Pirke Avot: The Sayings of the Jewish Fathers

Where Hebrew letters appeared within the English text, these have been transliterated and included in brackets. In many cases the hebrew has also been spelled out, thus: [tov (tet-vov-bet)].

A rare additional transcriber's note may be found within brackets [].

The source text contained only one comment in a bracket, that should not be confused as a transcriber's note. This is the word [Baden] that appeared in the Bibliography.

Each [s] is the special character known as "section sign."

Where the source text referenced a page number within the same book, the transcriber substituted a reference in brackets [] that will be useful for readers of this e-text version.

The source book contained the complete Pirkei Avot, in Hebrew, with vowels. This has, of necessity, been omitted from the current e-text document, which uses only Roman font.

Footnotes all appeared at the bottom of the page, separated by a line from the main text, and printed in the same font and size as the main text. The transcriber has moved these footnotes to follow the paragraph they supplement, and indented them.

At the end of this e-text, readers will find a section titled TRANSCRIPTION NOTES which deals with issues such as accent marks.

Following this, readers will find a PAGE REFERENCE INDEX. This reference will help maintain the stability of references to this book from outside sources.

END of TRANSCRIBER'S COMMENTS

Library of Jewish Classics ==========================

I. Leopold Zunz: The Sufferings of the Jews During the Middle Ages II. Hyman Hurwitz: Talmudic Tales III. "Pirek Abot": The Sayings of the Jewish Fathers

LIBRARY OF JEWISH CLASSICS-III. ________________________________________

The Sayings of the Jewish Fathers

[pirkei avot] "PIRKE ABOT" ________________________________________

Translated, with an Introduction and Notes

BY JOSEPH I. GORFINKLE, Ph.D.

Author of "The Eight Chapters of Maimonides on Ethics"

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SECOND EDITION

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CONTENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTION Name Purpose Description Contents Language Development of Abot Abot in Liturgy Bibliography CHAPTER I CHAPTER II CHAPTER III CHAPTER IV CHAPTER V CHAPTER VI HEBREW TEXT (Appendix)

PREFACE

Notwithstanding the fact that there are many editions of the Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, and that it has been translated innumerable times in all modern tongues, no apology need be given for the appearance of this little volume in the series of Jewish Classics. The Pirke Abot is indeed a classical bit of that ancient Jewish classic, the Mishnah.

The translation in this edition is based largely upon that of Taylor, in his Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, and upon the excellent version of Singer, in his Authorized Daily Prayer Book.

This edition is intended mainly for popular reading, but it has been thought wise to amplify the notes, especially with bibliographical references, so that it may serve the purpose of a teacher's handbook, and also be useful as a text-book for the higher grades of religious schools and for study circles. The references are to books that are generally accessible, and, wherever possible, to books in English. The notes are by no means intended to be exhaustive, but rather to be suggestive.