GEN1185 Seven things are [typical] in a clod, and seven in a wise man; [The Wise Man] speaks of first things first and last things last. Pirkei Avot V:9 … Avoth d’R. Nathan (A37, B40) give examples from Scripture.   When Jacob sent a gift to his brother Esau to appease his wrath and achieve a reconciliation, he told his servants, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, To whom do you belong? and where are you going? and whose are these before you? – then you say, To your servant Jacob; this is a present sent to my lord, to Esau; moreover, he is behind us.” Genesis 32:18-19   Expecting a multiple question from Esau, Jacob taught his servants to reply in order. Again, when Rebekah passed the test t the well which Abraham’s servant Eli’ezer had devised to find a suitable bride for Isaac, we read that Eli’ezer asked her two questions at once; “Whose daughter are you? Pray tell me. Is there room in hour father’s house for us to lodge in?” And she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” And she said to him, “We have both straw and provender aplenty, and room to lodge in.” [this verse and v. 25] To his first question she gave her first answer; to his second, her second answer. This is the way of an orderly mind.   The commentary MaGenesis Avoth adds a further example. At the burning bush on Mount Sinai, when the Almighty bid Moses go to Pharaoh to have the Israelites set free, Moses protested, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11 Moses had two separate objections: First, how could he, a mere shepherd, confront the mighty Pharaoh? To this the reply was, But I will be with you Exodus 3:12 – have no fear of him. And he also asked: how could he lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt they would not believe in him. In response, the reply continued: “and this shall be the sign for you that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain” Exodus 3:12 – and then they will believe in you.  SINAI3 106-7

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GEN1194 The man of ninety is of the age to go shuah, bent over; the man of a hundred is as though already dead and gone, removed from the world.   Pirkei Avot V:24   Understood so, the mishnah gives a physical description of a nonagenarian, bending at last under the weight of his years. The word shuah may also be related to shuhah, the grave, denoting that at ninety a man goes toward it (there is, alas, little else for him to do) And at a hundred, our mishnah continues, it is as though he reached it. Since the Mishnah was recorded without n’kudoth, marks to fix pronunciation, the word could also be read as suah. Scripture states, “Isaac went out la-suah (to meditate) in the field toward evening” [this verse]; and the Sages understand our text could mean that at ninety a man has no other proper business but prayer. If he has been blessed to reach this extraordinary age, let him not fritter away his precious time but spend it in sacred entreaty. Let him bring alive, for example, the winger words of t’hillim, the Book of Psalms.   Of the hundred-year-old there is little to be said. As Rashi poignantly writes, his face is tragically altered, the well of wisdom is closed to him, and he simply exists witlessly. Gone utterly is all strength. In place of life only existence remains.   SINAI3 232

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GEN1203 See [[GEN1136]] Genesis 22:8 together SINAI3 19-22

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GEN1263 Five possessions has the Holy, Blessed One … [The heaven and earth; Abraham; the people Israel; the Sanctuary] … Pirkei Avot VI:10   Science teaches that matter and energy may be interchangeable, but are indestructible.  Midrash Sh’muel, however, understands “heaven and earth” literally; for as the Almighty’s “possession” they are one entity. The verse quoted in proof says nothing about kinyan but instead describes heaven as the Holy One’s throne and the earth as His footstool.  But, notes Midrash Sh’muel, a throne is itself a supreme symbol of royalty; hence heaven (with earth as its adjunct, for a footstool) is clearly an important kinyan of the Almighty, a cherished possession peculiarly His own, that is everlasting. What sublime truth lies in this. Many have gazed in wonder at the raptures of heaven, at the awesome mystery of stars reaching in a patterned precision to infinity. Many have looked in sudden marvel at the panoramic vistas of nature revealed on earth, to be touched by a sense of awe, a premonition of the majesty of a sovereign Creator. It is as though someone wandering he new not where came upon a colossal throne and its footstool, and realized that a mighty, awesome king ruled there.   How fitting, too, the rest of the quoted verse. If heaven and earth are His cosmic throne and stool, what sense does it make for man to build a Temple for Him to abide in? If we built a Sanctuary in Jerusalem, it was only because we humans were not ready to perceive His presence everywhere. But ultimately mankind must perceive the entire world as His Sanctuary, filled with His immanence, so that wherever he is, man can exclaim with Jacob, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” [this verse].  Our Sages evidently reached this great realization. They taught, “whoever takes benefit from this world without reciting a blessing, ma’al, commits sacrilege” – i.e. he commits a crime akin to violating the holiness of the Sanctuary.  R. Judah, quoting Sh’muel, is more explicit: “whoever takes benefit from this world without reciting a blessing for it, it is as if he benefited from Heaven’s sacred property.” And another Sage taught, “Whoever commits a sin in secret, it is as though he pushed against the feet of the sh’chinah; for it is stated … the earth is My footstool.”  Talmud Berakoth 35a, Hagaigah 16a. SINAI3 392-3

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GEN1271 … Do not hanker for the table of kings, for your table is greater than theirs… Pirkei Avot VI:5  On one thing philosophers, thinkers and writers seem to agree: Pursue happiness as a goal, and it will elude you. And the more intense the search, the more bitter the disappointment.  If happiness comes at all, it arrives by chance, as a byproduct. When our own Patriarch Jacob left home as a young man, in flight from Esau, to join an uncle he did not know in a land he had never seen, all he asked of the Almighty was “bread to eat and clothing to wear”; it would be enough to survive.   When he returned home from Laban, he was the wealthy owner of “oxen, donkeys, manservants, and maidservants.” Genesis 32:6  Wheatever happiness riches could bring—at the least, freedom from want—Jacob gained without particularly seeking it. Later in life, “Jacob dwelt (literally,, sat) in the land of his father’s sojournings”: Genesis 37:1 Jacob sat, expecting serenity in his later years. He looked forward to the happiness of peace and quiet, after a life filled with tribulations enough. Came the disappearance of his beloved son Joseph, sold into slavery by his other sons, and he knew greater grief than ever before. When our Patriarch asked for bread, he attained riches. When he sought ease and rest in leisure, he found tribulation and sorrow. How sane and sound, then is the counsel of this perek.   If you are fortunate enough to study Torah, do not seek the happiness of a royal table daily set for a banquet, or a regal crown of honor and might. With or without Torah, such goals are highly uncertain. If you gain them, they may prove disastrously hollow. Be content even with a crust of bread and salt, a bit of water, and a place on the ground to sleep. Is this a way to happiness? Yes, but not a happiness that this world knows.   Bear in mind that “your Employer can be trusted to pay you the reward for your work” – in a world of eternal bless: “Know … that the Lord God, He is God, the trustworthy God who keeps the covenant and loving-kindness for those who love Him and keep His mitzvot …” Deuteronomy 7:9. Let this be the leitmotif that runs through your life, and you will never go astray. The pious Hafetz Hayyim [Rabbi Israel Meir HaCohen Kagan, 1839-1933 - AJL] wrote a number of volumes to instruct his people in the ways of devotion. Wanting to publish some, he discovered that in his country no one could issue a book without the formal approval of an official censor. The censor for Hebrew books was a man named Steinberg, so to him the Hafetz Hayyim went.  This Steinberg had studied Torah in his youth and was quite learned. But to achieve his position he had cast off every trace of his ancestral religion and learned to toady to government superiors.  When the Hafetz Hayyim entered his office, Steinberg looked up in surprise.   “Yisra’el Me’ir!” he cried. “Do you remember me? We started studying Torah together in that little schoolroom in back of the town. Well now,” he continued smugly, “look at you, and look at me: I am quite rich, I have a position of importance, a magnificent home, liveried servants … And you – with all your Torah, what have you? You are poor. Your overcoat is worn. And you must come to ask me ever so politely to let you publish your books! Where is your wisdom? Learn from me: live the way I do!”   For a moment the Hafetz Hayyim was silent. Then gently he said, “As I was walking into your office, a man drew alongside in a handsome coach drawn by magnificent horses, and he offered me a seat beside him.  Perhaps I should have accepted eagerly. But I rather asked him where he was going. He and I were headed in quite different directions; and I declined his offer. But then, you and I are also going in different directions --- and I must equally decline with thanks your offer to take me along. You see, I am headed toward a different destination, and I intend to get there.”   SINAI3 322-3

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GEN1290 Seven things are [typical] in a clod, and seven in a wise man; about something that he has not learned [the wise man] says, “I have not learned it” Pirkei Avot V:9  … “Teach your tongue,” advises the Talmud, “to say I do not know” [when you do not] lest you be led to lie and then be caught out.” Derech Eretz Zuta iii, cited in Berakoth 4a.  Nor will wisdom and Torah dwell in health and comfort in one who lies and boasts to raise his prestige. The spirit of a “status-climbing’ mendacious braggart is not a good vessel in which Torah will keep. It thrives in the honest and the modest. … In Scripture itself, as Avoth d’R. Nathan (B40) notes, we can already find examples of such candor: When Jacob journeyed to Haran to stay with his uncle Laban, he met some shepherds at a well, and asked about Laban: “Is it well with him?” And they said [briefly], “Well; and here comes Rachel his daughter with the sheep.” [this verse] In other words: If you want more information, ask her—she knows; we do not.  Again, we read that a group of Israelites approached Moses in the wilderness for advice: All were commanded to offer the Passover sacrifice on the proper day; but they could not, being ritually unclean. Moses simply replied, “Stand, and I will hear what the Lord will command about you.” Numbers 9:8 He was not ashamed to thus admit that he did not know the answer. Similarly, when the daughters of Zelophehad brought their plea before Moses – their father had died leaving no son; should they inhere? – we read, “Moses brought their cause before the Lord.” Numbers 27:5 He did not pretend to more knowledge than he had. SINAI3 108-9

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GEN1359 See [[GEN1271]] Genesis 28:20 bread SINAI3 322

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GEN1384 See [[GEN1185]] Genesis 24:24 replied SINAI3 106-7

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GEN1435 See [[GEN1271]] Genesis 28:20 bread SINAI3 322-3

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GEN1458 One who wishes that neither he nor others should give, is wicked.   Pirkei Avot V:16   When we give directly to a needy person, it is well to be discreet and inconspicuous. If the needy one does not meet you or learn your identity, so much the better. But amid a group making contributions or pledges, put modesty aside, for what you do influences others. In fact, herein lies the power and effectiveness of the public appeal: everyone becomes somewhat subject to public scrutiny.  The cause is made explicit; its urgency is explained. And as others respond, you must ponder your heart and your conscience, aware that what you do or fail to do will be significant.  A fascinating passage in the Midrash considers what might have occurred had certain Biblical characters known they wer to be Biblical characters: When Joseph’s brothers plotted to kill him, Scripture says: “Reuben heard, and he saved him from the their hands” by offering (hesitantly) a substitute plan only one degree better: let Joseph be thrown in to a pit rather than be murdered outright. Reuben planned, Scripture indicates, to come back quietly and rescue him. As an early commentary notes, יצלהוו, and he saved him,” is written defectively, a second yod omitted, to hint that this was hardly a way to save Joseph; Reuben meant well but his plan was a shabby subterfuge. [this verse; the early commentary is R’maze R. Joel, quoted from manuscript in Torah Shelemah ad loc. §135, bi’ur.)  And the Midrash notes that “the Torah thus teaches you proper behavior – that when a man does a mitzvah, let him do it with a happy whole heart. For had Reuben known that the Holy, Blessed One would have this written about him, Reuben heard, and he saved him from their hands, he would have carried Joseph on his shoulder back to his father!” SINAI3 165

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