Pirkei Avot

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This tractate of the Mishnah contains ancient wisdom and ethics of the rabbinic sages. Traditionally, the work is studied between Passover and Shavuot. Perhaps because of the tractate’s place in the liturgical calendar, it has spawned many commentaries over the centuries.

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Wisdom, Torah, and Fear of God

MISHNAH

Tractate Avot of the Mishnah is known also as Pirkei Avot. The tractate includes various ethical teachings of the rabbinic sages, emphasizing the relationship between Torah, wisdom, and ethical conduct.

Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah said: Where there is no Torah, there is no right conduct; where there is no right conduct, there is no Torah. Where there is no wisdom, there is no fear of God; where there is no fear of God, there is no wisdom. Where there is no understanding, there is no knowledge; where there is no knowledge, there is no understanding. Where there is no bread, there is no Torah; where there is no Torah, there is no bread. He used to say: one whose wisdom exceeds his deeds, to what may he be compared? To a tree whose branches are numerous but whose roots are few…

Pirkei Avot 3:17

Wisdom and Tradition

COMMENTARY

Pirkei Avot is unique among the tractates of the Mishnah as it focuses on ethical teachings and principles rather than legal teachings. Ovadiah ben Avraham of Bartenura, in his 15th-century commentary on the Mishnah, explains how the tractate’s opening reflects its distinctive nature.

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…

Bartenura on Pirkei Avot 1:1:1

The Evolution of Pirkei Avot

COMMENTARY

Pirkei Avot, while considered a marginal text for centuries, eventually became one of the most widely studied texts in the rabbinic tradition. Professor Avigdor Shinan, in his contemporary commentary on Pirkei Avot, explores the history of the text’s reception and influence.

This tractate is called by the name, Tractate Avot (Fathers) or Pirkei Avot (The Chapters of the Fathers). It is already mentioned by this name in the Babylonian Talmud, which says (in Aramaic), "Anyone who wants to be pious should observe... the words of [Tractate] Avot" (Bava Kamma 30a). The commentaries are divided about the understanding of this name. Some say that the Fathers being spoken about here are the spiritual fathers of Judaism; meaning those Sages and men of understanding who laid its foundations in the post-Biblical period…

A New Israeli Commentary on Pirkei Avot, Introduction 2-3

A Pathway to Piety

TALMUD

The study of Pirkei Avot is considered by some to be a way to achieve piety. The Babylonian Talmud in tractate Bava Kamma recounts a debate between several rabbinic sages about which Torah subjects are the most important to study if one wishes to develop a pious character.

Rav Yehuda says: One who wants to be pious should observe the matters of tractate Nezikin, so as to avoid causing damage to others. Rava said he should observe the matters of tractate Avot. And some say he should observe the matters of tractate Berakhot.

Bava Kamma 30a:18

Pirkei Avot and the Ethical Canon

MUSAR

The Musar movement, a 19th-century Jewish ethical and educational movement, placed particular emphasis on the study of Pirkei Avot as a way to develop one’s character. Rabbi Eliezer Papo, in his 19th-century ethical work Pele Yoetz, underscores the importance of engaging with texts of religious ethics.

It is appropriate to study all the books of ethics, one after the other and constantly review them. This is 'a statute not to be transgressed,' day after day, night after night. And even when one reviews books that he already read, they will be like new in his eyes and bring new inspiration according to the time and the state of his soul. For not all times are the same, as 'the righteous one will distinguish.' And since they said 'things that came out from the heart, which will penetrate the heart,' how fine is it to study Pirkei Avot, all the ethics in the Talmud and Midrash, the holy book…

Pele Yoetz 216:3

Ethical Conduct and Good Judgment

COMMENTARY

In the order of the Mishnah, Pirkei Avot is the last of a grouping of tractates concerned with civil and criminal courts, but its subject matter is entirely different in nature. Rambam, in the introduction to his 12th-century commentary on the Mishnah, explains the reasoning behind the tractate’s placement.

And when he finished everything that the judge would need, he started with Avot (Fathers). And he did this for two [reasons]: The [first] one is to inform that the consensus and the received tradition are true and correct; and that it was received [one generation] from [another]. And therefore, it is fitting to honor a sage of [the tradition] and to place him in an honored status, since the teaching came to him; and he is in his generation like those [sages of the tradition] in their generations. And so did they say (Rosh Hashanah 25a)…

Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 15:56-59

Five or Six Chapters?

COMMENTARY

Most printed editions of Pirkei Avot contain six different chapters, but only five of them were part of the original text. Rabbi Hayyim Joseph David Azulai, an 18th-century rabbinic scholar, offers an account of the attachment of the “sixth chapter” to Pirkei Avot.

The sages taught in the language of the Mishnah, etc.: It is known that the holy Rabbi (R. Yehudah HaNasi) composed five chapters in Tractate Avot, corresponding to hey (the Hebrew letter that has a numerical equivalent of five), which hints to the Divine Presence, within which is the oral Torah. And one who fulfills the words of Avot is able to fulfill the Torah and cling to the Divine Presence. It also hints that Avot is Wisdom, Strength and Beauty, which bring forth the five kindnesses to the Divine Presence 'on the day on which it will be spoken about Her…

Marit HaAyin on Pirkei Avot 5:19:2

Expanding on Pirkei Avot

MIDRASH

Avot DeRabbi Natan is an expansion of Pirkei Avot, offering additional narratives and ethical teachings. The Otzar Midrashim, a 20th-century encyclopedic work describing midrashic literature, offers an introduction to the two different versions of this text.

Avot d'Rabbi Natan: One of the minor tractates in the Babylonian Talmud under the order of Nezikin. It serves as a kind of Braitot or Tosefta for the Mishnaic tractate 'Pirkei Avot'. Three different versions of this tractate exist: one is found in the Babylonian Talmud, the second is known as ADRN brought from the Land of Israel, and the third is the version used by French Jewish scholars. The latter is referenced in a commentary attributed to Rashi on 'Pirkei Avot' (Chapter 1, Mishna 5), particularly on the phrase "Do not talk excessively with a woman"…

Otzar Midrashim, Ethics of The Fathers of Rabbi Nathan 1

Building the World on Torah

COMMENTARY

Maharal of Prague composed a 16th-century commentary on Pirkei Avot, Derekh Chayyim. He expounds here on one of the first teachings of the tractate, explaining the centrality of Torah for both personal development and for the world as a whole.

He used to say, "The world stands upon three things": And a warning like this comes before everything. As first, the foundation must be built. And that is why Shimon the Righteous, who was one of the last of the men of the Great Assembly, warns them to be careful about things, which are the foundation and pillar of the world, upon which everything is built. And the words that the men of the Great Assembly said (Avot 1:1), "Be deliberate in judgment, raise up many disciples and make a fence for the Torah," are even before everything, according to what we said…

Derekh Chayyim 1:2:2

Pirkei Avot, Explained

TALMUD

Avot DeRabbi Natan, a companion to and expansion of Pirkei Avot, provides a more detailed account of some of Pirkei Avot’s teachings. This excerpt from Avot DeRabbi Natan explains the connection between different lists of ten that appear in the fifth chapter of Pirkei Avot.

Abraham our forefather was tested with ten trials before the Holy Blessed One, and he emerged from each one complete.
They are as follows: Two when God said to him, “Go forth!” Two with his two sons. Two with his two wives. One with the war of the kings. One at the Covenant of the Parts. One in Ur Kasdim. One with circumcision. (The Covenant of the Parts.) And why so many? So that when Abraham our forefather comes to take his reward, the angels will say: More than us, more than anyone, Abraham deserves his reward, as it says (Ecclesiastes 9:7), “Go, eat your bread with joy…

Avot DeRabbi Natan 33:2

Unlocking the Gates of Understanding

CHASIDUT

Many have the custom of reciting one chapter of Pirkei Avot each Shabbat from Passover through Shavuot. Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heschel, in his book of Chasidic essays, offers a spiritual explanation of this custom.

The reason for saying Pirkei Avot between Pesach and [Shavuot] is because every Jew is obligated to purify himself during the days of counting (the Omer), as the Jewish people purified themselves then from the impurity of Egypt. As it is known from the holy Zohar, the seven weeks are like the matter of the seven days of menstrual impurity. And that is why we say Tractate Avot then, so as to see and understand all the good character traits that are mentioned there, and to yearn and desire, "When will I do this, even I?" As well as to repent fully before God, may He be blessed…

Ohev Yisrael, For the Shabbat After Pesach 3:1

A Righteous People

LITURGY

Those who have the custom to recite a chapter of Pirkei Avot during the weeks between Passover and Shavuot typically begin with an introductory mishnah from a different tractate. This selection, from tractate Sanhedrin of the Mishnah, emphasizes that the entire Jewish people can reach ethical heights.

Pirkei Avot (The Chapters of the Fathers) Chapter 1 All of Israel has a portion in the world to come. For it is written, "And your people, all of them are righteous, they shall inherit the land forever, a scion of My planting, the work of My hands in which I will glory" (Isaiah 60:21). 1 Moshe received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Yehoshua, and Yehoshua to the Elders, and the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets transmitted it to the Men of the Great Assembly…

Siddur Edot HaMizrach, Mishna Study for Shabbat, Pirkei Avot 1-4

Part of the Mishna, Pirkei Avot, Chapter 1, from the Kaufmann Manuscript, 11th-12th century.

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