Avot 5:8 which lists the ten things—or is it 13, or even 14—that God is said to have created just before the onset of the first Shabbat in history. This anonymous teaching runs as follows:
עֲשָׂרָה דְבָרִים נִבְרְאוּ בְּעֶֽרֶב שַׁבָּת
בֵּין הַשְּׁמָשׁוֹת, וְאֵֽלּוּ הֵן: פִּי הָאָֽרֶץ, פִּי הַבְּאֵר, פִּי הָאָתוֹן,
הַקֶּֽשֶׁת, וְהַמָּן, וְהַמַּטֶּה, וְהַשָּׁמִיר, הַכְּתָב, וְהַמִּכְתָּב, וְהַלֻּחוֹת.
וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים: אַף אַף הַמַּזִּיקִין, וקִבְרוֹ שֶׁל מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּֽנוּ, וְאֵילוֹ
שֶׁל אַבְרָהָם אָבִֽינוּ. וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים: וְאַף צְבַת בִּצְבַת עֲשׂוּיָה
Ten things were created
at twilight of Shabbat eve. These are the mouth of the
earth [that swallowed Korach]; the mouth of [Miriam's] well; the mouth of
[Balaam's] donkey; the rainbow; the manna; [Moses'] staff; the shamir;
writing, the inscription and the tablets [of the Ten Commandments]. Some say
also the mazikim [spirits of destruction] as well as the burial place of
Moses and the ram of our father Abraham. And some say also tongs made with
tongs.
Ostensibly Pirkei Avot is a tractate that focuses on mussar
and middot—moral chastisement and the cultivation of good behavioural
characteristics. So how does R’ Ovadyah Bartenura, who asserts at Avot 1:1 that
this entire tractate is mussar and middot, handle our mishnah
here? In short, he doesn’t address the potential mussar and middot
content at all. Instead, he confines himself to discussing the items that the
mishnah lists. In this, he is not alone—and he is in good company. A similar
approach is taken in the commentary ascribed to Rashi. Rambam, Rabbenu Yonah and
the Meiri see this teaching as reflecting upon the relationship between
creation, nature and the potential for change, the Meiri adding that the first
ten allude to the principles of Jewish faith. In contrast R’ Chaim Volozhin, in
his mussar-rich Ruach Chaim, offers no thoughts on the topic.
Some commentators do address the mishnah’s moral content,
but in markedly different ways. The Alshich (Yarim Moshe), in a lengthy
analysis of all the listed items, offers no overall moral instruction but does
allude to separate moral messages that can be extracted from the inclusion of
some of them. R’ Shimshon Raphael Hirsch says that the items enumerated in it “have
the function of training man for his moral destiny”—but he gives no clue as to
the means by which this is to be achieved. R’ Abraham J. Twerski (Visions of
the Fathers) goes further. All these items, he states, were created only
because Adam sinned; had he not done so, they would not have been needed. If
Adam had only repented before the first Shabbat, it would have been as though
he had not sinned, and the mishnah shows that God waits for the last moment for
us to do teshuvah. This explanation has good Chasidic pedigree: it
seemingly originates in the Beit Aharon of R’ Aharon Perlow of Karlin.
R' Shlomo Toperoff makes an attempt to extract some sort of
moral from this Mishnah. Focusing on the fact that the listed creations are all
made at twilight at the point at which Shabbat comes in, he writes in Lev
Avot:
“[Twilight] is the doubtful
period which is neither day nor night. This teaches us to resolve our doubts
and difficulties prior to the Sabbath rest. When we reach the age of reason and
are assailed by doubts and vacillation, we should buttress our faith with an
implicit belief in Divine Providence which manifests itself in the constant
interplay of the miraculous workings of God throughout life”.
Fine words, but does this Mishnah truly “teach us to resolve
our doubts and difficulties prior to the Sabbath rest”? I have problems with
this conclusion.
First, we learn here what God
did, not what we do. It is frankly inconceivable that God had any doubt when
creating the listed items. An omniscient God who creates night and day and
distinguishes between, and who desists from work on the seventh day, will by
definition have done this work before the onset of the Shabbat without having
to face the challenge of doubt which assails us humans.
Secondly, the Tannaim are
notoriously sparing with their words. If the need for resolution of doubts is
the point of this mishnah, why is it necessary to list so many things? A single
example would suffice.
Thirdly, there is already a
Mishnah in the first chapter of Avot, where Rabban Gamliel teaches (at 1:16):
הִסְתַּלֵּק
מִן הַסָּפֵק
Stay away from doubt.
What purpose is served by
teaching here that one should resolve doubts before Shabbat when we are already
advised to avoid doubts whether we have them before Shabbat or at any other
time?
Fourthly, it is possible that R’
Toperoff is referring not solely to doubts in general but also, as may be the
case from his concluding comments, to doubts concerning “Divine Providence and
God’s miraculous workings throughout life”, If this is so, it is hard to see
how the mishnah’s choice of listed phenomena is an appropriate means of removing
the doubts of anyone who harbours uncertainties about God.
Is there an ideal one-size-fits-all answer to the question
“what’s the moral message of this mishnah?” Possibly not, but we should commend
those rabbis who at least make the effort to find one.
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