Introduction This mishnah contains more statements from Hillel. All of the sayings in this mishnah are in Aramaic. Although almost all of the Mishnah is in Hebrew, it is unclear what the common spoken language of the Jews was at the time of the Mishnah. These sayings are folksy, that is they are pithy and easy to remember. The fact that they are in Aramaic may mean that many of the “folk” spoke Aramaic, but that the language of study was Hebrew. By the time of the Talmud it is clear that Aramaic was the dominant language in the land of Israel, at least amongst the Jews (many non-Jews would have spoken Greek).
He [also] used to say: one who makes his name great causes his name to be destroyed; one who does not add [to his knowledge] causes [it] to cease; one who does not study [the Torah] deserves death; on who makes [unworthy] use of the crown [of learning] shall away. Although there are four separate statements in this mishnah, they can all be summarized as saying two things: a person must always study, but he should be careful not to use his learning for his own grandeur. A person who tries to make his name, meaning his reputation great, will eventually lose his good name. One who seeks his own honor, will have honor elude his grip. This statement has also been taken as a warning to a person to avoid the attention of the ruling power, for their attention can only lead to danger. This is a lesson already mentioned in mishnah ten. One must constantly be seeking to increase his knowledge, never satisfied with the learning he has already done (this could be contrasted with what we learn later, that a rich man is one who is happy with his portion). In Judaism learning is a life long project, and not relegated to children. One who does not learn Torah deserves to die. I don’t believe that this harsh statement is not meant to be taken literally; it is certainly not a directive to a court to execute the unlearned. Rather Hillel may mean to say that without the spirituality of the Torah, a person’s life is empty. One commentator states that one who has not studied Torah is like a beast, for human beings were only created different from animals for them to learn and study Torah. One who only fills his base needs of food and sex, has not truly differentiated himself from an animal. Although Hillel urges people to study Torah, he warns them not to make use of this Torah study for their own advancement. One who does so will not receive any reward for his Torah study. In ancient times it was forbidden for Rabbis to take a salary, or receive any material benefit from their work. While this demand became impractical already a long time ago, I do believe that at least part of the ideal must be preserved. A Rabbi or any teacher of Torah, must not have his own personal advance or profit in mind when he teaches, for that is a corruption of Torah. Note how the first and last clauses of the mishnah are similar (warnings to those who use Torah for their own ends), and the two middle clauses are similar (statements about what happens to those who don’t learn Torah). This type of order is known as “chiastic” order, and is very common in rabbinic literature.