Pirke Avot: The Sayings of the Jewish Fathers

SECOND EDITION

Produced by Dan Dyckman

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION - NAME

PURPOSE

DESCRIPTION

DEVELOPMENT OF ABOT (13)

Chapter III contains the sayings of authorities who were the predecessors of Judah, the first two having lived before the destruction of the second Temple. Chapter IV is made up of the dicta of a number of Rabbis who were contemporaries of Judah. These two chapters were, no doubt, inserted by Judah, the redactor of the Mishnah as we virtually have it to-day. Evidence that Chapter IV is an addition to the original Abot is that it has a number of aphorisms which are repetitions of some found in Chapters I and II. The greater part of Chapter V, as stated above, was a portion of the Abot of Rabbi Akiba. - Chapter VI, which is known as The Chapter on the Acquisition of Torah (Perek Kinyan Torah), as The External Teaching of the Abot (Baraita de-Abot) (15), as The Chapter of Rabbi Meir (Perek Rabbi Meir) (16), and as the External Teaching of Rabbi Meir (Baraita de-Rabbi Meir), is a supplement of the treatise Abot, as is claimed for it by its superscription, "the sages taught in the language of the Mishnah," a formula generally used in the Talmud to introduce a Baraita. One of the authorities mentioned in it is Joshua ben Levi, a Palestinian amora (an authority of the Gemara) who lived during the third century. This demonstrates the comparatively late date of the final redaction of this chapter. By the middle of the ninth century it formed a part of the treatise Abot. It was added to the prayer-book to be read on the sixth Sabbath of the period between Passover and the Festival of Weeks (Shebuot) (17).

SAYINGS OF THE FATHERS

CHAPTER I