For many contemporary Jewish scholars, the Baraita at Avot 6:4 is challenging. It reads like this:
כַּךְ הִיא דַּרְכָּהּ
שֶׁל תּוֹרָה: פַּת בְּמֶֽלַח תֹּאכֵל, וּמַֽיִם בִּמְשׂוּרָה תִּשְׁתֶּה, וְעַל
הָאָֽרֶץ תִּישָׁן, וְחַיֵּי צַֽעַר תִּחְיֶה, וּבַתּוֹרָה אַתָּה עָמֵל, אִם
אַתָּה עֽוֹשֶׂה כֵּן, אַשְׁרֶֽיךָ וְטוֹב לָךְ, אַשְׁרֶֽיךָ בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה,
וְטוֹב לָךְ לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא
In translation: “This is the way of Torah: Bread with salt you shall eat;
water in small measure you shall drink; and on the ground you shall sleep. Live
a life of hardship and toil in Torah. If you do so, "You are fortunate and
it is good for you" (Psalms 128:2): you are fortunate in this world, and
it is good for you in the World to Come.
Happily,
this baraita is authored by an anonymous Tanna, so there is no-one to whom one
might complain that this is surely a disincentive to study Torah in an age in
which, in the Jewish world, affluence is endemic, obesity poses greater health
risks than malnutrition and material comforts are ubiquitous. However, for
those who are of a naturally ascetic mind-frame, this all makes perfect sense.
Food is a battleground between the spiritual and the material. By training
oneself to consume the barest minimum, one physically promotes the value of the
soul over that of the body. As for sleep, in midrash and in Jewish scholarly
tradition there is a powerful case for fighting this enemy. One who is asleep
is like one who is dead: it is impossible to learn Torah while held snugly in
the arms of Morpheus. Hardship too is to be cherished, since every difficulty
placed before a person’s quest to master Torah merely amplifies the reward to
be gained by overcoming it.
Bearing
this in mind, I was surprised to see a comment on this baraita in one of my
recent favourite commentaries, the Tiferet Tzion of R’ Yitzchak Ze’ev
Yadler. He explains that, when the Baraita
says “This is the way of Torah”, it means that one should be particular to
follow this way at the point at which one is travelling the path to attain one’s
Torah knowledge—but not when one has already merited to receive the crown of
Torah, as it were. On gaining Torah scholarship, he explains, it becomes
perfectly acceptable to sweeten one’s lifestyle and attend to one’s bodily needs
for the good of one’s soul.
I did enjoy this commentary, but still have some anxieties about it. One is that it does seem to be somewhat odds with the majority of interpretations of Avot 6:4. The other is that it would surely be a brave person who can indicate, by words or deeds, that he has somehow acquired enough learning to qualify for the crown of Torah and deserve his piece of cake.
