What's hot in Avot

Happy Lag ba’Omer everyone—enjoy the day, but please be careful! Even if you are not making a giant bonfire yourself tonight and have no intention of going near one, remember: the wind can carry smouldering ash a long way. Rabbi Shimon ben Netanel (Avot 2:13) maintains that the most preferable rule to live by is that of bearing in mind the consequences of one’s actions. This includes one’s inactions too. Don’t leave things outside your home if they are likely to suffer fire damage.

Now, here are a few odds and ends that I’d like to draw to the attention of Pirkei Avot devotees and enthusiasts.

Learning is the best response. Thousands of people around the world are now participating in The Dee Pirkei Avot Project, established only a few weeks ago in memory of Lucy, Maya and Rena Dee. Learning Avot is a great response to the tragic loss of these three women, who were an inspiration to so many people in their lifetimes. If you’d like to join the Project and receive each Friday a sheet with a mishnah from Avot and some discussion points for the Shabbat table, email thedeepirkeiavotproject@gmail.com to get your weekly Whatsapp link.

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Something to bear in mind. Another ongoing Avot project, though of a very different type, is Psyched for Avot, a weekly mishnah-by-mishnah discussion of the psychological dimensions of the Ethics of the Fathers. This is masterminded by psychotherapist Rabbi Dr Mordechai Schiffman. You can sign up for weekly emails that feature Psyched for Avot and other content from the Psyched for Torah platform. For further details visit www.psychedfortorah.com.

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Are wild beasts ‘caused’ by desecration of God’s name? On Sunday, Avot Today’s Facebook Group hosted ‘Chillul Hashem, Wild Beasts and an Ethical Battle Cry’, a post by R’ Shmuel Phillips together with me (Jeremy Phillips). This piece, which appeared on the popular Judaism Reclaimed Facebook Group, has an interesting provenance, since it started off as straight Pirkei Avot post but metamorphosed into one that incorporated some perspectives on Avot into an article with a more Torah-related focus. The original piece, ‘Setting Free the Menagerie: wild beasts and chillul Hashem’, has now been posted in full on the Avot Today weblog. You can check it out here.

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Looking for an online read? English-speaking inhabitants of Jerusalem and visitors to that wonderful city may well find themselves from time to time visiting the iconic Pomeranz bookshop. If you can’t visit the shop, don’t despair. You are just one click away from Reading With Pomeranz: the official Pomeranz Bookseller Newsletter, Sefirat Ha’Omer edition.  It’s short, seriously colourful and contains a couple of pieces on Avot. To take a look, just click here.