Mending our broken places -- a never-ending task

From the Jewish News of Northern California, 26 March 2021 ("We are imperfect — but commanded to do better" by Rabbi Niles Elliot Goldstein) comes the following quote:

As Pirkei Avot instructs, it is not up to us to complete the task of repairing our varied and innumerable broken places, but neither are we free to give up the lifelong, impassioned attempt.

What Rabbi Tarfon (Avot 2:21) actually says is somewhat less ambitious:

It is not incumbent upon you to finish the task, but neither are you free to absolve yourself from it. 

These words are themselves a sequel to the previous mishnah in which Rabbi Tarfon says:

The day is short, the work is much, the workers are lazy, the reward is great, and the Master is pressing.

Is Rabbi Goldstein's interpretation legitimate? In the context of his article, it certainly seems so. He writes of man's inherent imperfection and the need to improve oneself through the better deployment of one's freedom to exercise one's choice. Making the right decisions and then acting on them is definitely a life-long task from which there is neither relief nor let-up.

Overstating the principle

We all read and interpret the mishnayot of Avot in our own ways. That is only natural. However, we are duty-bound to respect the message that they are intended to convey, and shouldn't allow our personal feelings and sentiments to carry us away. 

I recently came across the proposition, in a letter to a Jewish online newspaper, that "The most precious gift of the Torah is peace", a proposition for which the cited authority was Avot 1:12.  In company with most other Avot-readers (and others), I am a great admirer of peace; I pray for it several times a day. However, I would hesitate to stretch the teaching in Avot 1:12 so far.  This mishnah urges readers to be like Aaron the High Priest: love peace, to pursue it, love one's fellows and bring them close to the Torah -- but that it is as far as it goes. 

The author of the letter may have been thinking of another mishnah -- "The Holy One, Blessed be He, found no better vessel in which to hold blessing for Israel than peace" (Rabbi Shimon ben Chalafta, Uktzin 3:12) -- but even that doesn't quite do the job!