We now open the second chapter of Maseches Avos, at Mishnah 1. Here we arrive at the end of the chain of Tannaim - at the teaching of Rebbi, that is, Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, the author and principal editor of the Mishnah. There is a great deal to be said about Rebbi, but the mishnah before us is especially long and complex - something like four mishnayos rolled into one. We will therefore leave the biographical material for another mishnah and focus now on his words.
Rebbi opens the chapter even though chronologically he is the last of the Tannaim, because of the central importance we wish to establish. Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi was the teacher of all Israel, and that is why he is called simply 'Rebbi', with no addition at all - the teacher of everyone.
The first of the four topics of the mishnah - "eizohi derech yesharah sheyavor lo ha'adam":
There is no question more important than this one. Rebbi's answer is: "kol shehi tiferes le'oseha vesiferes lo min ha'adam" - on the one hand, a person knows within himself that this path suits him, his time, his standing and the potential within him; and on the other hand, it is a credit to him in the eyes of others as well.
In other words, Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi teaches that social feedback is an important clue as to whether a person is doing the right thing. It is not enough for him to be good and to do good; it must be clear to everyone that he is an upright and decent person. If people are not pleased with his conduct, it is not enough that in his heart he is doing what is right and has done no wrong - he is not doing everything properly, since people do not agree with his path. Obviously a person may not go looking for approval in order to decide what to do, but a balance is called for here: one who chooses the right path in his life will also be seen in a positive light by others.
What is the scope of this question?
To which context does the 'straight path' that a person must choose in his life refer? The Tiferes Yisrael understands that it refers to every area of life, and he divides them into three categories:
The path of his obligations - a person's duties, Torah and mitzvos.
The path of character traits - his character.
Derech eretz - his social conduct: that he should know to brush his teeth in the morning, that he should not cut in line, and the like.
In all of these areas a person must do what is right and fitting for him according to his understanding and according to what he knows to be the truth, and at the same time these should be the kind of actions that are acceptable to others and even pleasant and desirable in their eyes.
The Tosafos Yom Tov, by contrast, holds that matters such as mitzvos should not be included here, since the mishnah says "sheyavor" - a term of selecting and choosing, like the 'borer' of halachah. The question is which path a person should select for himself in his life, whereas in Torah and mitzvos a person does not select his path. The mishnah is therefore limited to character traits, and this is how many learn it, among them the Bartenura. And the concept of the 'straight path' is explained by many of the commentators on the basis of the Rambam's distinctive approach - an approach that is central to his worldview and to the way he approaches the entire Torah.
The Rambam's approach - the middle path:
The Rambam opens the fourteen books of the Yad HaChazakah with Sefer HaMada - the knowledge a person needs as the foundation of the Torah, in terms of what takes place in his mind. The first halachos in it are Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah, and immediately afterward Hilchos De'os - a person's frameworks of thought. True, one could call them 'character traits', but 'de'os' are a matter of the attitude and perspective in a person's head. These halachos come even before Hilchos Talmud Torah, in line with the principle that 'derech eretz precedes Torah': a person must be socially refined and must direct his attitude and his outlook before he approaches anything else.
Already in the first chapter of Hilchos De'os, in halachah 3, the Rambam teaches that in every trait, in every characteristic of a person's makeup, there are two extremes far removed from one another, and neither is a good path for a person to follow. A person should not stand at either extreme, since each of them is bad news. In the example the Bartenura brings, a person's relationship with money: he may be a spendthrift and a squanderer, who gives his money to everyone and spends on everything - that is one extreme; or he may be a complete miser, who will not spend his money on anything - that is the other extreme. In the Rambam's view, neither of these will ever be good, and so it is with every character trait; the proper course is to stand in the middle.
In his words: "Ve'im hayah tiv'o noteh le'achas mehen" - if a person's nature inclines toward one of these directions, "o muchan le'achas mehen" - that he has a predisposition toward one of the extremes, "o shekevar lamad achas mehen venahag bah" - that through habit he has become accustomed to behaving this way, "yachzir es atzmo lemutav" - he is obligated to correct himself, "veyelech bederech hatovim vehi haderech hayesharah". And this is precisely the language of our Mishnah - 'derech yesharah'.
It emerges from here that the 'straight path' - and likewise the 'straightness' of Mesilas Yesharim, the path of the upright and the righteous - is the path of those who walk in the middle way and not at one of the extremes.
In halachah 4 the Rambam defines the matter at length: "Haderech hayesharah hi middah beinonis shebechol de'ah vede'ah mikol hade'os sheyesh la'adam" - the middle way between the two extremes in every single dimension of the personality. "Vede'ah shehi rechokah mishtei haketzavos richuk shaveh, ve'einah kerovah lazu yoser mizu" - exactly in the middle, without even a slight leaning toward either side. In the example of giving: the person stands at an equal distance from stinginess and at an equal distance from the extravagance that squanders and scatters money.
"Lefichach tzivu hachachamim harishonim sheyehei adam sam de'osav tamid umesha'er osan umechavein osan baderech ha'emtza'is" - a person must assess his traits and his character on an ongoing basis, take his own measure in every dimension and aim himself toward the middle way, "kedei sheyihyeh shalem begufo" - that he be whole and complete, at peace and in harmony with his personality and with his body. And it is interesting: even the word 'yavor' in our Mishnah carries within it a sense of measuring and assessing.
The Rambam goes on to bring many examples, and instructs that one who leans in a particular direction should bring himself back to the middle. This path, the insistence that every dimension of the personality stand precisely in the middle, he calls 'the path of the wise'. And this is puzzling: we would have expected it to be called the path of the righteous one, of the upright one, of the holy one, or of the perfected person - and not specifically the path of the wise one.
Do we measure character traits with a ruler?
I once asked Rav Yaakov Weinberg zt"l what the Rambam means. After all, this is a book of halachah before us, and the words sound like mathematical terms - as though a person takes a measuring stick, measures his traits and determines that he stands exactly at the fiftieth percentile in every respect. It sounds impractical and unrealistic; the mind does not work that way. On the face of it this is a subjective, qualitative matter, not a quantitative one.
He gave me an explanation that seems to me very important: the Rambam means that when a person approaches any decision he has to make in a given case and under given circumstances, he should not come to it with any leaning, bias or pull stemming from his basic personality, his temperament or his habits. He must approach every situation and ask: what are the values of the Torah? What is the right thing to do here? And on that basis he makes a rational decision - should I help this man, give him charity and support him, or should I leave him to stand on his own?
It is not a matter of 'I am a generous person' or 'I am a stingy person'. I am neither one nor the other; I stand exactly in the middle, and I will be generous when the opportunity calls for it, and I will be tight-fisted and stingy, giving nothing and sharing nothing, when I understand that this is what the situation demands. That is why it is called 'the path of the wise' - because a wise person is one who is led by his intellect, not by his heart, his emotions or his habits.
This is the Rambam's understanding of the 'straight path' in our Mishnah: a person must choose for himself a balanced path in his character traits. Let us return to the example of one's relationship with money: if a person is generous but not excessively generous, and is not stingy where generosity is called for - then he stands exactly in the middle. This is good for him, since his relationship with himself and with his money is sound, and people will also love him for his generosity. For had he been a wild spender, people would love him for buying them gifts and drinks, but he himself would be impoverishing himself and acting to his own detriment - and that is not fair to himself. And had he been a miser who looks out only for himself and is not generous to others, it might have been good for him in his isolation, but people would not have looked upon him favorably. This is how the Rambam understands the Mishnah, and this is how the Bartenura explains it.
The philosophical foundation in the Rambam's words:
The Rambam understands that the mitzvah of refining one's character traits is included in the mitzvah of walking in His ways - becoming like the Creator (imitatio dei). Elsewhere he explains at length that just as Hashem has no body, so too He has no emotions as such. When the verses speak of 'the hand of Hashem' or 'the foot of Hashem,' He does not literally have a hand or a foot; this is a metaphorical expression, as it were. So too when it says that Hashem is angry or saddened - He does not actually experience emotions. Rather, from the actions that Hashem performs we can infer: this is how a person would behave if he were angry, and this is what Hashem does in terms of His providence. This indicates that Hashem, as it were, is not pleased with my deeds - but it is only 'as it were'; He has no emotions, and He simply wants me to understand this and absorb the message.
Since in the Rambam's view there are no emotions before Him at all, but only a pure intellect or will (and we have no word to describe it), the idea is that a person must become like Him in the same way: he should not be controlled at all by his emotions and habits, but rather all his actions should be based on values of right and wrong and on reason, even against every emotional inclination. This is the Rambam's approach to the first part of the mishnah, and this is how the Bartenura explains it as well. There is much more to be said, but let us move on to the next part of the mishnah, for it has four parts.
"Vehevei zahir bemitzvah kalah kevachamurah" - "Be as careful with a light mitzvah as with a weighty one":
Here the mishnah moves from character refinement and general conduct to one's attitude toward the mitzvos themselves, and according to many this refers to positive commandments. The reason is the continuation of the mishnah: "she'ein atah yodei'a matan secharan shel mitzvos" - "for you do not know the reward given for the mitzvos." With prohibitions, with negative commandments, we know the consequences: there are defined punishments and a hierarchy of punishments - sometimes there is no punishment, sometimes an obligation to make restitution, sometimes lashes, and sometimes premature death or execution in its various forms. But with positive commandments a person does not know what the reward is, and therefore the mishnah instructs: take all your mitzvos with the same seriousness. There is no such thing as one mitzvah being more important than another, since you do not know what the reward is, and what seems to you insignificant may be of enormous significance.
A difficulty from the mishnah in Chullin:
The mishnah in Maseches Chullin, in the context of shiluach haken - the mitzvah of sending away the mother bird before taking the eggs - calls it a 'light mitzvah,' and it implies that the reward for the weightier ones is greater. This is its language: "umah im mitzvah kalah shehi ke'issar" - "if a light mitzvah, whose value is an issar" - a mitzvah worth only an issar, for a person sends away the mother and loses a bird of small value, and that is its entire cost, and it is no great matter; "amrah Torah: lema'an yitav lach veha'arachta yamim" - "the Torah said: so that it will be good for you and you will lengthen your days" - fulfill the mitzvah so that it will be good for you and you will live long, so there is a reward here; "kal vachomer al mitzvos hachamuros shebaTorah" - "how much more so for the weighty mitzvos of the Torah" - certainly the reward will be greater. So we see here a lesser reward and a greater reward, and it seems difficult to say that we do not know the reward of the mitzvos.
Various answers have been offered. The Tosfos Yom Tov cites the words of the Maharal in 'Derech Chaim,' which contain a very important principle for understanding this: in a person's fulfillment of mitzvos there are two separate dimensions of reward and recompense:
The reward of the mitzvah itself - the reward for the act itself. When a person puts on tefillin, it is good for him and it accomplishes something in his soul, even though we do not know what it is. So too with eating matzah. We do not know what is better for the soul - eating matzah or putting on tefillin - and this is what our mishnah is dealing with.
Reward according to effort - a second dimension, which depends on the trouble a person invests, on the sacrifice and the hard work he puts into the mitzvah. This is the dimension the mishnah in Chullin is dealing with.
For there is no great effort involved in sending away a bird - he shoos it and it flies off; and there is no great sacrifice in giving up the mother, whose value is only an issar. That is why the mishnah in Chullin calls it a 'light mitzvah' - the trouble it requires is minimal, and nevertheless, see how great its reward is, all the more so for mitzvos that are difficult to fulfill. But our mishnah is dealing with the intrinsic benefit that the mitzvah grants to the person, to the soul and to the entire world - and that we do not know.
It emerges that for each and every person what a mitzvah involves is different. For some it is easy to spend money on mitzvos, and for others it is hard. For some it is easy to summon patience, and their time is not so precious to them that lengthy matters put them under pressure; others are always in a rush, and so things that consume time are hard for them. Each person has his own challenges, and we cannot judge. But Hashem judges, and the reward for fulfilling mitzvos depends to a great extent on the personal challenge: 'lefum tza'ara agra' - according to the pain and the effort, so is the reward.
The Rambam has a somewhat different understanding of this mishnah, in terms of the halachic implication that emerges from it. In his view this principle - that we do not know the reward of the mitzvos and therefore one must be as careful with a light one as with a weighty one - is connected to the principle that 'one who is engaged in a mitzvah is exempt from another mitzvah': one who is occupied with one mitzvah need not, and indeed should not, interrupt it in order to go and perform another mitzvah. If you are engaged in mitzvah A and mitzvah B comes before you and you must choose, say: I am engaged in A, and I am exempt from B; I will finish my work with A, and B I will not be able to fulfill, and that is a pity. And do not say: B is more important, I will interrupt A in order to do it - for you do not know the significance of what has been placed upon you. You were asked to deliver a message and you promised to do so, and now you must do it; you came to visit your teacher on Yom Tov - that is a fine and good thing, and you do not know how important it is. Therefore you should continue with the mitzvah in your hands and not turn aside from it to another, for you do not know the benefits accomplished by the mitzvah you are engaged in right now, and it is neither justified nor even rational to exchange it for another.
"Vehevei mechashev hefsed mitzvah keneged secharah" - "And calculate the loss incurred by a mitzvah against its reward":
The third part of the Mishnah deals with mitzvos in general, and the context is a moment of crisis: a person standing up against his evil inclination, who is liable either to fail to fulfill a positive commandment or to commit a transgression. What should he do? The Mishnah offers advice: let him weigh the loss involved in performing the mitzvah against its reward. That is, this mitzvah is going to cost him money, and he says to himself: I am not going to spend the money for this. So let him think: the loss is fifty dollars, and the gain is eternity - and on that basis he will decide that in the final accounting it is worth it.
And the same in reverse: "u'sechar aveirah keneged hefsedah" - the reward of a transgression against its loss. If you are considering committing a transgression, cutting corners and cheating in order to save yourself fifty dollars, think: true, I will save fifty dollars through this dishonesty, but the loss is eternal consequences. And since the consequences - reward and punishment in the World to Come - are eternal and infinite, reflecting on this will reveal that cutting corners here is not worth it at all. This is a sharp moment of standing face to face with the evil inclination, and this is the strategy for waging war against it.
An apparent difficulty from the words of Antigonos of Socho:
We learned in the previous chapter, in Mishnah 3, that Antigonos of Socho said that the proper way to serve Hashem is not in order to receive a reward. Yet here the Mishnah deals with thinking about the reward of mitzvos and weighing the benefit against the loss, which does not sound like the words of Antigonos at all.
The answer, in brief: there Antigonos is speaking about the ideal situation, the way things ought to be, whereas here we are dealing with a less than ideal situation. Ideally a person should serve Hashem out of love - doing what is right because it is right, because he loves Hashem and wants to be with Him and do His will, and the calculation of benefit is entirely irrelevant; this is one who serves out of love. But the person in our Mishnah is not on that level: he is considering committing a transgression, and the matter of loving Hashem is not under discussion here at all. He is choosing between laziness and neglecting a positive commandment on the one hand and fulfilling it on the other, and therefore we move to the other mode - serving out of fear, keeping to the straight path, being careful not to do the wrong thing and calculating what he stands to lose by failing to fulfill the mitzvah or by committing the transgression.
And as we said there in Mishnah 3, and as the Rambam and the Ramchal and all who followed them emphasized, love and fear must go together - sometimes love and sometimes fear. The Rambam himself wrote that even the ideal of Antigonos, to serve not in order to receive a reward, is only the level of the righteous - an especially lofty level that not every person reaches, and not even every scholar. There, in Mishnah 3, we are speaking of an aspiration; here we are speaking of something more practical, down to earth, here below in this world and for every one of us on a daily basis - how to fight the evil inclination.
"V'histakel bishloshah devarim v'ein atah ba lidei aveirah" - Consider three things and you will not come to sin:
The final part of the Mishnah teaches: if you keep three things before your eyes, you will not come to sin. "Da mah lema'alah mimcha" - know what is above you - and these are the three things:
"Ayin ro'ah" - an eye that sees your deeds.
"V'ozen shoma'as" - an ear that hears your words.
"V'chol ma'asecha basefer nichtavim" - everything you do is written in a book.
Clearly these words are entirely metaphorical: there is nothing that is 'above you', for the Holy One is no more above you than He is below you, and He has no eyes, no ears and no ledger.
But whereas the previous part of the Mishnah dealt with the moment of crisis, with facing the decision whether to commit a transgression or to neglect a mitzvah, here we are dealing with something general. Whoever wishes to train himself to be a servant of Hashem who does not fall into the trap of his inclination must reflect on this constantly. And as you will recall, the first ruling of the Rema in the Shulchan Aruch is "Shivisi Hashem lenegdi samid" - I have placed Hashem before me always - a person reminds himself at all times that Hashem is with him, and this will have an effect on him. Constantly remind yourself that every action of yours matters and Hashem sees it, and that every word of yours matters; guard your mouth, for your words are heard before Him. It does not work specifically at the moment you are about to say something, since you know that Hashem hears and you say it anyway - rather, the point is that you are training yourself to be sensitive to the way you behave and speak, knowing that Hashem is watching and listening, as it were.
The third part - "v'chol ma'asecha basefer nichtavim" - means simply that all your deeds are written in a book. But the idea behind it is somewhat different: not only does the Holy One see and hear your deeds and you cannot hide from Him, but there is a separate aspect here, a psychological one. We have been given the gift of forgetfulness, and each day we open a fresh new day, forgetting, as it were, yesterday's unpleasant things and moving on - and that is a wonderful thing.
But know this: when a person commits a sin, that sin continues to exist, as it were. The effect of the sin is still there and does not simply disappear. Even if he did it when he was twenty-one and today he is far older - before the Holy One, Blessed is He, it is as though it happened this morning, for there is no difference before Him between this morning and twenty years ago. So know that everything you have done is still on record, and it is not going anywhere.
From here we learn that a person must confront his failings, change himself and do teshuvah, and repair those sins. He cannot ignore them, because they will not vanish on their own, and in the end he will be called to account for them. Do not forget what you did in the past, and do not simply move on and put it out of mind - you have to deal with it, and the way we deal with it is teshuvah. True, teshuvah has a process to it, but the essential point is this: know that everything you have done in the past still exists, it still requires repair and it still awaits judgment, and you cannot ignore it and move on.