[study notes] pirkei avos 1 on speech
Overview from 5785 study of Pirkei Avos.
The first chapter of Pirkei Avos spends considerable time on the topic of speech.
Here are some of the teachings on speech, with some notes:
יוֹסֵי בֶן יוֹחָנָן אִישׁ יְרוּשָׁלַיִם אוֹמֵר, יְהִי בֵיתְךָ פָתוּחַ לִרְוָחָה, וְיִהְיוּ עֲנִיִּים בְּנֵי בֵיתֶךָ, וְאַל תַּרְבֶּה שִׂיחָה עִם הָאִשָּׁה. בְּאִשְׁתּוֹ אָמְרוּ, קַל וָחֹמֶר בְּאֵשֶׁת חֲבֵרוֹ. מִכָּאן אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים, כָּל זְמַן שֶׁאָדָם מַרְבֶּה שִׂיחָה עִם הָאִשָּׁה, גּוֹרֵם רָעָה לְעַצְמוֹ, וּבוֹטֵל מִדִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה, וְסוֹפוֹ יוֹרֵשׁ גֵּיהִנֹּם
Yosei ben Yokhanan, man of Yerushalayim, says: let your house be open to all, and let the poor be children of your house, and do not engage in too much sikhah/speech with the woman.
“With his woman” they said, “all the more so with the woman of his comrade.”
From her the sages taught: Any time that a man engages in too much sikhah with the woman, he causes evil to himself, and nullifies from words of Torah, and his end is inheriting Gehinnom.
The question here is the meaning of sikhah. It isn’t the usual word for speech, dibbur. My Schottenstein edition of Pirkei Avos offers the following commentary from Rav Hirsch: “the mishnah warns us against idle chatter and too much of it. A man who truly respects his wife will value her views and counsel and not overburden their conversation with frivolous chatter.”
In general, I think this mishnah is challenging us to think about who we consider “serious” conversation partners, and who we relegate to idle chatter. Do we take seriously our conversations with more marginalized people? Do we talk Torah with all people, or only people who are like us?
If we relegate certain people to a category of “mostly idle chatter”, the mishnah warns us, we’re actually nullifying words of Torah.
שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן שָׁטָח אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי מַרְבֶּה לַחְקֹר אֶת הָעֵדִים, וֶהֱוֵי זָהִיר בִּדְבָרֶיךָ, שֶׁמָּא מִתּוֹכָם יִלְמְדוּ לְשַׁקֵּר:
Shimon ben Shetach used to say: be thorough in the interrogation of witnesses, and be careful with your words, lest from them they learn to lie.
אַבְטַלְיוֹן אוֹמֵר, חֲכָמִים, הִזָּהֲרוּ בְדִבְרֵיכֶם, שֶׁמָּא תָחוּבוּ חוֹבַת גָּלוּת וְתִגְלוּ לִמְקוֹם מַיִם הָרָעִים, וְיִשְׁתּוּ הַתַּלְמִידִים הַבָּאִים אַחֲרֵיכֶם וְיָמוּתוּ, וְנִמְצָא שֵׁם שָׁמַיִם מִתְחַלֵּל:
Abtalion used to say: Sages be careful with your words, lest you incur the penalty of exile, and be carried off to a place of evil waters, and the disciples who follow you drink and die, and thus the name of heaven becomes profaned.
Translations of these two are from Dr. Kulp. Both of these seem to be about the extra caution needed in speech when you have more authority.
In the first, people will be listening to the judge’s words to try to figure out how to manipulate them. In the second, students follow a teacher’s words into punishment.
שַׁמַּאי אוֹמֵר, עֲשֵׂה תוֹרָתְךָ קֶבַע. אֱמֹר מְעַט וַעֲשֵׂה הַרְבֵּה, וֶהֱוֵי מְקַבֵּל אֶת כָּל הָאָדָם בְּסֵבֶר פָּנִים יָפוֹת
Shammai says: make your Torah fixed, say little and do much, and receive everyone with brightness, beautiful faces
שִׁמְעוֹן בְּנוֹ אוֹמֵר, כָּל יָמַי גָּדַלְתִּי בֵין הַחֲכָמִים, וְלֹא מָצָאתִי לַגּוּף טוֹב אֶלָּא שְׁתִיקָה. וְלֹא הַמִּדְרָשׁ הוּא הָעִקָּר, אֶלָּא הַמַּעֲשֶׂה. וְכָל הַמַּרְבֶּה דְבָרִים, מֵבִיא חֵטְא
Shimon [Rabban Gamliel’s] son says: all my days I grew up among the sages, and I did not find for the body any good other than silence. And midrash is not the essence, but rather action. And anyone of many words, brings sin.
Both of these teachings are contrasting in some sense words and actions. I think it is interesting that Shimon refers to guf, body, and not soul.