CHARACTER AND RETURN · 1 OF 3
Who is wise?
Who is wise, strong, rich or honored? Ben Zoma changes what we look for, turning familiar measures of success into questions about how we live.
In this lesson
Learning that shapes a person
Mussar means ethical instruction. In Jewish learning, it directs our attention to character and conduct: not only what we know, but how we listen, respond, desire and treat others. Here we use the word in that broad sense. We begin with an early source, not with a modern list of habits.
The Mishnah is a collection of teachings of our sages. One of its named sections, or tractates, is Avot, known also as Pirkei Avot. It contains teachings about learning, character and serving God. Avot 4:1 means chapter 4, mishnah 1. Ben Zoma is the sage whose teaching we will read.
Before reading, give a quick ordinary answer to each question: Who is wise? Who is strong? Who is rich? Who is honored? Keep your answers on paper. We will compare them with the source, rather than assume that familiar words mean what we first expect.
Each section below contains a question, an answer and a verse cited in support. The words “as it is said” introduce that biblical quotation. Psalms, Proverbs and Samuel are books of the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible. Ben Zoma is teaching through Scripture, not speaking every quoted sentence in his own voice.
Wise: willing to learn
Ben Zoma says:
איזה הוא חכם — הלמד מכל אדם
Who is wise? One who learns from every person,
שנאמר: מכל מלמדיי, השכלתי
as it is said: “From all my teachers I have gained understanding.”
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva
We might have answered, “The person who already knows the most.” Ben Zoma answers with an ongoing action: learning. The wise person is not finished receiving. “Every person” challenges the habit of listening only to someone older, more prominent or more educated than ourselves.
Suppose a new learner notices a repeated word that an experienced learner missed. Wisdom appears when the experienced learner returns to the text and learns from the observation. The beginner’s status does not disqualify the insight; the insight still needs to be checked.
The English verse here follows Ben Zoma’s use of it: learning from all one’s teachers. In the psalm’s wider comparison with enemies and elders, the same Hebrew is also read “I have more understanding than all my teachers.” Notice what the Mishnah draws from the words, rather than treating its use as the only possible reading of the verse.
1. Separate the three parts: question, answer and biblical support.
The question is “Who is wise?” Ben Zoma’s answer is “One who learns from every person.” The support is the phrase from Psalm 119:99 introduced by “as it is said.” The verse is not an extra answer spoken by a second sage.
2. Does learning from every person mean accepting every claim as true?
No. Learning requires attention and judgment. In the example, the learner checks the repeated word in the text. Ben Zoma widens whom we can learn from; he does not make every statement equally sound.
Strong: governing an impulse
איזה הוא גיבור — הכובש את יצרו
Who is strong? One who masters his inclination,
שנאמר: טוב ארך אפיים, מגיבור
as it is said: “One who is slow to anger is better than a mighty person.”
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva
Yetzer, יצר, means an inclination or impulse. The answer moves the contest inward: from overcoming another person to governing one’s own response. The cited verse makes anger a concrete example. The rest of that verse makes the comparison even clearer:
טוב ארך אפים מגבור
ומשל ברוחו מלכד עירOne who is slow to anger is better than a mighty person,
and one who rules his spirit than one who captures a city.
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva
“Slow to anger” does not mean never noticing a wrong. A learner can correct a mistaken citation firmly without mocking the person who made it. Restraint concerns how we act on an impulse, not pretending that no feeling arose.
3. Which is closer to the source: “Strength means winning the argument” or “Strength includes refusing the impulse to humiliate”? Why?
The second. Ben Zoma names mastery of one’s own inclination, and Proverbs compares ruling one’s spirit with capturing a city. A correct answer delivered with contempt is not made an example of this strength merely by being correct.
Rich: rejoicing in one’s portion
איזה הוא עשיר — השמח בחלקו
Who is rich? One who rejoices in his portion,
שנאמר: יגיע כפיך, כי תאכל; אשריך, וטוב לך
as it is said: “When you eat from the labor of your hands, happy are you, and good will be yours.”
אשריך, בעולם הזה; וטוב לך, לעולם הבא
“Happy are you,” in this world; “and good will be yours,” in the world to come.
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva
“Portion” points to what is ours, rather than what someone else has. Ben Zoma asks about our relationship to what we have, not who wins a comparison of possessions. An ever-moving requirement to have more than the next person leaves contentment always out of reach.
Notice the verse’s labor. This is not praise of doing nothing. Work and contentment can belong together. Nor does the teaching make material need unreal or cancel our responsibility to help someone in need.
The final sentence is the Mishnah’s interpretation, not another line of the psalm. It hears the verse’s two expressions of good as reaching this life and the world to come, the life of blessing with God beyond our present world. The teaching’s horizon is larger than comfort today.
4. A reader says, “If I am content, I should never work to improve anything.” Which word in the cited verse challenges that conclusion?
“Labor.” The verse pictures someone eating from the work of their hands. Rejoicing in one’s portion and responsible effort are not opposites. The mishnah challenges restless comparison, not every effort to meet a need or do good.
Honored: giving honor
איזה הוא מכובד — המכבד את הברייות
Who is honored? One who honors other people,
שנאמר: כי מכבדיי אכבד ובוזיי ייקלו
as it is said: “For those who honor me I will honor, and those who scorn me will be held in little esteem.”
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva
Listen to the reversal: honored, then honors. Instead of counting the attention coming toward us, Ben Zoma directs our attention outward. Beriyyot, literally “creatures,” here means other people. Honor is not reserved for people whose approval might advance us.
In the biblical passage, Hashem, God, is the speaker of “I will honor.” The words come in a message to Eli the priest about his household’s conduct. Ben Zoma brings that verse about honoring God into his teaching about honoring people. The source is not a neighbor’s promise to repay every courtesy, and it does not guarantee popularity.
In a study group, honoring someone might mean giving their question a fair hearing, naming their contribution or disagreeing without ridicule. Honor does not require agreement with a mistake.
5. Who says “I will honor” in the biblical quotation, and who acts in Ben Zoma’s answer?
Hashem speaks in the verse from Samuel. In Ben Zoma’s answer, the person described as honored is the one honoring other people. Keeping these voices distinct prevents us from turning the teaching into “I will respect you only if you respect me back.”
Four measures, one change of attention
Return to your first answers. Perhaps you named knowledge, physical power, possessions and public esteem. Ben Zoma does not merely exchange one set of impressive people for another. Each answer names something to practice: learning, mastering an impulse, rejoicing and honoring.
Notice two different directions. Wisdom receives from other people; honor gives to them. Strength and wealth examine how we govern our impulses and relate to our portion. Reading all four together keeps character learning from shrinking into either self-absorption or a performance for an audience.
6. Match each question with an action, without looking back.
Wise: learns from every person. Strong: masters his inclination. Rich: rejoices in his portion. Honored: honors other people. “Be successful” is too broad to preserve the four distinct answers.
Work through a small moment
In a fictional study group, Leah has prepared carefully. A newcomer spots a repeated word she missed. Leah feels an urge to interrupt with something impressive. She also notices that another learner has a newer, more attractive edition of the book.
- Name the evidence. The newcomer has noticed something in the text. Leah’s preparation does not settle whether that observation is right.
- Choose a response. She checks the words, lets the newcomer finish and acknowledges the useful observation. Learning and honoring can occur in the same response.
- Locate the inner work. Not interrupting exercises restraint. Using her own readable book with gratitude brings the question of her portion into this ordinary moment.
- Limit the conclusion. One good response is practice, not proof that Leah has perfected all four qualities.
7. “Leah honors the newcomer by pretending every answer is correct.” What needs revision?
She can honor the person while checking the claim. A stronger response is, “Let’s look at the line you noticed.” That takes the learner seriously and remains responsible to the source. Flattery is not the only alternative to ridicule.
Recall at your next session
Before reopening this lesson, write the four questions and Ben Zoma’s answers. Then explain one contrast with an ordinary assumption, and recall one biblical phrase used as support.
9. Check your recall and prepare the next question.
Wisdom learns from every person; strength masters an inclination; wealth rejoices in one’s portion; honor honors others. For example, “slow to anger” supports strength as self-government rather than defeating someone else.
Now ask: what happens when I fail to act that way? Character learning also needs a way to acknowledge wrong and change direction. That is the next lesson’s question.
Return to the sources
- Mishnah Avot 4:1: the complete four-part teaching, presented above in sections.
- Psalm 119:97–104: the setting of the phrase about teachers and understanding.
- Proverbs 16:32: slow anger and ruling one’s spirit.
- Psalm 128:1–2: walking in Hashem’s ways and eating from one’s labor.
- 1 Samuel 2:27–30: the setting of “those who honor me.”