[Avodah] pirkei avos v. chochma yevanit; see mekoros......

[rabbirichwolpoe at gmail.com]

Harvey: 
> 1. are pirkei avos considered by us to be halachot, or just good
> advice? (and what were they considered to be in previous generations??)

My take on this is simple 

Avos was the advise to Avos Beis Din -- a private Masorah within the
community of Beis Din Hagaddol

It was then morphed into a handbook of advise to the society at large. 

This is alluded to by the introductory mishna "kol yisroel" 
And reinforced by "haamidu talmiddim harbei" 

If Torah remained the property of the few, then the fear grew that enemies
could easily hold it hostage or destroy it -- as in Babylonian Captivity.

So over the course of bayyis sheini, torah was more widely disseminated,
sacrificing the quality of talmiddim in favor of quantity.

Note this must have gone back and forth 

EG 
Hillel could not afford the price of admission and Rabban Gamliel of
Yavneh was also restrictive

Good Shabbos 
RRW 
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