Kiddushin, Daf Peh Bet, Part 3
Introduction
Large portions of this mishnah (the last in the masechet) are not actually part of the Mishnah but were appended to it in later times, a not uncommon phenomenon in ends of tractates. However, we will explain the entire mishnah.
Most of the mishnah discusses appropriate professions for scholars, the topic of yesterday s mishnah as well. Whereas the mishnah begins by discussing those professions which are inappropriate because they might lead to sexual impropriety, it continues with professions that are inappropriate for other reasons. Finally, according to some rabbis, it is not proper for a sage to work at all. Rather he should spend his entire time learning Torah.
While reading the mishnah we should keep in mind that our attitudes towards certain occupations have radically changed over the past two thousand years. Also our opinions about the value of work in general have largely changed. I read this mishnah as an exhortation for a person to place a priority upon their spiritual life over their material wealth.
מתני׳ כל שעסקיו עם הנשים לא יתיחד עם הנשים ולא ילמד אדם את בנו אומנות הנשים
One whose business is with women must not be alone with women. And one should not teach his son a woman s trade.
A man shouldn t work in a profession where there will be many women around, lest they are left alone with women. Therefore a father should not teach his son a woman s profession. We should note that the reason that a man shouldn t engage in a woman s profession is not that it is not manly enough. Rather the reason is that such a profession will bring him too much into contact with women.
רבי מאיר אומר לעולם ילמד אדם את בנו אומנות נקיה וקלה ויתפלל למי שהעושר והנכסים שלו שאין אומנות שאין בה עניות ועשירות שלא עניות מן האומנות ולא עשירות מן האומנות אלא הכל לפי זכותו
Rabbi Meir says: one should always teach his son a clean and easy profession, and pray to Him to whom wealth and property belong. For a profession does not contain [the potential for] poverty and wealth, for poverty is not due to one s profession nor is wealth due to the profession, but all depends on merit.
Rabbi Meir teaches that there are two important aspects in choosing a profession. The first is that it be honest work, and the second that it not be overly taxing. Overly taxing work would prevent him from having enough time to study Torah. With regard to earning a living substantial enough to support one s needs, this is not a function of choice of profession but rather of merit earned by living a life of Torah and prayer. When learning these words I find that it helps to remember that professions were not generally the means to become rich during this period in history. A person became wealthy by being a landowner, and land was usually inherited. Choice of profession and hard work certainly would have made some difference, but not nearly as much as it does today. If one couldn t guarantee becoming wealthy in any case, Rabbi Meir says he might as well choose an honest profession that leaves him time to study Torah.
רבי שמעון בן אלעזר אומר ראית מימיך חיה ועוף שיש להם אומנות והן מתפרנסין שלא בצער והלא לא נבראו אלא לשמשני ואני נבראתי לשמש את קוני אינו דין שאתפרנס שלא בצער אלא שהורעתי מעשי וקפחתי את פרנסתי
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: have you ever seen a wild beast or a bird with a profession? Yet they are sustained without trouble. Now, were they not were created only to serve me, while I was created to serve my master: surely then I should make a living without trouble! But my evil acts have done me in and withheld my livelihood.
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar presents a naturalistic ideal of human welfare. Were people to return to a more innocent state, they could provide for themselves as do animals without trouble. Transgressions and misbehavior have caused human beings their current hardships. There is in this section an allusion to the sins of Adam and Eve. Part of Adam s curse was that he would have to work the land with great toil, and this curse was a direct result of his sin of eating of the Tree of Knowledge. I also read into these words an ecological message the more we corrupt the earth, the more difficult it will become for us to get from the earth that which we need. There is a lot we could learn from the animals when it comes to taking from our environment only what we need.
אבא גוריין איש צדיין אומר משום אבא גוריא לא ילמד אדם את בנו חמר גמל קדר ספן רועה וחנוני שאומנותן אומנות ליסטים
Abba Gurion a man of Sidon says in the name of Abba Guria: one should not teach his son [to be] a donkey-driver, camel-driver, wagon-driver, sailor, shepherd, or shopkeeper, because their profession is the profession of robbers.
Abba Gurion says that certain professions lead to thievery. The first four of these are professions which involve traveling and travel was dangerous in the ancient world. The problem is that these people may rob those whom they were hired to bring from one place to another. A shepherd was suspected of bringing his flocks to another person s field. Storekeepers were suspected of cheating their customers. (We can see that this opinion did not stop Jews throughout history from engaging in some of these professions.)
רבי יהודה אומר משמו החמרין רובן רשעים והגמלין רובן כשרין הספנין רובן חסידים טוב שברופאים לגיהנם והכשר שבטבחים שותפו של עמלק
Rabbi Judah says in his name: most donkey-drivers are wicked, while most camel-drivers are worthy men; and most sailors are pious. The best of doctors are destined for Gehenna, and the worthiest of butchers is Amalek s partner.
Rabbi Judah disagrees with Abba Gurion about the camel-drivers and sailors. Since these were professions that involved great danger, Rabbi Judah assumes that they would pray fervently to God for deliverance. In other words, being in dangerous situations makes people realize just how precarious life is, what a gift it is and that they should be thankful to God. Rabbi Judah adds that the best of doctors is going to end up in Gehenna in other words hell! To understand this we need to keep in mind that medicine in the ancient world was nothing like medicine is today. Often people who went to doctors would end up dying, perhaps even quicker than they would have otherwise. Being a butcher breeds cruelty, for the butcher must make himself insensitive to the animals pain.
רבי נהוראי אומר מניח אני כל אומנות שבעולם ואיני מלמד את בני אלא תורה שאדם אוכל משכרה בעולם הזה והקרן קיימת לו לעולם הבא ושאר כל אומנות אינן כן כשאדם בא לידי חולי או לידי זקנה או לידי יסורין ואינו יכול לעסוק במלאכתו הרי הוא מת ברעב אבל התורה אינה כן אלא משמרתו מכל רע בנערותו ונותנת לו אחרית ותקוה בזקנותו בנערותו מהו אומר (ישעיהו מ, לא) וקוי ה’ יחליפו כח בזקנותו מהו אומר (תהלים צב, טו) עוד ינובון בשיבה וכן הוא אומר באברהם אבינו (בראשית כד, א) ואברהם זקן וה’ ברך את אברהם בכל מצינו שעשה אברהם אבינו את כל התורה כולה עד שלא ניתנה שנאמ’ (בראשית כו, ה) עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי וישמור משמרתי מצותי חוקותי ותורותי
Rabbi Nehorai says: I will abandon every profession in the world and I will not teach my son anything but Torah, for a person enjoys its reward in this world while the principal remains for him in the world to come. But all other professions are not so; for when a man comes to sickness or old age or suffering and cannot engage in his profession, he must die of starvation, whereas the Torah is not so, for it guards him from all evil in his youth and gives him a future and hope in his old age. Of his youth what is said? But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength (Isaiah 40:31). Of his old age what is said? They shall still bring forth fruit in old age (Psalms 92:15). And it is also said of our father Abraham, And Abraham was old . . . And the Lord blessed Abraham with everything (Genesis 24:1). We find that Abraham our father observed the whole Torah before it was given, for it is said, Because Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws (Genesis 26:5).
Rabbi Nehorai s statement is perhaps as extreme of a statement as can be found on the issue of work versus Torah study. It is not a vision that many rabbis shared, at least not in a practical sense. Nevertheless, there are some elements that in my opinion strike a deep chord. The first is that in a society without a system to provide for its elderly and in which people cannot save up large sums of money, a life of work does not leave one with enough to live on later in life. While there are some safeguards that exist today that didn t exist in the ancient world, care of the elderly is still one of the most difficult and important issues facing society. The second is that when a person is older, nearer to the end of life, they usually judge their lives not based on how much work they have done, but what good deeds they have done, how well they have treated their families and what kind of a spiritual/moral legacy they will leave behind. I think that that is partly what Rabbi Nehorai is speaking about: when a person is older, all the work they did will not matter as much as the quality of the lives they led, and for the rabbis, the quality of life was measured by the amount of Torah studied.
The mishnah, the tractate and the entire seder end with a midrash on Abraham. Abraham s strength stood for him until very late in life. Indeed, he had Isaac when he was nearly 100 years old!
The final midrash on Abraham states that he kept the whole Torah before it was given. In this context, this means that Abraham s blessing came to him because of his observance of the Torah and not merely because of his faith in God (as the Christians taught).