The acronym for these three names is nefesh, which means soul.¹² This underscores the notion that the objective of saying Avos throughout the summer is to rectify and refine the soul.

However, there are other names by which the soul is identified, such as ruach and neshoma. The name nefesh is invoked here because it is representative of the lowest level of the soul. This is to teach us that even one whose soul is on the lowest level; is still capable of selfrefinement through the recitation of Avos during the summer.

The Chabad custom is to continue reciting Avos throughout the summer. This custom is based on the fact that our Rebbes have based their discourses in the summer on sayings from Avos that relate to that week. This does not prove that all the Rebbes would always recite Avos all the Sabbaths of the summer. However, this has become the prevalent Chabad custom in recent years.

Preparing for the Torah After it was Given

When one analyzes the wording of the Alter Rebbe’s instructions concerning the recitation of Avos there are two salient points that he makes:

First, that there are two levels or concepts concerning the recitation of Avos: (a) Every Sabbath between Passover and Shavuos; (b) Reciting Avos throughout the Sabbaths of the summer is restricted to “some.”

To clarify these two points, we must realize that the need to recite Avos in the summer is not just to help us to overcome the greater temptations and pitfalls that exist in the summer. One can also appreciate the saying of Avos in the summer in the context of pre- paring for the receiving of the Torah, notwithstanding the fact that the “the Season of Mattan Toraseinu-the Giving of Our Torah” has already passed In essence, the saying of Avos after Shavuos can be seen as a continuation of the saying of Avos before Shavuos, as a continued preparation for the receiving of the Torah.

This approach is based on the premise that one can experience a renewed Mattan Torah experience, which necessitates another series of preparation through the study of Avos. However, since there are multiple levels in this new dimension of Torah that one experiences after Shavuos, there is no uniform custom regarding the recitation of Pirkei Avos in the summer Sabbaths. Only “some” have this custom.

Our Sages have already established the existence of this renewed experience of Mattan Torah: “Everyday they shall be new in your eyes, as if you were commanded regarding them this very day.”¹³ Indeed, this concept we enunciate whenever we recite the blessings on the Torah, where we use the present tense form “Nosain HaTorah, the Giver of the Torah,” not the past tense “who has given us the Torah.”¹⁴ And this ideal of viewing the Torah as a new experience is not just a lofty notion that does not relate to the practical world, it is the basis of the Talmud’s exhortation to us to study Torah with the same spirit and state of awe that accompanied the original giving of the Torah at Sinai: “Just as there [it was received] with fear and awe, trembling and perspiration, so too here [nowadays, Torah study should be permeated] with feelings of fear and awe, trembling and perspiration.” as if it one had just received it at Sinai that very day.

G-d Speaking Through Us

To better understand this renewed Torah experience, the Alter Rebbe¹⁵ prefaces the introductory verse to the Ten Commandments: “And G-d spoke all these words saying.” This verse will serve as a key to unlock the secret of the “renewed Torah” ideal.

The Alter Rebbe raises the question concerning the usage of the word “laimor, which is usually translated as “saying:”

“At first glance, the word ”saying” here is incomprehensible, and is unlike all other occurrences of this word. Elsewhere, the word “saying” is that G-d spoke to Moses, and then asked him to say it to all the other Jews [who did not hear it directly from G-d.] With respect to the Ten Commandments, however, this usage of “saying” cannot apply, since all of the Jewish people [were present at Sinai and] heard G-d’s commandments to them.”

The Alter Rebbe answers by presenting a novel way of interpreting the word “saying” in this context:

“The meaning of the word “saying” is to reiterate all the words of the Torah that were already spoken to Moses at Sinai…They are [truly] “My words that I have placed in your mouth.”¹⁶ This [word “saying” thus represents] the energy that was given to the Jewish people so that when the words of Halacha are uttered by them, these words are the actual words spoken by G-d to Moses at Sinai at the time of the receiving of the Torah, when G-d gave the Ten Commandments.

When one says these words, he is essentially saying that which had already been said then. [To truly appreciate this one must be] in a state of total self-abnegation and surrender of one’s being to Him, so that G-d’s speech is not separate from the person’s speech… it is as if they are his words. It is [the fulfillment of:] “my tongue responds to Your words,”¹⁷— that the Torah which are Your words, are uttered through my tongue, as if one was repeating the words of another…”

The Alter Rebbe concludes with the practical application of this mystical concept:

“The intellectual who contemplates this matter will be overcome with a sense of fear and dread when he studies Torah; when he takes to heart that [the words of Torah that he just uttered] are literally the words of G-d that were said to Moses at Sinai… {As the Talmud teaches:] ‘“Just as there [it was received] with fear and awe… so too here [Torah study should be permeated] with [feelings of] fear and awe…. At first glance, how can there be any comparison “Just like there…so too here…?” At the giving of the Torah at Sinai all of the people “saw the sounds” and “Face to face G-d spoke.” By contrast, when one studies Torah by himself he does not have these experiences.

However [the explanation of this matter is that]… when whoever studies Torah, in whichever time, it is literally the word of G-d that was said to Moses at Sinai [that is now being said]. With this [realization in mind] one will be overcome with a sense of fear and awe as if he had received it from Sinai that very day.”

To translate the above in simple terms it means that whenever a Jew studies Torah, he can have the same reaction of awe that accompanied the giving of the Torah. The fact that one does not see the thunder and lightening and the people around him trembling etc. does not faze the individual who realizes that he has experienced a phenomenon that is infinitely greater than the thunder and lightening. For one who has just experienced G-d’s very own words, uttered “face to face,” of what value is the thunder and lightening or the lack thereof?

As for the argument that we do not feel these experiences every time we study Torah, there is a well-known parable of a coach driver whose horses draw a wagon with scholars on board, that addresses this dilemma. Does the fact that the horses are thinking of the hay and the coach driver is thinking of his pay, detract one iota from the value of the pearls of wisdom that the scholars are exchanging?¹⁸ It is therefore understandable that even after having received the Torah during the festival of Shavuos, “The Season of the giving of our Torah,” there can and must be a renewed experience of Mattan Torah. And if one needs to recite and study Avos before Shavuos as a preparation for the receiving of the Torah then, so too it is necessary to recite and study Avos after Shavuos to prepare for the new dimension of Torah that follows Shavuos.

New Approaches to Torah Study

One can take the idea of Torah innovation a step further.

The Talmud relates how Rabbi Zeira moved from Babylonia to the Land of Israel. Before he embarked on his journey “he fasted a hundred (according to other versions: forty) fast days [to implore G-d] that he should forget the Babylonian Talmud.”¹⁹ This sounds rather strange in light of the law recorded in Avos that pronounces a harsh verdict for “One who [deliberately] forgets even one matter of his learning.”²⁰ How then could Rabbi Zeira make an effort to forget his Torah knowledge?

The question is magnified when we consider the means he utilized to the end of forgetting Torah. For a person to engage in fasting and other forms of needless deprivation is considered a sin.²¹ How can we justify Rabbi Zeira’s needless self-mortification—one hundred fasts—for a result that seems so negative?

The explanation of this enigma is that there is a difference between one who tries to forget words of Torah or forget an approach to the study of Torah. R. Zeira certainly did not to forget any of the words or laws of the Torah that he had learned in Babylonia.

What he did try to forget was the approach and style of learning that was popular in Babylonia so that he could learn a totally new and superior approach that was used in the Land of Israel. Babylonian scholars were known for their multitude of questions, debates, arguments and counter arguments. These arguments, rather than clarifying an issue, would actually cloud them. It was arduous process before they could reach a solid conclusion In the Land of Israel, the approach to learning was straightforward, minimal amount of questions and arguments and counter arguments, because their approach was to see the subject clearly and not allow it to become obscured with a plethora of questions. Indeed, the Talmud itself applies the verse “He has placed me in the dark”²² as a reference to Babylonian style scholarship.²³ We now have a clearer picture of how one can master the Torah and yet still go through a process where they develop a radically new and higher level of understanding of Torah. Thus, even after one has received the Torah on Shavuos they are still capable of reaching a completely new level that calls for its own process of preparation. And just as it was crucial that one prepare for the initial receiving of the Torah on Shavuos by learning Pirkei Avos, it makes good sense to do the same when one wishes to acquire a new level of Torah study.

Ulterior and Pure Motives

Another related application of the renewal aspect of Torah can be found in the Talmudic dictum: “One should always engage in the study of Torah, even if it is for ulterior mo- tives, for from the ulterior motives one will come to [doing it] for pure motives.” Upon reflection it is difficult to grasp how the Talmud could assure the person who studies Torah for ulterior motives that he will eventually study it for the pure motives? How could one be so sure? Doing things for ulterior motives ought to be considered undesirable and regarded as a inherently inferior form of learning that should be discouraged. At the very least, one should not be lead to think that is will inevitably lead to the higher form oflearning.

However, the explanation of this matter is hinted to in the wording of that statement. The word “from [the ulterior motives],” is the key word. The Hebrew word of which “from” is a translation that is used here is “mitoch,” which can also be translated as “from within.” Let us now retranslate the entire sentence: “One should always engage in the study of Torah, even if it is for ulterior Pesachim 50b. See there for cross references. Rambam, Hilchos Talmud Torah Chapter 3:5. Hilchos Teshuvah, Chapter 10:5. Hilchos Talmud Torah, Shulchan Aruch Admor Hazaken, Chapter 43.

motives, for from within the ulterior motives one will come to [doing it] for pure motives.”

What our Sages now seem to be saying is that despite the overt and conscious intentions one may have when they study Torah, when one probes beneath the surface and gets to the “toch” the inner core, the motive is indeed pure.

There is actually a twofold understanding of what is meant by the “inner core:” It is referring either to the core of the Torah or to the core of one’s soul. Either way, the core of Torah or of the soul is pure and will eventually help the person change their whole attitude towards Torah study.

Torah, no matter what circumstances it is in,²⁴ is always the word of G-d that is likened to fire²⁵ because: “Just as fire cannot be contaminated, so too words of Torah cannot be- come impure.”²⁶ And since the word of Torah cannot be tainted, there are empowered to refine the person and lead his to a point where his Torah study will be for the correct and pure motives.

And, likewise, the inner core of the Jew is pure, for the soul is “truly a part of G-d from above.”²⁷ And even when a person sins the soul is “faithful with Him.”²⁸ Thus, no matter what level one is at in terms of their motive for Torah study, the inner core of the Torah and their soul will lead them inexorably to the learning of Torah with the purist of motives.

We can now better appreciate how one can have realized the receiving of the Torah during Shavuos and still will be able to experience anew the receiving of the Torah. It can either involve the realization that:

(a) Every day, when we study Torah it is truly G-d giving us the Torah anew.

(b) One can acquire totally new ways of approaching and understanding the Torah.

(c) One can go from the level of learning Torah for ulterior motives to learning Torah for pure motives.

And we can now understand why Avos is recited and studied after Shavuos as well, because there are new vistas and dimensions of Torah study that arise after Shavuos, for which one needs the preparation that is provided for by Pirkei Avos.

What About the Winter?

At this point a simple question begs to be asked: If Torah has all these new dimensions, and if we must look for finding new vistas in Torah on a daily basis, throughout the entire life cycle as well as the entire yearly cycle, why do we not recite Pirkei Avos all year round?

One can offer the following explanation that, in essence, during the winter months we have a natural support system that can prepare us for our renewed vigor in Torah study, which is absent in the summer months. Thus during the winter we do not need the spiritual support provided by Pirkei Avos.

We can better understand the difference between summer and winter by analyzing the most salient feature that differentiates between summer and winter as they are described by the Torah.

The summer season in Hebrew is called kayitz,²⁹ and it refers to the drying of the fruits that occurs in the summer. This is in direct contrast with the winter, which is called yemos hageshamim-the rainy season. And it is the absence of such rain in the summer that allows us to dry the fruits.

On a spiritual level, rain is associated with human endeavor. The Midrash³⁰ commenting on the word ya’arof-pour in the verse “my teachings pour like rain,”³¹ states: “If the creatures break their stiff necks (the root of the word ya’arof is the same as oref which means nape of the neck) the rain shall descend immediately.”

This concept echoes that of the Talmud that distinguishes between rain and dew. While dew is never withheld by G-d, and does not require that we make mention of it in our prayers to the same extent as rain, rain can be withheld, and we must therefore ask for it in our prayers.³² In other words, when we look at the rain descending in the winter season it reminds us of our need to break our obstinate nature and resistance to Torah and reconnect to G- d.

And the dependency that exists between rain and our efforts is even more pronounced with regard to Torah study, as the Torah states, “If you will follow in My statutes… I will give the rains in their season.” Rashi³³ takes this verse as a reference to toiling in the study of Torah. Hence Torah study and rain are clearly linked.

We can now understand the reason for the custom to recite Pirkei Avos throughout the Sabbaths of the summer and not of the winter. In the winter (“The rainy season”) there is a natural impetus that eliminates the negative form of a stiff-necked personality. There is therefore no need for the ethical and moral exhortations of Pirkei Avos to remove the impediments to Torah.

During the summer months, however, when the natural motivation that comes from the need for rain is absent, one needs the recitation of Pirkei Avos to secure a proper intro- Vayikra 26:3-4.

duction to the new dimensions of Torah, for which one must always prepare.

Respect for Subjectivity

With this premise we can also understand why the custom of reciting Pirkei Avos is only a custom held by some, and not a universal custom, as the Alter Rebbe stresses in his introduction to Avos.

While everybody must prepare for the receiving of the Torah on Shavuos, the universal season for the giving of the Torah, the new dimensions of Torah that we receive on a daily basis are subjective. For some on the highest level, their preparation for the Torah after Shavuos is no different than their preparation before Shavuos because to them the Torah is new in the most literal and plain sense of the word.

Yet for others, the “new Torah” that they prepare for can only be described as virtually new and depending on the level of newness one’s preparations will vary.

These two general levels are reflected in the two versions of the phrase “they shall be as new,” or “they shall be new” in rabbinic literature³⁴ And since this preparation for new dimensions and levels of Torah is subjective, “each according to his measure,” therefore the custom of reciting Pirkei Avos is characterized as a custom that only some people follow, as a way of underscoring the subjective nature of the challenge of Torah study that follows Shavuos.³⁵

From the book Introduction to Pirkei Avos (Biurim L’Pirkei Avos) by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, adapted from the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and published by the Jewish Discovery Center.

Footnotes

1. [See Essay One n. 3 – Translator’s note.] ↩

2. [Ibid. n. 4. – Translator’s note.] ↩

3. [Ibid. n. 6 – Translator’s note.]. ↩

4. [Ibid. n. 8 – Translator’s note.] ↩

5. Midrash Shmuel, Introduction. See above, beginning of Essay one. ↩

6. Vayikra Rabbah 9:3. ↩

7. The fact that it is described as a custom and not a law can be understood in light of the fact that Pirkei Avos serves in place of the Derech Eretz that preceded the Torah. In other words, it is a “reenactment” of the pre-Sinai state of affairs, when the laws of the Torah were not yet in effect. When we study Pirkei Avos it is as if we return to that pre-Sinai era, and therefore we refer to the practice as a custom but not as a law, since no laws exist in the pre-Sinai mode. ↩

8. Midrash Shmuel, ad loc. (“And I found written….”). ↩

9. Avos 3:7. [The Mishnah does not mean to suggest that there is a sin in observing the beauty of nature. On the contrary, the Torah tells us how one should “Lift your eyes heavenward and see who created these.” By observing nature one can realize the existence of a Creator, which, in turn will lead to love and awe of G-d. The Book of Psalms and our prayers are replete with references to the grandeur of nature and how it reflects on the greatness of its Creator. Rather, what is meant here is that one must not allow one’s engagement with nature to distract oneself from his primary obligations to follow the commandments. Hence, the Rebbe’s point, based on the Midrash Shmuel’s thesis, is that the potential for distraction is greater in the summer, not that there is something sinister about the beauty of nature. – Translator’s note.] ↩

10. [See Bava Kamma 30a, where the Talmud provides several means to become a chasid (conscientious and pious). One of them is to study matters concerning damages and another is to study Avos. There is, however, a significant difference between the two courses of study. When one studies the laws of torts that will sensitize one to the need not to harm others, while the study of Avos elevates the person to the level where they go beyond the minimum requirements of the law. See Commentaries on the foregoing passage in Bava Kamma. – Translator’s note] ↩

11. Zohar II 63b; 88a. ↩

12. See Bein Pesach l’Shavuos” (Israel, 5744) Chapter 5:32 for references. ↩

13. Rashi, Devarim 26:16. ↩

14. Likkutei Torah, Tazria 23a. Drushim l’sukos 81c, and in several other sources. ↩

15. Torah Or, Yisro, 67b. ↩

16. Yeshayahu 59:21. ↩

17. Tehillim 119:172. ↩

18. Sefer HaMa’amarim 5688, p. 201. Sefer HaSichos, 5701, p. 130. ↩

19. See Bava Metzia 85a. ↩

20. Avos 3:8. ↩

21. See Ta’anis 11a. ↩

22. Eicha 3:6. Sanhedrin 24a. ↩

23. Shaarei Orah, s.v., Bchof hei bkislev, Chapter 54ff. Hemshech 5666, p. 90 ff. Sefer HaMaamarim, 5708, p. 121ff ↩

24. Obviously this refers to one who does not distort the Torah, but follows its governing principles faithfully. This individual’s Torah itself will have a positive effect on him because the Torah is incorruptible. ↩

25. Yirmiyahu 23:29. ↩

26. Berachos 22a. Rambam, end of Hilchos Kerias Shema. The above is even more valid when the person’s involvement with Torah study is as a business, Note the word “ya’asok-engage in,” where the connotation is to be devoted to is study as an owner of a business is preoccupied and consumed with his business. See Bach (Orach Chaim, Hilchos Birchas Hashachar, sec. 47, s.v. v’nuscha.See also Sefer HaMa’amarim Kuntreisim, volume one, p. 258aff. Sefer Ha- Ma’amarim 5688, p. 112, 127. Likkutei Sichos, volume four, p. 1230ff). ↩

27. Tanya, Chapter 2. ↩

28. Tanya, Chapter 24 paraphrasing Esther 2:20. ↩

29. More specifically, The Torah actually records six seasons (Bereishis 8:22), each of which serves for two months (Rashi ad loc. citing Bava Metzia 106b). However, the two most contrasting seasons in a general sense are kayitz (summer) and choref (winter). ↩

30. Bereishis Rabbah, 13:14. See there for cross references. ↩

31. Devarim 32:2. ↩

32. Ta’anis 3a. ↩

33. Ad loc. ↩

34. See Sifri and Rashi on Devarim 6:6; Rashi on Shemos 19:1. Devarim 11:13 and other sources. ↩

35. Adapted from the talk of Shabbos parshas Naso, 5747, based exclusively on a listeners account. ↩