Friday 31 July 2020

Who is wise? It depends who you ask

Yesterday I was confronted with a common
attribution to Pirkei Avot of a quote that isn't there. "Who is wise? The person who sees what is coming". This answer is actually found in the Babylonian Talmud (Tamid 32a), where they are spoken by the Elders of the South, in reply to Alexander of Macedon.

The version that is found in Avot opens the fourth perek and is learned in the name of Ben Zoma. It goes like this: "Who is wise? The person who learns from every man".

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