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26-568: In the title Pirkei Avot , the word "pirkei" is Hebrew for "chapters of". The word avot means "fathers", and thus Pirkei Avot is often rendered in English as "Chapters of the Fathers", or (more loosely) "Ethics of the Fathers." This translation engenders an appealing and not entirely mistaken image of "patriarchal teachings". However, the term 'avot' is not usually used as an honorary designation for 'rabbis' or 'sages'; in rabbinical usage, it refers to

52-585: A "great principle" of the Torah. In Shabbat 31a, Hillel , when challenged by a prospective convert to explain the entire Torah while the latter stood on one foot, answered: "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: This is the entire Torah, the rest is the explanation, go now and learn it." (This maxim is not included in Pirkei Avot.) The attribution of Biblical Wisdom books to King Solomon (e.g., Ecclesiastes , Proverbs , Book of Wisdom ) attests also to

78-462: A short segment on Avot, and over 400 published references on Avot in general or individual mishnayot. The Russian-American poet and translator Yehoash published his Yiddish translation of Pirkei Avot in 1912 under the title Di Lehren fun di Foters . This translation was subsequently included in a trilingual (Hebrew-Yiddish-English) edition that was published in 1921. A Chinese translation of Pirkei Avot by Prof. Ping Zhang from Tel Aviv University

104-553: A significant marker by God in revelations and promises, and continue to play important roles in the Abrahamic faiths . Judaism, Christianity and Islam hold that the patriarchs, along with their primary wives, known as the matriarchs – Sarah (wife of Abraham), Rebekah (wife of Isaac) and Leah (one of the wives of Jacob) – are entombed at the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron , a site held holy by

130-460: Is said to be buried separately at what is known as Rachel's Tomb , near Bethlehem , at the site where she is believed to have died in childbirth. More widely, the term patriarchs can be used to refer to the twenty male ancestor-figures between Adam and Abraham. The first ten of these are called the antediluvian patriarchs, because they came before the Flood . Scholars have taken a mixed view as to

156-692: The Gospels , such as the parallel descriptions of "where two or three are gathered" used in the Gospel of Matthew for Jesus, and in Avot 3:2 for the Shekhinah . Hebrew full text Translations Transliterations Commentary Patriarchs (Bible) The patriarchs ( Hebrew : אבות ‎ ʾAvot , "fathers") of the Bible , when narrowly defined, are Abraham , his son Isaac , and Isaac's son Jacob , also named Israel,

182-562: The Great Assembly , i.e., the early generations of Sages (Avot 1:1). It contains sayings attributed to sages from Simon the Just (200 BCE) to shortly after Judah haNasi (200 CE), redactor of the Mishnah. These aphorisms concern proper ethical and social conduct, as well as the importance of Torah study . The first two chapters proceed in a general chronological order, with the second focusing on

208-493: The Omer period, this chapter being seen well-suited to Shabbat Shavuot , when the giving of the Torah is celebrated. (See below.) The term Pirkei Avot refers to the composite six-chapter work ( Avot plus Kinyan Torah ). Modern scholars suggest that Avot 5:21 ("He would say: A five-year-old proceeds to Bible [study], a ten-year-old to mishna [study]...") was not authored by Rabbi Yehudah ben Teimah (the author of 5:20, and seemingly

234-568: The Patriarchs of the Bible. Rather, in the Mishnah , the word avot generally refers to fundamentals or principal categories. (Thus, the principal categories of creative work forbidden on Shabbat are called avot melacha , and the principal categories of ritual impurity are referred to as avot tum'ah .) Using this meaning, Pirkei Avot would translate to "Chapters of Fundamental Principles". Additionally,

260-541: The Mishnaic tractate containing numerous additional ethical teachings and legends. The number of medieval and modern commentaries on the Tractate of Avot is large, and probably not known accurately. Among the best-known commentaries are the following: A comprehensive bibliography of Hebrew commentaries on Pirke Avot has been published, including over 1500 detailed entries. The appendix lists over 500 additional books that contain

286-668: The Patriarchs's historicity, with archaeology so far producing no direct evidence for their existence. The patriarchs of the Bible , when narrowly defined, are Abraham , his son Isaac , and Isaac's son Jacob , also named Israel, the ancestor of the Israelites . These three figures are referred to collectively as the patriarchs , and the period in which they lived is known as the patriarchal age . They play significant roles in Hebrew scripture during and following their lifetimes. They are used as

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312-672: The Small , or Samuel the Lesser ) was a Babylonian Jew considered a great early religious scholar . He was one of the second generation of Tannaim , who served under the patriarch Gamliel II of Yavneh , during the last two decades of the 1st century CE. He is supposed to have established some of the standard prayers of the Jewish liturgy, the Siddur . Particularly, he wrote the Birkat HaMinim benediction,

338-494: The ancestor of the Israelites . These three figures are referred to collectively as "the patriarchs", and the period in which they lived is known as the patriarchal age . Judaism , Christianity , and Islam hold that the patriarchs, along with their primary wives, known as the matriarchs ( Sarah , Rebekah and Leah ), are entombed at the Cave of the Patriarchs , a site held holy by the three religions. Rachel , Jacob's other wife,

364-674: The central importance that Jews of this period placed on transmitting the ethical way of life. The Mishnaic tractate Avot consists of five chapters. It begins with an order of transmission of the Oral Tradition; Moses receives the Torah at Mount Sinai and then transmits it through various generations (including Joshua , the Elders, and the Neviim , but notably not the Kohanim ), whence it finally arrives at

390-420: The clear and straightforward mishnaic prose. In addition, the anomalous character of Avot is heightened by the biblical influences on its linguistic expressions, grammatical forms, and vocabulary." From at least the time of Saadia Gaon (10th century), it has been customary to study one chapter a week on each Shabbat between Passover and Shavuot ; today, the tractate is generally studied on each Shabbat of

416-568: The format of moral aphorisms attributed to specific rabbis. In liturgical use, and in most printed editions of Avot , a sixth chapter, Kinyan Torah ("Acquisition of Torah") is added; this is in fact the eighth (in the Vilna edition) chapter of tractate Kallah , one of the minor tractates . It is added because its content and style are somewhat similar to that of the original tractate Avot (although it focuses on Torah study more than ethics), and to allow for one chapter to be recited on each Shabbat of

442-558: The majority of Mishnaic tractates, Avot has no corresponding gemara . Some have said this is because the concepts in it can never be dealt with completely, being the "fifth part of the Shulchan Aruch " (being intrinsically " derekh eretz ": wise practices). Although Avot does not have an accompanying gemara, one of the minor tractates of the Talmud, the Avot of Rabbi Natan , is an expansion of

468-512: The ninth member of the genealogy ; Seth lived to see the translation of Enoch and died shortly before the birth of Noah. Noah outlived Abram's grandfather, Nahor , and died in Abram's sixtieth year. Shem , Noah's son, even outlived Abram . He was still alive when Esau and Jacob were born! Explanation of color-codes: The matriarchs, also known as "the four mothers" (ארבע האמהות), are: Shmuel ha-Katan Shmuel ha-Katan (literally Samuel

494-510: The patriarchs in the Masoretic Text of the Book of Genesis are: Adam 930 years, Seth 912, Enos 905, Kenan 910, Mahalalel 895, Jared 962, Enoch 365 (did not die, but was taken away by God), Methuselah 969, Lamech 777, Noah 950. Gerhard von Rad said: The long lives ascribed to the patriarchs cause remarkable synchronisms and duplications. Adam lived to see the birth of Lamech,

520-520: The possibility that the title was intentionally worded to support multiple renderings—both "fathers" and "fundamental principles"—cannot be ruled out. The recognition of ethical maxims as 'Fundamental Principles' may derive from the high regard in which the Torah , Mishnah , and Talmud hold such wisdom. "Love your neighbor as yourself," states the Bible ( Leviticus 19:18 ), an injunction that Rabbi Akiva in Genesis Rabbah 24:7 famously calls

546-471: The referent of "He would say" in 5:21) but rather by Shmuel ha-Katan , and was not part of the Mishna tractate of Avot, but rather added later to Pirkei Avot. In Machzor Vitry , for example, this passage is printed after the words "Tractate Avot has ended". "The structure of the tractate differs greatly from the thematic structure of the other tractates and Avot sayings employ a highly stylized language instead of

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572-521: The saying, "The Holy One, blessed be He, wished to bestow merit upon Israel; therefore he gave them Torah and mitzvot in abundance" ( Makkoth 3:16). The tractate includes several of the most frequently-quoted rabbinic sayings on a variety of topics, including: Mishnaic tractates, composed in Mishnaic Hebrew , are usually accompanied by commentaries in Aramaic known as gemara ("the teaching"). Unlike

598-403: The students of Yochanan Ben Zakkai . Chapters Three and Four are thematic and contain various attributed sayings in no explicit order. Chapter Five departs from the organization and content of the preceding four in that it consists mostly of anonymous sayings structured around numerical lists, several of which have no direct connection with ethics. The last four paragraphs of this chapter return to

624-461: The summer, from Passover to Rosh Hashanah , the entire cycle repeating a few times with doubling of chapters at the end if there are not a perfect multiple of six weeks. The tractate is therefore included in many prayer books , following Shabbat afternoon prayers. In the course of such study, it is common to preface each chapter with the Mishnaic saying, "All Israel has a share in the world to come" ( Sanhedrin 10:1), and to conclude each chapter with

650-428: The three religions. Rachel is said to be buried separately at what is known as Rachel's Tomb , near Bethlehem , at the site where she is believed to have died in childbirth. More widely, the term patriarchs can be used to refer to the twenty male ancestor-figures between Adam and Abraham. The first ten of these are called the antediluvian patriarchs, because they came before the Flood . The lifetimes given for

676-633: Was published in 1996 by CASS Press, together with footnotes and an introduction of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz . The first edition, of 1500 copies, sold out immediately. A revised version of Zhang's translation, with some influence from the Chinese Catholic Bible, was published in 2001 under the title "猶太聖傳·民刑卷·先賢篇" ('Jewish sacred teachings, records, and ethics articles'). It is available online. Scholars have noted similar themes and language shared between Pirkei Avot and earlier Jewish traditions found in

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