Below are both the blessing recited before the study of Torah and a mishna it is customary to read before studying Pirkei Avot:
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלקֵינוּ מֶלֶך–הָעולָם
אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָנוּ בְּמִצְותָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסק בְּדִבְרֵי-תורָה.
Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha’olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu la’asok b’divrei torah.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments, and commanded us to study words of Torah.
(א) כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל יֵשׁ לָהֶם חֵלֶק לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה ס) וְעַמֵּךְ כֻּלָּם צַדִּיקִים לְעוֹלָם יִירְשׁוּ אָרֶץ נֵצֶר מַטָּעַי מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי לְהִתְפָּאֵר
(1) All Israel have a portion in the world to come, for it says, “Your people, all of them righteous, shall possess the land for ever; They are the shoot that I planted, my handiwork in which I glory” (Isaiah 60:2).
Part One (~15 minutes)
We'll be doing something a little different today. After all these weeks of learning texts, I'd like for us to step back and think about learning about learning, and the qualities our sages saw as important. As you go through the following list individually, I'd like for you to pick out ~3-5 qualities which are interesting to you.
If you can, try to have one which you feel like you are particularly good at, one which you feel like you want to aspire towards, and one which you feel is surprising. You could also pick one that reminds you of a person or teacher you know well, one which reminds you of a text or story you like, or one you disagree with.
גְּדוֹלָה תוֹרָה יוֹתֵר מִן הַכְּהֻנָּה וּמִן הַמַּלְכוּת, שֶׁהַמַּלְכוּת נִקְנֵית בִּשְׁלֹשִׁים מַעֲלוֹת, וְהַכְּהֻנָּה בְּעֶשְׂרִים וְאַרְבַּע, וְהַתּוֹרָה נִקְנֵית בְּאַרְבָּעִים וּשְׁמֹנָה דְבָרִים. וְאֵלוּ הֵן,
- בְּתַלְמוּד,
- בִּשְׁמִיעַת הָאֹזֶן,
- בַּעֲרִיכַת שְׂפָתַיִם,
- בְּבִינַת הַלֵּב,
- בְּשִׂכְלוּת הַלֵּב,
- בְּאֵימָה,
- בְּיִרְאָה,
- בַּעֲנָוָה,
- בְּשִׂמְחָה,
- בְּטָהֳרָה,
- בְּשִׁמּוּשׁ חֲכָמִים,
- בְּדִקְדּוּק חֲבֵרִים,
- וּבְפִלְפּוּל הַתַּלְמִידִים,
- בְּיִשּׁוּב,
- בַּמִּקְרָא,
- בַּמִּשְׁנָה,
- בְּמִעוּט סְחוֹרָה,
- בְּמִעוּט דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ,
- בְּמִעוּט תַּעֲנוּג,
- בְּמִעוּט שֵׁינָה,
- בְּמִעוּט שִׂיחָה,
- בְּמִעוּט שְׂחוֹק,
- בְּאֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם,
- בְּלֵב טוֹב,
- בֶּאֱמוּנַת חֲכָמִים,
- וּבְקַבָּלַת הַיִּסּוּרִין,
- הַמַּכִּיר אֶת מְקוֹמוֹ,
- וְהַשָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקוֹ,
- וְהָעוֹשֶׂה סְיָג לִדְבָרָיו,
- וְאֵינוֹ מַחֲזִיק טוֹבָה לְעַצְמוֹ,
- אָהוּב, אוֹהֵב אֶת הַמָּקוֹם,
- אוֹהֵב אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת,
- אוֹהֵב אֶת הַצְּדָקוֹת,
- אוֹהֵב אֶת הַמֵּישָׁרִים,
- אוֹהֵב אֶת הַתּוֹכָחוֹת,
- מִתְרַחֵק מִן הַכָּבוֹד,
- וְלֹא מֵגִיס לִבּוֹ בְתַלְמוּדוֹ,
- וְאֵינוֹ שָׂמֵחַ בְּהוֹרָאָה,
- נוֹשֵׂא בְעֹל עִם חֲבֵרוֹ,
- מַכְרִיעוֹ לְכַף זְכוּת,
- מַעֲמִידוֹ עַל הָאֱמֶת,
- וּמַעֲמִידוֹ עַל הַשָּׁלוֹם,
- מִתְיַשֵּׁב לִבּוֹ בְתַלְמוּדוֹ,
- שׁוֹאֵל וּמֵשִׁיב,
- שׁוֹמֵעַ וּמוֹסִיף,
- הַלּוֹמֵד עַל מְנָת לְלַמֵּד וְהַלּוֹמֵד עַל מְנָת לַעֲשׂוֹת,
- הַמַּחְכִּים אֶת רַבּוֹ,
- וְהַמְכַוֵּן אֶת שְׁמוּעָתוֹ,
- וְהָאוֹמֵר דָּבָר בְּשֵׁם אוֹמְרוֹ, הָא לָמַדְתָּ שֶׁכָּל הָאוֹמֵר דָּבָר בְּשֵׁם אוֹמְרוֹ מֵבִיא גְאֻלָּה לָעוֹלָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (אסתר ב) וַתֹּאמֶר אֶסְתֵּר לַמֶּלֶךְ בְּשֵׁם מָרְדֳּכָי:
Greater is learning Torah than the priesthood and than royalty, for royalty is acquired by thirty steps, and the priesthood by twenty-four, but the Torah by forty-eight things:
- By study,
- Attentive listening,
- Proper speech,
- By an understanding heart,
- By awe,
- By fear,
- By humility,
- By joy,
- By purity
- By attending to the sages,
- By critical give and take with friends,
- By fine argumentation with disciples,
- By clear thinking,
- By study of Scripture,
- By study of mishnah,
- By a minimum of sleep,
- By a minimum of chatter,
- By a minimum of pleasure,
- By a minimum of frivolity,
- By a minimum of preoccupation with worldly matters,
- By long-suffering,
- By generosity,
- By faith in the sages,
- By acceptance of suffering.
- Awareness of one's place,
- Satisfaction with one's portion,
- Making a fence about one's words,
- Not taking credit for oneself,
- Being loved,
- Loving God,
- Loving people,
- Loving reproof,
- Loving uprightness,
- Avoiding fame,
- Not let one's heart become swelled on account of their learning,
- Not enjoying giving legal decisions,
- Sharing the yoke with one's colleague,
- Who judges with the scales weighted in their favor,
- Who leads them on to truth,
- Who leads them on to peace,
- Who composes themself at their study,
- By asking to the point and answering according to the law,
- By listening and adding,
- By learning in order to teach,
- By learning in order to practice,
- By making their teacher wiser,
- Who is exact in what their has learned,
- And who says a thing in the name of its source. Thus you have learned: everyone who says a thing in the name of the one who said it, brings deliverance into the world, as it is said: “And Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name” (Esther 2:22).
In chevrutah (learning pairs), look at the following prompts and talk about whichever are interesting to you:
- Why do you think Torah is superior to priesthood and royalty? Why do you think having more ways to acquire it makes it more special?
- What qualities did you pick out as surprising? Why were you surprised? Is your chevrutah surprised too?
- For the quality you felt like you excel at, give an example of when you've felt really good about it?
- When have you seen one your qualities expressed or exemplified in the world?
- Why do you think that the Rabbis saw one of the qualities you selected as being related to the acquisition of Torah?
- What could you do to improve upon the quality you chose that you'd like to get better at?
- Share what story or person one of these qualities reminds you of?
Counting the Omer
Blessed are You, HaShem, our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who sanctified us with commandments and commanded us to count the Omer.
Baruch atah adonai eloheinu melekh ha'olam, asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu al sefirat ha'omer
48. הַיּוֹם שְׁמוֹנָה וְאַרְבָּעִים יוֹם שֶׁהֵם שִׁשָּׁה שָׁבוּעוֹת וְשִׁשָּׁה יָמִים בָּעֹֽמֶר:
Today is the 48th day of the omer, which is 6 weeks and 6 days of the omer.
Hayom shmona v'arbaim yom shehem shisha shavuot v'shisha yamim ba'omer