Monday 25 October 2021: The ages of man -- and woman? In this guest post for Judaism Reclaimed, we ask again why Avot contains no female-friendly equivalent to Avot 5:25 on the ages of man.
Thursday 21 October 2021: The paradigm test: the binding of Isaac: If God knows that Abraham will pass the test of being told to sacrifice his son, why test him at all?
Tuesday 19 October 2021: Back to work -- but do you love it? Shemaya teaches us to love work. It is not however clear what he means.
Friday 15 October 2021: Thanks for the thank-you: Writing "thank-you" letters has more to do with Pirkei Avot than one might immediately imagine.
Wednesday 13 October 2021: Getting someone else's reward. Avot 5:3 mentions the reward scooped by Abraham for the few good deeds of the ten generations before him. How can this be so?
Monday 11 October 2021: A spade or an axe? Take your pick. Avot 4:7 warns that using the Torah for one's own self-glorification and financial advantage is wrong. All agree what the mishnah means, but there is no consensus as to how it should be translated into English.
Friday 8 October 2021: Free will and floods: a lesson from Noah: Does Avot 5:2 have more to tell us about the need of repentance than of God's patience?
Monday 4 October 2021: Greeting others with genuine kindness: what is expected of us? In Avot 3:16 Rabbi Yishmael calls for us to be happy when we greet other people. While he imposes no limitations on this requirement, others do. Are they right to do so?
Friday 1 October 2021: Creating worlds with words: Avot 5:1 describes how the world was created with ten utterances. What sort of world is the mishnah talking about?
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Avot
Today blogposts for September 2021 here
Avot Today blogposts for August 2021 here
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
