So who is the real thief -- and why?

At Avot 2:8 Hillel reels off a list of things that either hurt or help us. It starts like this:

מַרְבֶּה בָשָׂר מַרְבֶּה רִמָּה, מַרְבֶּה נְכָסִים מַרְבֶּה דְאָגָה, מַרְבֶּה נָשִׁים מַרְבֶּה כְשָׁפִים, מַרְבֶּה שְׁפָחוֹת מַרְבֶּה זִמָּה, מַרְבֶּה עֲבָדִים מַרְבֶּה גָזֵל. מַרְבֶּה תוֹרָה מַרְבֶּה חַיִּים, מַרְבֶּה יְשִׁיבָה מַרְבֶּה חָכְמָה, מַרְבֶּה עֵצָה מַרְבֶּה תְבוּנָה, מַרְבֶּה צְדָקָה מַרְבֶּה שָׁלוֹם

The more the flesh, the more the worms; the more the possessions, the more the worry; the more the wives, the more the witchcraft; the more the maidservants, the more the sexual immorality; the more the manservants, the more the thievery; the more the Torah, the more the life; the more the study, the more the wisdom; the more the counsel, the more the understanding; the more the charity, the more the peace…

I only want to discuss one of these items: the more the manservants, the more the thievery. For the sake of framing it within its context, I have reproduced the relevant words with bold type.

The other items listed in this mishnah provide a context that suggests that we are talking about a man’s personal situation. In particular it addresses a man who is obese, rich, possessed of a plurality of wives and domestic servants. Slaves and servants were the norm in Biblical times; the Tanach and the Oral Torah make frequent references to them and lay down rules regarding them: the same word, עֶבֶד(eved), is used for both. The association of servants with theft must have been so obvious that Rambam, the Bartenura and the commentary ascribed to Rashi make no comment on this part of the mishnah at all, while Rabbenu Yonah characterises theft as the eved’s response to being beaten by his master.

Most of us don’t have manservants any more, or indeed any servants, so Hillel’s teaching really needs a spin if it is to speak to us directly.

R’ Yisroel Miller (The Wisdom of Avos) discreetly omits any comment on the entire Mishnah, possibly on account of the references to witchcraft and sexual immorality, R’ Yitz Greenberg (Sage Advice) does tackle the worms and the sexual immorality—but has nothing to say specifically about menservants. R’ Yisrael Meir Lau (Yachel Yisrael) suggests that there is little difference between maidservants and manservants, other than that the former are more inclined towards sexual immorality while the latter tend more towards offences of dishonesty.

Commentators with a background in psychology fly their own flags. R’ Reuven P. Bulka (Chapters of the Sages) discusses menservants as status symbols belonging to empire builders who wish to impress others, who are probably not your average Pirkei Avot reader, but he does allude to the boredom and emptiness felt by unnecessary household staff who may be driven to theft by the sheer vacuity of their existence. The same idea, of apparent status symbols masking a sordid reality, is echoed by Irving M. Bunim (Ethics from Sinai) who addresses all the negative excesses in global terms. R. Abraham J. Twerski (Visions of the Fathers) writes generally about the problems generated by excesses of every kind, also offering his personal view—which many of us may share on the basis of our own experience—that it can be far more gratifying to do things for oneself than have others doing them for you,

Most recently Gila Ross (Living Beautifully) neatly cites an early source so as to frame this mishnah within a modern context with which many of us are familiar—that of regular rather than domestic employment:

“An excess of staff or servants can lead to more thievery—and not just because they may steal from [the person who has many of them]. According to Rabbi Yosef ibn Nachmias, if someone employs staff above what he can afford, he may bring himself to questionable business practices to maintain a lifestyle that’s above and beyond what he can really handle”.

 This scenario is unlikely to have been at the forefront of Hillel’s mind 2,000 years ago, but his words provide a convenient peg on which to hang a useful piece of practical advice.

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