Whenever I see a reference to Pirkei Avot in the media, my interest is always piqued. I want to know why it is being cited, by whom and for what purpose. I ask myself “can I learn something from this citation?” Accordingly, since the beginning of the calendar year 2022, I have been conducting a review of citations of Pirkei Avot in the English-language online media.
With the aid of Google Alerts for ‘Avot’, ‘Avos’ and ‘Ethics of the Fathers’ and other search terms, I have picked up data from which I have the following findings on the citation of teachings from Avot cited online in the First Quarter of 2022:
The total number of citations of Pirkei Avot from 1 January to 31 March was 46 (18 in January, 11 in February and 17 in March).
As between the six chapters of Avot, the distribution of citations was as follows:
Perek 1: 17 Perek 4: 10
Perek 2: 12 Perek 5: 3
Perek 3: 2 Perek 6: 2
Which were the most popular mishnayot? Leading the pack with six citations is Avot 1:6 (Yehoshua ben Perachya: “make for yourself a rav, acquire for yourself a friend and judge all people by their merit”). Second place is shared by three contenders with four citations apiece: Avot 1:14 (Hillel’s “If not now, when?”); Avot 2:21 (Rabbi Tarfon: “It’s not for you to finish the work, but nor are you free to desist from it..”) and 4:1 (Ben Zoma: “Who is wise/strong/rich/honoured...?”). In fifth place, with three citations, is Shimon HaTzaddik’s teaching at Avot 1:2 (“The world stands on three things: Torah, service to God and acts of kindness”).
Hillel is actually the most frequently-cited contributor to Avot, which is unsurprising given that he is attributed as the author of seven mishnayot in Avot, more than anyone else. He has been cited a total of seven times, followed by Yehoshua ben Perachya on six, Rabbi Tarfon on five and Ben Zoma on four.
The first quarter also saw two mis-citations. One was the maxim of “Talmud Torah keneged kulam” (“the study of Torah is equivalent to all of them”), which belongs to Shabbat 127a and Pe’ah 1:1. The other was that words, like arrows, once shot cannot be called back (Midrash Tehillim 120).
The data set for this quarter was bound to be relatively small since the weekly recitation of chapters from Avot had not yet commenced. The "season" for Avot traditionally runs from Pesach through to Rosh Hashanah, so figures for the next two quarters should reflect far more references to its teachings.
I shall continue to keep an eye on Avot citations over the year, at the end of which I shall see what generalisations can be made about the use to which Avot is put and its utility as a source of wisdom and/or soundbites for authors of material published online
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