Work vs. Study
(טו) שַׁמַּאי אוֹמֵר, עֲשֵׂה תוֹרָתְךָ קֶבַע. אֱמֹר מְעַט וַעֲשֵׂה הַרְבֵּה, וֶהֱוֵי מְקַבֵּל אֶת כָּל הָאָדָם בְּסֵבֶר פָּנִים יָפוֹת:
(15) Shammai says, "Make your Torah [study] fixed, say little and do much, and receive every person with a pleasant countenance."
Rabbi Aaron Lichtenstein
(ו) מִי שֶׁנְּשָׂאוֹ לִבּוֹ לְקַיֵּם מִצְוָה זוֹ כָּרָאוּי וְלִהְיוֹת מֻכְתָּר בְּכֶתֶר תּוֹרָה. לֹא יַסִּיחַ דַּעְתּוֹ לִדְבָרִים אֲחֵרִים. וְלֹא יָשִׂים עַל לִבּוֹ שֶׁיִּקְנֶה תּוֹרָה עִם הָעשֶׁר וְהַכָּבוֹד כְּאַחַת. (משנה אבות ו ד) "כָּךְ הִיא דַּרְכָּהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה. פַּת בַּמֶּלַח תֹּאכַל וּמַיִם בַּמְּשׂוּרָה תִּשְׁתֶּה וְעַל הָאָרֶץ תִּישַׁן וְחַיֵּי צַעַר תִּחְיֶה וּבַתּוֹרָה אַתָּה עָמֵל". וְלֹא עָלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר לִגְמֹר וְלֹא אַתָּה בֶּן חוֹרִין לִבָּטֵל מִמֶּנָּה. וְאִם הִרְבֵּיתָ תּוֹרָה הִרְבֵּיתָ שָׂכָר. וְהַשָּׂכָר לְפִי הַצַּעַר:
(6) Whosoever is ambitious to establish this commandment properly and to become adorned with the crown of the Torah must not divert his thoughts to other matters, nor set his heart to acquire the knowledge of the Torah and wealth and honor simultaneously. The way leading to the knowledge of the Torah is such: "a morsel of bread with salt thou shalt eat, and water by measure thou shalt drink, upon the ground thou shalt sleep, and a burdensome life thou shalt live while thou toilest in the Torah." (Pirke Abot, 6.4; 21). Nevertheless, it is not obligatory upon thee to complete it, nor art thou free to exclude thyself from its study, for if thou hast increased thy study of the Torah thou also hast increased thy reward, as the reward is equal to the pain.
(ז) שֶׁמָּא תֹּאמַר עַד שֶׁאֲקַבֵּץ מָמוֹן אֶחֱזֹר וְאֶקְרָא. עַד שֶׁאֶקְנֶה מַה שֶּׁאֲנִי צָרִיךְ וְאֶפָּנֶה מֵעֲסָקַי וְאֶחֱזֹר וְאֶקְרָא. אִם תַּעֲלֶה מַחֲשָׁבָה זוֹ עַל לִבְּךָ אֵין אַתָּה זוֹכֶה לְכִתְרָהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה לְעוֹלָם. אֶלָּא עֲשֵׂה תּוֹרָתְךָ קֶבַע וּמְלַאכְתְּךָ עַרְאַי (משנה אבות ב ד) "וְלֹא תֹּאמַר לִכְשֶׁאֶפָּנֶה אֶשְׁנֶה שֶׁמָּא לֹא תִּפָּנֶה":
(7) Peradventure, one will say, I will interrupt my study of the Torah until I will accumulate wealth when I will again return to it, or until I will acquire sufficient substance to supply all my needs when I will retire and return back to it; if such a thought will penetrate thy heart you will never acquire the crown of the Torah. But make thy study of the Torah paramount and thy secular work incidental, and do not say, when I will be unoccupied then I will study, lest you will never be unoccupied.8Pir. Ab. 1.15; 2.5. G.
(א) סדר משא ומתן ובו סעיף אחד:
אחר כך ילך לעסקיו דכל תורה שאין עמה מלאכה סופה בטלה וגוררת עון כי העוני יעבירנו על דעת קונו ומכל מקום לא יעשה מלאכתו עיקר אלא עראי ותורתו קבע
(1) After this he should go to his work because any Torah that does not have work with it will end up becoming null and it causes sin because the poverty will remove from him knowledge of his Creator. Nevertheless, he should not make his work primary, rather temporary, and his Torah permanent.
(ב) (ב) עיקר - אלא יעשה רק כדי פרנסתו אך בזה גופא צריך להזהר מפיתוי היצר שמפתהו שכל היום צריך השתדלות על הרוחה זו. והעיקר שיתבונן בעצמו מה הוא הכרח האמיתי שאי אפשר בלעדו ואז יכול להתקיים בידו שיהא מלאכתו עראי ותורתו עיקר:
Ovadiah MiBartenura was an Italian rabbi, banker, Mishnaic commentator and community leader. He studied under Maharik Kolon in Bolonya. In 1485 he began a 2.5 year journey to the Land of Israel, evidently upon the death of his wife. He visited in many communities along the way, eventually settling in Jerusalem. He quickly became prominent, and labored unceasingly to restore Jewish communal life, both material and spiritual, there to the prominence it had lacked for so long. He was largely successful in his efforts; he reestablished a hevra kadisha in which he actively served, as well as a yeshiva upon the arrivals of learned Spanish exiles. He was recognized as a halachic authority, served as chief rabbi of Jerusalem (recognized as such also by the Moslem authorities), succeeded in reducing the tax burden upon the community, and revived the use of Hebrew by delivering his weekly Shabbat sermons in the holy tongue. His commentary on Mishnah is to the Mishnah what Rashi's is to the Talmud – basic, straightforward, and indispensible to this day.
וּמָצָאתִי כָּתוּב, עֲשֵׂה תּוֹרָתְךָ קֶבַע, שֶׁלֹּא תַּחְמִיר לְעַצְמְךָ וְתָקֵל לָאֲחֵרִים, אוֹ תַּחְמִיר לַאֲחֵרִים וְתָקֵל לְעַצְמְךָ, אֶלָּא תְּהֵא תּוֹרָתְךָ קֶבַע לְךָ כְּמוֹ לַאֲחֵרִים, וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר בְּעֶזְרָא (ז) כִּי עֶזְרָא הֵכִין לְבָבוֹ לִדְרֹשׁ אֶת תּוֹרַת ה' וְלַעֲשׂוֹת וּלְלַמֵּד לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, כְּמוֹ שֶׁהֵכִין לִבּוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹת כָּךְ הָיָה מְלַמֵּד לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל:
And I have found it written, “'Make your Torah fixed' such that you are not strict on yourself and lenient on others or strict on others and lenient on yourself, but [rather] your Torah should be fixed, for yourself like for others. And so is it stated in Ezra 7:10, 'Since Ezra prepared his heart to expound the Torah of the Lord and to do [it] and to teach the Children of Israel; as he prepared his heart to do, so too did he teach the Children of Israel.'"
And I have found it written, “'Make your Torah fixed' such that you are not strict on yourself and lenient on others or strict on others and lenient on yourself, but [rather] your Torah should be fixed, for yourself like for others. And so is it stated in Ezra 7:10, 'Since Ezra prepared his heart to expound the Torah of the Lord and to do [it] and to teach the Children of Israel; as he prepared his heart to do, so too did he teach the Children of Israel.'"
Avigdor Shinan: A New Israeli Commentary on Pirkei Avot 1:15:1-4
עֲשֵׂה תוֹרָתְךָ קֶבַע. הזמן שצריך האדם להקדיש ללימוד תורה (במשמעותה הרחבה ביותר של המילה) ראוי שיהיה במסגרת קבועה וקשוחה, עדיפה מסגרת יומית, דבר המבטיח התמדה: "עשה לה עיתים לתורה ... שאם אי אתה עושה כן – מתוך טירוד עסקיך אתה מתבטל ונואש מן התורה" (פירוש רבי יעקב ב"ר שמשון [בן המאה הי"א–י"ב] למסכת אבות)
Moishe Sternbuch is a Haredi rabbi who serves as the Vice-President of the Rabbinical Court and the Ra'avad (Chief) of the Edah HaChareidis in Jerusalem. He resides in Har Nof where he is the rabbi of the local GR"A Synagogue, named after the Vilna Gaon of whom he is a direct descendant. Born in 1928 in London.
Rabbi Joseph Dov Soloveitchik
