Description: Chapter 1 - 16
Pirkei Avos
Chapter 1 – 16
The next Mishnah says:
שמעון בן שטח אומר הוי מרבה לחקור את העדים והוי זהיר בדבריך שמא מתוכם ילמדו לשקר
Shimon ben Shetach said, interrogate the witnesses extensively, be careful with your choice of words, because they can utilize them to lie.
This Mishnah as well, seems to be instructions to a Beis Din, a court of law, both to be sure to ask many questions to the witnesses, and to be careful not to give the litigants ideas how they could lie or argue the case in a way that would force their win, unfairly. Chazal tell us that Shimon ben Shetach’s own son was put to death by Beis Din, as a result of them accepting false testimony. That story was a result of people bent on revenge, who hired and trained false witnesses enough to fool a Beis Din of tzaddikim.
What can we learn from this Mishnah?
I saw in a sefer called Imrei Avraham, who bases this on the Peleh Yoeitz, that this Mishnah refers to our own personal ‘dinei Torah,’ when we qualify and justify our actions and deeds, based on our testimony. He says, sometimes a person wishes they could learn more, but simply don’t have the time due to work and family pressures. Do they learn when they do have time? Do they learn on Shabbosos? Their personal testimony is that they don’t have time – but we have to interrogate our ‘eidim’ and see if their testimony holds up to scrutiny! Sometimes a person knows that they can’t possibly dedicate so much time to learning, and they tell themselves, if only they had the time! But do they try to have their children dedicate their lives to learning? Are they wishing that for their own family? These are personal eidim and justifications which we have to consider.
In addition, we have to consider, that our actions aren’t just for ourselves, because there are many eyes watching us. Our own children, our neighbors and friends, they all see what we do, and they learn from us. We have to be careful with our justifications and our deeds, because other people will follow suit, and piggyback on our path in life. We might have made justifications which we are comfortable with, but when we see others emulating our choices, we suddenly realize that this was not a good move! That is what the Mishnah is hinting at when it says, be careful with your words, because they might learn falsehood from them!
Pirkei Avos
Chapter 1 – 16
The next Mishnah says:
שמעון בן שטח אומר הוי מרבה לחקור את העדים והוי זהיר בדבריך שמא מתוכם ילמדו לשקר
Shimon ben Shetach said, interrogate the witnesses extensively, be careful with your choice of words, because they can utilize them to lie.
This Mishnah as well, seems to be instructions to a Beis Din, a court of law, both to be sure to ask many questions to the witnesses, and to be careful not to give the litigants ideas how they could lie or argue the case in a way that would force their win, unfairly. Chazal tell us that Shimon ben Shetach’s own son was put to death by Beis Din, as a result of them accepting false testimony. That story was a result of people bent on revenge, who hired and trained false witnesses enough to fool a Beis Din of tzaddikim.
What can we learn from this Mishnah?
I saw in a sefer called Imrei Avraham, who bases this on the Peleh Yoeitz, that this Mishnah refers to our own personal ‘dinei Torah,’ when we qualify and justify our actions and deeds, based on our testimony. He says, sometimes a person wishes they could learn more, but simply don’t have the time due to work and family pressures. Do they learn when they do have time? Do they learn on Shabbosos? Their personal testimony is that they don’t have time – but we have to interrogate our ‘eidim’ and see if their testimony holds up to scrutiny! Sometimes a person knows that they can’t possibly dedicate so much time to learning, and they tell themselves, if only they had the time! But do they try to have their children dedicate their lives to learning? Are they wishing that for their own family? These are personal eidim and justifications which we have to consider.
In addition, we have to consider, that our actions aren’t just for ourselves, because there are many eyes watching us. Our own children, our neighbors and friends, they all see what we do, and they learn from us. We have to be careful with our justifications and our deeds, because other people will follow suit, and piggyback on our path in life. We might have made justifications which we are comfortable with, but when we see others emulating our choices, we suddenly realize that this was not a good move! That is what the Mishnah is hinting at when it says, be careful with your words, because they might learn falsehood from them!