(10) Nevertheless, whosoever sets his heart to pursue the study of the Torah but do no secular work at all, and permits himself to be supported by charity, behold him, he blasphemed the Name, and degraded the Torah, and shadowed the light of religion, and caused evil to be brought upon himself, and deprived his own life from its share in the world to come; because it is forbidden to enjoy aught in this world in return of the study of the words of the Torah. The sages said: "Whosoever enjoys aught in return of the study of the words of the Torah takes his own life away from the world" (Pirke Abot, 4.7). They have, moreover, commanded and said: "Thou shalt not make them a garland by which to be considered great nor a spade to dig with them" (Ibid.). Again they have commanded and said: "Love manual labor and hate rank". (Pirke Abot, 1.10); whosoever studies the Torah and does not acquire at the same time a manual trade his knowledge of the Torah will be nullified and bring about sin" (Ibid. 2.2.). The end of this will be that he will rob people for his living.

(11) He who supports himself by the labor of his own hands attains a high degree. It is an ethical conduct of the pious man of yore. Therewith one acquires all honor and good that is in this world and in the world to come, even as it is said: "When thou eatest the labor of thy hands happy shalt thou be and the good shall be with thee" (Ps. 1.28); happy shalt thou be in this world, and the good shall be with thee in the world to come, which is entirely good.

After I decided not to speak about this testament because it is clear and since, according to my opinion, my words will not please most of the great Torah sages - and perhaps any of them - I went back on my decision and I will speak about it, without paying attention to the earlier or contemporary [rabbis]. Know that that which he said not to make the Torah into a spade with which to dig - meaning to say, do not consider it a tool to live by - he explained and said that anyone who benefits in this world from the honor of Torah removes his life from the world - the explanation of which is, from life in the world to come. Yet people have missed this obvious language and thrown it over the backs. And they have depended upon understandings of the words that they [themselves] did not understand - and I will explain them. And they established rules for themselves upon individuals and upon communities, and they brought people to think in their total foolishness that it is mandatory and fitting that they help the sages and their students and the people involved in Torah, and for whom their Torah [study] is their craft. And this is all a mistake, and nothing is found in the Torah or in the words of the rabbis, may their memory be blessed, that substantiates it or gives it a basis to rest upon at all. As when we look into the words of the rabbis, may their memory be blessed, we do not find among them that they were requesting money from people and they did not collect money for the honored and precious academies, nor for the heads of the exiles, nor for their judges, nor for the promulgators of Torah - not for one of their greats and not for any people of the nation. Rather, we find in each and every generation in all of their communities that there were among [the Torah scholars] poor men of extreme poverty and wealthy men of extreme wealth. And God forbid that I should suspect those generations of not being doers of kindness and givers of charity. As if such a poor man had extended his hand to receive it, they would have filled his house with gold and pearls; but he did not want [it]. Rather he sufficed with [the earnings from] the work in which he engaged - whether comfortably or with duress - and he was loath of what [came from] the hand of people, since the Torah prevented him from it. And you already know that Hillel the Elder was a wood chopper and that he studied in front of Shemaya and Avtalyon and he was extremely poor. And his rank was such that you know that some of his students were compared to Moshe, Aharon and Yehoshua; and the least of his students was Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. And there is no doubt to the intelligent one that if he had instructed the people of his generation to let him benefit from them, they would not have allowed him to be a wood chopper. And [also] Rabbi Chaninah ben Dosa - about whom a heavenly voice went out and said, "The whole world is only nourished for the sake of my son, Chaninah; and my son, Chaninah, has enough with a kav of carobs from one Shabbat eve to [the next] Shabbat eve" (Berakhot 17b) - yet he did not request [anything] from people. And Karna was a judge in the Land of Israel and he was a water drawer. And when litigants would come in front of him, he would say, "Give me someone to draw [the water] in my place or [the wage from] my absence and I will adjudicate for you." And the Jews in that generation were not not cruel and were not lacking in doing kindness. And we do not find any sage of the poor sages that reviled the people of his generation for not making them rich - God forbid for them [to have done so]. Rather they believed in God, may He be blessed, and in the Torah of Moshe, through which a person merits life in the world to come. And [so] they did not allow themselves to request money from people. And they saw that taking it was a desecration of [God's] name in the eyes of the masses, because they would think that Torah is a profession from the professions though which a person lives and it will become disgraced in their eyes. And [so] the one that would do this, 'the word of God, he will disgrace.' However the ones that drew strength to disagree with the truth and with simple and obvious verses by taking people's money - whether voluntarily or against their will - were misled by stories that are found in the Gemara about people that [were disabled] or elderly, having come up in days, such that it was impossible for them to do work. As there was no strategy for them [to survive] except for the taking of money from others. And if not, what would they do - should they die? And the Torah did not command this. And you will find that the story that they bring as a proof (Bava Metzia 84b) when they said 'she was like merchant ships, from far does she bring her bread,' is about [someone disabled] who was not able to do work. But with the ability [to do work], the Torah does not create [such] a path. And Rabbi Yosef would carry wood from place to place and would say, "(Beautiful) [Great] is work, as it heats up its master" - meaning to say with the effort of his limbs. Since by carrying the heavy wood, he would heat up his body without a doubt. And he would praise this and be happy with it. And he derived pleasure from that which God, may He be blessed, apportioned to him, that which was for him from the virtues of sufficing. And I have heard the crazy and confused ones base themselves on the proof that they bring from their saying (Berakhot 10b), "One who seeks to benefit, let him benefit like Elisha; and one who does not seek to benefit, let him not benefit like Shmuel from Rama." And this is not at all similar to what they are bringing. Rather, for me, it is a great mistake to bring a proof from it, as it is clear and there is no room for a person to make a mistake in it. As Elisha did not take money from people - all the more so did he not request [it] from them and establish rules for them, God forbid. Instead, he would only take honor when someone gave him lodging when he passed by, to be in his home. And he would eat his bread on that night or on that day and he would return to his affairs. But Shmuel would not enter the home of a person and would not eat from any man. And about something like this the sages, may their memory be blessed, said that if a Torah scholar wants to emulate this to the point that he not enter the house of [any] person, that right is in his hand. But if he wants to lodge with people in his passing by them for the needs of [his] travel expenses, that right is [also] in his hand. As they already warned about eating [as a guest of] any man when it is not necessary. And they said (Pesachim 49a), "A Torah scholar that proliferates his meal in every place, etc." And they [also] said, "It is forbidden for a Torah scholar to benefit from any meal that is not [pertinent] to a commandment." And why should I write at length about this matter. Instead, I will mention a story which elucidates it in the Gemara (Nedarim 62a). And it is that a [certain] man had a vineyard in which thieves would enter. And each time he would see them on each day he [would] find his fruit lessening progressively. And he did not have a doubt that one of the thieves put his eye upon it. And [so], he was pained by this all the days of the harvest until he harvested what [was left for him to] harvest. And he put them out to dry until they dried and he gathered in the raisins. And the way of people when they gather dried fruit is that a few individual figs or grapes would fall. And it is permissible to eat them because they are ownerless and the owners already left them for their finders due to their small quantity. And Rabbi Tarfon came one day to that vineyard by chance and he sat and took from the raisins that fell and ate them. And the owner of the field thought that this was the thief that stole from him the whole year - and he did not recognize [Rabbi Tarfon] but had heard of him. And [so] he immediately took him and overpowered him and placed him in a sack and placed him on his back to throw him into the river. And when Rabbi Tarfon saw this, he yelled out and said, "Woe to Tarfon, for this man is killing him." And when the owner of the vineyard heard, he left him and ran away, knowing that he had sinned a great sin. But Rabbi Tarfon was distressed from that day onwards all of his days and he mourned about that which happened to him, as he saved himself through the honor of the Torah, while he was very rich and could have said, "Leave me and I will give you such and such gold coins." And he could have given them to him and he did not need to inform him that that he was Rabbi Tarfon. And [that way] he would have saved himself with his money and not with Torah. And they said, "All the days of that righteous man, he was distressed over this matter, saying, 'Woe is me, for I made use of the crown of Torah'" - as anyone who use the crown of Torah does not have a share in the world to come and is uprooted from the world. And they said about this, "It was since Rabbi Tarfon was very rich, and he should have appeased him with money." And so [too, the story that] Rebbi (Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi) opened his storehouses in a year of drought and said, "Anyone who wants to come and take his sustenance, let him come and sustain himself, but only if he is a Torah scholar." And Rabbi Yochanan ben Amram came and stood in front of him and he did not recognize him; he said, "Rebbi, sustain me." He said [back] to him, "Have you read [scripture]?" "No." "Have you studied mishnah?" "No." "[If so], with (in the merit of) what should I sustain you?" He said, "Sustain me like a dog or a raven" - meaning to say, even though there is no wisdom in me, just like God, may He be blessed, sustains the impure animal and the impure bird - as an ignoramus is no less than them. And he gave him. But afterwards he regretted [it], since he had seduced him with his words and he said, "Woe to me, since I benefited an ignoramus from my possessions." And the listeners of what happened to him said to him, "Maybe it was Yonatan ben Amram, your student, who does not want to benefit through the honor of Torah, when he could avoid it - and even with a ruse." And he investigated and found that it was so. And these two stories will silence anyone who disagrees about this matter. The things that the Torah did, however, permit to the Torah scholar are that they should give their money to a man to do business according to his choice and the profit will be all for them, if he wants. And one who does this has a great reward for it - and this is "the one who puts merchandise into the 'pocket' of a Torah scholar." And [also] that their merchandise be sold before all [other] merchandise, and that [things] be purchased for them at the beginning of the market [session]. These are rules that God, may He be blessed, established, [just] like He established the gifts for the priest and the tithes for the Levite - according to that which has been received by tradition. As these two actions are done by some businessmen towards each other by way of honor and even though there is no wisdom [to be honored] - a Torah scholar is worthwhile to be like an honored ignoramus. And the Torah eased the rules upon Torah scholars [regarding] taxes and quartering troops and [taxes] specific to each person, and that is called the poll tax - the community pays it for them. And so [too] with [revenue for] the building of walls and similar to them. And even if a Torah scholar is endowed with money, he is not obligated in anything of all this. And Rabbi Yosef Halevi, may his memory be blessed, already instructed a man in a certain place who had gardens and orchards and was obligated to pay thousands of gold coins [in taxes] on their account - and he said that he would be exempted from giving anything on their account from all that we have mentioned, since he was a Torah scholar. And [this is so] although even a poor man in Israel would give this tax. And this is a law of the Torah, [just] like the Torah exempted the priests from the half shekel [that even the poor had to pay] - as we have elucidated in its place - and that which is similar to it.

(10) Anyone who believes in his mind ... Our master, z"l, opened his mouth and his tongue in commenting on the Mishna, Avot chapter 4, regarding subsidies given to students and teachers, and even though it seems from his words that most of the great Torah sages of that time, or all of them, did that. And here also he follows his same reasoning.And there he cites a proof from Hillel the Elder (Yoma 35b), who was a wood-cutter and studied. But there is no proof from that example, because that was specifically at the beginning of his studies; because in their times there were thousands and myriads of students, perhaps they gave [subsidies] only to the famous [prominent] among them, or that anyone who was able [to get along] without benefiting [from study] did so. However, when he [Hillel] achieved wisdom and taught knowledge to the people, would you imagine that he [still] chopped wood?Likewise the example that he cited of R' Hanina ben Dosa (Ber. 17b) is no proof, for if he had wanted to become wealthy, he would not have needed to ask people, but rather Heaven would have provided for him, as is mentioned in Ta'anit (25a). But rather he, z"l, did not want to benefit from this world, and our words apply only to those who do want to benefit from this world except not in a prohibited way.And Karna (Ket. 105a) who received compensation [for adjudicating cases], for he was an aroma-tester in a wine storage facility, determining which [barrels] were fit to maintain. That work was good and entailed little effort.And there is no doubt that one whom God, may He be blessed, has graced with the ability to sustain himself from his work is prohibited from taking compensation. And Rav Huna, who was a water drawer, Rashi z"l has already explained that he drew water to irrigate his fields. There is no disgrace in this, and also, according to this, he had real estate and did not need to take compensation....(11) ... And corresponding to the intent to gain wealth it says [Avot 1:13] "one who makes use of the crown passes away," and here are included all sorts of benefiting from words of Torah. This applies to one who devotes his study from the beginning to these ends, or if he can sustain himself without taking compensation for his study. But if he studies for the sake of heaven but ultimately cannot sustain himself without accepting compensation, it is permitted....The principle that emerges is that anyone who lacks a means of sustaining himself may accept his compensation for teaching, whether from the students themselves or from the community. And it is likewise permitted to take compensation from the public for judging, or from the litigants, after observing the conditions mentioned in the laws of Sanhedrin. And since God has made all this known to us, one might say that our Master's intent here is that one must not cast off the yoke of work in order to sustain oneself from other people in order to study, but rather one should learn a trade that sustains him; if it suffices for him, well and good, and if not, he may take sufficient from the community, and there is no problem. This is why he wrote, "Anyone who takes it into his mind, etc," and he cited several mishnayot showing that is proper to study a trade. And even if we do not say that this is our Master's view, but rather what appears from his words in his Mishna Commentary, we still have the principle that wherever the halacha is weak [uncertain] in your hands, go according to the practice. And we have seen that all the sages of Israel, before our Master's time and after him were accustomed to take compensation from the public. And even if we affirm that the halacha is according to our Master in the Mishna Commentary, it is possible that all the sages of the generations agreed, based on "A time to act for God, they have overturned Your Torah" (Ps. 119:126), for if sustenance for students and teachers were not available, they could not labor in Torah appropriately, and the Torah would be forgotten, God forbid, and it [sustenance] being available, they can engage, and "He will magnify and glorify Torah." (Isa. 42:21) (rf)