Is there humour in Pirkei Avot? I think so. An anonymous mishnah (Avot 5:18) teaches us this:
אַרְבַּע מִדּוֹת בְּיוֹשְׁבִים לִפְנֵי חֲכָמִים: סְפוֹג,
וּמַשְׁפֵּךְ, מְשַׁמֶּֽרֶת וְנָפָה. סְפוֹג, שֶׁהוּא סוֹפֵג אֶת הַכֹּל. וּמַשְׁפֵּךְ,
שֶׁמַּכְנִיס בְּזוֹ וּמוֹצִיא בְזוֹ. מְשַׁמֶּֽרֶת, שֶׁמּוֹצִיאָה אֶת הַיַּֽיִן וְקוֹלֶֽטֶת
אֶת הַשְּׁמָרִים. וְנָפָה, שֶׁמּוֹצִיאָה אֶת הַקֶּֽמַח וְקוֹלֶֽטֶת אֶת הַסּֽוֹלֶת
There are four types [of student] among those
who sit before the sages: the sponge, the funnel, the strainer and the sieve.
The sponge absorbs everything. The funnel takes in at one end and lets it out
the other. The strainer lets the wine pass through but keeps the dregs. The
sieve ejects the coarse flour but keeps the fine flour.
Anyone who
has ever been involved in teaching will recognize these four characters since
they are found in every sector of the educational system, both Jewish and
non-Jewish.
My starting
point is the assumption that the funnel is like a student’s head: the teaching goes
in through one ear and out through the other, leaving no trace of knowledge or
understanding behind.
The most
popular commentators take pains to explain what a funnel is. The commentary
ascribed to Rashi translates it into Old French, while the Bartenura gives a
14-word account of its function. They, and Rabbenu Yonah, affirm that what goes
in goes straight out.
But does
the learning pass straight through or does it take a little while to do so?
According to Rambam, what goes into the student’s head enters easily because he
comprehends it, but then it fades, leaving not a trace behind. R’ Chaim
Volozhiner (Ruach Chaim) and the Meiri (Bet HaBechirah) agree: following
the Avot deRabbi Natan they consider that the student forgets what he has actually
learned.
Maharam
Shik points out that the student must retain something before he loses it. If
you look at a funnel, you will observe that it is wide at the top but very
narrow at the bottom. This is a metaphor for a student who learns everything,
but only forgets it little by little until it is all gone. But if this is
correct, our Mishnah is arguably overlapping with an earlier one (Avot 5:15) in
the same perek that cites the case of the student who is quick to learn and
slow to forget—a praiseworthy attribute.
R' Yisrael
Meir Lau (Yachel Yisrael) also notes that the top of the funnel has a
substantial capacity. The reason why the student retains nothing, however, is
that each new piece of knowledge displaces something that was apparently stored
in the student’s head.
On a less
serious note, I observe that the modern kitchen has other items and appliances,
many of which the rabbis of mishnahic times would not have known. So I shall
ask: what sort of talmidim correspond any of to the following items:
- Electric toaster
- Food mixer
- Pressure cooker
- Refrigerator
