Another matter: “The wise man, his eyes are in his head” (Ecclesiastes 2:14) – this is a Torah scholar, who is expert in his studies.51“But the fool walks in darkness” – this is one who studied Torah but did not invest the time and effort to reach that level of expertise. “I also know…” (Ecclesiastes 2:14), and then, “I said in my heart…”; this one is called rabbi and that one is called rabbi. This one is wise and that one is wise.
This one wraps himself in his prayer shawl and that one wraps himself in his prayer shawl.52It was common for Torah scholars to spend much of the day wrapped in their prayer shawl. If so, “why did I become wiser?” Why did I give my life for my Torah? Then I said: “For there is no remembrance of the wise man with the fool.”
Tomorrow, they enter the assembly or another place, and they ask each other questions. This one is asked and responds, and that one is asked and does not respond; that is what is written: “How can the wise man die like the fool?” Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Neḥemya said: If a student would not be required to cite a lesson in the name of his teacher, tomorrow his Torah53The teacher’s Torah. would be forgotten.
How, then, can the teacher do anything but devote himself to his student?54As it is the student who will perpetuate the teacher’s teachings.