RaYBaSH’s Ponderings of the Perkei Avot
Chapter 1:2
By: Yehudah ben Shomeyr
“Shimon the
Righteous was among the survivors of the Great Assembly. He used to say; The
world depends on three things – on Torah study, on the service [of God], and on
kind deeds.”
Like the modern
acronym K.I.S.S., no, not the heavy metal band KISS, K.I.S.S. as in, “Keep It
Simple Stupid.” This is not meant to be an insult, but a gentle swift kick in
the pants to remind us not to complicate things. Judaism is full of commentary
and tradition that can make ones head spin. There is an old saying that says, “You
have two Jews you have three opinions.” And the Talmud is full of hair
splitting arguments regarding halacha and law. Let’s face it, some of us aren’t
hardwired for this kind of mental exercises, so what is a Jew to do? Yeshua
summed up the 613 Commandments in Torah by saying in Mark 12 that to love God
and to love your neighbor are the two most important commandments and like a
mobile over a crib, the rest of the 613 commandments hang from them. So if you
can keep these two the rest of the 611 will soon follow.
Micah
(6:8) said it this way: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what [is] good; and what
doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with thy GOd?”
And Shimon the
Righteous said: “The world depends on three things – on Torah study, on the
service [of God], and on kind deeds.”
These summaries
are not replacing the 613 Commandments of Torah, but summing it up in easy to
remember key points. Basically saying if you do these simple things, you will
most likely do the others automatically.
Rav Hillel was one
of the first to record the Golden Rule that was reiterated by Messiah Yeshua
himself. He was asked by a Gentile to summarize the Torah standing on one foot,
and so he did and said:
“What is hateful
to you, do not unto your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; the rest is just
commentary. Go and learn it.” Hillel, Talmud, Shabbath 31a
“Do to others as you would have them do to you” –
Yeshua, Matthew 7:12
I like what Rav
Hillel said after his summary, “The rest is just commentary.”
The commentary in
Perkei Avot says this about our text:
“The service [of God],
i.e., the sacrificial service in the Temple Temple
I see Rav Shimon’s
statement as a three legged stool. The security of the stool and the guarantee
that it stays stable and upright is dependant upon the three legs, if any of
the legs be taken; the stool will fall and is useless to hold up anything. You
can’t have one without the other. Each one is important to and dependant upon the
other. These three things are like the Jewish version of the Greek Atlas, who
was forced to hold up the world on his shoulders.
1.
Torah study – Darosh Torah – This informs us of God’s universal
divine will for our lives.
2.
The service of God – Avodat Elohim – This is our prayer to, our communication
with and our praise and worship of G-d in which we get our specific divine will
for our lives. We can say it is our ministry, for us that have been called to
the rabbinate or to a specific ministry.
3.
Kind Deeds – Chesed Mitzvot – How we relate and treat others according
to the universal and individual divine will. How we carry out the universal and
individual divine will.
So as a Jew, don’t
get overwhelmed by the 613 Commandments of Torah and the Traditions connected
with it. K.I.S.S. and the rest will soon come and be like breathing to you.
Shalom,
-- Yehudah ben
Shomeyr
