Licence to hate?

Rabbi Asher Weiss is one of the most popular and respected of contemporary Torah scholars, and rightly so. His opinions are highly sought-after and greatly valued. I have recently been reading his two-volume exegesis on Avot, Rav Asher Weiss on Avos, and was intrigued as to what his take on this fascinating segment of the Oral Law might be.

I think that it is fair to say that, on the whole, the reader will not be treated to a wide variety of personal opinions. Rav Weiss’s objective is to lay Avot open as a platform for the teachings of the Tannaim who composed it and of a selection of the most widely followed commentators who discussed it, rather than to use it—as I try to do—as a means of reflecting how ancient morality plays out in modern times, or as a soapbox from which to promulgate one’s personal prejudices and preferences.

Because Rav Weiss has chosen to follow this path, I tend to place great significance on those relatively infrequent occasions when he chooses to depart from it. One such departure is in his commentary on Avot 3:18 (it’s 3:15 in his book) in which Rabbi Akiva teaches this:

חָבִיב אָדָם שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְּצֶֽלֶם, חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַֽעַת לוֹ שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְּצֶֽלֶם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: כִּי בְּצֶֽלֶם אֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה אֶת הָאָדָם. חֲבִיבִין יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁנִּקְרְאוּ בָנִים לַמָּקוֹם, חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַֽעַת לָהֶם שֶׁנִּקְרְאוּ בָנִים לַמָּקוֹם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: בָּנִים אַתֶּם לַייָ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם. חֲבִיבִין יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁנִּתַּן לָהֶם כְּלִי חֶמְדָּה, חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַֽעַת לָהֶם שֶׁנִּתַּן לָהֶם כְּלִי חֶמְדָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: כִּי לֶֽקַח טוֹב נָתַֽתִּי לָכֶם, תּוֹרָתִי אַל תַּעֲזֹֽבוּ

Beloved is man, for he was created in the image [of God]; it is a sign of even greater love that it was made known to him that he was created in that image, as it says, "For in the image of God, He made man" (Bereishit 9:6). Beloved are Israel, for they are called children of God; it is a sign of even greater love that it has been made known to them that they are called children of God, as it is stated: "You are children of the Lord your God" (Devarim 14:1). Beloved are Israel, for they were given a precious article; it is a sign of even greater love that it has been made known to them that they were given a precious article, as it is stated: "I have given you a good purchase; My Torah, do not forsake it" (Mishlei 4:2).

On this lengthy mishnah Rav Weiss goes off-piste for a moment and focuses sharply, if discreetly, on the world we live in today. He writes:

“The question was posed by someone who employs a non-Jewish manager in one of his businesses. This fellow serves him with great devotion and efficiency. Naturally, the employer feels gratitude and love toward this employee. But his conscience is disturbing him, and he asks whether it is permitted to love this non-Jew or is it perhaps a mitzvah to hate him.

Before you ask whether it is permisslble to love a non-Jew, you should first ask whether it is actually a mitzvah to love him. For hating anyone—even a non-Jew—is a shameful character trait.

I am aware that among those keepers of the faith, those who are exacting in the performance of mitzvos great and small alike, the idea has taken root that we should hate the non-Jews, and that anyone who says otherwise is suspected to be a ‘modernizer’ worthy of scrutiny. However, I will cite two reliable and holy witnesses who have testified otherwise”.

Rav Weiss invokes in support of his position the authority of Rav Chaim Vital and Rabbeinu Elimelech of Lizhensk, following which he delves back into the Talmud Yerushalmi, where the commentary of the Korban HaEidah reminds us of the primacy of the principle that all humans come from the same father.

In an era where hatred, suspicion and distrust of the other seem to have become so deeply and indelibly ingrained in the human psyche, it is refreshing and welcome to see Rav Weiss endorse so positive an attitude.

For comments and discussion of this post on Facebook, click here.

When hatred has nothing to do with hating

Pirkei Avot has plenty to say about love, respect and kindness to others. In contrast, through the entire tractate, the word sina, “hate”, is mentioned only once when Shamayah says (at 1:10):

אֱהוֹב אֶת הַמְּלָאכָה וּשְׂנָא אֶת הָרַבָּנוּת, וְאַל תִּתְוַדַּע לָרָשׁוּת

“Love work, hate mastery over others, and avoid intimacy with the government”.

What does the verb sina mean? English translations offer us several synonyms:

·         Abhor (R’ Eliyahu Touger);

·         Despise (ArtScroll Publications; R’ Yaakov Hillel; R’ Avie Gold and R’ Nahun Spirn).

·         Hate (Hirsch Pirkei Avos; Lehmann-Prins Pirkei Avoth; R’ Lord Jonathan Sacks; R’ Chanoch Levi; R. Travers Herford).

·         Loathe (chabad.org; Me’am Lo’ez).

Commentators are unanimous in their conclusion that this sinah is to be directed at the holding of office as such, not at those people who hold it. There are other mishnayot that deal with them: in short, we should pray for the welfare of the government (3:2) but should remain cautious when it comes to dealing with those who hold the reins of power (2:3).

R’ Anthony Manning challenges the assumption that sinah means hatred or indeed any of the words listed above. In Reclaiming Dignity, pp 261-3, he argues forcefully that the word has been misconstrued. It does not indicate hate; rather, it means “rejection”.

R’ Manning bases his case on the mitzvah of lo tisna (Leviticus 91:17). Usually rendered “You must not hate your brother in your heart”, it really means that you must not reject him. In Tanach it is not sinah that means hate but sitmah. On this basis, we understand that God did not view Leah as being “hated” as much as rejected—Jacob’s second-best option (Genesis 29:31).

If sina in Shamayah’s mishnah means “reject”, we see that his teaching dovetails neatly with that of R’ Nechunya ben Hakanah at Avot 3:6. There he explains that there is a negative correlation between taking up civic and governmental responsibilities and learning Torah, the implication being that one should reject positions of authority if one wishes to enhance one’s Torah commitment.

For comments and discussion on this post on Facebook, click here.

A vanishing hatred

Ben Azzai teaches an important pair of principles at Avot 4:3:

אַל תְּהִי בָז לְכָל אָדָם וְאַל תְּהִי מַפְלִיג לְכָל דָּבָר, שֶׁאֵין לָךְ אָדָם שֶׁאֵין לוֹ שָׁעָה, וְאֵין לָךְ דָּבָר שֶׁאֵין לוֹ מָקוֹם

In English: “Do not scorn any man, and do not be disdainful of any thing, for there is no man who does not have his hour, and no thing that does not have its place”.

This post discusses the first of these principles.

According to Rambam and Rabbenu Yonah, the point Ben Azzai makes is that, if you do not underestimate another person, even someone of no account, he will have no reason to hate you. Who might this person be? It could be someone who currently has no feelings towards you or (according to Me’iri) someone who hates you already. Either way, even if this person is utterly insignificant, don’t take his potential for hatred lightly since it may be in his power to harm you. Indeed, as all three of these eminent commentators accept, if you do take this person seriously, you may find that it is also in his power to benefit you.

Though there are some outliers (Maharal’s Derech Chaim, for example, links this teaching to the unique mazal of each individual), this understanding, shared by Bartenura and the commentary attributed to Rashi, appears to have shaped the consensus view of the meaning of Ben Azzai’s teaching from the days of the Rishonim until relatively recently, when it has been more extensively explored and the focus on the notion of personal animosity abandoned.

Is this drift away from the traditional explanation justified? Let us first see how it works. Examples of later, non-traditional approaches that violate neither the meaning of the words of the mishnah nor the ethos of Pirkei Avot include the following:

• 
  “The only way to earn esteem and respect for yourself is to esteem and respect other people, for in that way you are showing respect to your Creator.  … [A] man who is a criminal or a fool is a human being just like you and, if you cannot find anything to say in his praise, then rather say nothing, but you have no right to despise him…” (The Lehmann-Prins Pirkei Avoth);
  
  
• “Everything in life has its purpose, every person has a potential meaning (sic) possibility, however distant and remote it might seem from the superficial view. It is obligatory upon each individual to see the good and the potential of other individuals” (Rabbi Reuven P. Bulka, Chapters of the Sages);
  
  
• “[I]f everyone and everything that exists has time and space by Divine decree, in a universe governed by His will, each person, creature, and object is automatically due a certain respect and reverence” (Irving M. Bunim (Ethics from Sinai);
  
  
• “Each person and each object has value, even if that value is not always manifest. Each person, at some point in life, may rise to greatness…” (Rabbi Marc D.Angel, The Koren Pirkei Avot).

What then has happened to the notion of taking account of the hatred of others and the possibility of being harmed by them? Has this idea become old-fashioned and in need of replacement by a more relevant explanation of Ben Azzai’s words? Or do we now live within a society in which the need to avoid being dismissive of others and to underestimate their potential for hatred has become so deeply self-understood that it no longer requires to be taught?

Maybe the real reason is that, being uncomfortable at the thought that our attitude towards others might cause them to hate us, we prefer to read a more congenial message into Ben Azzai’s admonition.