Ethics of the Fathers

| Po Pao nn ANE Ne Og Rae FR EERE EQNS Se mm QE I a merit on Israel. That is why He gave them a copious Torah and many command- | ments, as it is said, “It pleased the LORD, for the sake of [Israel's] righteousness, Is. 42 to make the Torah great and glorious.” | If there is a minyan, mourners say the Rabbis' Kaddish (page 628). | * * *: i, cee Sanhedrin All Israel have a share in the World to Come, as it is said, goa “Your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever; Is. 60 | they are a shoot of My own planting, | a work of My own hands, that I may be glorified.” CHAPTER 6 The sages taught the following in the style of the Mishna — blessed be He who chose them and their teaching. 1. Rabbi Meir said: Whoever engages in Torah study for its own sake merits many things; moreover, the whole world is worthwhile for his sake alone. He is called friend, beloved, a lover of God and a lover of mankind. He brings joy to God; he brings joy to mankind. [The Torah] clothes him with humility and reverence. It prepares him to be righteous, pious, upright and faithful. It keeps him far from sin and near to virtue. People benefit from his advice and wisdom, understanding and courage, as it is said, “Mine are counsel and wisdom; Iam _ Prov. 8 | understanding, courage is mine.” It gives him sovereignty, dominion and discerning judgment. To him the secrets of the Torah are revealed. He becomes like a never-failing fountain, like a river that never runs dry. He becomes modest and patient; he forgives insults. It makes him great, exalting him above all things. 2. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Every day a heavenly voice resounds from Mount Horeb, proclaiming and saying: “Woe to mankind for their contempt of the Torah!” For whoever does not occupy himself with the Torah is called reprehensible, as it is said, “Like a gold ring in the snout of a pig is a beautiful Prov. 1 woman bereft of sense.” It also says, “The tablets were the work of God, and Ex. 32 the writing was the writing of God, engraved (harut) on the tablets.” Read not harut (“engraved”) but herut (“freedom”), for the only person who is truly free is one who occupies himself with Torah study; and whoever occupies himself with Torah study will be exalted, as it is said, “And from Mattana to Num. 21 Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamot.”