We now begin the sixth chapter of Pirkei Avos. Maseches Avos in the Mishnah contained only five chapters, while the sixth chapter is a chapter of beraisos - material dating from the period of the Mishnah, but which was added as a sixth chapter at a much later stage. Already in the siddur of Rav Amram Gaon we find 'Pirkei Avos', as distinct from 'Maseches Avos', and it includes this sixth chapter, known as 'Perek Kinyan Torah'. The origin of this lies in the custom of learning one chapter of Pirkei Avos on each Shabbos between Pesach and Shavuos: since we are dealing with seven weeks, this period usually contains six Shabbosos, and so a sixth chapter was added, as a preparation for acquiring Torah and for receiving the Torah on Shavuos.
The chapter's opening note:
The chapter opens with the note: "Shanu chachamim bilshon haMishnah" - the Sages taught the beraisos of this chapter in the same style in which the mishnayos were taught, in the Hebrew of the Mishnaic period. And it continues: "Baruch shebachar bahem uvemishnasam" - blessed is Hashem who chose the Sages and authorized them to be Sages and to instruct the Jewish people, as the verse says, "Do not deviate from the word that they tell you, right or left." A person is not permitted to depart from what the Sages teach him, and the Jewish people are commanded to follow them, whether they rule right or whether they rule left. And He likewise chose their teaching - the version that they established, for the decision as to what would be included in the official corpus of the Oral Torah edited by Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi was a weighty editorial decision.
The first beraisa:
"Rabbi Meir omer: kol ha'osek baTorah lishmah zocheh lidevarim harbeh" - anyone who occupies himself with the study of Torah lishmah, for the sake of the Torah itself. Most commentators understand that those 'many things' are the things listed later in the beraisa. The Maharal understands it differently: 'the many things' are the blessings of the Torah - the abundance and material comfort that the Torah promises - while the additional things are enumerated afterward.
"Velo od ela shekol ha'olam kulo kedai hu lo" - it would have been worthwhile to create the entire world for that single individual who learns Torah lishmah, because he fulfills the purpose of creation. Since he realizes the intent for which the Holy One created the world, it would have been worthwhile to create the whole world just for him. As we saw in Derech Hashem: the Holy One initially created a single human being, Adam, and that is enough - if one person is capable of developing a relationship with the Holy One who transcends existence, an eternal relationship as the Creator intended, that alone justifies all of creation.
What is "Torah lishmah"?
The approach of the Rambam: 'Lishmah' means that a person is motivated by love of Hashem and nothing else. He does what is right and lives in the true reality, which is the Holy One, and is motivated to serve Hashem out of the love that is fitting and appropriate toward the infinite Creator. He does not learn out of fear of losing his entry into Gan Eden, nor out of fear of the punishment of Gehinnom, but because he loves Hashem, and the Holy One commanded us to learn; from this he seeks to understand Hashem and to come to know Him.
The approach of the Baal HaTanya: 'Lishmah' means for the sake of attachment - a person learns in order to cleave to Hashem, through depth and understanding in the depths of His Torah, each person according to his abilities. This is a more emotional note than an intellectual one: for the Rambam the motivation is love of Hashem, and here the motivation is the desire to be connected and attached to Hashem.
The approach of the holy Shelah: The mitzvah to learn Torah lishmah is about the desire to know the word of Hashem. A person seeks to know what the Holy One commands in the Torah and the mitzvos, so that he can refine his character traits and fulfill the mitzvos properly. He wants to know the Torah for the sake of knowing, in order to know what to do and how to do it and what the will of the Holy One is in the matter. This is a matter of action, more than an intellectual or emotional connection to the Creator.
The approach of Nefesh HaChaim (Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin): 'Lishmah' means love, not of the Holy One as such but of the Torah itself. A person loves the Torah and loves learning it, and therefore he is motivated to learn it. This is similar to asking what enjoyment there is in driving fast, in mountain climbing or in playing soccer - the only answer is: because I love it, and it brings me joy and satisfaction. The comparison, of course, does not equate Torah study with a soccer game, but teaches that 'lishmah' means for its own sake, without any external agenda. And out of this love a person seeks to learn the Torah to the highest level and to its ultimate depth, until he stamps his own imprint upon it and develops within it himself, and becomes part of the process of Torah.
What one who learns lishmah merits:
"Nikra re'a" - a friend of the Holy One. Re'a means friend, and when a person is someone's friend he cares about him and seeks his good; so too this person, as it were, cares about the Holy One and seeks the realization of His plan - the creation of a world that can receive His goodness. There is another straightforward reading as well: the word 're'a', as in 're'acha', does not necessarily refer to a friend, and at times it means one's neighbor or fellow, since every Jew is 're'acha'. According to this, 're'a' is like a partner in a mission, a teammate who coordinates and participates with you: the Holy One has a plan to create a world, and a person is His partner in carrying out this project and in fulfilling his role in the covenant.
"Ahuv" - the Holy One loves him. A person who carries out the will of Hashem is beloved to Him, and that itself is what grants him his status as beloved before the Holy One.
"Ohev es haMakom" - the process of learning Torah lishmah drives a person to love the Holy One, and that is a goal in itself. This is like a married man who goes to a three-day seminar on loving one's spouse: he goes because he wants to love more, better and with greater intensity. So too in learning Torah lishmah, a person is driven to love the Holy One more and to deepen the relationship.
"Ohev es haberiyos":
The one who learns is also drawn to love his fellow human beings. Why? The preferred explanation is that a person by nature loves people - every child loves others and seeks their love. It is only that a person becomes bitter and cynical toward others for two reasons: first, people disappoint him, and at times they lack integrity or lack the refinement and consideration he expects of them. But even if we set this reason aside, and say that all the people around him are righteous and full of integrity, he still will not love them all - and this is because of his own bad character traits: a streak of jealousy and stinginess of eye, which says, "Why shouldn't I have what they have?", and also arrogance - he wants their esteem and their high opinion of him, and when they do not give him that, he turns it against them.
It emerges that were it not for these flaws, were he not immersed in his own honor in the eyes of others and in what other people have, he would have nothing to hold against them, and assuming they are decent, good people - he would love them all. One who is committed to Torah study for its own sake is occupied with his learning and narrows down everything else; he does not turn his attention to worldly matters and is not tainted by envy, desire or arrogance, and therefore he is naturally moved to love people.
"U'malbashto anavah v'yirah":
The Torah clothes him as a garment of the soul, for the character traits are the garments of the soul, and he wraps himself in humility and in fear. Humility is lowliness - he grasps who the Almighty is and what His deeds are in relation to himself, and that is humility: knowing your place. And the fear - the Torah moves him to fear Hashem. It is worth noting the order: humility comes before fear, as the verse says, "Eikev anavah yiras Hashem" - fear comes on the heels of humility and as a result of it. So too in the famous beraisa of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair in Maseches Avodah Zarah, cited in the introduction to Mesillas Yesharim: humility brings a person to fear of sin - lowliness brings a person to fear and to dread of transgressing.
"U'machsharto lihyos tzaddik chassid yashar v'ne'eman":
Tzaddik - one who does not do anything improper. He keeps to the letter of the law and fulfills all the rules properly.
Chassid - one who goes beyond the letter of the law. He has obligations both toward his fellow and toward the Almighty, and he does more than they require, giving, as it were, for the benefit of the other party.
Yashar - the level of the yashar is greater than that of the tzaddik but lower than that of the chassid, and that is why the Mishnah placed the chassid before the yashar (and this raises questions that we will not necessarily have answers to). The yashar is a person of integrity, who has a natural inner sense of what is right and what is not right - a moral compass, a person straight as an arrow, who will not do anything dishonorable. This also implies that in matters between man and his fellow he tends toward compromise and toward yielding to the other: in a transaction where it is unclear to whom the item belongs, the yashar will say, "I will give it to you," since he does not want it. He too, then, acts beyond the letter of the law, but toward people and not necessarily toward the Almighty.
Ne'eman - a reliable person who can be depended upon; the Almighty relies on him and people rely on him. And there is an explanation that the "ne'eman" here is like water that keeps flowing without stopping: a person who learns Torah and Torah she'be'al peh, and is able to hold on to his level and not fall.
Let us be precise in the wording: the Torah "machsharto" - it prepares a person to be a tzaddik, a chassid, a yashar and a ne'eman, but it does not make him one, for becoming a tzaddik requires choice and making the right decisions. Torah study does not make a person's decisions for him; it qualifies him to make them. Unlike the earlier parts of the beraisa, which list benefits a person receives on his own - that he be beloved to the Almighty and that he love the Almighty and the like - here it is still up to him to become a tzaddik through his own choice, and the Torah only prepares him for it.
"Merachakto min ha'chet u'mekarvato lidei zechus":
Beyond preparing him to make the right decisions, the Torah also pushes a person from the outset: for one who aims at Torah for its own sake, it distances him from sin and draws him close to merit. It is comparable to a person who decides to start working out at the gym: his initial commitment is limited - to be physically fit. But as we constantly see, within a short time he does not remain merely a "gym person," but becomes someone careful about health in general - he changes his diet, his sleeping hours and his entire way of life. A person begins with an intention regarding one thing, and it turns out to be a whole package that brings him to a different identity and a different way of life. So too a person of Torah for its own sake is drawn along and brought to additional things that are merits, and at the same time his craving for sin diminishes, and the Torah pushes him further and further away from it.
"V'nehenin mimenu eitzah v'sushiyah binah u'gevurah":
These words are based on the verse in which the Torah speaks: "Li eitzah v'sushiyah, ani binah, li gevurah":
Eitzah - good advice in worldly matters. One who learns Torah for its own sake becomes wise and discerning, and therefore when people ask his advice in matters outside of Torah, he is of help to them.
Tushiyah - the Torah itself. Since he learns Torah for its own sake, he knows the material; and someone who has a difficulty in the Gemara, or who wants to place a shtempel on Rashi - he is the man who can give him Torah advice as well.
Binah - his mind is sharpened in general, and therefore he has understanding in all matters, and he is a discerning person of insight.
Gevurah - he has the ability to stand up against sin. And others benefit from him: they draw strength from him and are inspired by him to summon their own inner strength to stand up against sin.
"V'nosnin lo malchus u'memshalah v'chikur din":
Malchus (kingship) is quite literally power, but the point is that people look at him and say, "There is a regal man, the great rabbi," and they admire him, and because of that they grant him authority and allow him to hold it. And memshalah (dominion) means power: it is not merely authority, but that when he says something, people do as he says. So it turns out that because he is a person of Torah lishmah, people turn to him for guidance and admire him, and he is able to issue an actual ruling and it will be carried out. And chikur din - he will be able to get to the depths of a Torah law, to understand what is going on and to rule correctly when he serves as a judge.
"Umegalin lo razei Torah":
From Heaven it is arranged that the secrets of the Torah will be revealed to him - the kabbalistic parts of the Torah, such as Ma'aseh Bereishis and Ma'aseh Merkavah. "Vena'aseh kema'ayan hamisgaber" - like a spring of water that swells and grows stronger on its own, so that he never runs out of fresh ideas and insights in Torah. "UcheNahar she'eino posek" - like a river that never comes to an end: someone who is full and overflowing with Torah teaches others, and they learn his ideas, and it passes on further and further. His influence therefore flows far beyond himself, to others and to others after them.
"Vehoveh tzanua ve'erech ruach umochel al elbono":
Tzanua - modesty is really about dignity. The Torah pushes him to want to be modest and to conduct himself in a dignified and humble way, because he understands who he is in relation to Hashem, and through that he becomes a dignified person.
Erech ruach - someone who does not get angry easily, a calm and patient person. The expression is similar to "erech apayim," which also refers to patience, except that "erech ruach" is a higher level: "erech apayim" means that a person may be angry inside but does not show it on the outside, and a long time passes before his face displays his frustration; "erech ruach," however, means that even on the inside his spirit is not shaken. He is far harder to upset, and he becomes a calmer and happier person, someone who is difficult to frustrate or anger.
Mochel al elbono - when people insult him and hurt him, he lets it go and overlooks it, even though he has every right to be angry. He moves on, he does not get angry and does not take revenge, even when something terrible has been done to him, but rather rises above it all.
"Umegadalto umeromamto al kol hama'asim":
The Torah raises him up and makes him great, and elevates him above all of creation. He becomes the pinnacle of existence, for he is the person connected to Hashem, and that sanctifies him and places him at the top of the pyramid in terms of what existence is meant to be. And in a certain sense everything is arranged by Divine providence to serve him and provide for his needs, because he becomes the very heart of existence: he is the one who learns lishmah, he learns, and the world was placed here for him - and everyone else has a supporting role to fill. They too have a role, and they too have merit in everything they do and in their support of him. But he is the leading actor in existence, because he is the one fulfilling its purpose, and therefore he is elevated above all of creation.