The Mishna, Yeshua’s Teachings & Pirket Avot 2
Posted by Torah Focus on 20 May 2008 at 12:00 am
Tagged as: ARBA4, Midrashim, Torah Focus
Midrashim - with Dr. Walter Oakley
New shows available every Tuesday.
Program #20 - The Mishna, Yeshua’s Teachings & Pirket Avot 2
In this program I begin moving forward in my discussion of the Pirke Avot. Likewise, we explore the idea that Yeshua and his talmidim were acquainted with the Mishnaic ideas of their day.
Who were the Men of the Great Assembly? We discuss who they were and their identities. I discuss Ezra the Torah teacher and a Member of the Men of the Great Assembly. Ezra restores the Torah to Yisrael. Hillel the last of the Zugot (pairs) equals the character of Ezra because he too restores the Torah to Yisrael.
Avot 1:2 Shimon the Righteous was among the last surviving members of the Great assembly. He would say: The world stands on three things: Torah, the service of G-d, and deeds of kindness.
From here I move into the 4th Mishnah which reads
Avot 1:4 Yossi ben (son of) Yo’ezer of Ts’raidah and Yossi ben Yochanan of Jerusalem received the transmission from them. Yossi ben Yo’ezer used to say: Let your house be a meeting place for the sages, cleave to the dust of their feet, and drink thirstily their words.”
I begin discussing the 5 Zugot (Pairs). The First set of pairs being found in this Mishhnah. The final set of pairs being Hillel and Shammai. I discuss why the Torah was passed on to the Zugot. I further explain the characteristics of the Zugot and their relationship to the Sanhedrin’s two key figures, the Nasi – President of the Sanhedrin and the Av Beit Din (Father of the House of Judgment). I deal with this pattern as it is seen in Hillel and Shammai in the times of Yeshua and his talmidim.


