Avos chapter 2, mishnah 14 (the numbering varies between editions). In the previous mishnah we learned that Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai asked his five students to go out and see "which is the straight path that a person should cling to." Here he asks the opposite question: "Tze'u u're'u eizohi derech ra'ah she'yisracheik mimenah ha'adam" - go out and see which is the evil path that a person should distance himself from.
The previous mishnah dealt with the question: if a person cannot be perfect in every respect, what should he focus on - which trait will have a positive influence on all his other traits. Here the opposite question is presented: if there is one thing worth distancing oneself from in the realm of negative traits, something whose avoidance will positively affect the entire personality, what is it? As we will see, the basic answers of the sages here are the exact opposite of what they said in the previous mishnah.
This is not obvious at all. One could have thought otherwise: when an educator has two children before him, one with a good nature and one with a bad nature, it is entirely possible that he would tell the first to focus on a trait that will raise him from level to level, while for the second he would draw a certain red line - do not desecrate Shabbos, do not read bad books, do not befriend bad friends. In other words, the negative side does not have to be the precise inverse of the positive side. Nevertheless, the mishnah teaches that each of the five sages said here the exact opposite of what he had said before.
"Tze'u u're'u":
We should pay careful attention to the wording "tze'u u're'u" - go out and see. People who sit in an ivory tower tend toward extreme and absolute opinions: in academia there is often a tendency toward liberalism and progressivism, and in yeshivos toward conservatism and narrowness of outlook. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai does not merely ask his students "what is your opinion"; he tells them: go out and look at the real world, see how the world conducts itself, so that your opinion will be well founded. For the discussion here is not about the world of ideas alone, but about the world of social relationships - about character traits as they express themselves in dealings with others. Therefore the student must understand how people behave and how the world runs, and only then return and deliver his considered conclusion as to the most serious thing a person is liable to do, in terms of deteriorating along the wrong path, the one that will bring him to Gehinnom.
Rabbi Eliezer - "ayin ra'ah":
Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus says: "ayin ra'ah" - an evil eye. In the previous mishnah he said "a good eye," which according to the Bartenura means that a person is happy with his portion and is not begrudging of what others have. Here it is the reverse: an evil eye is the constant feeling of "how do they have what I don't have," the sense that there is never enough, that the world is out to get him and that it is not fair. This is a source of bitterness in every area, and it is envy of others and stinginess of eye that make a person sad, embittered and rotten on the inside.
It is worth adding that many explain the halachic phenomenon known as ayin hara through this expression. The basic explanation is that when a person looks at his fellow and wonders "how did he merit such a successful child, while my child is not as successful as his," a process of judgment is aroused in Heaven: the question is asked whether he is truly deserving of it, and if he is not deserving - it is liable to be taken away from him. A similar idea applies here: a person looks at others and envies them, is not happy with his own portion and not with theirs either. This is the most serious condition of all, one that rots a person to the core.
Rabbi Yehoshua - "chaver ra":
Rabbi Yehoshua says: "chaver ra" - a bad friend, and there are two explanations of this, corresponding to the two explanations in the previous mishnah:
According to the Bartenura: "a good friend" means finding oneself a good friend, and therefore "a bad friend" means associating with a negative influence. This is clearly evident in working with children and teenagers, who are easily influenced and imitate their friends, and among insecure people it continues throughout their entire lives. The previous mishnah said that a person ought to have a good friend who will rebuke him and keep him on the straight path, and here is the opposite - the bad friend drags him down.
According to Rabbeinu Yonah: "a good friend" means being a good friend, and therefore "a bad friend" means not being a good influence on others. This is the most serious thing of all, since it drags them down and drags him down as well.
Rabbi Yosei - "shachein ra":
The previous Mishnah spoke of "a good neighbor," and the idea there was this: a good friend is not around a person at every hour, and therefore he cannot lift him up at all times. But when a person's entire environment - all of his neighbors - is a society with high expectations and good people, they will keep him on the straight path all day long and on a consistent basis. From here we learn the opposite: living in a bad neighborhood, where everything is permitted and the social morality is low, drags a person down and infects his entire life, and therefore it must be avoided.
Rabbi Shimon - "Haloveh v'eino meshaleim":
In the previous Mishnah, Rabbi Shimon said that "haroeh es hanolad" - one who sees what will be born, who anticipates the future - is the best quality. Here he says "haloveh v'eino meshaleim" - one who borrows and does not repay - and at first glance this does not seem to be its precise opposite. To understand this, let us review what the previous quality was about.
The Chofetz Chaim has a wonderful parable: life is like a postcard. The writer begins to write his message, and as he approaches the end of the card he notices that he still has not said what he wanted to say. He starts writing in smaller letters, trying to squeeze everything in, until the space runs out and he cannot even sign his name, and he is forced to move it over to the other side of the card. So too is life: at the beginning a person feels that he has all the time in the world and feels no pressure, but as the end draws near he realizes how much he wanted to accomplish and how little time is left. He tries to squeeze in as much as he can, but everything comes to an end, and he is unable to complete it all.
One who sees what will be born, then, is a person who lives with the big picture: he anticipates what is coming, knows that life is short and that he must act now, and in this way he ensures that he will do the right thing throughout his life and make maximum use of his time. The negative counterpart is a person who gives no thought at all to the consequences of his actions.
There are two approaches to explaining "haloveh v'eino meshaleim," and in both of them the commentators understand that this is simply an example of a person who fails in the quality of "haroeh es hanolad":
A person who makes no calculation as to how he will repay his debt. He borrows money without a plan to return it, and just as he runs a negative balance in his bank account from month to month, so it will continue onward, and he will never be able to repay. He is the very opposite of one who sees what will be born: he does not plan his life, and he is the man who ran out of room on the postcard and ran out of credit in his bank account.
The approach of the Rambam, which is somewhat different: this is a person who thinks he will not repay his debt and will come away clean from the whole matter, but on the contrary, by doing so he acquires a bad name for himself. Everyone knows that one should not lend to him because he does not pay back, and the next time he needs money he will find no lender. It turns out that he does not see what will be born at all: he thinks everything will work out fine, but in truth it will not, and he gives no consideration whatsoever to the consequences of his actions.
Therefore Rabbi Shimon says that the worst thing is to be counted among the people who do not think about long-term consequences: recklessness in the short term, which ruins everything in the long term.
The Mishnah adds an interesting proof: "haloveh min ha'adam k'loveh min haMakom baruch Hu" - one who borrows from a person is like one who borrows from the Holy One, blessed is He. "HaMakom" means "the Place," for the Holy One, blessed is He, is the place of the world; He is everywhere and He is infinite. As it says in Tehillim: "The wicked one borrows and does not repay, but the righteous one is gracious and gives" - the wicked man borrows and does not pay, while the "righteous one," referring to the Holy One, blessed is He, is gracious and gives and repays the lender in his stead. And how has he stolen from the Holy One, blessed is He? Because he caused Him to pay his debt, so that he now owes Him, as it were. This is an illustration of that very example of one who does not see what will be born.
Rabbi Elazar ben Arach - "lev ra":
In the previous Mishnah he said "lev tov" - a good heart, meaning good intentions toward one's fellow and toward the Holy One, blessed is He, wanting their good, and a good character. The Bartenura explained that all of a person's actions and deeds come from his heart, from his will and his nature, and therefore when his intentions are good and his heart is good, everything comes out right. Here we have the opposite, and we can translate it loosely as: selfishness. The person follows only his own self-interest, he has no goodwill toward others and he cares only for himself. This is the worst thing of all, because a bad heart spills over into all of his deeds and the person becomes rotten to the core.
What is the difference between "ayin ra" - a bad eye - and "lev ra" - a bad heart? A bad eye means that a person is jealous of what someone else has. A bad heart means that a person is bitter, has no interest in others, cares only about himself and has no goodwill. A good heart is goodwill, and a bad heart is ill will.
These words recall what Nelson Mandela wrote in his book "Long Walk to Freedom." Mandela was held in prison in South Africa for decades, and when he was released he became president of the country and did not take revenge on the whites. He wrote there: "Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies." To a large degree the same is true here: a person whose heart is bitter, who does not wish others well, who sits and seethes and is convinced that everyone is wicked, who has no goodwill toward people - he himself is the loser. He becomes rotten to the core, and this drives him to all sorts of evil deeds.
And this is Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai's conclusion: "Ro'eh ani es divrei Elazar ben Arach midivreichem, shebichlal devarav divreichem" - I prefer the words of Elazar ben Arach to your words, for your words are included in his. He favors the view of Rabbi Elazar ben Arach, that a bad heart - the bitter heart, the ill will, the selfish person - is the correct answer, because his words include everyone else's: a person whose will toward his fellow and toward the Holy One, blessed is He, is bad will inevitably have a grudging eye, will be a bad neighbor and a bad friend, and will be one who borrows and does not repay. He will do all of these because he has no interest in anyone but himself, and wants nothing but his own good; and when he lacks what others have, he will fill with bitterness toward them and bear them resentment - resentment that poisons him himself, in Mandela's words, until he becomes a rotten shell of a person.
We learn from the Mishnah, according to Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, that a person must labor to acquire a good heart - goodwill toward the Holy One, blessed is He, and toward people, and freedom from self-interest - and must avoid at all costs a bad heart, ill will toward his fellow and toward the Holy One, blessed is He. Conducting oneself out of self-interest and constant selfishness is what will bring about his ruin.