פרקי אבות א:א

(1) Moses received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly. They said three things: Be patient in [the administration of] justice, raise many disciples and make a fence round the Torah.

(1) Moshe received the Torah from Sinai: I say: Since this tractate is not founded on the exegesis of commandments from among the Torah’s commandments, like the rest of the tractates which are in the Mishna, but is rather wholly morals and principles, and whereas the sages of the (other) nations of the world have also composed books according to the fabrication of their hearts, concerning moral paths, how a person should behave with his fellow; therefore, in this tractate the tanna began "Moshe received Torah from Sinai," to tell you that the principles and morals which are in this tractate were not fabricated by the hearts of the Mishna’s sages; rather, they too were stated at Sinai.

(1) Moshe received the Torah from Sinai, etc.: (I will begin the commentary on "Avot" of our great, pious and holy rabbi, Rabbi Yonah the son of Rabbi Avraham, may he be remembered for blessing.) Our rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Bava Kamma 30a) "One who wishes to be pious should fulfill the words of Avot (the Ethics of the Fathers), and [some] said about it, the words of Damages (Nezikin)". And since a person ascends the steps of piousness by doing one of these matters, they placed [Avot] in the Order of Damages. And even though they also said to fulfill the words of Blessings (Berakhot) which is in the order of Seeds (Zeraim); because it speaks of the blessings on seeds and fruits, they placed it in that order (Editor's note: See what Midrash Shmuel wrote about this in the name of Rabbi Yosef Nachmias, may his memory be blessed). Furthermore, since it is the teachings of the Sanhedrin, they placed it in the order of the laws (of Damages); and so [too], all the sages mentioned [here] until Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai are all from the Sanhedrin.

(2) Moshe received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Yehoshua: Both the written Torah and the oral Torah. As the Torah was given with its explanation. As if it were not so, it would be impossible to understand [its contents]. As behold, it is written (Leviticus 19:13), "do not rob" - and all of the [laws of] damages are within this negative commandment, and they themselves are the Torah that was received by Moshe at Sinai, even though they were not written. And it is also written (Deuteronomy 17:8), "between a blood and a blood and between a judgement and a judgement and between an infection and an infection" - and many of the sightings of blood and many of the various judgments and so many of the infections are known to us by the transmission [of this information]... And they are not explained [in writing] because it is not allowed to be written. And it is written (Exodus 24:12), "and I will give you the stone tablets and the Torah and the commandment" - "Torah" is the written Torah; "and the commandment" is the oral Torah. it comes out that you say that every commandment that He gave to Moshe at Sinai, was given with its explanation. And that which is written is what is called the written Torah and the explanation is what is called the oral Torah. And Moshe learned it from the mouth of the Mighty One.

(3) and transmitted it to Yehoshua: As it is stated (Exodus 33:11), " but his attendant, Joshua son of Nun, a youth, would not stir out of the tent."

(4) and Yehoshua to the Elders: As it is stated (Joshua 24:31), and all the days of the elders who had length of days after Joshua."

(5) and the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets transmitted it to the Men of the Great Assembly: And that is Ezra and his group. And [some of] the prophets of the Second Temple were in that group, as they said in Yevamot 16a, "Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas said, 'When Chaggai said these three things, he was sitting on this mortar.'" Hence the prophets of the Second Temple were there after the destruction, since Haggai the prophet was there. And the men of the Great Assembly transmitted it to the men of their generation. And the sages [transmitted it] to their children after them in each and every generation. And the transmission was from one sage to another, until all of the sages of Israel gathered and a suggestion was given from all of their mouths to write down the oral Torah. And [so] they wrote and sealed the Talmud, and afterwards nothing was added to it and nothing was taken away from it. And that generation also transmitted it to the Geonim and the transmission was from one Gaon to another, one rabbi to another - until this day.

(6) They said three things: Be deliberate in judgment: They said [this] to teachers of legal decisions and decisors of legal decisions and decisors of litigation; that they should not rely on the first thought, but rather upon great deliberation and incisive investigation, so that they not err in their evaluation. As a man who is quick to make a decision is called a sinner - and even though he thought he was saying the truth, it is not [considered] accidental but rather is [considered] to be close to volitional, since he did not put it into his heart to say, the quick hearts do not understand to know. As error is found in all men, as the rabbis say (Avot 4:13), " Be careful in study, for an error in study is considered an intentional transgression." And about this matter, Shlomo, peace be upon him, stated (Proverbs 26:12), "If you see a man who thinks himself wise, there is more hope for a dullard than for him." And it is as the sages, may their memory be blessed, said (Avot 4:7), "One who is nonchalant about giving legal decisions is an imbecile, wicked, and arrogant in spirit." Therefore, it is incumbent upon a man who makes legal decisions to go back and forth on the matter and let his thought ripen and to hold on to it; as the matter that they said (Sanhedrin 35a) [that] we should ripen a judgement, as through ripening and deliberation, he adds reasoning to his reasoning and sharpness to his sharpness, until he judges a completely true judgement. As he will see to say with the second thought that which he did not see with the first. And about this matter, Asaf stated (Psalms 73:21), "As my heart ripened and my kidneys were silent," which is to say [that] after my heart has ripened and been sharp with wisdom and with my kidneys, I have been silent and have refined my understanding to know. As without this, I have not known, and this is my portion. (And as) it is after it, "I was a dolt, without knowledge; I was brutish toward You." And the reason [they] said, "Be deliberate in judgment," is in order to warn about litigation more than other legal decisions, as they are fundamental in the knowledge of Him, may He be blessed and elevated; and as Yirmiyahu the prophet stated (Jeremiah 9:23), "ponder and know Me, for I am the Lord who makes kindness, justice, and equity in the world; for in these I delight, declares the Lord." And how can a man a ponder and know God, as it is not possible? However with this have we known Him, by dong judgment and justice, since God does these. And that is what is stated (Jeremiah 22:16), "He judged for the poor and needy— then all was well. That is truly knowing Me, declares the Lord." And it is written in another place (Micah 6:8), "And what does the Lord require of you? Only to do justice and to love kindness," since judgments are a pillar of the Torah. And from them the world is made firm, as is said in the Midrash (Shemot Rabbah 30 3), "It is written in front of The Ten Commandments, 'and they will judge the people at all times' (Exodus 18:22). And after the Ten Commandment, it is written, 'And these are the laws' (Exodus 21 1). There is a parable [about this] concerning a matron that was walking along the way and her armed guards were walking in front of her and behind her."

(7) raise up many disciples: As per the opinion of Beit Hillel. [This is] like the matter that we have learned (The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan 2:9), "Beit Shammai say, 'We only teach a student who is fit, modest, proper and who fears Heaven, as it is stated (Job 20:26), "All (darkness) waits for his treasured ones." And Beit Hillel say, 'We teach everyone: One hundred so that ten good ones will come out from them; and ten so that two will come out of them; and two, "since you do not know which will be proper, this one or that one or if they will both be equally good." And so was there a story of Hillel, who brought together all of his students and said to them, 'Are all of you here?' They said [back] to him, 'Yes.' One of his students said to him, 'All of them are here except the smallest one.' He said to them, 'Let the small one come, for the future generation will be conducted by him .' And they brought Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. Behold that one should not push off the small ones for the bigger ones, since the kids will become goats." And about this matter the rabbis, may their memory be blessed, expounded (Yevamot 62b), "'Sow your seed in the morning, and don’t hold back your hand in the evening' (Ecclesiastes 11:6), - if you have raised disciples in your youth, raise disciples in your old age." Behold that the multiplication of disciples is a very good thing and a merit to the teacher.

(8) and make a fence for the Torah: As the matter that is stated (Leviticus 18:30), "And you shall guard My guarding"; which is to say, make a guarding for my guarding. And a fence is a great thing and it is praiseworthy to make a fence for the commandments so that the one who fears the word of God not stumble in them. Hence one who observes the words of the sages, may their memory be blessed - which are the fences for the commandments of the Torah - has shown more love for [this] fear than one who does the commandment itself. As the doing of the commandments does not prove fear like the one who observes the fences, since he is careful from the start not to come to error. However, the one who does the commandment but does not observe the fence shows us that if it is good in his eyes to do the commandment, [yet] it is not bad in his eyes if he errs in it; and that he is not concerned about the fear that he will make a breach in it, and 'one who makes a breach will be bitten by a snake.' Behold that the words of the sages, may their memory be blessed, are pillars and 'trees' in the fear of Heaven; which is a foundation of the world and a fundamental principle of virtue. And all of the commandments are appetizers for it, as they said in the Midrash (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1), "'For your love is more delightful than wine' (Song of Songs 1:2) - the words of the scribes are more beloved than the wine of Torah."