Pirkei Avos

This page has all the articles I have on Pirkei Avos. With Hashem's help I will be adding to it in the weeks between Pesach and Shavuoth and during the summer. 

Introduction to Pirkei Avos 

Why Is It Called Pirkei Avos?
Pirkei Avos: Microcosm of the Torah 
Why do we say Kol Yisrael before Pirkei Avos?
More reasons for saying Kol Yisrael before Pirkei Avos
Why Is Pirkei Avos In The Middle Of The Mishnah? A Lesson In Relationships. Where You Are Matters 

Chapter 1 

Mishnah 1: How To Learn Torah

Chapter 2 

Chapter 3 

Chapter 4 

Chapter 5 

Chapter 6  

Acharon Shel Pesach Haftora Part II: The Ingathering Of The Exile

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In the Haftora of Acharon Shel Pesach it tells about the ingathering of the Jewish people in the time of Moshiach, "And it shall come to pass bayom hahu (on that day), that G‑d shall set His hand again the second time liknos (to acquire) the remnant of His people, that shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, from Patros, and from Kush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Chamas, and from the islands of the sea." 

Bayom hahu means on that day, this phrase is repeated several times in the Haftora, it refers to the day that Moshiach will come. However, if you look at the word hahu, the prefix ha means the, meaning that the thing that you are referring to is revealed and known, the house, the president, the Torah, etc. etc., hu, on the other hand, means he or it, which denotes something hidden. How can hidden and revealed be in the same word? 

In Chassidic thought it is explained that bayom hahu means, that on the day that Moshiach comes, what was hidden from us, will be revealed. 

The verse continues, "G-d shall set His hand again the second time liknos (to acquire) the remnant of His people." What is the meaning of, "the second time"? When was the first time? The commentaries tell us that the first time was the Exodus from Egypt. Why not the other times we were freed from exile, like from the Babylonian exile, from which we returned to Israel and rebuilt the Temple? The commentaries tell us that all the other times we were freed from exile it wasn't complete, because all of the Jewish people didn't return, and we remained under the sovereignty of another nation. But this leaves us with a question. Why remind us of the Exodus altogether, it could have simply said that Hashem would acquire the remnant of His people? 

Another question. Why does it use the term "liknos (to acquire)," to mean that He would gather us? 

To acquire something means that it is not a new creation, rather that it is something that already exists and you are taking possession of it. In general, there are two kinds of acquisitions, you can acquire the products that an item will produce, or you can acquire the item itself. When it comes to acquiring the product, there are two opinions as to whether it is considered a true acquisition or not. When it comes to acquiring the item, everyone agrees that it is a true acquisition. 

In our verse it has to be talking about something that everyone agrees is a true acquisition, so it must be talking about an acquisition of the item itself. 

On a deeper level, the acquisition of the product is the service of the average Jew, which is most of us, to Hashem. We produce Torah, mitzvos and good deeds, taking from the mundane physical world and raising it up to Hashem, making it holy, but we constantly struggle with our bodies, fighting its urges and desires. We have acquired the products, but we haven't been able to acquire the item, the body isn't in our total control. On the other hand, a Tzadik is in complete control of his body, he has acquired the item itself. 

Every one of us can strive to be the optimal average Jew, which the Tanya calls beinuni, who constantly struggles with his body, but has no sins because he bends the will of the body to follow Hashem's will. But not everyone is cut out to be a Tzadik. 

And that is the unique thing about the future redemption, that it will be like the Exodus from Egypt. All the other redemptions weren't complete, they couldn't be called a true acquisition. However, the Exodus from Egypt was complete in that it ended with the giving of the Torah, at which time all "their impure ways ended." The same will be when Moshiach comes, Hashem says, "I will remove the impure spirit from the land," all evil will cease to exist. Like the Exodus, the future redemption will be complete, the Exodus being first, making the future redemption second. 

May we merit to be part of the ingathering of our people soon, with the complete redemption, just as we were redeemed from Egypt, a true acquisition of our bodies, as the verse says, "Your nation are all Tzadikim, they will inherit the land forever." 

And as our verse continues with a bunch of places where Hashem will gather us from and concludes, "And from the islands of the sea." This includes the Americas and Australia. May it happen soon.

Dedicated to our son Eli Chaim who celebrates his birthday on Acharon Shel Pesach. We are so proud of you, may Hashem give you a successful year. 

Chametz Vs. Matzah

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In parshas Bo it tells us the mitzvah of eating Matzah, "Seven days shall you eat Matzah." 

At the Seder there are three important things, Pesach (Pascal lamb) Matzah and Maror (bitter herbs). We offer lip service for the Pesach, because we can't do it. Matzah remains a biblical mitzvah to this day. And Maror is a rabbinical mitzvah now a days. 

There are two differences between chametz and Matzah. 

The first difference is in the way it acts. Chametz rises, it blows up, this is symbolic of a  big ego and Matzah remains flat, symbolic of the self nullification of the ego. And on Pesach the only Matzah we can use for the mitzvah of Matzah is egoless poor man's bread, which is made from only flour and water. 

The second difference is in the way it is spelled, they both have three letters, two of which are the same ( they both have a mem and a tzadik), but chametz has a ches at the beginning and Matzah has a hei at the end. 

ח ה

  Hei                   Ches 

The letters ches and hei are very similar, they both have a line on top, two legs coming down on the sides and they are open on the bottom, but the ches is totally sealed from three sides and the hei is open on the top of the left leg. 

The opening on the bottom means that it is easy to go down, to fall into doing what is wrong in the eyes of Hashem. 

And this is where the two differences come together. The person with the big ego, chametz, is stuck in the ches, the only way he can go is down. The person who is humble, Matzah, is not stuck, because the hei has an opening on the top, he has a way to go out and up, he has an opportunity to do teshuva. 

Even though the opening on top of the hei is small, our sages say that Hashem says, "Make me an opening like the eye of a needle and I will open up for you like the entrance of the Ulam," which was a huge doorway in the Temple. 

When a person is humble, he will realize that he did something wrong, and he will do teshuva, on the other hand, when someone has a big ego, he is always right and he could never find any fault in himself, just the opposite he convinces himself that everything he does is good if not great, and because of that he is stuck and he won't do teshuva. 

Even more. He finds arguments for his bad behavior and feels justified in doing them. 

For example the Mitzvah of tzedaka, which is a general Mitzvah and is inclusive of all mitzvos. 

He doesn't give tzedaka, because if Hashem wants them to have, why doesn't He give them? In his arrogance he thinks that he is better than the poor person. In his pompousness he asks, "If Hashem wants them to be poor, who am I to get in His way by giving them tzedaka?" 

On the other hand, a humble person makes a true calculation that he is no better than the other person, and he knows that Hashem wants him to give the other, so he gives. 

And even if he thinks that Hashem wants to punish the other for whatever reason, he knows that every Jewish person is a prince or princess of Hashem, and when a king punishes his children, he is happy when you show kindness to them. So he gives tzedaka. 

The same is with all other Mitzvahs. 

Not only all this, but if he can't find a way to make himself right, he makes excuses for himself. All of the reasons we are taught in Tanya, to find merit in other people and to excuse away their bad behavior, he finds in himself. And if all else fails, his self love covers over all his flaws. And so he never says I'm sorry and he doesn't do teshuva. He is stuck in the ches, and he has no way out other than down. That is chametz. 

The humble person doesn't make any of these excuses, he realizes that he is wrong, says I'm sorry and does teshuva. He is not stuck, he is in the hei, which has an opening to go up. That is Matzah. 

May we all take the attitude of Matzah, say I'm sorry and mend our relationships. See our wrong ways, do teshuva and become closer to Hashem. If we do this, we will be closer to our families, our people and Hashem. This will surely bring Moshiach closer and this dark and bitter exile to an end, and oh how we need it to end. May it happen soon. 

Keep On Fanning The Flames

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In this week's parsha, Tzav, it says, "A constant fire should burn on the altar, it must not be extinguished." The Talmud Yerushalmi says, "Constant even on Shabbos, constant even in impurity." 

Every one of us is a small Temple and the service of the Temple happens inside every one of us spiritually. What is the service of keeping "A constant fire" in every one of us? Why does the Talmud Yerushalmi pick specifically these two things, Shabbos and impurity? And what lesson are we meant to take from this? 

The altar is the heart of a person and that is where we have to keep the fire burning towards G-dliness. 

Shabbos is our holy day, it is symbolic of one of the highest levels we can achieve. A person who reaches that level can make the mistake of thinking, "I have already reached such a great level, do I need to put in effort to keep the fire burning?" And he becomes complacent. It is to him that we say, "Constant even on Shabbos," You can never become complacent, you always have to put in the effort to keep the fire burning. 

On the other extreme, one who is far from holy, might think that he is, G-d forbid, too far gone. To him we say, "Constant even in impurity," don't look at your current state, don't let the fire go out. Keep fanning the flame of your G-dly fire, it should not be extinguished. And this will bring you to the positive side of "not be extinguished," as the Maggid of Mezritch taught us that the "not" the bad and the negative should "be extinguished." 

Wherever you are in your connection with Hashem, you should not give up and you should not get over confident in yourself, keep on working on your connection with Hashem. No matter where you are at, there is always a higher level of closeness you can attain. So keep on fanning the flame, don't let the fire go out, because then you are going nowhere and when you are going nowhere, you are not staying put, you are falling. 

The same is with relationships, especially with your spouse and children, don't think that it is too far gone, and don't get complacent, keep on working on it, because there is nothing more important. If you think that you are in a happy place, keep on fanning the flames, because it can always be better and closer. And when you become complacent, it starts to go downhill. 

With a blessing of good and deep relationships with your children, spouse and Hashem. 

In our current situation, we shouldn't give up hope, thinking that it won't get better, nor should we be over confident in ourselves and do things that are dangerous to ourselves or to others, keep on being careful to follow the advice of the experts. May Hashem bring this pandemic to an end, and give all that are sick, a complete recovery. May it happen soon.