Monday 3 August 2020: Who is wise? A word on relative wisdom. The well-known aphorism of Ben Zoma (Avot 4:1), "Who is wise? The person who learns from all men" can be learned in more than one way, if you look at the verse from Psalms that supports it.
Tuesday, 4 August 2020: Never too early to repent! Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus does not say in Avot that repentance was created before the World. But he does have something to say about early teshuvah at 2:15.
Thursday 6 August 2020: Incomprehensible. In Avot 2:5, Hillel had something to say about not saying things that can't be understood if one means that they should be understood. So why don't people do this?
Friday 7 August 2020: Pirkei Avot: by accident or design? Much can be learned from an appreciation of the idea that Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, when compiling Avot, took some care in deciding where to stick each mishnah.
Sunday 9 August 2020: Right content, wrong focus? Creation of the World revisited. The mishnah at 5:1 mentions that the World was created with 10 divine utterances. Traditional commentators discuss them at length -- but is this mishnah actually about something completely different?
Tuesday 11 August 2020: Does the person who is being tested know what he is being tested on? Re Abraham and his 10 tests (Avot 5:4), here's a real live story of a cunning test.
Thursday 13 August 2020: More on tests. Does anyone have a Jewish source, preferably of some antiquity, for the idea that God only sends people the tests that they are capable of passing?
Sunday, 16 August 2020: Is there an 'Evil Eye' in Avot? There are alternative texts for Avot 2:16. Which should be preferred?
Thursday 20 August 2020: Respect for rabbis and teachers: how does this apply today?. Here are some thoughts on why some Jewish communities have a higher level of respect than do others for their rabbis.
Sunday, 23 August 2020: In Search of Abraham's Ten Tests. Avot 5:4 teaches that God set Abraham 10 tests. The trouble is, there seem to be nearly 30 of them
Tuesday 25 August 2020: Igor's not here today Here we find a watered-down reference to a mishnah in Avot that eviscerates its original meaning and is reminiscent of an old USSR-era joke.
Thursday, 27 August 2020: Protecting the US Postal Service: where does Avot fit in? Appeals to the wisdom of Avot can be found in the strangest of places.
Sunday 30 August 2020: Whatever happened to the mamaloshen?. Commentaries on Pirkei Avot have been written in many languages -- but was there ever one in Yiddish?
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