Pirkei Avot

Sayings of the Fathers ( Pirke Avot in Hebrew פרקי אבות ) is a treatise of the Mishnah in order Nesikin and dealing with issues of ethics. Although the treatise is embedded in the structure of the Talmud - it is the ninth tractate in Seder Nesikin, the fourth of six "sections" or "orders" - there are significant differences to the rest of the Talmudic text. On the one hand, there are no further explanations in the form of Gemara, on the other hand, the section contains no halakhic rules governing Jewish life. The ethical maxims are recorded as statements of various rabbis in chronological order.

The Sayings of the Fathers are divided into six chapters, starting with the historical tradition of the Torah:

" Moses received the Torah at Sinai and handed it to the elders, the elders to the prophets Joshua, Joshua and the prophets, they handed the men of the great assembly. "

Particularly well known is the saying of Rabbi Hillel:

"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And as long as I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when? "

Also of Hillel the following is narrated:

" Not everyone who does a lot of trade, clever, and in a place where there are no people, one must strive to be human. "

The Sayings of the Fathers are found in both liberal and in Orthodox Jewish communities and are therefore part of the liturgy in many Siddurim ( prayer books ).

Text and Translation

• Karl Marti: ' Abot ( fathers ). Giessen 1927.
• Max Emanuel Stern: Pearl of the Orient and Core Ethics of the Fathers: a metric - rhymed translation of the Talmudic tractate, entitled Pirke Abot. Vienna 1840.
• Frank Ueberschaer; Michael Krupp: The Mishnah Avot ( Fathers). Jerusalem 2003. ISBN 965-7221-13-7