Thread by @Delafina777

I keep seeing this quote going around. It's a great quote! But it's not actually from the Talmud. It's something a bit more complicated, and quite lovely, and credit should go where credit is due. (Thread.)

So first off, the text it's referencing is from Pirkei Avot, which is part of the Mishnah, a collection of Jewish legal discussions, stories, etc. The Talmud is commentary on the Mishnah, essentially.

Pirkei Avot is a collection of wisdom from the rabbis whose debates and stories form the Mishnah, and it's where a lot of the famous quotes about Jewish ethical principles come from.

E.g. "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?" or the origin quote for Superman, "The world stands on three things: justice, truth, and peace." (They changed "peace" to "the American Way," go figure.)

The language of the Mishnah/Talmud is highly stylized, and dense/allusive/metaphorical, so unless you've spent a lot of time studying it, and know the conventions, it can be hard to pull out what it's actually saying.

Here's the quote that that meme is referencing (Pirkei Avot 2:15-16):

The quote in the meme is actually from this book: amazon.com/Wisdom-Jewish-…

So, does that mean that this supposed ancient wisdom isn't, well, ancient/authentic?

I'd argue, quite to the contrary, that while it's a translation that definitely isn't word-for-word, it's actually a very good interpretive translation and completely in keeping with the text.

In addition to being a rabbi, teacher, and essayist, the author, Rami Shapiro, is also a poet, and sometimes it takes the principles of good poetry to make ancient texts accessible.

And while what Shapiro does is definitely a modern reading, it's also steeped in tradition. If you look at the direct quote I posted above, you can see where the "you are not obligated to complete the work" part comes from. That's one of the most famous quotes from Pirkei Avot.

The "do justly, now" triad is from Micah 6:8. The rabbis of the Mishnah and Talmud assumed intimate familiarity with the entire Tanakh/Hebrew Bible, so they often make oblique references to verses and assume the reader will know the verse they're hinting at.

The passage from Micah is one of the most famous elucidations of what the work of repairing the world, tikkun olam, consists of. So Shapiro adding it here isn't really an interpretive stretch--it's more just making the implicit explicit.

And that beautiful opening? "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief"? It's definitely a bit of poetic license, but I'd say that's the point of "the day is long and the work is much."

Anyway, I'd highly recommend the book. The entire thing is extraordinarily beautiful, a deeply personal engagement with the text, and a wonderful coaxing forth of meaning from a text that normally has a high barrier to entry.

Here's a sampling of some of my other favorite translations/interpretations:

Everything we are is a gift.
Everything we have is given.

Know whence all things come
and be not dismayed at their passing. (3:8)

And do not consider yourself evil.
There is no one without good.
There is no one without evil.
Each moment, you are called upon to choose what you shall bring into the world.
The choice is yours. So, too, the consequences. (2:17)

Greed,
sourness,
and hatred for people
exclude you from the world. (2:15)

Mistake words for Reality,
and insight falls to cleverness,
Truth falls to opinion,
and reason becomes rationalization. (2:14)

Study is not the goal, doing is.
Do not mistake "talk" for "action."
Pity fills no stomach.
Compassion builds no house.
Understanding is not yet justice. (1:17)

Anyway, it's a lovely book and unfortunately out of print, but if you encounter a copy, grab it. :-)