[Avodah] avot (mishna? as binding??)

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Micha Berger wrote:

> ... pirqei avos are avos in the sense of avos malakhah. (The
> Bartenura's translation, not mine.) IOW, they aren't rules of
> behavior, they are values and rules of what you should be which
> interact with the situations you face to produce those rules of
> behavior codified in the other mesechtos -- as well as telling
> you which way you're pulled when acting lifnim mishuras hadin.
>
> So, aspiring for its goals is obligatory, but the specific
> behaviors used to exemplify those goals may not be obligatory
> in every situation and context.

Your conclusion (that "the specific behaviors ... may not be obligatory") might be correct, but I don't see how you get there from your starting point.

On the contrary, to my ears, the comparison being made by the Bartenura is that Pirkei Avos lists broad categories, and that similar things (that Toldos of these Avos) are equally important. In other words, wherever these particular actions stand on the obligation-to-option spectrum, there are many more similar actions which we also must/should/ought follow.

But the comparison to Avos Melacha does not specify where Pirkei Avos falls on that spectrum. Alternatively, one could easily argue that the actions prescribed/proscribed by Pirkei Avos are equally as binding as Hilchos Shabbos is. I don't see where you see this Bartenura teaching that "they aren't rules of behavior".

Akiva Miller

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