*For the full text and comment, see Pirkei
Avot by Kravitz and Olitzky, eds. (URJ Press)
5:7 Seven things distinguish a fool and seven things distinguish
a wise. The wise person does not speak in the presence of
one who is wise. The wise person does not interrupt when another
is speaking. The wise person is not in a hurry to answer.
The wise person asks according to the subject and answers
according to the Law. The wise person speaks about the first
matter first and the last matter last. If there is something
the wise person has not heard [and therefore does not know],
the wise person says, "I have never heard [of it]."
The wise person acknowledges what is true. The opposite of
all these qualities is found in the fool.
fool...a wise person. The word golem, here
translated as "fool," comes from biblical Hebrew
meaning a shapeless mass or embryo. (Psalm 139:16) Rabbinic
Hebrew carries the notion further. It understands the word
to denote something unfinished or, as it is used here, the
kind of person contrasted with the wise.
gives Maimonides the opportunity to give differential definitions
of five terms found in rabbinic literature that deal with
folly and wisdom. They are bur, am haaretz, golem, chacham,
and chasid. The first, for Maimonides, has neither
intellect nor ethical virtues nor the ability to acquire them.
Maimonides takes the word bur from the phrase sedeh
bur, an "uncultivated field." (We might translate
the term as "boor.") Am haaretz, for
Maimonides, is a person who has ethical virtues but lacks
intellectual virtues. Such a person is useful in and for society.
(We might translate the term as "ignoramus.")
Golem, for Maimonides, is a person who possesses
both intellectual and ethical virtues, but they are in a confused
and scattered fashion within that person. Like the word golem,
meaning that which is unfashioned and unformed, so is such
a person. (We have translated the term as "fool.")
Chacham refers to a person whose intellectual and
ethical virtues have reached their proper stage of perfection.
(We might translate the term as "wise.") Chasid
refers to a person who, having achieved perfection in both
ethical and intellectual virtues, now prefers to stress the
ethical virtues. (We might translate the term as "pious.")
outlines the qualities of a wise person, ironically emphasizing
the times that such a person does not share his or her wisdom.
According to this tradition, wisdom goes hand-in-hand with
humility and restraint. This seems to be borne out in what
we know about the distinctive qualities of an excellent teacher.
According to Diane Tickton Schuster, an expert on adult learning
(particularly in Jewish settings),
arrogance, and other forms of self-importance are not tolerated
for long by most adult learners. They expect their teachers
to (a) use words and actions that are congruent; (b) admit
to errors and acknowledge fallibility; (c) allow aspects
of their personhood outside their role as teacher to be
revealed to students; and (d) show respect for learners
by listening carefully to students' expression of
concern, by taking care to create opportunities for students'
voices to be heard, and by being open to changing their
practice as a result of students' suggestions"
(Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning, 181).
the ability to see the limits of one's own knowledge
is a quality that has been identified as distinguishing an
outstanding student in current educational trends. Wiggins
and McTighe identify "self-knowledge" as one of
the six "facets of understanding." A student demonstrates
self-knowledge when he can "(a) recognize his own prejudices
and style, and how they color understanding; (b) see and get
beyond egocentrism, ethnocentrism, present-centeredness, nostalgia,
and either-or thinking; (c) engage in reflective metagcognition,
recognize intellectual style, strengths, and weaknesses; (d)
question his own convictions; like Socrates, able to sort
out mere strong belief and habit from warranted knowledge,
be intellectually honest, and admit ignorance; (e) accurately
self-assess and effectively self-regulate; (f) accept feedback
and criticism without defensiveness" (Understanding
By Design, 67). In addition, the educator Deborah Meier
outlines five "habits of mind," those habits of
intellectually rigorous and sound thinking in every discipline.
These also center around questioning and admitting the limits
of one's knowledge: "How do you know what you
know? What's your evidence? How and where does what
you've learned 'fit in'? Could things have
been otherwise? Who cares, what difference does it make?"
(The Power of Their Ideas, 156)
the connection between humility as an intellectual strength
and an ethical virtue? In the first few sentences of our mishnah,
we see that a wise person demonstrates deference to authority
and respects the wisdom that others bring. This reverence
has an ethical element to it. Furthermore, humility can also
lead to wonder, and this is the quality that leads us to spirituality
and God. Unlike the certainty about the world that many fundamentally
religious people wave as a banner, Judaism teaches us that
our quest for God, spirituality and wisdom stem from our ability
to question, wonder and admit what we do not know. As it is
written in the book of Micah, "'He has told you,
O man, what is good / And What the Lord requires of you: /
Only to do justice / And to love goodness, / And to walk modestly
with your God; / Then will your name achieve wisdom'"
is it difficult to admit what we do not know? Do you find
that others respect the admission of ignorance or that they
2. If you supervise employees, act as a mentor, teach or
raise children, how have you found is an effective way of
teaching or fostering self-awareness and humility?
3. In your opinion, is the recognition of the limits of
our own knowledge a valid path to God?
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