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Publisher's Foreword

Kol Yisrael - The Opening Mishna before every Chapter

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

   Chapter Four - Mishna 1

Chapter Four - Mishna 2

Chapter Four - Mishna 3

Chapter Four - Mishna 4

Chapter Four - Mishna 5

Chapter Four - Mishna 6

Chapter Four - Mishna 7

Chapter Four - Mishna 8

Chapter Four - Mishna 9

Chapter Four - Mishna 10

Chapter Four - Mishna 11

Chapter Four - Mishna 12

Chapter Four - Mishna 13

Chapter Four - Mishna 14

Chapter Four - Mishna 15

Chapter Four - Mishna 16

Chapter Four - Mishna 17

Chapter Four - Mishna 18

Chapter Four - Mishna 19

Chapter Four - Mishna 20

Chapter Four - Mishna 21

Chapter Four - Mishna 22

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Rabbi Chanaya ben Akashya - The Closing after each Chapter

Founders Of Chassidism & Leaders Of Chabad Lubavitch

Glossary

In The Paths of Our Fathers
Insights Into Pirkei Avos,
Adapted From The Works of The Lubavitcher Rebbe,
Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson Shlita


Chapter Four - Mishna 18

by Rabbi Eliyahu Touger

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  Chapter Four - Mishna 17Chapter Four - Mishna 19  

Rabbi Shimon Ben Elazar Said: "Do Not Placate Your Fellow In The Moment Of His Anger; Do Not Comfort Him While His Dead Lies Before Him. Do Not Question Him [About The Details] Of His Vow At The Moment He Makes It; And Do Not Seek To See Him At The Time Of His Degradation."

Do Not Comfort Him While His Dead Lies Before Him

The concept of descent for the sake of ascent is ingrained in the fabric of our existence. The soul has its source in the spiritual realm, and descends to this material plane because this will enable it to achieve a deeper bond with G-d in the spiritual realms after death.

By the same token, the period of mourning is clearly a phase of descent, but through it - and this is its purpose - one is able to ascend to a higher rung than was experienced before. Nevertheless, much striving and effort is required for a person to actually feel, while in the midst of a phase of descent, that this downward thrust is intended solely for the purpose of ascent.

This should be the intent of those who comfort mourners - to help them come to such a realization.[55] While a person's dead lies before him, however, this is impossible, for then his feelings of grief are too powerful to be overcome.

(Sichos Yud-Tes Iyar, 5712)

   

Notes:

  1. (Back to text) This concept is also implied by the traditional expression of comfort, "May the Omnipresent comfort you among the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem." For the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash is also a descent for the purpose of ascent - a phase in our progress to the ultimate peaks we will reach in the Era of the Redemption.


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