Avot in Retrospect: a summary of last month's blogposts

 In case you missed them, here's a list of items posted on Avot Today in August 2021:

Monday 30 August 2021: Would you know a golem if you saw one? An anonymous mishnah at Avot 5:9 contrasts the wise man with the uncultured clod -- is there also room for people whose characteristics lie between the two extremes?

Wednesday 25 August 2021: When books speak volumes: another perspective on rebuke: Not everyone appreciates being told off face-to-face. Some folk are more comfortable to mend their ways when confronted by nothing worse than a book.

Wednesday 25 August 2021: Eat, drink or repent -- for tomorrow we die! Rabbi Eliezer famously reminds us at Avot 2:15 to repent the day before we die, but what is the status of the exhortation to "eat, drink and be merry"?

Friday 20 August 2021: Taking positives from the am ha'aretz: The much-derided uncouth am ha'aretz may be a vital part of the great scheme of things despite the normally bad press he gets from students of Avot.

Tuesday 17 August  2021: A good telling-off! At Avot 6:6 we learn of the importance of being able to appreciate a well-aimed rebuke if we seek to acquire Torah wisdom and internalise its values.

Sunday 16 August 2021: The pursuit of peace -- a personal recollection. Hillel's instruction to be like Aaron, loving peace and pursuing it (Avot 1:12), is a great ideal but not an easy one to implement. But it can been done ...

Thursday 12 August  2021: Repentance and good deeds: you can't have one without the other.  Why not? This blogpost offers an answer to the question why Avot pairs these two items together.

Wednesday 11 August  2021: They're the same, more or less. We check out two translations of Avot by the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.

Monday 9 August 2021: The Best of Men. Ben Azzai (Avot 4:3) teaches the importance of every individual. This post reviews a movie that epitomises this teaching.

Friday 6 August 2021: A sad reflection on human nature. What would you do if you knew you'd definitely die tomorrow? Most people's to-do list does not include the Avot recommendation of repentance.

Wednesday 4 August 2021: Praying for the welfare of a bad government. Does Rabbi Chanina Segan HaKohanim's plea for people to pray for the welfare of the state (Avot 3:2) apply to only good governments, to all governments, or specifically to bad ones?

Monday 2 August 2021:  Eternal laws and academic appetizers. Rabbi Elazar Chisma (Avot 3:23) speaks of the relationship between even abstruse laws and secular studies. What does he have to tell us about the way we prioritise them?

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Avot Today blogposts for July 2021 here

Avot Today blogposts for June 2021 here

Avot Today blogposts for May 2021 here

Avot Today blogposts for April 2021 here

Avot Today blogposts for March 2021 here

Avot Today blogposts for February 2021 here