Before us is the sixth mishnah in chapter 4 (in some versions it is numbered as mishnah 5). In the version before us the mishnah opens with the words "Rabbi Yishmael his son says," and on this very point the versions differ.
Different versions of the Tanna's name:
"Rabbi Yishmael beno omer" - according to this version "his son" refers back to the Tanna mentioned previously, and the reference is to Rabbi Yishmael the son of Rabbi Yochanan ben Beroka.
In many versions the word "his son" does not appear, and the reference is to the well known Rabbi Yishmael - Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha, one of the central Tannaim who appears in many places throughout Shas.
In Rabbeinu Yonah the version reads "Rabbi Shimon says."
In many siddurim it appears as "Rabbi Yishmael bar Rabbi Yosi says."
We will take the approach that the reference is to the well known Rabbi Yishmael, because it adds an interesting dimension to the mishnah that will be explained further on; but one should be aware that other versions exist as well.
The words of the mishnah:
"Halomed al menas lelamed - maspikin b'yado lilmod u'lelamed" - one who learns with the aspiration to teach is granted assistance from Heaven that he should have the ability to learn and to teach, in accordance with his aspiration.
"V'halomed al menas la'asos - maspikin b'yado lilmod u'lelamed lishmor v'la'asos" - one who learns with the aspiration not only to learn but also to act is granted assistance to learn, to teach, to keep (in the sense of remembering and reviewing, as will be explained) and to act.
The principle that emerges from here: as a person's aspirations are, so Heaven assists him in fulfilling them.
In the version before us the mishnah continues further, but we will stop here, since many versions present the continuation as an independent mishnah - chapter 4, mishnah 7 - and that is how we will learn it. It turns out, then, that the subject of our mishnah is the principle of Rabbi Yishmael: one who learns in order to teach as against one who learns in order to act.
The difficulty with the simple understanding:
From the contrast between the two it would seem at first glance that the second intends to teach and also to fulfill the mitzvos, while the first intends only to teach and not to fulfill the mitzvos. But this understanding is difficult: why would such a person merit assistance from Heaven when he has no intention of fulfilling the mitzvos, which is the basic obligation resting upon every person? We are forced to say that this is not the way to learn the mishnah.
Two approaches to Torah study:
The straightforward way to understand the mishnah is that two approaches to Torah study are before us. There are those who aspire to learn and to teach - and of course, it goes without saying that they fulfill the mitzvos, for that is their basic obligation. There is a fundamental law of "and you shall meditate upon it day and night," a constant obligation of Torah study, but certainly any mitzvah that cannot be performed by someone else is incumbent upon the person to perform himself. There is no room to assume otherwise. The "acting" in the mishnah therefore refers to acts of kindness toward others - going out and doing good deeds beyond studying Torah and teaching it to others. These are two approaches to the essence of the ideal life and to what a person ought to aspire toward.
Rabbah and Abaye (Rosh Hashanah 18):
The Bartenura refers us to the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah 18, which discusses Rabbah and Abaye - Rabbah was Abaye's uncle, his adoptive father and his teacher (this is not Rava, Abaye's disputant). Both of them were descendants of Eli the Kohen, and it was decreed that they would die young, before the age of twenty. But Rabbah became a Torah scholar of the greatest of his generation, and the merit of Torah study added twenty years to his life, and he passed away at forty. Abaye, on the other hand, who besides being one of the greatest of the generation was deeply involved in acts of kindness toward others, did not merit only twenty extra years like his uncle and teacher, but a full forty additional years, and he lived until the age of sixty.
The Gemara there is therefore speaking of two approaches, both of them legitimate: there is room for a person who wishes to be a Torah scholar and to teach Torah full time, without going out on his own initiative to seek opportunities for kindness, and there is room for one who wishes to do both together. And this is the intent of our Mishnah: one who learns for all the right reasons and wishes to devote his life to Torah study - and it goes without saying that he does everything properly, including the kindness that comes his way - the Holy One, blessed is He, will give him siyata d'shmaya to learn and to teach. And one whose aspirations are greater, to learn, to teach, and to go out on his own initiative to do kindness, will be granted from Heaven the ability to do that as well.
"Lishmor" - that he not forget his learning:
The additional word "lishmor" - to guard, seemingly alludes to the verse in Devarim, "ushmartem va'asisem", and the expression "ushmartem" hints at Mishnah - review and repetition of Torah. The idea is that a person might hesitate to adopt the proactive approach, the way of Abaye, and go out looking for opportunities to do kindness, since that means less time for learning and less time for review, and as a result he will not retain all of his learning. So the Mishnah comes and says: it is not so. One who sets out with the aspiration to learn, to teach, and also to actively seek out opportunities for kindness - the Holy One, blessed is He, will give him those opportunities, and in addition he will merit the power of "lishmor", a special siyata d'shmaya that he will not forget his learning. This is the Bartenura's basic approach to the Mishnah.
Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (Berachos 35):
Several points are worth noting. First, Rabbi Yishmael - if he is the Tanna before us - is famous as the disputant of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Berachos 35. There Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai presents his well known position, that the whole purpose of life is Torah study, while the need to earn a living, in the language of the verse in Shema, "ve'asafta deganecha", is really a curse, said regarding people who do not devote themselves to Torah study. As a result, a person will be punished by having to work for his livelihood at the expense of his devotion to Torah. According to him, then, work is a b'dieved, a fallback.
Rabbi Yishmael disagrees there with Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and holds that work is l'chatchilah, the ideal: the plan of the Holy One, blessed is He, is that a person should not be a Torah scholar immersed entirely and exclusively in Torah, but should also live life and do the things that people "normally" do - hold a job, build a family, raise children, serve on the parents' committee, go to parent teacher conferences, and do acts of kindness in the community. All of these are part of life, and this is the Torah's ideal.
Based on this, it is quite possible that the Rabbi Yishmael of our Mishnah is that same Rabbi Yishmael, and then we can understand "la'asos" in a far broader sense: not only "to do" kindness, but "to do" - to live. A person who aspires not only to be a Torah scholar, but also to be great in kindness, great in charity, and a pillar of his community - the Holy One, blessed is He, will give him siyata d'shmaya and he will merit to do all of these things.
Rashi's version:
In closing, it should be noted that according to Rashi's version the Mishnah reads differently: "Halomeid es haTorah al menas lelameid - ein maspikin b'yado lelameid" - one who learns Torah in order to teach is not given the means to teach. According to this version, the Mishnah is speaking of someone who learns with the intention only to teach and not to do, such as one who learns in order to be famous, to be a rosh yeshivah or to hold a title - and about him it says that he is not given the means, and the Holy One, blessed is He, does not grant him siyata d'shmaya. It emerges that the person we said above is not the plain meaning of the Mishnah is in fact the very subject of the Mishnah according to this version, and in the form of a punishment: one who has no intention of fulfilling the Torah but only of studying it - like someone smoking his cigar on Shabbos afternoon while serving as a professor of Talmud at the local university - will not have the siyata d'shmaya even to teach Torah in its truth.