>>>  YOU ARE VIEWING A 200 LINE SAMPLE OF EBOOK# E06867  <<<

TITLE: PIRKE AVOT
AUTHOR: TRADITIONAL TEXT
EBOOK: E06867 (O'Briens Book Cellar)
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

  TRANSCRIBER'S COMMENTS

Where Hebrew letters appeared within the English text, these have been
transliterated and included in brackets.  In many cases the hebrew has
also been spelled out, thus:
   [tov (tet-vov-bet)].

A rare additional transcriber's note may be found within brackets [].

The source text contained only one comment in a bracket, that should
not be confused as a transcriber's note.  This is the word [Baden]
that appeared in the Bibliography.

Each [s] is the special character known as "section sign."

Where the source text referenced a page number within the same book,
the transcriber substituted a reference in brackets [] that will be
useful for readers of this e-text version.

The source book contained the complete Pirkei Avot, in Hebrew, with
vowels.  This has, of necessity, been omitted from the current
e-text document, which uses only Roman font.

Footnotes all appeared at the bottom of the page, separated by a line
from the main text, and printed in the same font and size as the main
text.  The transcriber has moved these footnotes to follow the
paragraph they supplement, and indented them.

At the end of this e-text, readers will find a section titled
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES which deals with issues such as accent marks.

Following this, readers will find a PAGE REFERENCE INDEX.  This
reference will help maintain the stability of references to this
book from outside sources.

END of TRANSCRIBER'S COMMENTS

 Library of Jewish Classics
 ==========================

 I. Leopold Zunz: The Sufferings of the Jews During the Middle Ages
 II. Hyman Hurwitz: Talmudic Tales
 III. "Pirek Abot": The Sayings of the Jewish Fathers

     LIBRARY OF JEWISH CLASSICS-III.
 ________________________________________

           The Sayings of the
             Jewish Fathers

             [pirkei avot]
              "PIRKE ABOT"
 ________________________________________

           Translated, with an
         Introduction and Notes

                  BY
       JOSEPH I. GORFINKLE, Ph.D.

               Author of
 "The Eight Chapters of Maimonides on Ethics"

                _______

           _SECOND EDITION_

 ________________________________________

              CONTENTS
   PREFACE
   INTRODUCTION
      Name
      Purpose
      Description
      Contents
      Language
      Development of Abot
      Abot in Liturgy
      Bibliography
   CHAPTER   I
   CHAPTER  II
   CHAPTER III
   CHAPTER  IV
   CHAPTER   V
   CHAPTER  VI
   HEBREW TEXT (Appendix)

         PREFACE

Notwithstanding the fact that there are many editions of the _Sayings
of the Jewish Fathers_, and that it has been translated innumerable
times in all modern tongues, no apology need be given for the
appearance of this little volume in the series of _Jewish Classics_.
The _Pirke Abot_ is indeed a classical bit of that ancient Jewish
classic, the _Mishnah_.

The translation in this edition is based largely upon that of Taylor,
in his _Sayings of the Jewish Fathers_, and upon the excellent version
of Singer, in his _Authorized Daily Prayer Book_.

This edition is intended mainly for popular reading, but it has been
thought wise to amplify the notes, especially with bibliographical
references, so that it may serve the purpose of a teacher's handbook,
and also be useful as a text-book for the higher grades of religious
schools and for study circles.  The references are to books that are
generally accessible, and, wherever possible, to books in English.
The notes are by no means intended to be exhaustive, but rather to be
suggestive.

It is the humble hope of the editor that this little book may be the
means of further popularizing the practical and, at the same time,
high-minded wisdom of the "Fathers"; that it may serve as an incentive
to a more detailed study of their philosophy of life, and that its
appearance may help us to lead in a revival of that most ancient and
praiseworthy custom of reading the _Pirke Abot_ in the house of
worship on the Sabbath, during the summer months.  Let him into whose
hands these sayings fall "meditate upon them day and night," for "he
who would be saintly must fulfil the dicta of the Fathers."

            JOSEPH I GORFINKLE.

Mt. Vernon, N. Y.
   February, 1913.

            INTRODUCTION

                NAME

_The Tractate Abot_ (_Massechet Abot_) is the ninth treatise of _The
Order_ or _Series on Damages_ (_Seder Nezikin_), which is the fourth
section of the _Mishnah_ (1).  It is commonly known in Hebrew as
_Pirke Abot_, _The Chapters of the Fathers_, and has also been termed
_Mishnat ha-Chasidim_, _Instruction for the Pious_, because of the
Rabbinic saying, "He who wishes to be pious, let him practise the
teachings of _Abot_" (2).  On account of the nature of its contents,
it is generally designated in English as the _Ethics of the Fathers_.
Taylor entitles his edition _Dibre Aboth ha-Olam_, Sayings of the
Fathers of the World_, and has as the English title, _Sayings of the
Jewish Fathers_.  Gustav Gottheil refers to the _Abot_ as the _Sayings
of the Pharisaic Fathers_ (3).  Its German title is generally _Die
Spruche der Vater_, and in French it is usually rendered _Chapitres_
or _Maximes des Peres_.

      (1) See _infra_, [Chapter V], n. 61.

      (2) _Baba Kamma_, 30a.  See Taylor, _Sayings of the Jewish
      Fathers_, p. 3.  Maimonides refers to this saying in the
      _Foreword_ of his _Eight Chapters_; see Gorfinkle, _The Eight
      Chapters_, etc., p. 34.

      (3) See _Sun and Shield_, p. 321 _et passim_.  See _infra_, n.
      8, which accounts for the use of "_Pharisaic_."

The use of the word _Abot_ (fathers), in the title, is of very ancient
date.  We can only guess at the reason for its being used, and,
consequently, there are various explanations for it.  Samuel de Uceda,
in his collective commentary, says that as this tractate of the
_Mishnah_ contains the advice and good counsel, which, for the most
part, come from a father, the Rabbis mentioned in it adopt the role of
"fathers," and are therefore so designated.  This explanation does
not, however, deter him from advancing another to the effect that this
treatise is the basis of all subsequent ethical and moral teachings
and doctrines, and the Rabbis are, in consequence, the "fathers" or
prototypes of all ethical teachers and moralists (4).  Loeb attributes
its use to the fact that the Rabbis of _Abot_ are the "fathers" or
"ancestors of Rabbinic Judaism" (5).  Hoffman states that the word
_abot_ means "teachers of tradition" (_Traditionslehrer_), and points
to the expression _abot ha-olam_ (_Eduyot_, I. 4), which, translated
literally, is "fathers of the world," but is used to designate the
most distinguished teachers, which is a true characterization of the
Rabbis of _Abot_ (6).  Taylor says in regard to the title, "It takes
its name from the fact that it consists to a great extent of the
maxims of the Jewish Fathers whose names are mentioned in the pages"
(7).  Hoffmann's seems the most acceptable explanation.

      (4) _Midrash Shemuel_ (ed. Warsaw, 1876), p. 6.  The _Midrash
      Shemuel_ is a collective commentary, first published in Venice
      in 1579, and which has since passed through six editions.  See
      p. 22, n. 21.

      (5) _La Chaine_, etc., p. 307, n. 1.

      (6) See Hoffman, _Seder Nesikin, Introd._, p. xx, and p. 258,
      n. 36.  In this passage of _Eduyot_, Hillel and Shammai are
      referred to as _abot ha-olam_; in _Yerushalmi Shekalim_, III,
      47b, Rabbi and Ishmael and Rabbi Akiba, and in _Yerushalmi
      Chagigah_, II, 77d, all the pairs of _Abot_ I are similarly
      designated.

      (7) Taylor, _loc. cit._

            PURPOSE

The original aim of _Abot_ was to show the divine source and authority
of the traditional law revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai, and to

<<<  END OF SAMPLE... (THE FULL EBOOK HAS 169133 TOTAL CHARACTERS)  >>>