Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Pirkei Avot 3.10

Rabbi Dostai bar Yannai in the name of Rabbi Meir says: Whoever forgets anything of his Torah learning, Scripture considers it as if he bears guilt for his soul, as it says: But beware and guard our sould exceedingly, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen (Devarim 4:9) Does this apply even if [he forget because] his studies were too difficult for him? Scripture says: And lest they be removed from your heart all the days of your life (ibid); thus, one bears no guilt for his soul unless he sits and removes them from his consciousness


The peshat (simple meaning) of this text is clear. Rabbi Dostai is speaking to his colleagues and students who learned Mishna and related traditions by heart, reciting them over and over with great care so that they would not lose these teachings. Since the great corpus of Jewish tradition was not written down at this point, it was essential that each sage and student be diligent in reviewing and practicing their learning so that they would not lose any of it. For Rabbi Dostai, to lose this learning was tantamount to losing one's soul. Whether the punishment was in fact, or only metaphorical, it is clear that the sages took their responsibility to preserve the Oral Law seriously


What can we, who are not Torah scholars and who have the great tradition of Jewish learning printed in ever increasing quantity, take from this exhortation? The more traditional commentators continue to expound the basic and direct lesson that Rabbi Dostai gave to his comtemporaries. They comment that study, review, reflection, and constant vigilance is part and parcel of Torah study. It is incumbent upon each scholar, whether ancient or modern, to continuously add to one's learning and not to allow that which was won to be lost through inattention or carelessness.


Rabbi Dostai concludes in the second portion of this Mishna that we are only held liable for that which we lose through such inattention. Where the teaching is too difficult or our skills are not honed sufficiently, so long as we pursue our learning diligently, we are to be forgiven for this is an unintentional "sin" and not something that we could have prevented.


Yet, I think that we can find something deeper in Rabbi Dostai's warning not to allow our learning to lapse. If we look at Rabbi Dostai's proof text, we find the following verse, quoted in full:


Only beware for yourself and greatly beware for your soul, lest you forget the things that your eyes have beheld and lest you remove them from your heart all the days of your life, and make them known to your children and your children's children (ibid)


The section in bold is what is not quoted directly in our Mishna, yet I think that it is the critical piece in understanding the import of Rabbi Dostai's teaching. For modern times, the issue is not that we will forget the basic teachings. Unlike Rabbi Dostai's time, we now have our great tradition written down. But what we are in grave danger of doing is failing to transmit our tradition to our children and their children. We live in an unprecedented time of danger for Judaism - not from our enemies, but from ourselves. It is incumbent upon us to transmit our traditions, our learning and our truths, to the generations to come. For if we do not, it will truly be lost. And the loss of Torah will result not only in the death of what we love, but ultimately in the death of Judaism. Our failure to do so, as Rabbi Dostai says, would truly make us bear "guilt for our soul."

(as presented to CAI Shabbat Maariv, Parashat Ki Tisa 3/17/2006)

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