אַל תְּבַקֵּשׁ גְּדֻלָּה לְעַצְמְךָ, וְאַל תַּחְמֹד כָּבוֹד, יוֹתֵר
מִלִּמּוּדְךָ עֲשֵׂה, וְאַל תִּתְאַוֶּה לְשֻׁלְחָנָם שֶׁל מְלָכִים, שֶׁשֻּׁלְחָנְךָ
גָדוֹל מִשֻּׁלְחָנָם, וְכִתְרְךָ גָדוֹל מִכִּתְרָם, וְנֶאֱמָן הוּא בַּעַל מְלַאכְתְּךָ
שֶׁיְּשַׁלֵּם לְךָ שְׂכַר פְּעֻלָּתֶךָ.
Do not seek greatness for yourself, and do not desire
status. More than your study, do. And do not desire the tables of kings since
your table is greater than their table and your crown is greater than their
crown. And your Employer is trustworthy to pay you the wages of your labor.
The above Mishna is generally understood as
counseling against ambition and encouraging a person to be happy with what they
have. The Bartenura understands not seeking greatness as not chasing after
authority. Following Maimonides, he remarks concerning the phrase not to desire
status as meaning not to become conceited about one’s knowledge of Torah
because it creates the impression that it was not done with pure intent. Maimonides
also comments on the phrase “your table is greater than their table” saying
that this refers to the remuneration received for learning Torah.
The commentary by Mordechai Dov Rabinovitz
on the Rambam explains this first by slightly varying the grammatical rendition
of the mishna by saying you should not desire status in excess of your
learning. He then remarks that the intent is that other prestige should not be
greater than the prestige of the learning itself, and it is not fitting to
desire additional prestige that is in excess of that which the knowledge has
obtained. Similarly the Lechem Hashamayim understands the mishna as saying one
should not desire status in excess of what was achieved in the learning. He
explains this would mean more status than that which is typically received for
a person’s level of scholarship. He continues that anything that is addition in
fact detracts and brings an ancient parable that an ant who sought horns lost
his ears. He concludes that the honor that normally comes from his knowledge, a
person should not abandon and in fact should cling to it. He then quotes the
sages that a man should never deviate from his normal rank.
One of the messages of the mishna is that
things like greatness and prestige are not in and of themselves worthy
objectives. Never the less they are still desirable especially if they come as
a result of a person’s wisdom. Magnifying them only serves to damage and
denigrate. However, to the extent that they are consistent with legitimate
accomplishments and abilities, they should not be surrendered.
In regards to the table in the Holy Temple
the Cli Yakar comments on the verse, “you will plate it with pure gold and make
a gold rim around it.”, (Exodus 25:23). He explains that everything that Hashem
prepares for him to eat comes from the table that is above and one should
imagine in his soul that this is as if he is a king that has been crowned with
the trait of sufficiency. The meaning is that G-d gives him everything he
needs.
This is like Maimonides in his classic work
the Mishna Torah:
“Free will is granted to all men. If one desires to turn himself to the path of good and be righteous, the choice is his. Should he desire to turn to the path of evil and be wicked, the choice is his . . . A person should not entertain the thesis held by the fools among the nations of the world and the many primitive among Israel that, at the time of a man's creation, The Holy One, blessed be He, decrees whether he will be righteous or wicked. This is untrue. Each person is fit to be righteous like Moses, our teacher, or wicked, like Jeroboam. Or he may be wise or foolish, merciful or cruel, miserly or generous, and likewise for all other character traits. There is no one who compels him, sentences him, or leads him towards either of these two paths. Rather, he, on his own initiative and decision, tends to the path he chooses,” (Laws of Repentance 5:1-2)
The point seems to be that a
person needs to know what his work is and what the work of somebody else is.
Likewise he needs to recognize his legitimate place and the place of others.
With this comes recognition of individual duties, privileges, joys, and
aggravations. Power, possessions, and status are flashy, as a result it is easy
to err and chase after things that rightfully belong to others and ignore the
gifts that a person can acquire with the proper amount of effort. This Mishna
comes to tell us that the ultimate determinant is what a person learns and how
he puts his knowledge into action. If a person has this trait they will not
chase after greatness and status nor envy the lot of the rich and powerful, which
in fact does them no good. Rather they will see the ample gifts they have
received from heaven and how fitting they really are.
לע"נ
הדוד לייב הערש בן אהרן ז"ל נלב"ע יז תמוז תשמ"ב
העלון ניתן לקבל בדואר אלקטרוני וגם באתר
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