[1] In this first discourse, it is fitting to raise several questions:

[2] The first question concerns the opening phrase: "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai." Why did the text not connect the act of receiving to God, who gave it, and say instead that "Moshe received the Torah from Hashem" or "from the mouth of the Almighty" — yet it says he received it from Sinai? Since Moshe was the one who received, it would follow that Sinai was not the giver — only the Holy One, blessed is He, was. And if the intent was merely to indicate the place, it would have been more fitting to say at Sinai, using the letter beit, rather than mem. As for those who argued that this follows the manner of Scripture itself, as in, "For out of Zion shall the Torah go forth, and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem" (Yeshayahu 2:3) — they have not given due attention to the plain meaning of those verses. For there, Scripture was compelled to speak in precisely that way, because the passage states (ibid. 2:2–3): "And it shall come to pass in the end of days that the mountain of the house of Hashem shall be established at the top of the mountains… and many peoples shall go and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of Hashem… for out of Zion shall the Torah go forth," and so on. In that context, then, the explicit mention of the place necessitated the use of language describing something going forth from it — but this is not the situation in our Mishnah. Others have proposed that the mem of "from Sinai" (מסיני) is a mem of time, meaning: "from that point onward" — that is, from the moment the Torah was received — but this too is incorrect, for Moshe had already received Torah and mitzvot before that, in Egypt and at Marah.

[3] The second question concerns the statement: "and he transmitted it to Yehoshua." Why is Elazar the High Priest not mentioned? For it is written, "For the lips of the kohen shall guard knowledge, and Torah shall be sought from his mouth, for he is a messenger of Hashem of Hosts" (Malachi 2:7), and he was the primary authority — since Yehoshua himself conducted his affairs according to Elazar's guidance. As it is stated (Bamidbar 27:21): "And before Elazar the kohen he shall stand, and he shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before Hashem; at his word shall they go out and at his word shall they come in, he and all the children of Yisrael with him, and the entire congregation."

[4] The third question concerns the statement: "and Yehoshua transmitted it to the elders." The matter is this: regarding the elders, there are only two possibilities — either they refer to those who outlived Yehoshua, or they refer to the judges who arose in Israel one after another following him. If we say that "the elders" means those who lived long after Yehoshua (Yehoshua 24:31), then the statement "and Yehoshua transmitted it to the elders" is well-founded, for he was indeed the one who passed it on to them. However, the statement "and the elders transmitted it to the prophets" would not be well-founded, because the elders who outlived Yehoshua did not reach the era of the prophets — a span of some four hundred years, as I noted in the first introduction. And if we say that "elders" refers to the judges, then Yehoshua transmitted it only to Otniel ben Kenaz, who was a single elder — not elders in the plural. Furthermore, it was only the last judge — namely Eli — who transmitted it to the prophets, and not all the elders and judges collectively, for they had already died.

[5] The fourth question concerns the phrase "and the Elders transmitted it to the Prophets." If it is true that Moshe Rabbeinu saw fit to entrust the transmission of the Torah to the leaders of each generation — and therefore transmitted it to Yehoshua — and Yehoshua likewise transmitted it to the Elders, who were the spokesmen and leaders of that generation, and did not transmit it to the Prophets who also lived in the time of the Elders — then what did the Elders see in transmitting the tradition to the Prophets? It would have been more appropriate to transmit it to the kings — for example, from Shmuel to Dovid, and from Dovid to Shlomo, and similarly to the other kings who came in succession — since, once the kings arose, they took the place of the Elders as the leaders of the nation.

[6] The fifth question — how did the Elders transmit the received tradition of the Torah to the Prophets? For Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, transmitted the Torah to the Sages, and the Holy One, blessed is He, did not desire that it be transmitted to the Prophets. Observe what is stated in the chapter "HaZahav" (Bava Metzia 59b) regarding the matter of Rabbi Eliezer the Great and the Sages: a Heavenly Voice issued forth and declared, "What have you against Rabbi Eliezer, for the halachah follows his view in every instance?" — whereupon Rabbi Yehoshua rose to his feet and declared (Devarim 30:12): "It is not in the heavens." Rabbi Yirmiyah explained: the Torah has already been given to us at Har Sinai, and it is written therein (Shemot 23:2): "To follow the majority." And there the Sages are said to have voted on the matter and excommunicated him. Similarly, the Gemara states in tractate Temurah (16a) that in the days of Moshe's mourning, three hundred halachot were forgotten; when the people said to Yehoshua, "Ask" — he replied, "It is not in the heavens." Thus it is made clear that a Prophet does not engage in the elucidation of the Torah through his prophecy. How, then, did the Elders transmit it to the Prophets?

[7] The sixth question concerns the three things that were said: "Be deliberate in judgment, raise up many disciples, and make a fence around the Torah." For what reason did they see fit to caution specifically about these three matters and not others? And if this was their own moral teaching and something they were accustomed to saying, it would have been appropriate to state "they used to say," as is the language of the Mishnah with regard to the other Sages. It is likewise worth knowing: who are those who said these three things? Was it the Elders, the Prophets, or the Men of the Great Assembly? If it is said of the Prophets that they taught this to the Men of the Great Assembly, a difficulty arises: why did the Elders not say something similar to the Prophets, just as the Prophets said it to the Men of the Great Assembly? And if it is said of the Men of the Great Assembly that they said this to the Sages who came after them, the question remains: why did the Prophets not say something similar to the Men of the Great Assembly, just as the Men of the Great Assembly said it to the Sages of the Mishnah?

[8] And through the explanation of this Mishnah, all of these questions will be resolved. Seven precious lessons we have learned from this first Mishnah:

[9] The first lesson — that the perfection of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, and his receiving of the Torah came into being and was created in the same manner that the first man, Adam, came into being and was created at his formation. For although all people generally come into being from those of their own kind — a man being born of his human father and mother — Hashem, in His wondrous lovingkindness to him, formed the first man through a miracle, from dust of the earth, without any physical father or mother to beget him; and all other human beings followed from him in a natural manner, descending from one another in a direct chain from father to son. Precisely so was the matter with the Torah of the master of all prophets and with his perfection: all other people learned from one another, their knowledge being acquired through the teaching of their fellows. Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, however, was taught by no man and received nothing from flesh and blood; rather, the Holy One, blessed is He, Himself breathed into his nostrils the spirit of supernal wisdom and prophecy at a wondrous level. He acquired all of this at Sinai — that is to say, through his solitary seclusion there, without food or drink, throughout those entire days of divine attachment. Thereafter, the transmission continued from him, one person from the mouth of another, just as all human beings descended from the first man, each from the other. Thus, just as the first man was formed through the descent of the Divine form upon his dust without any human [parent], and he became the origin of the entire human species, so too was Moshe formed in his prophecy through the descent of the divine spirit upon his person, and he became the origin of all the prophets.

[10] Indeed, the preparation that brought about that great perfection was this: Sinai — the mountain that God desired for His dwelling-place — where, as a result of his secluded solitude there, Moshe merited all of this. This is the meaning of the teaching, "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai" (Avot 1:1). The letter mem in miSinai is a mem of causation, as in "By the breath of God they perish" (Iyov 4:9), and "The matter came forth from Hashem" (Bereshit 24:50) — meaning that through his standing at Sinai and his wondrous solitary devotion there, he transferred himself to the supreme level he attained in order to receive the Divine Torah. The Midrash (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:12:1) has already alluded to this in connection with the verse: "He brought me to the house of wine, and his banner over me was love" (Shir HaShirim 2:4). Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehudah [debated its meaning]. Rabbi Meir said: The congregation of Israel declared — the yetzer hara gained dominion over me until I said (Shemot 32:4), "These are your gods, O Israel," just as wine, when it enters a person, confuses him. Rabbi Yehudah said to him: Enough! Rabbi Meir, one expounds Shir HaShirim only in praise of Israel. Rather, what is the meaning of "He brought me to the house of wine"? The congregation of Israel said: The Holy One, blessed is He, brought me to the great wine-cellar — that is Sinai — and gave me there the banners of Torah, mitzvot, and good deeds, and I received them with love; this is what is written: "and his banner over me was love." Behold, they compared Sinai to a spiced wine-cellar from which wine is drawn forth to give people to drink. This teaching is derived from the words of the Torah itself, as it is said (Shemot 24:12): "Ascend to Me to the mountain, and be there, and I will give you the tablets of stone, the Torah, and the commandment which I have written to instruct them." That is to say, he was to ascend to that divine mountain — the wine-cellar of Torah and Divine wisdom — and to remain there for many days. The phrase "and be there" further alludes to the idea that he would receive there a new mode of being, and would be transferred from his natural, material nature to another, more exalted nature; and that through this he would merit receiving the tablets of stone, the Written Torah, and the commandment — which refers to the received oral interpretation. It is concerning that received oral interpretation that the Mishnah states: "and he transmitted it to Yehoshua, and Yehoshua to the Elders," and so forth (Avot 1:1). For the Written Torah Moshe wrote in a scroll and gave to each and every tribe. But its interpretation — how every matter within it is to be understood — is what he taught and transmitted to them orally. For although the Torah states (Vayikra 23:42), "You shall dwell in sukkot for seven days," it was still necessary for him to teach them orally the required dimensions of the sukkah and the things that render it invalid — and so it is with all the mitzvot. Thus the first teaching has been clarified, and through it the first question has been resolved.

[11] The second lesson concerns the matter of appointment and the leadership of the people — that such a role should only be entrusted to one who is truly worthy and fit for it. Thus, although Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, did not receive the Torah from any human being as other men receive from one another, but rather received it directly from Hashem, may He be exalted, through his extraordinary toil and exceptional exertion on Mount Sinai — "forty days and forty nights he ate no bread and drank no water" (Shemot 34:28), and sleep fled from his eyes — nonetheless, despite all of this, that perfection which he acquired by melting his very flesh and blood, he did not transmit to his sons nor bequeath it to those who came forth from his loins. For he saw that they were not worthy to be the heads of transmission. Instead, he conveyed it to Yehoshua his attendant, because he saw that he was worthy and fit for it. One should not argue that Hashem, may He be exalted, commanded him to do so and that Moshe did not arrive at this on his own initiative — for behold, in the portion of Pinchas, when Hashem said to him (Bamidbar 27:12–16): "Ascend to the mountain of Avarim, etc., and be gathered to your people," etc., Moshe did not ask Hashem, may He be blessed, to appoint one of his sons to inherit all that he had labored for. Rather, he said: "Let Hashem, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation" — as if to say: I do not wish to appoint anyone in my place from among my children or from the work of my hands, and I do not seek authority for any of my descendants or members of my family. But You, who searches hearts and minds, and who is the God of all spirits and knows the spirit of the man who is worthy — You shall appoint whomever You will. Hashem then answered him: "Take for yourself Yehoshua bin Nun, a man in whom there is spirit, and lay your hand upon him" — meaning: I see that his spirit is worthy and prepared for this station; transmit to him your good spirit, the received Torah and its interpretations, so that he may stand in your place. It is regarding this that our Mishnah states: "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Yehoshua." That is to say: even though he acquired the Torah through his intense striving at Sinai and his great seclusion upon Sinai, he did not give it to any of his sons — rather, he transmitted it to Yehoshua because he was the most prepared to receive it. It is also possible to interpret "from Sinai" as a designation for the Holy One, blessed is He, whose glory dwelt upon Sinai — similar to what the Sages, of blessed memory, said: "a halachah transmitted to Moshe from Sinai."

[12] The Third Lesson — that although Elazar was the High Priest, Yehoshua surpassed him in matters of Torah and in the degree of prophecy. For there is no doubt that in Moshe's generation, there were members of his court — the elders who joined him in guiding the people — as it is said (Bamidbar 11:17–25): "I will draw upon the spirit that is upon you and place it upon them," and it is said: "they prophesied, but did so no more." Onkelos renders this: they did not cease. And yet, Yehoshua was appointed as the foremost of the recipients of tradition, because he was Moshe's attendant from his youth and the greatest of his disciples. As the Torah states (Shemot 33:11): "And his attendant, Yehoshua son of Nun, a youth, did not depart" — indicating that Yehoshua's seclusion and constancy in Moshe's tent is attributed to his receiving and hearing directly from Moshe's mouth, just as Moshe's seclusion on Mount Sinai is attributed to his hearing from the mouth of the Almighty. Thus, Yehoshua stood in Moshe's place in the receiving of Torah, and Elazar the Priest stood in the place of his father Aharon. And Yehoshua's superiority over Elazar in Torah was like Moshe's superiority over Aharon. Our Sages, of blessed memory, have already said (Berachot 7b): "Greater is personal service [of one's teacher] than [formal] study," for indeed Elisha, by virtue of having poured water upon the hands of Eliyahu, merited to become his successor (Melachim II 3:11). Similarly, the Sages expounded (Bamidbar Rabbah 12:9) regarding Yehoshua: "He who tends a fig tree shall eat its fruit, and he who guards his master shall be honored" (Mishlei 27:18) — for even though there were in his generation elders and sages equal to him in stature, he merited, by virtue of his constant service, a greater perfection than they, and thus came to stand in Moshe's place. And although Hashem had said of Yehoshua at the outset of his appointment, "He shall stand before Elazar the Priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before Hashem" (Bamidbar 27:21), I have already explained in my commentary on Sefer Yehoshua that thereafter Yehoshua's level and standing in prophecy was elevated to the point that he himself prophesied and had no need to inquire through the Urim and Tummim. Therefore, throughout all the narratives of Sefer Yehoshua, we do not find that Yehoshua consulted Elazar even a single time. This was already alluded to him when, after the crossing of the Jordan, he was told: "This day I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moshe, so I will be with you" (Yehoshua 3:7). This statement encompasses not only victory over enemies, but also that prophecy would come to him in all his affairs as it had come to Moshe his master — though not at Moshe's level — in such a manner that he would have no need to inquire through the Urim. For this reason, it is stated at the opening of Sefer Shoftim (Shoftim 1:1): "And it came to pass after the death of Yehoshua, that the Children of Israel inquired of Hashem" — indicating that after his death they consulted the Urim and Tummim, but not during his lifetime. There is no doubt that Moshe our master foresaw and perceived all of this through his prophecy, and therefore transmitted to Yehoshua the receiving of the Torah, making him the foremost recipient thereof — and did not do so for Elazar the Priest, nor for any of the other elders, even though all of them were members of the court of Moshe, and of Yehoshua after him. To allude to this, our Mishnah states: "and transmitted it to Yehoshua" — for to him belonged the primacy in the transmission and receiving of the Torah, while Elazar was joined alongside him, just as Aharon had been joined alongside his brother Moshe. And with this, the second question is resolved.

[13] The fourth teaching — that Yehoshua, upon his death, transmitted the received Torah tradition to the Elders. The matter is as follows: the Torah transmission, even though the Mishnah states that Moshe transmitted it to Yehoshua, was undoubtedly carried on together with Yehoshua by his court — namely, the Elders who lived in his days and whose lives extended beyond his. He transmitted the received Torah tradition to that court and assembly of sages and Elders that was there. When Otniel ben Kenaz was appointed as head to lead the wars, he too served as head of the transmission and of judgment, together with his court. Upon his death, the court that had stood before him appointed Ehud ben Gera as head and commander; he was the judge, the head of the transmission, and presided over his court. Upon his death, his court appointed Barak ben Avinoam, and Devorah the prophetess in his appointment, and he served as head in warfare, in governance, and in the reception of the Torah tradition. This pattern continued likewise for the rest of the Judges and Elders whom I mentioned in the first introduction, all of whom were appointed by their respective courts. In most instances, their appointments were made by means of ruach hakodesh. All of this continued through Eli the Kohen, in whose court Shmuel the prophet and the rest of the sages of Israel served. When Eli died, the Elders of his court appointed Shmuel as head of governance and the transmission. Thus is confirmed what the Mishnah states — that Yehoshua transmitted to the Elders — meaning that he transmitted the received Torah tradition and its interpretations to the Elders of his court, and authorized them to appoint from among themselves a single head. So it was in every generation: the Elders of the court would appoint the head, until the last of the Elders appointed Shmuel. It appears that the disciples of the prophets were with him as well, and therefore it is said: "and the Elders to the Prophets."

[14] And as for why the Elders did not entrust the transmission of the Torah to kings — the reason, in my view, is that in their wisdom they foresaw that all the Judges would be God-fearing men of truth who despise ill-gotten gain. Indeed, observe that among all the Judges of Israel, not one of them was found to be an idol-worshipper, nor wicked, nor a sinner before God — which was not the case with the kings. For behold, all the kings of Israel were evil and sinned greatly before Hashem; not one of them was without the practice of idol-worship.

[15] Indeed, most of the kings of Yehudah stumbled in the sin of idol worship, sexual immorality, and bloodshed. I have already written in my work Merkevet HaMishneh, in my commentary on the passage of the king, that the Holy One, blessed is He, did not command Yisrael to have a king reign over them — for that was the work of the yetzer hara. Rather, He commanded that when they themselves chose of their own accord to appoint a king over them, as the other nations do, he should not be a foreigner, but rather someone from among their own people, the man whom Hashem would choose. It is for this reason that Shmuel the prophet condemned the request for a king, saying (Shmuel I 12:17): "Know and see that your wickedness… in the eyes of Hashem in asking for a king for yourselves" — because the matter of having kings among Yisrael was far from advantageous and close to harmful. It is for this reason that the elders of Bnei Yisrael — who were the wisest of the wise — transmitted the receiving of the Torah and its safeguarding to the prophets, and not to the kings who sinned and caused the people to sin. With this, the third and fourth questions are resolved.

[16] The Fifth Teaching — That in the matter of receiving the Torah, the standing of the Elders was greater than the standing of the Prophets, because the source of wisdom and the wellspring of Torah was Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him. It was therefore necessarily required that whoever drew closer to him would be higher in rank than whoever was distant from him — analogous to the separate intellects that receive their influence from the First Cause, blessed is He, in that the further they are removed from Him, the lesser their degree of influence. Now the Elders were closer to that holy source — Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him — and for this reason their reception was more complete and less subject to doubt than the reception of the Prophets, who were more distant from him. And you should not say that the prophetic spirit affords a greater entryway into the interpretation of Torah than the reasoned judgment and opinion of the Elders, since the Prophets are not mentioned in connection with the receiving of the Torah in their capacity as prophets — such that one might claim that through their prophecy they knew the explanation and truth of the commandments — but rather in their capacity as sages. For our Sages, may their memory be blessed, have already established as a foundational principle that in matters pertaining to the commandments, the Prophets are like all other human beings. If a prophet were to say: the Holy One, blessed is He, told me that my reasoning is correct, we do not heed him. And if there were a thousand prophets holding one opinion, and a thousand-and-one sages holding another, we would rule in accordance with those sages, since they are the majority, and not with the prophets. It is for this reason that they said (Yevamot 102a): "If Eliyahu were to come and say that chalitzah may be performed with a regular shoe, we would heed him… but if he said it may be performed with a sandal, we would not heed him." Their intent in this is that the prophet, insofar as he is a prophet, may not render any ruling in matters of the commandments except by means of his own reasoned judgment and the tradition he received from his teacher insofar as he is a sage. And as it is said (Devarim 30:12): "It is not in the heavens" — for the Holy One, blessed is He, did not permit us to learn from the Prophets, but only from the Sages, the men of reason and wisdom. The Torah does not say: "and you shall come to the prophet who will be in those days," but rather it says (Devarim 17:9): "and you shall come to the Kohanim, the Levites, and to the judge who will be in those days." I have already explained the true reason for this in the portion of Ki Yipaleh Mimcha Davar. From all this it becomes clear that what is stated in our Mishnah — "and the Elders transmitted to the Prophets" — ought not to be understood as meaning that the halachic guidance of the Torah was rendered according to prophetic vision, but rather that the tradition was transmitted to the Prophets of those generations in their capacity as sages. For there is no doubt that the wisdom and tradition of the Torah were present in great completeness among the Prophets, since they devoted themselves constantly to its study, as this was the greatest preparation for their prophecy. It is for this reason that they became the guardians of the treasuries of Torah and tradition. And with this, the fifth question is resolved.

[17] The sixth teaching — what occurred regarding the prophets parallels what occurred regarding the stars. The sun is the king among the hosts of heaven and all their armies, while the other wandering stars serve as its attendants. The way of the sun is to traverse the entire circuit of the zodiac year by year, spending one month in each constellation, exercising its dominion there continually throughout all the days of the world, ever revolving and moving — as it is written (Tehillim 19:5): "For the sun He set a tent among them." The other stars, however, do not walk at its feet nor keep its watch; each one travels along its own path, every one going straight ahead, and when it encounters the sun, it takes no notice of it. The moon, however, girded her loins with strength and runs to stand before the sun in each and every constellation twice — once in conjunction and once in opposition — as if to say: "Here I am, here I am, to stand before you" — and she never ceases to do so, always and without fail.

[18] The moon receives its reward from the sun through its labor, for it receives light from the sun alone and not from any of the other stars. Such was the relationship of Moshe and Yehoshua to the rest of the elders and prophets: the elders and prophets were, in the matter of spiritual perfection through the holy spirit, like stars shining forever. But Moshe was like the sun that illuminates the earth and all who dwell upon it. And Yehoshua was like the moon, by virtue of being Moshe's devoted attendant, cleaving to him — "he would not depart from within the Tent" — in the same proportion as the moon stands to the sun. It is for this reason that Yehoshua received from the master of the prophets a higher illumination of prophecy, and a greater reception of the Torah, than all the elders and prophets combined, just as the moon receives more light from the sun than do all the other stars. This is what our Sages, of blessed memory, intended when they said (Bava Batra 75a): "The face of Moshe was like the face of the sun, and the face of Yehoshua was like the face of the moon." And since the elders of that generation did not attain the level that Yehoshua merited through his diligence, his service, and his cleaving to the master of the prophets, they therefore said: "Woe for that shame, woe for that disgrace" — meaning, woe to us that we did not merit to serve Moshe Rabbeinu, and therefore we did not attain the elevated level that Yehoshua merited as the reward for his devoted service. Now, just as the sun and the moon, although counted among the seven wandering stars, are not called by the name "star" as the others are — for those are called the star of Venus, the star of Mars, the star of Saturn — so too these two luminaries, on account of their superior greatness, are not called "the star of the sun" or "the star of the moon," but simply the sun and the moon alone. In the same way, Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, and Yehoshua bin Nun — both of them were among the elders and among the prophets, and yet they surpassed them all. Scripture does not refer to either of them by the title of "elder" or "prophet" as it does with the other elders and prophets, for those others are called Shmuel the Seer, and Gad the Visionary, Eliyahu the prophet, Yeshayahu the prophet, and so on with the rest — but Moshe and Yehoshua are designated solely by their own names, in accordance with the principle that "the face of Moshe was like the face of the sun, and the face of Yehoshua was like the face of the moon." From this same perspective, those who served in the court of Moshe were called elders and not prophets, even though the spirit rested upon them and they prophesied. Similarly, the judges of Israel were visited by the holy spirit, and some of them were prophets — among them Pinchas, who was with them, of whom our Sages, of blessed memory, said that whenever the holy spirit rested upon him, his face would blaze like torches and he would appear like an angel of Hashem. So too, Elkana was a prophet. Yet all of them were called elders, because this was for them an even higher distinction — for elders, in whatever generation they may be found, are called by that title as a mark of honor and glory, as though this name proclaims them to be members of the court of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him. They were therefore given the same name borne by those first ones who were attached to Moshe in the leadership of the people.

[19] The Mishnah has thus explained the distinction of those who received [the Torah], level by level. The first is the distinction of Moshe and Yehoshua, who are called by the names of the sun and the moon. After them comes the distinction of the Elders, who were like the remaining stars — as though they stood in place of the seventy elders who were the counselors and the members of the court of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him. One level below them, in the matter of receiving the Torah, are the Prophets. And yet another level below them are the Men of the Great Assembly — as though the former [the Prophets] were on the level of angels, while they [the Men of the Great Assembly] were on the level of ordinary men. In this same spirit, the Sages of blessed memory said: "Greater than Rav is Rabbi, greater than Rabbi is Rabban, and greater than Rabban is his [bare] name."

[20] The Seventh Study — The perfection of Torah knowledge is completed through three things. The first is by preceding reflection and intensifying diligence in study. As our Sages, of blessed memory, said (Megillah 6b): "If you labored and did not find — do not believe it," and concerning this they said: "Be deliberate in judgment." And in the first chapter of Sanhedrin (Sanhedrin 7b), Bar Kappara expounded: From where is this matter derived that the Rabbis stated? As it is written (Shemot 20:23): "And you shall not ascend upon steps to My altar." And Rashi explained: upon steps — [meaning, not] with force and in haste.

[21] The second is regarding the multiplicity of perspectives. For, as the divine [scholar] mentioned, the attainment of truth is difficult from one angle and easy from another. It is difficult relative to a solitary individual who reflects alone, for whom the discovery of truth is hard on account of the many propositions and premises he must work through in order to arrive at it. The ease of attaining it, by contrast, is relative to a multitude of people, for through their combined efforts the truth of a matter is readily achieved. So too did they say in the first chapter of Ta'anit (7a): "A sword is upon the badim, and they shall become fools" (Yirmiyahu 50:36) — this refers to the enemies of Torah scholars who sit and engage in Torah in isolation (bad b'vad). Moreover, they become foolish — as it is written here "noa'alu", and it is written elsewhere (Bamidbar 12:11): "that we have acted foolishly (no'alnu) and that we have sinned," and it is written (Yeshayahu 19:13): "The princes of Tzoan have become fools (no'alu)." Ravina said: "He who loves a multitude will have an abundance of produce" (Mishlei 14:4) — this is what Rabbi [Yochanan] meant when he said, "I have learned much Torah from my teachers, and even more from my colleagues, but from my students most of all" (Makkot 10a). And in the chapter Lo Yachpor (Bava Batra 21a) they said: "The rivalry of scribes increases wisdom."

[22] Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel already disputed this matter. It was the view of Beit Shammai that one should teach Torah only to a student who is fitting, modest, upright, and God-fearing. But Beit Hillel said: one should teach every person, for out of one hundred there will emerge ten, and out of those ten there will emerge two — for you cannot know which one will prove worthy. There is a story that Hillel gathered his students and asked them, "Are you all here?" They said, "Yes." Then one said, "All have come except the youngest." He said, "Bring that youngest one, for he is destined to guide the generation through his hands" — and they brought him Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. And in tractate Berachot (28a) it is stated that Rabban Gamliel the Nasi would announce: "Any student whose inside is not as his outside may not enter the Beit Midrash." Yet on the day that Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah was appointed in his place, four hundred benches were added in the Beit Midrash — and some say seven hundred. When Rabban Gamliel saw this, his spirit grew faint and he said: "Perhaps I withheld Torah from Israel." All of this indicates that it is pleasing before Hashem to multiply students, so that Torah may be made great and glorious — and it is for this reason that the Sages said: "Raise up many students."

[23] The third matter is that in cases of doubt, a person should be among those who are stringent rather than among those who are lenient, for there is no danger in stringency — only in leniency. The Sages said in Yevamot (21a) that there is an allusion in the Torah to secondary forbidden relationships, as it is written (Mishlei 4:15): "Avoid it, do not pass by it; turn away from it and pass on." Ravina said it is derived from here (Vayikra 18:30): "And you shall guard My charge" — make a guard for My charge. Similarly, Rava expounded regarding (Vayikra 21:6) "You shall be holy" — sanctify yourself through that which is permitted to you. And the Sages said: What is the meaning of "He brought me to the house of wine" (Shir HaShirim 2:4)? The Assembly of Israel said: The words of my Beloved are more beloved to me than the wine of Torah. They did not say this to suggest that the words of the Sages are more beloved than the words of the Torah, but rather because the words of the Sages serve as a guard for the Torah through the fences and enactments they instituted. In Avot d'Rabbi Natan, it is said that the Holy One, blessed is He, made a fence around His words; Adam HaRishon made a fence around his words; the Torah made a fence around its words; Moshe made a fence around his words; and likewise the prophets and the Sages all made fences around their words, as is stated there. And the Meiri explained the teaching "make a fence for the Torah" to mean that every person should guard the entrances of his mouth and set boundaries for them, lest those who hear his words be disturbed in the land. It is for all this that the Mishnah states: "And make a fence for the Torah."

[24] Although one might ask who actually said these three things — Rashi wrote that these three teachings were customarily studied by the Men of the Great Assembly, as though they were a well-worn expression on their lips. It is possible to say that it was on account of these very matters that they were called the Men of the Great Assembly (Anshei Knesset HaGedolah), for they were deliberate in their judgment, raised up many disciples within their assembly, and erected fences and enactments to safeguard the Torah. This is not to say that this statement was the opening of the tractate in the sense that its ordering reflects a logical sequence — for if that were so, it would have been proper to first state that the world stands on justice, and only afterward to caution one to be deliberate in judgment. Similarly regarding Torah: it would have been proper to first command concerning it, and only then to say to raise up many disciples. Rather, this truly reflects the character and practice of that assembly itself.

[25] What seems most correct to me is that the phrase "and they said three things" does not refer back to the Men of the Great Assembly, but rather to the prophets mentioned earlier. The meaning is that the prophets said to the Men of the Great Assembly, at the time they transmitted to them the received tradition of the Torah and its interpretations: "Be deliberate in judgment, raise up many disciples, and make a fence around the Torah." This was so for the following reason: although the prophets were interpreters of the Torah by virtue of their wisdom, as I have noted, there is no doubt that their intellect, reasoning, and understanding of the Torah was clearer and purer than the understanding of sages who were not prophets — for the soul of a prophet, having received the supernal light, is broader and more luminous even outside the moments of prophecy than the soul of any other person. All the more so was the generation that came after the prophets more distant from the source of tradition and divine influence, and had declined greatly in their knowledge of the Torah and its received traditions. For this reason, Chagai, Zechariah, and Malachi — and likewise Yechezkel and Baruch ben Neriah, who were members of the prophetic court — when they saw and knew that upon their deaths prophecy would depart from Israel and the tradition would remain with the sages according to their own reasoning, declared that it was therefore fitting for the sages to be deliberate in judgment, so that through sustained inquiry they might attain the truth and arrive in ten hours at what the prophets would reach in one. Likewise, they should raise up many disciples, so that among each one's partial contribution, the truth in its totality would be found collectively. And beyond all this, they should not trust themselves that they had fully attained the truth — and because of that very concern, they should make fences around the Torah, for in doing so they would guard themselves from error.

[26] These three matters — the completeness of the prophets and the conciseness of the Men of the Great Assembly — necessarily require that the text speak of them in the manner in which they transmitted what was handed down to them. And you will find variant readings in this Mishnah: in some manuscripts it is written "hem amru" ("they said"), while in others it is written "vehem amru" ("and they said") — even though the subject matter is close and each of the two interpretations is compatible with either of the two textual readings. With this, the sixth and final question has been resolved.

[27] Observe that at first, the chain of transmission of the Kabbalah [i.e., the received tradition] was traced according to the one who gives, as it says: "and he transmitted it to Yehoshua, and Yehoshua to the Elders, and the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets transmitted it," etc. — always speaking first of the one who transmits. But thereafter, from the Sages of the Mishnah onward, the text places first the one who receives: "Antigonus received [the tradition] from Shimon the Righteous" — rather than saying "and Shimon transmitted it to Antigonus." And so it is stated regarding all the remaining Tannaim as well. The reason for this, however, is as follows: at the outset, the Mishnah began by recording the transmission, saying "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai," and traced the chain of its passing-down until the Men of the Great Assembly, who declared that one should raise up many students. The Mishnah then goes on to tell us that this directive and commandment — to raise up students — was indeed fulfilled. Therefore, from that point forward, the text records the students who were produced, and who received from whom, making the primary emphasis the remembrance of the students that were raised up, and for each one, the Rav from whom he received, in fulfillment of what they had said: "and raise up many students."