We continue our study of chapter 3 of Pirkei Avos. Let us first read the mishnah through in full, and then go back and take it apart word by word, since its language is indirect and requires careful attention if we are to grasp what it is saying.
"Rabbi Chanina ben Teradion says: Two who sit together and there are no words of Torah between them - this is a session of scoffers, as it says: 'and in the session of scoffers he has not sat.' But two who sit together and there are words of Torah between them - the Shechinah rests between them, as it says: 'Then those who fear Hashem spoke with one another, and Hashem listened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear Hashem and give thought to His name.' I know this only of two; from where do we know that even one who sits and occupies himself with Torah, the Holy One, blessed is He, fixes a reward for him? As it says: 'Let him sit alone and be silent, for he has taken it upon himself.'"
Who was Rabbi Chanina ben Teradion:
Rabbi Chanina ben Teradion was one of the Ten Martyrs, and we mention him often on Tisha B'Av. He is the one who was wrapped in a Sefer Torah and set aflame, with tufts of soaked wool placed on his chest to prolong his agony, rachmana litzlan. He was the father of Bruriah, the wife of Rabbi Meir. He lived in the era of the Bar Kochba revolt, a contemporary of Rabbi Akiva (around the year 130), in the wake of Hadrian's decrees and the revolt, and he was killed al kiddush Hashem. The bitter irony of this mishnah is worth noting: he was arrested for gathering crowds in public to learn Torah - that is what he died for - while the mishnah he taught encourages people to come together and engage in words of Torah.
"Shnayim she-yoshvin ve'ein beineihem divrei Torah - harei zeh moshav leitzim" - two who sit together and there are no words of Torah between them, this is a session of scoffers:
The commentaries were quick to clarify that the mishnah is speaking about two people who have time on their hands - people who are not occupied with their work and have leisure to talk - and in the course of their conversation they do not bring in any words of Torah. That is what is called a session of scoffers.
On the face of it this is puzzling, since a scoffer is one who mocks and belittles, and here there is no active mockery and no laughing at the Torah, only the absence of Torah conversation. But Chazal view this, as it were, as belittling the Torah and deriding it, for the Torah lies before them to be spoken in and to be learned, and they choose not to do so. That is a direct affront to the Torah's worth. The commentaries compare this to a person who is told, "Count out as much money as you like, and whatever you count will remain yours," and he does not bother at all - a sign that the money means nothing to him. So too the one who belittles: he could have gathered pearls of wisdom and does not do so, and therefore he is called a scoffer, and two scoffers sitting together create that very "session of scoffers."
The source of the term is at the beginning of Tehillim, in chapter 1: "Ashrei ha'ish... u'v'moshav leitzim lo yashav" - "Praiseworthy is the man... and in the session of scoffers he has not sat," and the verses continue: "ki im b'Toras Hashem cheftzo, u'v'Soraso yehgeh yomam valailah" - "rather, his desire is in the Torah of Hashem, and in His Torah he meditates day and night." The contrast is clear: one who desires the Torah of Hashem and meditates in it day and night is the exact opposite of one who sits in a session of scoffers. From here we learn by inference that one who takes no interest in the Torah of Hashem and in speaking about it - his place becomes a session of scoffers.
"Ve'yesh beineihem divrei Torah - Shechinah shruyah beineihem" - and there are words of Torah between them, the Shechinah rests between them:
By contrast, when two people sit together and speak words of Torah between them, the Holy One, blessed is He, is, as it were, with them and present alongside them, as the verse puts it: "Az nidberu yirei Hashem ish el re'ehu" - "Then those who fear Hashem spoke with one another." Note the precise wording: the word "nidberu" is in the causative form, meaning that each one causes his fellow to speak. This is a very important point - each one draws out of his fellow the Torah that is within him, and encourages him to state his side and his point of view, so that together they will arrive at the truth. And of such people it says: "vayakshev Hashem vayishma, vayikasev sefer zikaron lefanav l'yirei Hashem u'l'choshvei shemo" - "and Hashem listened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear Hashem and give thought to His name" - the Holy One, blessed is He, listens to their words and records them in the book of remembrance before Him, for those who take Him seriously and give thought to His name.
The point is that when two people learn together and draw Torah out of one another, this process, as it were, draws the Shechinah down to where they are. The Holy One, blessed is He, wants to be with such people, and this is the fulfillment of the verse "u'vo tidbakun" in Devarim - that a person is commanded to cleave to Hashem. And how does one cleave to Him? Through His Torah, and here in particular through speaking in Torah. When a person speaks with his fellow and the two of them toil together to reach the truth, a special closeness to the Holy One, blessed is He, is created, one that He Himself, as it were, desires to take part in.
"Ein li ela shnayim" - I know this only of two:
Since the verse says "ish el re'eihu" (each man to his fellow), it implies specifically two people speaking with one another. This gives rise to an interesting suggestion: perhaps when a person sits alone and learns, the Holy One is not so interested, since it is possible that he does not even arrive at the truth. It is comparable to someone who puts on invalid tefillin, who thereby does not fulfill the mitzvah of tefillin at all: a person who thinks he is learning but understands incorrectly is not learning Torah, and does not fulfill the mitzvah of Talmud Torah. And even if he did learn properly, who says that without two learners sharpening one another and striving together toward the truth the Shechinah rests upon them? To this the Mishnah responds: even with the individual, the Holy One is present with him.
The wording of the Mishnah, "that the Holy One sets aside a reward for him," might be understood to mean that with two the Shechinah rests, whereas with an individual there is no Shechinah but only reward. But the Tiferes Yisrael takes it out of its simple sense and establishes that one should not think this way: the resting of the Shechinah, which is stated metaphorically, is itself another way of saying that one receives reward - and receiving the reward is, as it were, the presence of Hashem. The two are one and the same.
"Yeisheiv badad v'yidom ki natal alav":
The verse from which the Mishnah learns this is in Megillas Eichah, and the preceding verse says: "Tov lagever ki yisa ol bin'urav" - it is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth, and afterward "yeisheiv badad v'yidom," meaning that he takes upon himself the good thing, the mitzvah, and does it while sitting. Ordinarily a mitzvah is performed standing, whereas sitting is the posture of Torah study. From here we see that the mitzvah he is embracing is the mitzvah of Talmud Torah.
"Yeisheiv badad" - this means to sit alone. And what is "v'yidom"? It is like the expression in the book of Melachim, "kol demamah dakah," that still, calm voice; the stillness here is a kind of whisper and quiet. True, the Gemara in Eruvin says that a person should always learn out loud, and so wrote the Rema and the poskim, that it helps one's learning and memory, and that he should articulate the words with his mouth while he learns; but in practice, people often read to themselves quietly. The point is that such learning too is certainly wonderful, and the person receives reward for it.
Moreover, the verse says "ki natal alav" in the past tense, as though he has already taken his reward. The reward is ready and waiting for him, and the moment he learns, he immediately enters into the building of his eternal reward, into his World to Come.
It is worth noting that the Bartenura, and likewise the Rambam, had a different version of the text: "And from where do we know that even one who sits and occupies himself with Torah - Scripture credits him as though he fulfilled the entire Torah?" This is a very different idea, but the underlying point is the same: one who sits and learns alone receives reward without limit, infinite reward, and according to that version - as though he fulfilled the entire Torah.
In summary: we learned in this Mishnah that two who sit at leisure with no words of Torah between them are considered a session of scoffers, because they are belittling the value of the Torah that lies before them; whereas two who speak words of Torah with one another and draw the truth out of each other - the Shechinah rests between them, and their words are recorded in the book of remembrance. And even the individual who sits and occupies himself with Torah on his own has a reward set aside for him by the Holy One - He is present with him, and his reward is prepared and ready before him.
Hence the practical lesson: whether you are alone and must learn the Torah, or with your friend and the two of you must speak words of Torah - do it, and the Holy One will be there and will grant you infinite reward, with Hashem's help.