Benny Silver
Spring 2014
Rabbi Becher 3rd period Tues+Thur

Pirkei Avot
Pirkei Avot also known as Milei Dchasidut is commonly found in most prayer books and is incorporated because of its ethical content. Many people have the custom of reading it on Shabbat afternoons between Pesach and Shavout as a way to prepare mentally and spiritually for the giving of the Torah. A modern approach to this idea was also given in class and that was to prepare us for the summer and whatever challenges may lie ahead.

The first Mishnah establishes the chain of authority and tradition back to Moshe at Har Sinai. This is done in order to show the reader that in fact there is a legitimate tradition of this oral law passed down from generation to generation and not just some made up information. I think this is an important introduction, as the reader wants to know that he is not just wasting his time and in fact he is learning the same Torah as the great Moshe received from Har Sinai.

Mishnah 1 – Moshe received the Torah from Sinai and handed it over to Joshua…
Rabbi Akiva has an interesting take on this first Mishnah that is different from many other sources I have heard. He goes ahead and states that the translation veyechaseihu can be translated as covered it rather than covered him. Thus the cloud was seen as covering the mountain rather than covering Moshe as he was receiving the Torah. Then the Mishnah continues and goes on to say on the seventh day “ he called to Moshe from the midst of the cloud”. However this seems very problematic to me, as Moshe was not standing alone but rather with all of Am Israel. I believe this was done to single out Moshe and was an indirect way of honoring Moshe in front of all of his people. Another question that arises was why did Moshe have to wait six days before he was able to receive the Torah? This was done so that Moshe