Pirkei Avos
Reading these moral chapters of truth helps us write our own moral chapters in life.
Starting after Passover, there is a custom to read a chapter of the “Ethics Of Our Fathers” every Shabbat up till Rosh Hashanah. Do you want to get rich fast? Are you looking for the key to wisdom? Then you have come to the right place. From the Golden Rule to the secret of friendship; from the ideas of government to the ideal time to get married; from whether one can one have Torah without Ethics to whether one can one have Ethics without Torah, the Ethics of our Fathers is a book that will leave you smiling, will leave you wiser, and, if you really heed it’s advice, it will leave you richer.
Rabbi Eliezer & Rabbi Elazar
Trick question: Who was greater? Rabbi Eliezer or Rabbi Elezar?
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Personal Politics
One must avail oneself of this government. But one must also deeply mistrust it, being aware of its self-bias.
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Perpetual Rebirth
Reality is nothing but the fact of G-d’s will to create it, as it is, in the present micro-moment.
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The Inner Ear
Asked Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov: Have you ever met someone who told you that he hears this echo? To what purpose, then, is this proclamation if no one hears it?
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Existence as Birth
One who sees the world born anew every fraction of time by an act of Divine creation, understands, in the most vivid and absolute manner possible, that “reality” can never be inconsistent with the Divine will.
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Wide Angle Lens
Ethics of Our Fathers teaches: If we view the whole person rather than focus on the parts that are wanting, we will surely find much that is meritorious.
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The Sixth Chapter
The story of the sixth chapter of the Ethics of Our Fathers expresses a truth that is fundamental to the Torah, and to the significance of Shavuot in particular.
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Judging with Double Standards
We must measure our own worth in terms of our real and concrete achievements, and view others in terms of their potential.
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The Workaholic
The Driven Workaholic says: “The day is short, the work is much, the workers are lazy, the reward is great, and the Master is pressing” (Ethics of the Fathers 2:15).
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Concentrated Light
As the example of the concentrated light of a laser beam demonstrates, it is precisely the “limitations” imposed on a force that amplify its potentials and enable its optimal realization.
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