More to say about saying less

Our previous post discussed Shammai’s advice that we should say a little but do a lot (Avot 1:15), an aphorism that parallels the popular proverb “actions speak louder than words”. This advice is not the only thing that Avot has to say on the topic. Later in the same chapter, at 1:17, Rabban Shimon the son of Rabban Gamliel teaches:

כָּל יָמַי גָּדַֽלְתִּי בֵּין הַחֲכָמִים, וְלֹא מָצָֽאתִי לְגוּף טוֹב מִשְּׁתִיקָה, וְלֹא הַמִּדְרָשׁ עִקָּר אֶלָּא הַמַּעֲשֶׂה, וְכָל הַמַּרְבֶּה דְבָרִים מֵבִיא חֵטְא

All my life I have been raised among the wise, and I have found nothing better for the body than silence. The essential thing is not study, but deed. And one who speaks excessively brings sin.

At first glance, this mishnah seems to echo the sentiment expressed by Shammai—but it does more than that. It praises both silence and action, and it cites excessive speech as a cause of sin.

This post takes a look at the final part of this teaching, that “one who speaks excessively brings sin”.

A preliminary point is that it is natural to assume that “speaking excessively” means “speaking excessively in relation to one’s deeds”—but that is not what the words say. At least in theory a person can speak too much but still demonstrate a great deal of activity. Does the performance of many good deeds justify, or even permit, an excess of verbiage? So far as I’m aware, this question remains unanswered. I invite readers to let me know if this is discussed anywhere.

Moving on to the third part of our mishnah, R’ Chaim Druckman cites an explanation by R’ Moshe Almosnino, presumably drawn from his Pirkei Moshe. This explanation ties the notion of excessive speak causing sin directly to Shammai’s instruction to say little but do a lot. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel relates both to the role of the teacher since it is teacher who should rein in his or her words or face the consequences.

The situation R’ Moshe Almosnino contemplates is where the teacher preaches lofty ideals and principles but can be seen to neglect them in his or her own personal life. It is here that we learn that the instruction to “don’t do what I do, do what I say” is a recipe for disaster. Particularly in fields such as mussar and fear of God, the teacher must be seen to walk the walk and talk the talk if credibility is to be maintained. If you teach fine morals during the day but go clubbing with your debauched and drunken friends at night, you will not only destroy your own good name and reputation. You will also, through your egregious hypocrisy, effectively invalidate everything you have taught your students up till now.

Outside the world of kodesh, I can think of a couple of examples. One concerns a school teacher who patiently explains to the children in his class all about the dangers of cigarette smoking, but is later spotted with a cigarette in his mouth while he was parking his car in the school playground. The second involves a driving instructor who, while clearly a capable driver, persists in driving in an unacceptable manner, saying: ”I can do this because I’ve passed my test. You can’t, because you’ll fail your test if you do”,

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