I have received the following from Avot Today Facebook group member Louis Kessler:
Reading Avot 3:7 (that's 3:8 in most siddurim and many modern editions):
רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אִישׁ בַּרְתּוֹתָא אוֹמֵר, תֶּן לוֹ מִשֶּׁלּוֹ, שֶׁאַתָּה וְשֶׁלְּךָ שֶׁלּוֹ. וְכֵן בְּדָוִד הוּא אוֹמֵר (דברי הימים א כט) כִּי מִמְּךָ הַכֹּל וּמִיָּדְךָ נָתַנּוּ לָךְ.
Rabbi Elazar of Bartota said: give to Him of that which is His, for you and that which is yours is His; and thus it says with regard to David: “for everything comes from You, and from Your own hand have we given you” (I Chronicles 29:14).
I want to compare/contrast this with Jesus' statement about rendering unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.
I used to own "Ethics of the Talmud: Sayings of the Fathers" (1962) by R. Travers Herford. Can anyone copy his comment?
I have a copy of R. Travers Herford’s book, in which he writes:
“In this saying there is more than merely a lesson in generosity. The author of it was noted indeed for his alms-giving, and knew the secret of true charity. But his thought is that all that a man has, not wealth alone but body and soul and life itself, are what God has entrusted to him. They are a pledge committed to his care, not to be used for any selfish ends, but to be used in the service of God and held at his disposal. The true giver is to devote to his service what he has entrusted to the giver. The thought was perhaps suggested by the words of David [quoted above], and the quotation of that passage is made not by way of a proof-text but for the sake of the words themselves. The author of the saying gave to the thought contained in them another rendering, which need fear no comparison with the original”.
A Unitarian minister, Travers Herford was a staunch believer that Jewish texts should be interpreted and understood in the light of Jewish law and culture, rather than as merely being precursors of Christianity. He makes no mention in this Mishnah to “rendering unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s” (Matthew 22:21). In fact, I don’t recall him making any mention of Jesus or any New Testament writings in his work on Avot.
Can readers of this blog shed any further light on Louis Kessler’s request?
