One of the most difficult mishnayot to translate into English [1] is the one that opens the second perek of Avot (i.e. 2:1). There, Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi teaches:
רבי אומר, איזו היא דרך ישרה שיבור לו האדם--כל שהיא תפארת לעושיה, ותפארת לו מן האדם
I like to translate it like this:
Which is the right path that a person should choose for himself? Any one that enables him to experience self-respect and to earn the respect and admiration of other people.
This is not a literal translation, though. The Hebrew word תפארת (tiferet), which appears here twice, poses a stiff challenge for at least four reasons: (i) the word possesses many meanings; (ii) it is employed in relation both to God and to man, with obviously different connotations; (iii) in the context of this mishnah, it expresses a concept for which there is no obvious colloquial English equivalent and (iv) it is by no means clear what verbs—if any—are the right ones to use with it.
The range of translations preferred by various authors is
reflected by the chart below:
|
תפארת לעושיה (translated
above as “self-respect”) |
ותפארת לו מן האדם (translated
above as “the respect |
|
Whatever
will be of benefit to him |
and
earns him the respect of other people [2] |
|
Honorable to one who chooses it |
and
honorable in the eyes of others [3] |
|
Whatever
is a credit to himself |
and
earns him the esteem of fellow men [4] |
|
One
which reflects credit on him who does it |
and
which also reflects glory on him [in the eyes] of men [5] |
|
Whatever
is harmonious for the one who does it |
and
harmonious for mankind [6] |
|
One
which is honorable to thyself |
and
without offense to others [7] |
|
All
that is desirable for the one doing it |
and
desirable to him from mankind [8] |
|
That
which is distinguished, honorable
for him who adopts it |
and
brings him distinction, honor from people [9] |
|
Whatever
brings glory to himself [before
God] |
and
grants him glory before others [10] |
|
Any
that is an honor to him that does it |
and
gets him honor to him in the sight of men [11] |
|
That
which is an honor to him |
and
gets him honor from men [12] |
My preferred translation gives the meaning as
“self-respect” the first time it appears and as “respect and admiration” the
second, since it is not normally regarded as praiseworthy for a person to pat
himself on the back and applaud his own actions in the manner in which he might
greet the same actions when done by others.
Of the options listed above, Chabad.org's "harmonious" approach has been preferred in a Times of Israel blog by Ethan Yakhin entitled "My experience interviewing R. Shlomo Katz". This piece, unsurprisingly since Rabbi Katz is an authority on the work of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, is as much about the controversial composer as abour Rabbi Katz himself. In the course of it Ethan Yakhin writes:
In Pirkei Avot, we find wonderful advice. What is a straight path that man should choose? A path that brings harmony to the person and harmony between him and others (Pirkei Avot 2:1). In other words, “Be yourself.” Perhaps this is what Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach had in mind when he encouraged our individuality.
While it strays a long way from the literal meaning of the text, the use of "harmony" as a music metaphor when describing Rabbi Carlebach is most effective and, within that context, may well reflect Rabbi Yehudah's meaning.
**************************************
[1] This is not only a problem for the
English. Translating into German, Rabbi Marcus Lehmann, The Lehmann-Prins
Pirkei Avoth, makes exactly the same observation.
[2] Rabbis Avie Gold and Nahum Spirn, Alshich on Avos.
[3] Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Authorised
Daily Prayer Book.
[4] ArtScroll Publications.
[5] C. H. Moore, The Lehmann-Prins Pirkei
Avoth.
[6] Chabad.org.
[7] Jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
[8] David N. Barocas, Me’am Lo’ez.
[9] Irving M. Bunim, Ethics from Sinai.
[10] Torah.org.
[11] R. Travers Herford, The Ethics of the Talmud.
[12] Herbert Danby, The Mishnah.
