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Job Built Four Doors for the Poor

Job cuts four doors into his house, one facing each direction, so no hungry traveler ever has to circle the walls hunting for a way in.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. Job's House and Why the Doors Faced Every Direction
  2. The Meeting-House for the Wise
  3. Provide Yourself With a Teacher
  4. Shammai and the Schedule

Job's House and Why the Doors Faced Every Direction

Joseph ben Yohanan of Jerusalem said: let your house be opened wide, and let the poor be members of your household. Avot DeRabbi Natan asked what opened wide actually meant in practice. The answer was Job.

Job built four doors on his house, one facing each direction. The reason was specific and practical: so that the poor would not have to walk around the entire building looking for the entrance. A man coming from the north entered straight ahead. A man coming from the south entered straight ahead. The door for the poor was not in the back, not around the side, not a servants' entrance that required circling the building's perimeter in hunger. Wherever you came from, there was a door directly in front of you.

The ethical principle was embedded in the floor plan. A house built to welcome the poor welcomed them from every direction with the same directness that the wealthy were welcomed at any door of a fine house. The structure expressed the value. Opened wide was not a spiritual disposition. It was an architectural specification.

The Meeting-House for the Wise

Jose ben Joezer said: let your house be a meeting-house for the wise. The teaching was concrete. Scholars, their disciples, and the disciples of their disciples should know where to find a householder ready to host learning. The home was not private in the sense of being sealed against the transmission of Torah. It was a station in the chain from Sinai forward.

But the teaching had a condition. When a student came and asked for instruction, a householder who could teach should teach. A householder who could not teach should say so immediately and release the student to find someone who could. Do not detain a learner in your living room when you have nothing to give him. The student needs to move. The chain cannot afford to stop at a dead node out of the householder's desire to feel important.

Avot DeRabbi Natan treated this as a form of intellectual honesty inseparable from hospitality. A host who knows his limits and says so quickly is more useful to a student than a host who offers false warmth in place of real knowledge.

Provide Yourself With a Teacher

Joshua ben Perahiah said: provide yourself with a permanent teacher from whom you may learn Scripture, Mishnah, Midrash, halakha, and aggadot. The permanent teacher could fill in what the student missed. A point omitted in the Scripture lesson could be covered in the Mishnah lesson. A gap in the Mishnah could be addressed in Midrash. A teaching left out of Midrash could find its place in the next discussion of halakha. The relationship was designed for continuity. The teacher who knew the student over time could repair holes that a single encounter could never identify.

Get yourself a companion. The companion was not an optional extra for the journey. Two people studying together could question each other, catch each other's errors, hold each other to the rigor that solitary study easily avoided. And judge all men favorably: read every ambiguous act in the best available light, because a community that defaulted to suspicion would not be able to sustain the trust that the meeting-house and the permanent teacher required.

Shammai and the Schedule

Shammai said: make your study of the Torah a fixed habit. Not something done when time permitted. Not a supplement to other activities. A fixed norm, the way eating was fixed, the way waking and sleeping were fixed. What a man learns he should perform, and then teach to others that they too may perform it. The chain ran from learning to doing to teaching to the next generation's learning, and any link that treated Torah as optional or occasional broke the chain at that point.

The righteous say little and do much, Shammai continued. The distinction between the righteous and the wicked was not primarily one of belief or even of intention. It was one of proportion between promise and performance. A person who promised little and delivered fully had the proportions right. A person who promised much and delivered little had them backwards, regardless of how sincere the large promises sounded.

Receive all men with a cheerful face. The house with four doors, the permanent teacher, the companion who judges favorably, and the schedule that treats Torah as fixed: all of it required a face that welcomed people when they arrived. A face that received visitors with sourness or distraction was a door that stood open in shape but closed in effect.

TzedakahWisdomHospitalityTorahAvot Derabbi Natan
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Avot DeRabbi Natan 6Avot DeRabbi Natan

JOSE B. JOEZER SAID: LET YOUR HOUSE BE A MEETING-HOUSE FOR THE WISE. What is meant by this? It teaches that a man’s house should be available to the wise, their disciples, and the disciples of their disciples; in the same manner that a man might say to his fellow, ‘I will wait for you at such and such a place’.1So should your house be the rendezvous of scholars.Another interpretation of LET YOUR HOUSE BE A MEETING-HOUSE FOR THE WISE: this means that when a disciple comes into your presence and says to you, ‘Give me instruction’, if it is within your power to teach him, instruct him, but if not dismiss him at once.2Your house should be a place for instruction and study; if therefore you are not in a position to impart knowledge, do not detain the would-be learner, but let him seek instruction elsewhere. Let him not sit before you on a couch or on a chair or on a bench, but on the ground; and every word that you utter he should accept with awe and reverence, with fear and dread.

SIT AMIDST THE DUST OF THEIR FEET. What is meant by this? When a scholar comes to a town, say not, ‘I have no need of him’; but go to him, and sit not before him on a couch or on a chair or on a bench, but sit before him on the ground; and every word that he utters accept with awe and reverence, with fear and dread, in the same manner that our forefathers received the Torah at Mount Sinai with awe and reverence, with fear and dread.Another interpretation of AND SIT AMIDST THE DUST OF THEIR FEET, as did R. Eliezer; AND DRINK IN THEIR WORDS WITH THIRST, as did R. ‘Aḳiba.What was the beginning of R. ‘Aḳiba? It was said of him that at the age of forty he had learnt nothing at all. On one occasion, as he was standing by the mouth of a well, he enquired, ‘Who carved out this stone?’ They answered, ‘The water which constantly falls on it, day in and day out’. They continued, ‘ ‘Aḳiba, have you not read the verse, The waters wear the stones?’3Job 14, 19. Forthwith R. ‘Aḳiba applied to himself the following a fortiori argument: If the soft [water] can wear away the hard [stone], how much more can the words of the Torah, which are hard like iron, carve a way into my heart which is of flesh and blood! Immediately he turned to the study of the Torah. Both he and his son went and sat down before the school-teacher and said to him, ‘Master, teach us the Torah’. R. ‘Aḳiba took hold of the tablet by one end and his son by the other end, and on it the teacher wrote ’alef beth4The first and second letters of the Hebrew alphabet. which he learnt, ’alef taw5The first and last letters of the alphabet. which he learnt, and then the Book of Leviticus which he also learnt.6All the verbs used here are in the singular, obviously referring to ‘Aḳiba; but no further information is given of the son. So he continued to study until he had learnt the whole Torah. He then went and sat before R. Eliezer and R. Joshua and said to them, ‘My masters, initiate me into the reasoning of the Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law)’. As soon as they recited one halakah to him, he went away and sat down alone asking himself, ‘Why is ’alef so written? Why is beth so written? Why is this stated?’ He thereupon returned to his masters and asked them, and held them up with his words.R. Simeon b. Eleazar said, ‘I will illustrate this to you by a parable. To what can this be compared? To a stonemason who was quarrying stones in a mountain. One day he took his pick in his hand, went out and sat on the mountain, and chipped away small stones. When people came and asked him what he was doing, he told them, “I mean to uproot the mountain and cast it into the Jordan”. They said to him, “You cannot possibly uproot the whole mountain”. Nevertheless, he continued chipping away until it became the size of a large boulder. He inserted himself beneath it, unloosed it, uprooted it, and cast it into the Jordan, saying, “Here is not your place but there” ’.7The point of the parable is that by slow degrees, perseverance and skill, one can master even what seems impossible. In this way did R. ‘Aḳiba glean the knowledge of Torah from8lit. ‘did to, act towards’. R. Eliezer and R. Joshua. R. Ṭarfon said to him, ‘ ‘Aḳiba, it is of you that the verse speaks, He bindeth the streams that they trickle not; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.’9Job 28, 11. The things which were hidden from men R. ‘Aḳiba brought to light.Every day he used to gather a bundle of wood, half of which he sold to provide food for himself, and the other half he used for his personal needs. His neighbours rose up against him and cried, ‘ ‘Aḳiba, you are ruining us with your smoke! Come, sell all [the wood] to us, and with the money you can buy oil, and study by the light of an oil lamp’. But he replied, ‘I derive many uses from [the wood]: first I study by its light, secondly I keep myself warm by it, and thirdly I am able to sleep on it’.In the Hereafter [the example of] R. ‘Aḳiba will condemn all the poor; for when they will be charged, ‘Why did you not study Torah?’ and they plead, ‘Because we were too poor’, it will be retorted, ‘Was not R. ‘Aḳiba very poor and in straitened circumstances?’ And if they plead, ‘Because of our little children’, it will be retorted, ‘Did not R. ‘Aḳiba have many sons and daughters for whom he had to provide as well as his wife Rachel [and yet he studied the Torah]?’10The text of the last sentence is far from clear and the translation follows the reading suggested by GRA; cf. Schechter ad loc. According to Finkelstein, op. cit. p. 188, the original reading is: ‘many sons and daughters who were provided for by his wife Rachel’; i.e. the poor will be able to offer as defence that their wives were not like Rachel,He was forty years old when he started to study Torah and by the end of thirteen years he taught Torah in public. It is said that he did not depart this life before he had enjoyed the luxury of tables of silver and gold, and ascended his bed by golden steps. His wife went out dressed in fine robes11There are many variants of the word in the text and the meaning is dubious. According to Jastrow, the word is ḳarduṭin, ‘a long-sleeved tunic’. [Krauss, Lehnwörter, p. 519, connects it with the Latin scordisci, ‘leather shoes’; or in his Talmudische Archäologie I, p. 182 (soleae) corticeae, ‘shoes with cork soles’.] and wearing a ‘golden city’ tiara.12An ornament of gold shaped like the city of Jerusalem worn by women; cf. Shab. 59a (Sonc. ed. p. 276). When his disciples said to him, ‘Master, you put us to shame by the [lavish] way you treat her’, he replied, ‘Much hardship has she endured with me for the sake of the Torah’.

What was the beginning of R. Eliezer b. Hyrḳanos? He was twenty-two years old and had not yet studied Torah. One day he said [to his father], ‘I will go and study Torah under Rabban Joḥanan b. Zakkai’. His father Hyrḳanos replied, ‘You shall not taste a morsel of food until you shall have ploughed a complete furrow’. He rose early in the morning and ploughed a complete furrow. It is said that that day was the eve of the Sabbath, so that he went and dined at the house of his father-in-law. Another version is that he tasted nothing between six hours before the Sabbath and six hours after the Sabbath. As he was walking on his way he saw a stone which he thought13An unusual word in this context. MS. E. reads herimah (he lifted it up). [to be food]; he took it and put it in his mouth, some say that it was cattle dung. He walked on until he came to an inn where he spent the night. He went and sat before Rabban Joḥanan b. Zakkai in Jerusalem. Soon an offensive smell came forth from his mouth; whereupon Rabban Joḥanan b. Zakkai said, ‘Eliezer, my son, have you eaten anything to-day!’ He did not answer. Again the question was put to him and he still remained silent. The innkeeper was sent for and asked, ‘Has Eliezer eaten with you?’ He replied, ‘I thought that perhaps he had eaten at your table, Master’. ‘I, too, thought that perhaps he had eaten at your table,’ said Rabban Joḥanan; ‘between us we might have lost R. Eliezer.’ He then said to Eliezer, ‘Just as an offensive smell came forth from your mouth, so shall there go forth from you a distinguished name in Torah’.When his father Hyrḳanos heard that he was studying Torah under Rabban Joḥanan b. Zakkai, he declared, ‘I shall go [to Jerusalem] and prohibit my son Eliezer by vow [from deriving any benefit] from my estate’. It was said that on that day Rabban Joḥanan b. Zakkai was sitting and expounding the Torah in Jerusalem, and all the notables of Israel were sitting before him. On learning that Hyrḳanos had arrived, he posted watchmen and charged them, ‘If Hyrḳanos comes in and wishes to sit down,14Among the scholars in the back rows. do not let him.’15He would then have to move forward to the front rows, thus coming closer to his son and witnessing his distinction. When he came in and wished to sit down, they did not allow him to do so, and he was compelled to move forward16lit. ‘he was leaping and going forward’. until he came to where Ben Ẓiẓith Hakkeseth, Naḳdimon b. Gorion, and Ben Kalba Sabua‘17These three men are named as being extremely wealthy in Giṭ. 56a (Sonc. ed. p. 256). were seated, and he sat down among them trembling. It was said that on that day Rabban Joḥanan b. Zakkai turned his gaze upon R. Eliezer and bade him commence the discourse. He said, ‘I cannot do so’. The master as well as the disciples urged him, whereupon he began the discourse and expounded matters about which no ear had ever heard [the like]. At every utterance that came from his lips, Rabban Joḥanan b. Zakkai stood up and kissed him on the head; but R. Eliezer exclaimed, ‘My master, you have taught me the truth’. Before the time of adjournment had arrived, his father Hyrḳanos stood up and said, ‘My masters, I came here for the sole purpose of depriving my son Eliezer by vow of my property, but now [I declare] all my property assigned to my son Eliezer, [21a] and all his brothers stand dispossessed and deprived of everything’.Why was Ẓiẓith Hakkeseth so named? Because he used to recline upon a silver couch at the head of all the notables of Israel.18On the basis of the explanation given here it has been argued that the correct form of the name is Ẓiẓith Hakkesef, i.e. ‘Ẓiẓith of the silver (couch)’. This variant has some MS. authority; cf. Finkelstein, op. cit. p. 135. In the Talmud (Giṭ. loc. cit.) he was so called because his fringes (ẓiẓith) used to trail on cushions (keseth), or his seat (kisse’) was among those of the Roman nobility.It is related concerning the daughter of Naḳdimon b. Gorion that her bed had been arrayed at the cost of twelve thousand golden dinars, and that from one eve of the Sabbath to the next a Tyrian golden dinar was spent by her on sweetmeats. She was then a childless widow awaiting the decision of her brother-in-law.19In accordance with the law of Deut. 25, 5ff.Why was Naḳdimon b. Gorion so named? Because the sun had again broken through for his sake.20Naḳdimon is connected with the root naḳad ‘to pierce, break through’, hence ‘to shine’ (of the sun). Once21Cf. Ta‘an. 19b, 20a (Sonc. ed. pp. 97f). when all Israel had come up to Jerusalem for the festival, there was no water for them to drink. Naḳdimon went to a certain nobleman and said to him, ‘Lend me twelve wells of water from now until such and such a day, and if I do not repay you twelve wells of water I will give you twelve talents of silver’. He fixed a time-limit for repayment. When the time came the nobleman sent him [the message], ‘Deliver to me either twelve wells of water or twelve talents of silver’. He replied, ‘There is still time during the day [for repayment]’. The nobleman sneeringly said to him, ‘There has been no rain the whole year, will it rain now?’ The nobleman repaired in a happy mood to the bath-house, while Naḳdimon b. Gorion entered the Temple,22So according to GRA and Ta‘an. loc. cit. V reads: ‘House of Study.’ [Büchler, Studies in Jewish History, pp. 99f. holds that “though many legendary features are interwoven in this story, there is no ground for doubting the actual occurrence related.”] wrapped himself in his cloak and stood up to pray. He said, ‘Lord of the universe! It is revealed and known before Thee that I did not act for my own glory or for the glory of my father’s house, but for Thy glory did I act that the pilgrims should have water to drink’. Immediately the sky became overcast and rain began to fall until the twelve wells were filled to overflowing. He then sent [a message] to that nobleman, ‘Deliver to me the money for the extra water which you have because of me’. He replied, ‘The sun has already set and the rain has fallen in my possession’. Naḳdimon returned to the Temple,22So according to GRA and Ta‘an. loc. cit. V reads: ‘House of Study.’ [Büchler, Studies in Jewish History, pp. 99f. holds that “though many legendary features are interwoven in this story, there is no ground for doubting the actual occurrence related.”] wrapped himself in his cloak and again stood up in prayer, saying, ‘Lord of the universe! Perform for me a miracle now as Thou didst perform before’. Immediately the wind blew, the clouds dispersed, and the sun shone through. When they met the nobleman said, ‘I know that it was only for your sake that the Holy One, blessed be He, disorganized His world’.Why was Kalba Sabua‘ so named? Because whoever entered his house hungry like a dog came out fed to the full.23Kalba means ‘a dog’ and Sabua‘ ‘satiated’.When the Emperor Vespasian came to destroy Jerusalem, the zealots sought to burn all his stores with fire. Kalba Sabua‘ said to them, ‘Why do you destroy this city and seek to burn all [my] stores with fire? Wait until I go in and ascertain what I have in the house’. He went in and found that he had enough to supply food for every citizen in Jerusalem for a period of twenty-two years. He immediately gave orders and the produce was stacked and cleaned, ground and sifted, kneaded and baked into bread, so providing a food-supply for every citizen in Jerusalem for twenty-two years. They, however, paid no heed to him. What did the men of Jerusalem do? They took the loaves of bread,24Reading ha’iggulim for ha’agalim with Jastrow, p. 1066b. cut them through with saws and soiled them with mud. In consequence the men of Jerusalem had to resort to cooking straw and eating it.25Because of the famine that ensued. Every man of Israel who was encamped near the walls of Jerusalem called out, ‘For a reward of five dates I will go down and fetch five heads of the enemy’. One man was given five dates, and he went down and brought back five heads of the men of Vespasian. When Vespasian examined the excrement of the besieged men and saw that it was without a trace of corn, he remarked to his soldiers, ‘If these men who subsist on straw only can slay so many of you, how many more of you would they slay if they were to eat and drink like you!’

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Avot DeRabbi Natan 7Avot DeRabbi Natan

JOSEPH B. JOḤANAN OF JERUSALEM SAID: LET YOUR HOUSE BE OPENED WIDE, AND LET THE POOR BE MEMBERS OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD; AND TALK NOT MUCH WITH A WOMAN.LET YOUR HOUSE BE OPENED WIDE. What does this mean? It teaches that a man’s house should be opened wide to the south, to the east, to the west and to the north, like Job who made four doors to his house. And why did Job make four doors to his house? So that the poor should not have the trouble of going round the entire house. He who came from the north entered straight ahead, and he who came from the south entered straight ahead, and so on all sides. For this reason Job made four doors to his house.AND LET THE POOR BE MEMBERS OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD. This does not mean literally that they should be members of your household, but that the poor should be able to talk freely about what they ate and drank in your house, just as the poor talked freely about what they had eaten and drunk in Job’s house. When the poor met, one would ask the other, ‘Whence do you come?’ and he would reply, ‘From Job’s house’. Or one would ask the other, ‘Where are you going?’ and he would reply, ‘To Job’s house’. When the great calamity befell him, he addressed the Holy One, blessed be He, saying, ‘Lord of the universe! Did I not feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty, as it is stated, If I have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof?1Job 31, 17. And did I not clothe the naked, as it is stated, And warmed with the fleece of my sheep?’2ibid. 20. The Holy One, blessed be He, answered him, ‘For all that, Job, you have not attained to one half the standard [of hospitality] displayed by Abraham. You remained in your house waiting for guests to come to you. To him who was accustomed to eat wheaten bread you gave wheaten bread, to him who was accustomed to eat meat you gave meat, and to him who was accustomed to drink wine you gave wine. Abraham, however, did not act so. He went abroad,3lit. ‘in the world’. and when he met wayfarers he brought them to his home. Even to him who was unaccustomed to eat wheaten bread he gave wheaten bread, to him who was unaccustomed to eat meat he gave meat, and to him who was unaccustomed to drink wine he gave wine. Not only that; but he went and built large mansions along the roadways and placed in them a supply of food and drink, so that whoever entered ate and drank and blessed Heaven. Therefore was he granted happiness;4And was blessed with a child in his old age. The Hebrew phrase is frequently used in connection with the Deity and the text could be rendered, ‘Therefore it afforded Him much satisfaction’. and whatever the heart desired5lit. ‘the mouth asked for’. was to be found in Abraham’s home, as it is stated, And Abraham planted a tamarisk-tree in Beer-sheba’.6Gen. 21, 33. The Heb. for tamarisk-tree is ’eshel, which by transposition of letters can produce the verb sha’al, ‘to ask for’. [Cf. Midrash Rabbah to Genesis ad loc. LIV, 6 (Sonc. ed. p. 480): ‘R. Judah said: ’Eshel means an orchard, the word meaning ask for whatever you wish, figs, grapes or pomegranates’.] See also Rashi on Keth. 8b where the word is regarded as made of the initial letters of ’akilah (eating), shethiyah (drinking) and lewiyyah (escorting a guest on his way), descriptive of Abraham’s hospitality.

Teach the members of your household humility; for when a man is humble and the members of his household are also humble, if a poor man comes to the door and asks, ‘Is your father at home?’ they will reply, ‘Yes, come in’. Before he even enters the house the table is already laid for him, and when he comes in he eats and drinks and blesses the name of Heaven. On this account that man is granted much happiness.7Or, ‘and it affords Him much satisfaction’. But when a man is not8So GRA. V omits ‘not’. humble and the members of his household are ill-tempered, if a poor man comes to the door and asks, ‘Is your father at home?’ they will reply, ‘No’, rebuke him and drive him away with harsh words.Another interpretation of ‘Teach the members of your household humility’. What does it mean? It teaches that when a man is humble and the members of his household are also humble, if he sets out to a land beyond the sea, he will say [with confidence], ‘I thank Thee, O Lord my God, that my wife is not engaged in strife with her neighbours’. His heart is not anxious, but his mind is at ease until the time of his return. But when a man is not humble and the members of his household are ill-tempered, if he sets out for a distant land, he will say [with apprehension], ‘May it be Thy will, O Lord my God, that my wife be not engaged in strife with her neighbours nor my children in conflict’. His heart is anxious and his mind ill at ease until the time of his return.AND TALK NOT MUCH WITH A WOMAN. This is so even though she be his wife, and needless to say if she be his fellow’s wife. For when a man talks much with a woman he brings evil upon himself, neglects the study of the Torah, and in the end will inherit Gehinnom (the place of spiritual purification after death).

Another interpretation of AND TALK NOT MUCH WITH A WOMAN. What does it mean? When a man has come into the House of Study and has not there received the respect due to him, or he has had an argument with his fellow, let him not go and report it to his wife, saying, ‘I had an argument with my neighbour; this is what he said to me and this is what I replied’. Thereby he disgraces himself, disgraces his wife and disgraces his neighbour; and his wife who previously held him in esteem [now inwardly] laughs at him. When the neighbour hears of it, he exclaims, ‘Alas! words which concerned only me and him he has gone and gossiped to his wife’. The outcome is that this man disgraces himself, his wife and his neighbour.

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Avot DeRabbi Natan 8Avot DeRabbi Natan

JOSHUA B. PERAḤIAH AND NITTAI THE ARBELITE RECEIVED THE TRADITION FROM THE PRECEDING. JOSHUA B. PERAḤIAH SAID: PROVIDE YOURSELF WITH A TEACHER, AND GET YOURSELF A COMPANION, AND JUDGE ALL MEN FAVOURABLY.1lit. ‘in the scale of innocence’.PROVIDE YOURSELF WITH A TEACHER. What does this mean? It teaches that a man should provide himself with a permanent teacher from whom he may learn Scripture, Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law), Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), halakah and ’aggadoth. Accordingly, points which the teacher omitted to tell him in Scripture he can teach him later in the Mishnah, [what he omitted in the Mishnah he can teach him later in the Midrash,]2So in MS. E., omitted in V. what he omitted in the Midrash he can teach him later in the halakoth, and finally what he omitted in the halakoth he can teach him in the ’aggadoth. Consequently this man remains in his place and is replete with well-being and blessing.

R. Meir used to say: He who learns Torah from one teacher, to what can he be compared? To a man who has but one field; he sowed it partly with wheat and partly with barley, in another part he planted olive-trees and in still another fruit-trees. The consequence is that this man is [in one place and is] replete with well-being and blessing. When, however, a man learns from two or three teachers, he may be compared to a person who has many fields; in one he sowed wheat and in another barley, in a third he planted olive-trees and in yet another he planted fruit-trees. The result is that this man is always on the move3lit ‘dispersed’. in the country and has no enjoyment of well-being and blessing.

GET YOURSELF A COMPANION. What does this mean? It teaches that a man should get a companion for himself one who will eat with him, drink with him, read the Scriptures with him, study Mishnah with him, lodge with him, and reveal to him all secret lore, the mysteries of the Torah and the problems of everyday life. When they sit together engaged in the study of the Torah, if one of them errs in a halakah or in the opening passage of a chapter, or he pronounces what is unclean to be clean or what is clean to be unclean, or he declares what is forbidden to be permitted or what is permitted to be forbidden, his companion can correct him. [21b] Whence do we know that when his companion corrects him and continues to read with him they both receive a good reward for their labour? Because it is stated, Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.4Eccl. 4, 9.

If three sit together and are engaged in the study of the Torah, the Holy One, blessed be He, accounts it to them as though they had formed a conclave5The Heb. ’aguddah, translated ‘conclave’, is frequently applied in other contexts to a collection consisting of three units, e.g. the lulab which is a combination of three plants: the palm, the myrtle and the willow. before Him, as it is stated, It is He that buildeth His upper chambers in the heaven, and hath founded His vault upon the earth; He that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; the Lord is His name.6Amos 9, 6. The Heb. for vault is ’aguddah, homiletically understood as ‘conclave’. Hence you learn that if three sit together and are engaged in the study of the Torah, it is accounted to them as though they formed a conclave before the Holy One, blessed be He.

If two sit together and are engaged in the study of the Torah, their reward is set aside for them on high, as it is stated, Then they that feared the Lord spoke one with another, and the Lord hearkened … [and a book of remembrance was written before Him, for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name].7Mal. 3, 16. The expression one with another suggests a group of two. Who are they that feared the Lord? Those who decide upon a course, [and declare their intention,] saying, ‘We will go to free the bound and redeem the captive’. The Holy One, blessed be He, provides them with the opportunity, and they proceed to do it forthwith.8This is in accordance with the verse, Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee (Job 22, 28); for God abets the good intentions of the righteous. And who are they that thought upon His name? Those who merely think in their hearts [without declaring an intention], ‘We will go to free the bound and redeem the captive’. These the Holy One, blessed be He, affords no opportunity,9Since they did not expressly declare their course, it would seem that their original intention was not meant to be translated into action, but was to remain with them as a pious wish. and an angel comes and strikes them to the ground.10‘Them’ in all probability refers to the captives who come to grief before their would-be deliverers decide to act.

If one man sits and occupies himself in the Torah, his reward is set aside for him on high, as it is stated, Though he sit alone and meditate in stillness, yet he hath taken [his reward] unto himself.11Lam. 3, 28. E.V., Let him sit alone and keep silence, because He hath laid it upon him. This may be illustrated by a parable.12What follows is hardly a parable, but merely an example of an individual, in this case a small child, studying alone and being praised for his act. To what can the matter be likened? To a man who had a young son. When the father went to market leaving his son on his own, the child arose, took a scroll, placed it on his lap, and began to study it. When the father returned from market he exclaimed, ‘See what my young son has done! When I left him and set out to market he, of his own accord, took a scroll, placed it on his lap, and began to study it!’ Hence you learn that, even if one man sits alone and occupies himself in the Torah, his reward is set aside for him on high.

AND JUDGE ALL MEN FAVOURABLY. It once happened that a young girl was taken captive and two pious men set out after her to ransom her. One of them entered a house of ill-fame.13Where the girl had been taken. When he came out he said to his companion, ‘Of what did you suspect me?’ The other replied, ‘I thought that perhaps [you went there] to find out at what price she was held for ransom’. He said, ‘By the Temple Service! So it was; and as you judged me favourably, so may the Holy One, blessed be He, judge you favourably.’

Again it happened that a young girl was taken captive and two pious men set out after her to ransom her. One of them, however, was arrested on a [false] charge of robbery and was detained in prison, where his wife daily brought him bread and water. One day he said to her, ‘Go to my colleague and tell him that I am detained in prison [because of my efforts to save the girl] from harlotry,14The phrase is strange in its present context and is deleted by GRA. while he stays at home, making merry, with no concern about the girl’. She replied, ‘Is it not enough for you that you are detained in prison that you must occupy yourself with futile matters?’ She did not go, but occupied herself with matters of no moment. He then said to her, ‘I beg of you, go and inform him’. She went and informed his colleague. Now what did that man do? He went and took with him much silver and gold as well as several men, and released the two of them. On his release he said to his companions, ‘Permit this young girl to sleep with me in bed with her clothes on’.15His intention was to protect her from those who might take advantage of her plight. [They did so.] The following morning he said to them, ‘Prepare a ritual bath for me and also for her’. They did so. He then said to those who had prepared the baths, ‘When I asked for a ritual bath for myself, of what did you suspect me?’ They replied, ‘We thought that during all the days that you were confined in prison you must have suffered hunger and thirst, and that now that you have come out into the free world your emotions were stirred and you probably suffered a pollution’. He further said to them, ‘And when I asked for a ritual bath for the young girl, of what did you suspect her?’ They replied, ‘Seeing that all those days that she had been living among heathens she was obliged to eat of their food and drink with them, now [that she is free] you asked that a ritual bath be prepared for her in order that she may become clean’. He said to them, ‘By the Temple Service! So it was; and as you judged me favourably, so may the Holy One, blessed be He, judge you favourably’.Just as the righteous men of old were pious, so also were their beasts. It was said that the camels of our father Abraham would not enter a house in which there was an idol, as it is stated, For I have cleared the house, and made room for the camels.16Gen. 24, 31. I have cleared the house of the terafim; why, then, does the verse add and made room for the camels? It teaches that they would not enter the house of Laban the Aramean until all the idols had been cleared out before them.Once the ass of R. Ḥanina b. Dosa was stolen by bandits. They locked it up in a courtyard and placed before it hay, barley and water, but it would neither eat nor drink. They said, ‘Why should we let it die here and befoul the courtyard with its stench?’ So they proceeded to open the gate for it and let it go free. It dragged itself17Because it was enfeebled by hunger and thirst. For the verb מושכת there is a variant משחקת, ‘being merry’, but it does not make sense here. Schechter reads מנהקת, ‘braying’. all the way until it reached the house of R. Ḥanina b. Dosa. When it arrived, R. Ḥanina’s son heard its cry and said to his father, ‘Father, the sound is very similar to that of our beast.’ The father said to him, ‘My son, open the door for it, since it is almost dead from hunger’. He at once opened the door for it, and put before it hay, barley and water which it ate and drank. Because of this incident the Sages declared: Just as the righteous men of old were pious, so too were their beasts.

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Avot DeRabbi Natan 13Avot DeRabbi Natan

SHAMMAI SAID: MAKE YOUR STUDY OF THE TORAH A FIXED HABIT; SAY LITTLE AND DO MUCH; AND RECEIVE ALL MEN WITH A CHEERFUL COUNTENANCE.

MAKE YOUR STUDY OF THE TORAH A FIXED HABIT. What does this mean? It teaches that if a man hears a theme from a Sage in the House of Study, he should not treat it as something casual, but should regard it as a fixed norm. What a man learns he should perform and teach to others that they, too, may perform it; as it is stated, That ye may learn them, and observe to do them.1Deut. 5, 1. It similarly states of Ezra, For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it,2Ezra 7, 10. the verse continuing, And to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances.

SAY LITTLE AND DO MUCH. What does this mean? It teaches that the righteous say little and do much, whereas the wicked say much and do not even a little. Whence do we know that the righteous say little and do much? We find it so with Abraham our father who said to the angels, ‘You will eat with me to-day a morsel of bread’; as it is stated, And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and stay ye your heart.3Gen. 18, 5. But in the end, see how much Abraham prepared for the ministering angels, he went and prepared for them three oxen and nine measures of fine flour! Whence do we know that he prepared for them nine measures of fine flour? For it is stated, And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said: Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal.4ibid. 6. Now the word three signifies literally what it says; fine also implies three making six; and meal implies a further three, making nine in all. And whence do we know that he prepared for them three oxen? For it is stated, And Abraham ran unto the herd and fetched a calf tender [and good].5ibid. 7. Now the word herd implies one, calf implies another making two, and tender implies a third, thus making three in all. Some say that the word good implies a fourth. And he gave them unto the servant, and he hastened to dress them:6ibid. E.V. gave it … dress it. he gave them to his son Ishmael in order to train him in the performance of good deeds.The Holy One, blessed be He, likewise said little and did much; as it is stated, And He said unto Abram: Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance.7ibid. XV, 13f. The Heb. for judge is dan, a word of only two letters. [In His announcement] He only used a word of two letters, daleth and nun; eventually when the Holy One, blessed be He, inflicted punishment upon the enemies of Israel, He did so with seventy-two letters; as it is stated, Or hath God assayed to go and take Him a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an out-stretched arm, and by great terrors?8Deut. 4, 34. There are 75 letters in the Heb. text quoted, beginning with to go. The Midrash Rabbah, Leviticus, XXIII, §2 (Sonc. ed. p. 293) and Song of Songs 2, §2 (Sonc. ed. p. 95), suggests that the second nation, a word of three letters in Heb. (goï), should be omitted from the enumeration. The virtue of the number 72 lies in the fact that one of the sacred Names consists of 72 letters. Hence you learn that when He inflicted punishment upon Israel’s enemies He only did so with seventy-two letters.And whence do we know that the wicked say much and do not even a little? We find it so with Ephron who said to Abraham, A piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, [what is that betwixt me and thee]?9Gen. 23, 15. This verse suggests that the land is of so little value that it is unworthy of their further discussion. Eventually when Abraham weighed out the silver for him, it is stated, And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver … [current money with the merchant].10ibid. 16. Ephron insisted upon the fullest value of the money although at first he regarded the transaction as of little significance.

RECEIVE ALL MEN WITH A CHEERFUL COUNTENANCE. What does this mean? It teaches that if a man presents the most precious gifts in the world to his fellow but gives them with a sullen countenance, Scripture regards him as having presented him with nothing. On the other hand, he who receives his fellow with a cheerful countenance, though he give him nothing, Scripture accounts it to him as though he had presented him with the most precious gifts in the world.

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