Chapter Four

Perek Revi'i

פֶּרֶק רְבִיעִי

Visible layers

Hebrew

לָהֶם תּוֹרָה וּמִצְוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: יְיָ חָפֵץ
לְמַעַן צִדְקוֹ, יַגְדִּיל תּוֹרָה וְיַאְדִּיר.

Sephardi

lahem Torah umitzvot, shene'emar: Adonai chafetz
lema'an tzidko, yagdil Torah v'ya'dir.

English

many opportunities to connect to God. As it says in Isaiah: The Lord wanted, for the sake of increasing the Jewish Nation's righteousness, that the Torah be made great and glorious.

פֶּרֶק רְבִיעִי

CHAPTER FOUR

Hebrew

כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל יֵשׁ לָהֶם חֵלֶק לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא,
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וְעַמֵּךְ כֻּלָּם צַדִּיקִים, לְעוֹלָם
יִירְשׁוּ אָרֶץ, נֵצֶר מַטָּעַי מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי
לְהִתְפָּאֵר.

Sephardi

Kol Yisrael yesh lahem chelek la-olam haba,
shene'emar: v'amecha kulam tzaddikim, le'olam
yirshu aretz, netzer mata'ai ma'aseh yadai
l'hitpa'eir.

English

All the Children of Israel have a portion in the World to Come. As it says in Isaiah regarding the Redemption of the Jewish Nation: Your people are all righteous, and they will inherit the Land of Israel forever—they will never be exiled from it again. Everyone will recognize that they are the branch of My planting and the work of My hands, in which I, God, take pride.

Hebrew

א בֶּן זוֹמָא אוֹמֵר: אֵיזֶהוּ
חָכָם, הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם,
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: מִכָּל מְלַמְּדַי
הִשְׂכַּלְתִּי, כִּי עֵדְוֹתֶיךָ שִׂיחָה
לִי.1 אֵיזֶהוּ גִּבּוֹר, הַכּוֹבֵשׁ
אֶת יִצְרוֹ,2 שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: טוֹב
אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם מִגִּבּוֹר, וּמוֹשֵׁל
בְּרוּחוֹ מִלֹּכֵד עִיר. אֵיזֶהוּ
עָשִׁיר, הַשָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקוֹ,
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: יְגִיעַ כַּפֶּיךָ כִּי
תֹאכֵל, אַשְׁרֶיךָ וְטוֹב לָךְ.
אַשְׁרֶיךָ בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה, וְטוֹב
לָךְ לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא. אֵיזֶהוּ
מְכֻבָּד, הַמְכַבֵּד אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת,
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: כִּי מְכַבְּדַי אֲכַבֵּד
וּבֹזַי יֵקָלּוּ.

Sephardi

A Ben Zoma omer: eizehu
chacham, halomed mikol adam,
shene'emar: mikol m'lamdai
hiskalti, ki edotecha sichah
li.1 Eizehu gibor, hakoveish
et yitzro,2 shene'emar: tov
erech apayim migibor, u'mosheil
b'rucho milocheid ir. Eizehu
ashir, hasamei'ach b'chelko,
shene'emar: yegi'a kapecha ki
tochel, ashreicha v'tov lach.
Ashreicha ba-olam hazeh, v'tov
lach la-olam haba. Eizehu
m'chubad, hamchabeid et hab'riyot,
shene'emar: ki m'chabadai achabeid
u'vozai yekalu.

English

1 Ben Zoma says: Who is truly wise? Someone who learns from every person. As it says in Psalms: have gained wisdom from all my teachers, because God's testimonies, the Torah, is my only concern and conversation—so I will learn from anyone who can teach me something.1 Who is truly strong? Someone who conquers his inclination.2 As it says in Proverbs: Someone who can control himself and is slow to get angry is better than someone who is physically strong, and someone who controls his feelings is better than someone who conquers a city. Who is truly rich? Someone who is happy with his portion. As it says in Psalms: When you are satisfied to eat food bought with money earned by the work of your hands, and don't seek more than you have, you are fortunate and it will be good for you. The words "you are fortunate" refer to good fortune in this world, and the words "it will be good for you" refer to goodness in the World to Come. Who is truly honored? Someone who honors other people. As God says: To those who honor Me by honoring My creations, I will cause honor. And those who ridicule Me by disrespecting My creations, will be shamed.

Hebrew

ב בֶּן עַזַּאי אוֹמֵר: הֱוֵי רָץ3 לְמִצְוָה
קַלָּה, וּבוֹרֵחַ מִן הָעֲבֵרָה,
שֶׁמִּצְוָה גּוֹרֶרֶת מִצְוָה, וַעֲבֵרָה
גּוֹרֶרֶת עֲבֵרָה, שֶׁשְּׂכַר מִצְוָה
מִצְוָה,4 וּשְׂכַר עֲבֵרָה עֲבֵרָה.

Sephardi

2 Ben Azzai omer: hevei ratz3 l'mitzvah
kalah, u'vorei'ach min ha'aveirah,
shemitzvah goreret mitzvah, va'aveirah
goreret averah, shes'char mitzvah
mitzvah,4 u'schar averah averah.

English

2 Ben Azzai says: Run3 to do even an easy, small commandment and run away from any sin, because one commandment, no matter how small, brings about another commandment, and one sin brings about another sin. For the reward for a commandment is the opportunity to do another commandment,4 and the result of a sin is the possibility of doing another sin.

Hebrew

ג הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר: אַל תְּהִי בָז
לְכָל אָדָם וְאַל תְּהִי מַפְלִיג לְכָל
דָּבָר, שֶׁאֵין לְךָ אָדָם שֶׁאֵין לוֹ
שָׁעָה, וְאֵין לְךָ דָּבָר שֶׁאֵין לוֹ
מָקוֹם.

Sephardi

3 hu hayah omer: al t'hi vaz
lechol adam ve-al t'hi maflig lechol
davar, she'ein lecha adam she'ein lo
sha'ah, v'ein lecha davar she'ein lo
makom.

English

3 Ben Azzai would often say: Do not treat anyone with disrespect, and do not reject anything as valueless, because there is no man who does not have his hour when he is needed, and there is nothing that does not have its valuable place and purpose in the world.

Hebrew

ד רַבִּי לְוִיטָס אִישׁ יַבְנֶה אוֹמֵר:
מְאֹד מְאֹד הֱוֵי שְׁפַל רוּחַ,
שֶׁתִּקְוַת אֱנוֹשׁ רִמָּה. רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן
בֶּן בְּרוֹקָה אוֹמֵר: כָּל הַמְחַלֵּל
שֵׁם שָׁמַיִם בַּסֵּתֶר, נִפְרָעִין
מִמֶּנּוּ בַּגָּלוּי, אֶחָד שׁוֹגֵג וְאֶחָד
מֵזִיד בְּחִלּוּל הַשֵּׁם.

Sephardi

4 Rabbi Levitas ish Yavneh omer:
me'od me'od hevei sh'fal ruach,
shetikvat enosh rimah. Rabbi Yochanan
ben Berokah omer: kol hamchaleil
shem shamayim baseter, nifra'in
mimenu bagalui, echad shogeig v'echad
meizid b'chilul Hashem.

English

4 Rabbi Levitas of Yavneh says: Be very, very humble, because although a person's soul lives forever, the expected end for his body—that which causes arrogance—is in the grave, with worms. Rabbi Yochanan ben Berokah says: Whoever desecrates and brings dishonor to God's Name, even in a private, small group, will be punished for it in public. In regards to desecrating God's Name, it makes no difference whether it was done by mistake or on purpose, because either way, God's Name was dishonored.

Hebrew

ה רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל בַּר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי
אוֹמֵר: הַלּוֹמֵד תּוֹרָה עַל מְנָת

Sephardi

5 Rabbi Yishmael bar Rabbi Yosei
omer: halomed Torah al m'nat

English

5 Rabbi Yishmael bar Rabbi Yosei says: Someone who learns Torah in order to teach it to others is given the opportunity to both learn it and teach

Commentary

1 Alternatively, "Your witnesses speak to me." Every Jewish soul is a "witness" who can testify that God created the universe. When we consider our fellow Jews in this light, we will learn valuable lessons from them. All Jews, regardless of their apparent spiritual standing or level of knowledge, will "speak to us."

2 The "inclination" mentioned here is not just the evil inclination but also the natural inclination. A truly strong person is able to overcome his nature. For example, a father who loves his child can still punish him when necessary. In doing so he is overcoming his natural, kind inclination, in order to educate his child properly.

3 In addition to physically running to perform a commandment, the mishnah is also describing the feeling you should have toward every commandment. You run toward things that you are excited about. Every commandment, even a seemingly small one, should be fulfilled with joy and enthusiasm, because it is God's will.

4 The word מִצְוָה is related to the phrase צַוְּתָא וְחִיבּוּר, which means "connection." The result and reward for doing a commandment is that we become connected to God.