The will to exercise one's will-power

Pirkei Avot is not short of wildlife. Apart from scorpions, snakes and three different species of worm we find four popular inhabitants of the world of simile all listed together at Avot 5:23 when Yehudah ben Teyma opens his teaching with the following comparisons:

הֱוֵי עַז כַּנָּמֵר, וְקַל כַּנֶּֽשֶׁר, רָץ כַּצְּבִי, וְגִבּוֹר כָּאֲרִי, לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹן אָבִֽיךָ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמָֽיִם

Be as bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer and strong as a lion to do the will of your Father in Heaven.

There is no shortage of rabbinical explanation as to why these particular creatures have been chosen, or of the precise significance of such a creature being “bold”, “light”, “swift” or “strong”. These qualities are clearly not to be taken literally. We can see this from the fact that, of the four, the “swift” deer is actually the slowest. This explains why it gets eaten by lions, leopards and other animals that chase it.

Why do we need two big cats? Let’s start with the lion, which is the role-model for gevurah.  This word literally means “strength”. In the context of Avot it means a particular kind of strength: self-discipline, the strength of character to control oneself (Avot 4:1). Yehudah ben Teyma’s lion can therefore be seen as a metaphor for self-control.

Where does that leave the leopard, who stands for being az (bold, brazen)? This metaphor can also be taken as a pointer in the direction of inner strength. If gevurah is the actual exercise of personal strength to control one’s instincts and urges in any given situation, being az means having the strength to decide that one wants to exercise self-control—even if it is not yet the opportunity to do so. So the leopard must face down all the attractive options to self-discipline, to recognise its importance and to cultivate the importance of exercising it. It is then the task of the lion to practice it when trials and temptations come its way.

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Based on an idea expressed in Rabbi Reuven Melamed, Melitz Yosher al Pirkei Avot.

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A tangible silence

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel teaches, at Avot 1:17:

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

Translation: “In all my days I have been brought up among the wise, and I have found nothing better for the body than silence. The essential thing is not study, but action. And anyone who talks too much brings on sin”.

The main message of Rabban Shimon is clear: it is good to be sparing with one’s speech and to prioritise the performance of good deeds even when one is committed to the study of Torah. However, there is still scope for questions and discussion.

Two issues spring out at us. The more obvious one arises from the curious reference to “the body”. Would not Rabban Shimon’s message be just as clear if those words were omitted? And why should anything as intangible as human speech be thought to have an impact on a person’s corporeal wellbeing?

The other issue arises from the inclusion of the first part of Rabban Shimon’s teaching in Avot, when the final part cautions against excessive verbiage and the redactor has also included other teachings about the need to limit one’s speech (Avot 1:5, 1:11, 3:17).

An explanation that both accounts for the reference to “body” and vindicates the inclusion of the apparently repetitive teaching in this Mishnah is offered by the Sefat Emet (as brought by Rabbi Gedaliyahu Schorr, Or Gedaliyahu, parashat Behar). According to this explanation, when Rabban Shimon refers to silence that is good for the body, he is referring to a person’s need to silence the internal voice that advocates for those urges and desires that relate to one’s physicality. How does one silence this internal voice one? By subjugating it through the force of one’s neshamah, one’s spiritual strength.

If one accepts this view, the mishnah teaches of Rabban Shimon’s own personal experience of exercising self-discipline regarding the body. This presumably means curbing excessive eating, drinking and other pleasures that are permitted but potentially harmful when there is over-indulgence. It does not suggest that silence is better than any form of speech; nor does it overlap with the other mishnayot concerning the desirability of limiting one’s verbal output.

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