Rosh Chodesh Nissan: the New Year for buying books?

With Pesach just around the corner, we are all preoccupied with our preparations for the immersive experience of celebrating our being rescued from slavery and brought out of Egypt. But the end of Pesach brings with it an event which, though less dramatic, has a greater potential for changing our lives forever—the start of the traditional summer season for learning Pirkei Avot, combining constructive introspection with much needed self-improvement.

Many people enhance their enjoyment of Pesach by purchasing a brand-new Haggadah each year, offering fresh insights into the age-old story of our redemption. But this pleasure is a fleeting one. Once Pesach is over and its novel pleasures have been fully exploited, the new Haggadah—like the unsuccessful candidates for the heart of Achashverosh—is consigned to the harem of a dusty shelf where it joins its predecessors and awaits the recall that so infrequently comes.

Pirkei Avot is different. Most people do not buy a fresh commentary each year. Nor, in many cases, do they make much use of such commentaries as they may have, preferring to rely on the version printed in their regular siddurim which they may recite, with varying degrees of interest and attention, at the end of the afternoon prayer service on Shabbat.

Some recent titles

For those who do propose to buy a new Pirkei Avot commentary this year, here are a few recent options you may wish to consider:

Alshich on Avos: Timeless Wisdom on Pirkei Avos, translated by Rabbis Avie Gold and Nahum Spirn and distributed by Feldheim. This is a reprint of the original 2014 version, which has been unavailable for a while. The Alshich did not actually write a commentary on Avot, but a compilation of his thoughts on the tractate was assembled under the title Yarim Moshe by R’ Yirmeyahu Schlanker back in 1764. Anyone who has tried learning Yarim Moshe will know that it is tough work. In particular, where it follows the once popular style of commencing a commentary with a list of questions that the author proceeds to answer, in the Yarim Moshe the number of answers often differs from that of the questions and it is often unclear which of the answers relates to which question.  This lucid and helpful translation does not translate Yarim Moshe in its entirety but selects mishnayot of particular interest and focuses on them. 

Etermal Ethics from Sinai by Rabbi Yaakov Hillel, published by Ahavat Shalom, is not for the faint-hearted. Volume 1, covering the first perek in considerable depth, came out in 2021 and it has now been joined by a companion volume on perek 2. This is nearly 700 pages of cask-strength mussar, focusing on human foibles and frailties before offering some plain advice, drawn straight from impeccable sources, on how to correct them and amend one’s ways. R’ Hillel’s motives are pure—to raise our game and perfect our precious souls—but these desirable outcomes can only be achieved if the reader is prepared to put in the requisite effort.

Living Beautifully, by Gila Ross, published by Mosaica. I recently noted this book on Avot Today and I’m more than halfway through it. Unlike the lofty peaks addressed by R’ Hillel, Mrs Ross’s territory is closer to the foothills of Torah middot, gently nudging the busy and probably female reader to take at least the first few steps towards living a life that is not only objectively better but which feels good at the same time.  Incidentally, while both this book and R’ Yisroel Miller’s The Wisdom of  Avos are published by the same publisher, their English translations of the mishnayot are a bit different: that of Mrs Ross is a little gentler.

A couple more books on Avot have emerged over the past year or two, which I have yet to lay my hands on. They are:

The Eternal Wisdom of Pirkei Avos, by R’ Yechiel Spero and published in 2023 by ArtScroll. According to the publisher’s blurb: “…In The Eternal Wisdom of Pirkei Avos master teacher and storyteller Rabbi Yechiel Spero shares with us an insight, a story, and a takeaway for every mishnah in Pirkei Avos. By combining the brilliant understanding of the Tannaim with stories as contemporary as today, Rabbi Spero offers us a powerful way to bring the messages of Pirkei Avos into our daily challenges and experiences, enhancing our relationships and bringing new, joyful meaning to our lives”.

Foundation of Faith: A Tapestry of Insights and Illuminations on Pirkei Avot Based on the Thought and Writings of Rabbi Norman Lamm, by R’ Mark Dratch, published by OU Press. According to the blurb this work is “an outstanding compilation of selections from Rabbi Lamm’s oeuvre, all related to the ethical, philosophical, and theological themes of Pirkei Avot. Inspiring and profound, the commentary is a scintillating demonstration of Rabbi Lamm’s invaluable message for contemporary Jewry. … It is in Torah that God is most immediately immanent and accessible, and the study of Torah is therefore not only a religious commandment per se, but the most exquisite and the most characteristically Jewish form of religious experience and communion. For the same reason, Torah is not only legislation, Halachah, but …teaching, a term that includes the full spectrum of spiritual edification: theological and ethical, mystical, and rhapsodic”.

A few oldies

If these new titles don’t appeal to you, it’s worth digging around in the second-hand bookshops to see what you can find there. Here are some old Pirkei Avot books that I have recently found in second-hand shops:

Ohel Binyamin, by R’ Binyamin Beinush Rabiner, published by Moreshet in Tel Aviv in 1946—two years before the founding of the State of Israel. The pages are brittle and discoloured with age, so I shall be reading this volume with extra care. Can readers help me with information about this author? All I know is that he was also the author of Ner Binyamin and that he was rabbi of Schimberg in Courland, Latvia.

Mei Marom, by R’ Yaakov Moshe Charlap, published posthumously in Jerusalem in 1975 by Midrash Gavo’ah LeTalmud Bet Zevul. R’ Yaakov’s shul is only a few minutes’ walk from my apartment and I understand that he was quite a controversial figure—a man of uncompromising orthodoxy but a close friend of R’ Avraham Yitzchak Kook and a staunch believer that the foundation of the State of Israel was the beginning of the Redemption. This book, which is said to be chelek sheni (“part two”) covers the first three perakim of Avot in great depth, the final three in much less.  But where is part one, I wonder, and what does it cover?

When a Jew Seeks Wisdom: The Sayings of the Fathers, by Seymour Rossel, published by Behrman House in 1975. This book may not be to everyone’s taste since the majority of members of the Avot Today Facebook group who are known to me are not members of North America’s Reform community.  In reliance on Ben Zoma’s teaching at Avot 4:1 (“Who is wise? The person who learns from everyone”) I shall be taking a good look at this title to see if it has anything to offer me. If it does, I shall share it.

Coming soon

And now something for the future…

Ruchi Koval, author of Soul Construction, is crowdfunding the publication by Mosaica Press of Soul Purpose—a daily reader based on Pirkei Avot. She writes:

“Each day has a small, bite-sized piece of wisdom, followed by a daily goal. To my mind, it is a very accessible and practical (and sometimes personal) way to understand this ancient and beautiful wisdom.”.

To support this project, which it is hoped will be out by the end of 2024, click here for details.