An Anabaptist Rabbi

Paradoxically, one of the best ways to improve one’s biblical Hebrew is to read non-biblical Hebrew. The journalistic title of this post is my way to make sure that Jim West and Michael Westmoreland-White read it.

שמעיה ואבטליון קבלו מהם

שמעיה אומר

אהב את המלאכה

ושנא את הרבנות

ואל תתודע לרשות 

Pirkei Avot 1:10

Shemaiah and Avtalyon received [the Torah] from them.

Shemaiah says:

Love work,

hate authority,

don’t get friendly with the government.

The translation is that of Neusner, in this case, hard to improve on (Jacob Neusner, Torah from Our Sages: Pirke Avot. [pointed Hebrew text included] Translation and Explanation; Dallas: Rossel Books, 1983; p. 31). 

Shemaiah and Avtalyon constitute the fourth of the זוּגוֹת zugot or ‘pairs’ of rabbis in the chain of tradition.  S. and A. were said to be converts, or sons of converts. This was in the days when Judaism was, to an extent not seen today, a missionary religion (cf. Matthew 23:15). I know I am opening up a can of worms by suggesting this. Commenters are free to link to others with a different point of view, or cite data that disconfirms my statement.

The same text with vowels (those of Hanokh Yalon in the Albeck Mishnah) is provided below the fold. 

 שְׁמַעְיָה וְאַבְטַלְיוֹן קִבְּלוּ מֵהֶם

שְׁמַעְיָה אוֹמֵר

אֱהֹב אֶת־הַמְּלָאכָה

וּשְׂנָא אֶת־הָרַבָּנוֹת

וְאַל תִּתְוַדַּע לָרָשׁוּת

Comments

[Peter Kirk]

I guess you have been looking at Tim Chesterton's blog An Anabaptist Anglican. But as far as I can tell Rabbi Shemaiah seems to show only one of the distinctives of Anabaptism, keeping his distance from the government. But your title caught my attention, if not Jim's and Michael's.

[John Hobbins]

I have; Tim's is a fine blog.

But isn't the work ethic another trait of Anabaptists? I think it was an Anabaptist who once told me:

"There is no rest for the wicked -
and the righteous don't need any."

Like many aphorisms, a bit one-sided to be sure.

[Jim]

John I always read your posts. No need to mention the anti-Zwinglian foes of divine revelation and promoters of dilatory wickedness.
;-)

[John Hobbins]

The foes of Zwingli would be the Anabaptists, I hasten to add.

Not everyone has heard of Grebel and company.

[Jim W]

I must say that the first "Jim" comment is mine but the second is not. Someone either has the same name as mine or is pretending to be me. Rest assured, I wouldn't have mentioned Grebel.
;-)

[Hebrew Student]

Thanks for your point that one of the best ways to improve your Biblical Hebrew is to read non-Biblical Hebrew. I agree. One of the reasons is that you can become *very* familiar with the Bible, and so when you read the Bible in Hebrew, you can guess a lot based on your general knowledge of what you are reading. But if you can read non-Biblical Hebrew texts which you are not as familiar with, and still understand them, it shows that you understand Hebrew well.