Pirke Avot translations

Pirke Avot is mostly a collection of sayings from the rabbis of old. It it still widely studied because the sayings still have meaning and it is popular because it consists of many short, standalone aphorisms. We have several versions of the book in our library. Wisdom of the Jewish sages: a modern reading of Pirke avot, by Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro, is small enough to fit in your pocket and, even so, has more white space on each page than print. Rabbi Shapiro has translated and interpreted the ancient text in a way that is most meaningful to him and, he hopes, to other modern readers. He has removed some of the sexist language and, interestingly, translated Torah as Reality. It is worth reading in its own right, but even more interesting to compare to traditional translations and commentaries.
The other way to make Pirke Avot contemporary is to add enough commentary so that some of it will relate to you. Rav Lau on Pirkei Avos : a comprehensive commentary on Ethics of the Fathers does this. It is three volumes filled with commentaries and stories from Jewish tradition. Unlike Rabbi Shapiro, Rabbi Lau keeps the comment in Pirke Avot about not engaging in small talk with women, but then explains why it can be seen in a complementary way.
Try both versions and see which you prefer.

Some Thoughts on the Adekah (Genesis 22:1-19)

Vayalchu sh’nahem yahdav…. Vayalchu sh’nahem yahdav.

(And they went on, the two of them, together…. And they went on, the two of them, together.)

These three words, redundant by themselves, bracket the verse in which Isaac asks where the burnt offering is and Abraham answers,” G-d will see to a lamb for an offering, my son.” So why the double redundancy?

Vayalchu would suffice: They went on. It does not require sh’nahem [the two of them]. No one else is around, only the two of them. And then, why yahdav [together]? Of course they are together: Abraham has already said that he is taking the boy up the mountain with him.

Maybe the two of them are acting as one; after all, yahdav and ehad (one) have the same root. There is a movement from the general to the particular, from many-the verb is plural-to two people to a unity. (And vayalchu and halacha have the same root; we could do a nice d’rash about Jewish law as a unifying force. But that’s not what I want to talk about.)

Okay, Abraham and Isaac are together. But why repeat this immediately after the next verse? What has changed to require this repetition? Isaac now knows what is about to be done to him! He has figured out Abraham’s word play: he, Isaac, is the lamb that will be provided. Whatever the two of them together meant before Isaac learns the meaning of his trip, it now must mean much more.

How does Isaac react? By staying with Abraham. Why? He could have run away. He could have laughed or screamed; his name suggests laughter and shouting. He could have tried to kill Abraham before Abraham tried to kill him. Perhaps he does these things. Maybe the fire mentioned at the beginning of the trip and not later was put out in the struggle.

All that the text tells us is that finally he remains with his father. To argue his case? To submit willingly? Tradition says he submitted eagerly. I prefer to think he stayed, hoping to persuade Abraham that all of this was terribly wrong and to give Abraham the chance to not do it.

What is the final outcome? Abraham does not alter his course. He fails the test. G-d never talks to Abraham again. Abraham does not bless his son; G-d must do it. Abraham’s descendants do not become a Jewish people until Sinai, when a multitude becomes one by accepting Halacha (but I said I wasn’t going to talk about that).

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A Couple of Sayings of the Fathers

During the counting of the Omer, from the second night of Passover until Shavuot seven weeks later, there is a custom of studying Pirke Avot, sometimes translated as Sayings of the Fathers.  Among the versions in our library is the translation and commentary by Rabbi Joseph Hertz, who was the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire and editor of the Hertz Chumash, which I grew up with. [Do two prepositions at the end of sentence cancel themselves out?] I like this book: it has Hebrew on one page and English on the facing page and lots of footnotes at the bottom of both. There are many wise, pithy sayings from  many famous and wise rabbis from the time of the Mishnah. It is not as intimidating as it sounds; it is easy to just browse and feel inspired.

Allow me to quote two verses:

Avot II: 5 – Hillel said, Separate not thyself from the congregation; trust not in thyself until the day of thy death; judge not thy fellow-man until thou art come into his place; and say not anything which cannot be understood at once, in the hope that it will be understood in the end; neither say, When I have leisure I will study; perchance thou wilt have no leisure. (p. 33)

Avot 1:9 – Simeon, the son of Shatach, said, Be very searching in the examination of witnesses, and be heedful of thy words, lest through them they learn to falsify. (p. 21)

Hillel has five pithy sayings in one verse; any one of them is worth thinking about and acting on.

The second verse sounds reasonable, but not as riveting−until you learn more about Simeon ben Shetach. The footnote explains that his son was executed after being falsely accused of a crime and suggests that more careful questioning might have revealed his innocence in time. The footnote also tells the story of his purchase of a camel from a non-Jew; when a jewel is found on the animal, R. Simeon has the gem returned to the original owner because he, Simeon, only paid for the camel. The Arab’s praise of the God of Simeon ben Shatach pleases Simeon more than wealth.

The footnote does not mention his part in the story, found in the Jerusalem Talmud (Hagigah 2:2), about the witches of Ashkelon. This story is also in Elijah’s Violin & Other Jewish Fairy Tales, edited by Howard Schwartz, and many other collections and the occasional picture book. It may also be recounted in Sefer Ha-Aggadah: The Book of Jewish Folklore and Legends, edited by Bialik and Rawnitzky (Dvir, 1988); I don’t have this book in front of me, but the longer version definitely tells the story. The story is fascinating and troubling and it is interesting to see how various authors have tried to make it suitable for children. And it connects to the false accusation against his son.

Best wishes for a Happy Pesach!

Passover Prep: Wonders and Miracles

Now that we’ve gotten in the mood for Passover via two Seder books [1, 2] and some of us have started to go insane cleaning things we never knew were dirty, it’s wise to occasionally take a break to get inspired and remember that the holiday is about more than cleaning and preparing. The library has some great books to inspire us and offer some fresh ways to see Passover and the world.

I’ve chosen Eric A. Kimmel’s Wonders and Miracles: A Passover Companion (New York: Scholastic Press, 2004) as the Book of the Week, but there are plenty of other good books. This book has pictures from several illustrated Haggadot, stories, explanations, recipes, prayers with translations and transliterations, Debbie Friedman lyrics and more! Not surprisingly for a book published by Scholastic, this book is appropriate for, but not limited to, middle schoolers; I learned things. While Dr. Kimmel assumes his primary audience is Jewish, some of his comments will be of interest to Christians. Eric Kimmel has written many children’s picture books—which makes him a great author in my estimation. We  corresponded via email after I saw him speak in New York to promote this book—which makes him a mensch.

Some of the other books that look inviting in our library include:

• Creating Lively Passover Seders: A Sourcebook of Engaging Tales, Texts & Activities by David Arnow (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2004).
• The Women’s Passover Companion: Women’s Reflections on the Festival of Freedom edited by R. Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, Tara Mohr, and Catherine Spector (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2003). The editors have a Yale connection, as does Paula Hyman, who wrote the foreword. Lots of contributions from prominent Jewish women.
• Leading the Passover journey: The Seder’s Meaning Revealed, the Haggadah’s Story Retold by Nathan Laufer (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2005).
• Uncle Eli’s Special for Kids Most Fun Ever Under the Table Passover Haggadah by Eliezer Segal (San Francisco, CA: No Starch Press, 1999). Recommended by R. Dana Bogatz.

You might notice that most of these books are published by Jewish Lights. What makes you trust a book enough to pick it up and look at it? The author? Because you’ve read her before? Because you’ve heard of him? The  cover? The quality of the paper? The fonts? The publishing house? Because you’ve liked other books printed by it? Because a favorite author is published by it? The blurbs on the back cover? The topic? The pictures?

I like Jewish Lights because I like Lawrence Kushner. I like Rabbi Kushner because I attended a program he did in Plainfield, NJ, many years ago. He picked some audience members to be the various characters in the Adam and Eve story and he was thoughtful enough to ask the apple what she thought about what was going on in the story. In addition to books about spirituality, he wrote an alphabet book (note my love of children’s picture books), The Book of Letters, and a nicely self-deprecating explanation of how he came to do so.

One last comment before I get back to cleaning: What you bring to a book and what you want to get from it are (nearly?) as important as the contents of the book. Each time you read it, you will be different.

Every Picture Tells a Story: The Sarajevo Haggadah

People of the Book: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks (2008) is a popular book of Jewish historical fiction. It explores various times and places of Jewish history by tracing the journey of The Sarajevo Haggadah, originally created in the fourteenth century.

Kiddush, etc.

The author portrays what life was like via imaginary characters. Muslims are shown in a most sympathetic light (except for one story). I found the Inquisition story very disturbing; torture is graphically described. The stain in the Haggadah, that I always assumed was wine, is said to be blood. The book is reminiscent of James Michener’s The Source (1965), except that the stories are in reverse chronological order in People of the Book. I know many people love this book and that it is a popular Book Group selection. I found the writing not as polished as I would have liked. I was especially disappointed by the absence of any pictures since the plot refers to the Haggadah’s illustrations so often.

spills on "Ha Lachma Anya ..."

One important plot point has to do with the fact that a reproduction is never entirely the same as the original. Digital copies of a picture, no matter how small the pixel size is, will never be quite like a painting done by hand. And certainly copies of the things that get spilled or dropped on a book  as it is used will not be the same as the actual spillage. I think this relates to the interest in the analog qualities of music records as opposed to the digital audio files that have mostly replaced them. Anyway, ….

The book I really want to recommend this week is the library’s facsimile edition of The Sarajevo Haggadah. Half the book is English commentary and history by Cecil Roth; the other half is a reproduction of the original on shiny paper. The more recent, unfortunately exciting, history of the Haggadah happened after this version was published. It is mentioned in Geraldine Brooks’ novel.

 

Reed Sea; Miriam

Creation

The Haggadah starts with pictures of Creation and the origins of the Jewish people.

Wise and wicked sons

The illustrations are brilliant and the Hebrew is surprisingly readable. It was exciting to see two of the four sons, Hacham (wise) and Rasha (wicked),  highlighted in decorative borders on facing pages.

Every page is beautiful. It reminded me how important the visual appearance of books is. I’m toying with the idea that one problem with too many Jewish ritual books is that there are no pictures. Why can’t we have a siddur with cartoons?

Two illustrated 20th-century Haggadot in our library are by Arthur Syzk and Ben Shahn; Cecil Roth is connected to these books as well. And there are others on display on top of the bookcases in the children’s  section of the library.

Next week I’ll talk about some books that you can use to get ready for and celebrate Passover.

Meanwhile, if you would like to comment with recommendations about Haggadot (and foods and activities) for the Seder, I would be most appreciative: After about a quarter of a century (wow!), I think I’ve done all I can with the Conservative movement’s Feast of Freedom and my husband is eager for a book that has page numbers.

The Whole Megillah

 Last week’s recommended book is the Book of Esther, also known as Megillat Esther  or the Scroll of Esther or the Megillah (even though there are four other Biblical scrolls). It can be found in several books in our library, such as The Five Scrolls (1984), edited by Herbert Bronstein, illustrated by Leonard Baskin, and available in normal size for borrowing and extra large for perusing. Or, to see Esther alongside everything else in the Bible, sit in a comfy chair  and read from the JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh: The Traditional Hebrew Text and the New JPS Translation (1999) in the Reference Section of the library.

I grew up using a booklet  for the Purim evening service with the Megillah in Hebrew and what I thought was the entire English translation. In fact, pictures 

Esther Chapter 9

 replace some of the words. Clearly, the editors were really uncomfortable with what the text really says. 

Why? Is it the violence? The fact that Jews are responsible for it? Does it interfere with the image we want the world to see? The image we want to have of ourselves? Is it to protect the children? Why do we change so many Jewish observances and stories to make them suitable for children and, in so doing, diminish their power and meaning for adults?

Purim is about living in a secular world with people who want to kill us and celebrating our killing lots of them instead. It also celebrates our being saved from being killed. As I learned at a National Havurah Institute course on the Purim-Tisha B’Av axis, Purim is a troubling holiday because nothing changes. Mordechai becomes Haman: he not only takes over Haman’s job and estate, but also his desire to kill enemies. We remain in exile and the Temple is still destroyed. There is no real redemption. We need to take back this holiday from our children and discuss the nature of evil, political power, women’s rights, sex trafficking [1], national and community leadership, see what should be celebrated and what should be rethought and then get drunk. I hope you had a happy Purim.

[And another thing:

[And another thing or two:

• I learned from Sam Steinberg of the Midrasha Institute in West Caldwell, NJ, that someone suggested to him that the story of Esther was originally a play. This explains why the king rushes out when he hears the dreadful news that his trusted advisor is planning on having his new queen killed—it's so that he can rush in to find Haman falling on Esther as he pleads with her for his life. Another reason: The king can’t sleep and wants to honor Mordecai; Haman can’t sleep and shows up at exactly the right time to suggest how to honor someone. Coincidence?

o        I’ve quoted my source here because in Pirke Avot 6:6, an unattributed(!!!) source says that quoting your sources brings deliverance to the world and the prooftext, “And Esther said ... in the name of Mordecai,” is from Esther 2:22.

·          It's not just Esther’s beauty that gets her to be queen. Her behavior impresses the government servants around her; I always figured they liked her enough to help her become queen.

·          And what happens to the losers of the contest? It seemed to me that these young women are locked away for the rest of their lives.

]

And the winner is …

After long and arduous thought, I am pleased to announce the first

Recommended Book of the Week

in the Library of Temple Israel of Westport:

[Sefer Otiyot] The Book of Letters: A Mystical Alef-Bait by Lawrence Kushner.

What better way to start than with the letters used to create the words that fill so many Jewish texts!

This short, handcrafted book, written for adults, does not require previous knowledge of Hebrew (all Hebrew words are transliterated and translated), but it is so full of wisdom and insights and stories and obscure facts that even fluent speakers of the language can learn much from it.

Rabbi Kushner describes how the letters are pronounced and how to write them correctly and carefully; and he uses words that start with them to make profound connections. The Hebrew alphabet has long been seen as having mystical significance; some say it was around before the beginning of creation. This book makes us realize that exploring the apparently simple, basic building blocks of language can be lead to a deeper understanding of life, the universe, and everything.