Greater is learning Torah than the priesthood and than royalty, for royalty is acquired by thirty stages, and the priesthood by twenty-four, but the Torah by forty-eight things. By study, Attentive listening, Proper speech, By an understanding heart, By an intelligent heart, By awe, By fear, By humility, By joy, By attending to the sages, By critical give and take with friends, By fine argumentation with disciples, By clear thinking, By study of Scripture, By study of mishnah, By a minimum of sleep, By a minimum of chatter, By a minimum of pleasure, By a minimum of frivolity, By a minimum of preoccupation with worldly matters, By long-suffering, By generosity, By faith in the sages, By acceptance of suffering. [Learning of Torah is also acquired by one] Who recognizes his place, Who rejoices in his portion, Who makes a fence about his words, Who takes no credit for himself, Who is loved, Who loves God, Who loves [his fellow] creatures, Who loves righteous ways, Who loves reproof, Who loves uprightness, Who keeps himself far from honors, Who does not let his heart become swelled on account of his learning, Who does not delight in giving legal decisions, Who shares in the bearing of a burden with his colleague, Who judges with the scales weighted in his favor, Who leads him on to truth, Who leads him on to peace, Who composes himself at his study, Who asks and answers, Who listens [to others], and [himself] adds [to his knowledge], Who learns in order to teach, Who learns in order to practice, Who makes his teacher wiser, Who is exact in what he has learned, And who says a thing in the name of him who said it. Thus you have learned: everyone who says a thing in the name of him who said it, brings deliverance into the world, as it is said: “And Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name” (Esther 2:22).

Having discussed wise speech and the wisdom of Jewish women, the Gemara cites the following story: Rabbi Yosei HaGelili was walking along the way, and met Berurya. He said to her: On which path shall we walk in order to get to Lod? She said to him: Foolish Galilean, didn’t the Sages say: Do not talk much with women? You should have said your question more succinctly: Which way to Lod?

Hillel and Shammai received [the oral tradition] from them. Hillel used to say: be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving mankind and drawing them close to the Torah. He [also] used to say: one who makes his name great causes his name to be destroyed; one who does not add [to his knowledge] causes [it] to cease; one who does not study [the Torah] deserves death; one who makes [unworthy] use of the crown [of learning] shall pass away. He [also] used to say: If I am not for myself, who is for me? But if I am for my own self [only], what am I? And if not now, when? Shammai used to say: make your [study of the] Torah a fixed practice; speak little, but do much; and receive all men with a pleasant countenance. Rabban Gamaliel used to say: appoint for thyself a teacher, avoid doubt, and do not make a habit of tithing by guesswork. Shimon, his son, used to say: all my days I grew up among the sages, and I have found nothing better for a person than silence. Study is not the most important thing, but actions; whoever indulges in too many words brings about sin.

Say little and do a lot. How so? This teaches us that the righteous say little and do a lot, but the wicked say a lot and don’t do anything at all. And how do we know that the righteous say little and do a lot? For this is what we find with Abraham our forefather, who said to the angels, “Have a piece of bread with me today,” as it says (Genesis 18:5), “I will get a piece of bread, and you can dine to your heart’s content.” But then after that, look at what Abraham did for the angels who serve God! He went and prepared three bulls and nine measures of fine flour for them! And how do we know that he prepared nine measures of fine flour? Because it says (Genesis 18:6), “Abraham hurried into the tent, to Sarah, and said: Hurry! Three measures of fine flour! The word three refers to the first three [measures], the word fine brings it to six, and the word flour makes nine. And how do we know that he prepared three bulls for them? Because it says (Genesis 18:7), “Abraham ran to the cattle [and selected a good, tender calf].” Cattle is one [bull]. Calf is two. Tender is three. (And some say that good was four.) “Then he gave it to the boy, who hurried to prepare it.” That is, he gave it to Ishmael, in order to train him in performing the mitzvot.
Even the Holy Blessed One said little and did a lot, as it says (Genesis 15:13–14), “[God] said to Abram: Know well that your offspring will be strangers in a land not their own, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. But I will judge the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall go out with great wealth.” God spoke of this judgment with only the two letters dalet and nun, which spell the word dan (judge). But when the time came to pay back the enemies of Israel, God used seventy-two letters to do it, as it says (Deuteronomy 4:34), “Or has any god attempted to come and take one nation out from another, with great acts, signs, and wonders, and with awesome power?” From this you learn that when the enemies of Israel were made to pay for what they had done, they paid with seventy-two letters.
And how do we know that the wicked say a lot and don’t do anything at all? For this is what we find with Ephron, who said to Abraham (Genesis 23:15), “A piece of land worth four hundred pieces of silver; [what is that between you and me?]” [as if he was willing to give away the land for free]. But in the end, when Abraham went to give him the payment, it says, “Abraham understood Ephron, and paid him the money” [and he simply accepted it].

Rabbi Shimon would say: There are three crowns: the crown of Torah, the crown of priesthood, the crown of kingship – and the crown of a good name is the greater than all of them.
How does the crown of priesthood work? Even if someone paid all the silver and gold in the world, we could not give him the crown of priesthood, as it says (Numbers 25:15), “It will be for him and his descendants after him an eternal covenant of priesthood.” For the crown of kingship as well; even if someone paid all silver and gold in the world, we could not give him the crown of kingship, as it says (Ezekiel 37:24), “My servant David shall be their prince for all time.” But the crown of Torah is different. For anyone who wishes to partake in the work of Torah may come and partake, as it says (Isaiah 55:1), “Ho, all who are thirsty, go to the water!” That is, go and labor in words of Torah and do not occupy yourself with meaningless things.
There is a story of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai: He would regularly go and visit the sick. He once came upon somebody who was bloated due to intestinal illness, and was cursing God. Rabbi Shimon said: Empty one! You ought to be begging for mercy, and instead you are cursing? The man replied: The Holy Blessed One has departed from me and rested on you. And then he said: The Holy Blessed One has done properly by me, for I have left aside words of Torah and occupied myself with meaningless things.
There is a story of Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar: He was once coming from Migdal Eder, from his teacher’s house, and he was riding on a donkey. He was traveling along the coast, and he spotted somebody who was quite ugly. He said: Empty one, how ugly you are! Are all the people in your city as ugly as you? The man replied: What can I do about it? Go to the Artisan who made me and say to Him, How ugly is this vessel You made! When Rabbi Shimon realized that he had sinned, he got off his donkey and prostrated himself before the man. And he said: I have sinned against you. Forgive me. But the man replied: I will not forgive you until you go to the Artisan who made me and say, How ugly is this vessel You made! Rabbi Shimon followed after him for three mil. All the people in the city came out to greet him, and then said: Peace be upon you, Rabbi! The man said: Whom are you calling Rabbi? They said: The one who is traveling behind you. He said to them: If that is a rabbi, may there be no more like him in Israel! They said to him: God forbid! What did he do to you? He told them: Such-and-such he did to me. They said to him: Even so, forgive him! He said: I hereby forgive [him], but only if he does not continue doing this. On that day, Rabbi Shimon went to his great study hall and taught: A person should always be soft like a reed, and not rigid like a cedar. For the reed, when all the winds come and blow against it, moves in their direction. But when the winds quiet down, the reed returns to its place. That is why the reed merited to be made into a quill that is used to write a Torah scroll. But the cedar does not stay in its place; when the southern wind comes and blows against it, it uproots the tree and flips it over. And then what happens to the cedar? [Woodcutters come along and chop it up, and take from it to build houses and then] throw the rest into the fire. And that is why they say: A person should always be soft like a reed, and not rigid like a cedar.

HALAKHAH: 3. In the House of Rebbi Yannai they said, folding by two persons is forbidden. Rebbi Ḥaggai in the name of Rebbi Samuel bar Naḥman: On the Sabbath, two together may not fold. If one folds on a footstool it is as if two persons were folding. Rebbi Ḥaggai in the name of Rebbi Samuel bar Naḥman: Sabbaths and holidays were given only for eating and drinking. Since this mouth [is bothersome] (is smelling), they permitted him to be occupied with words of the Torah. Rebbi Berekhiah in the name of Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba: Sabbaths and holidays were given only for being occupied with words of the Torah. A baraita supports either one of them: What does one do? Either he sits down and eats or he sits and studies words of the Torah. One verse says, it is a Sabbath for the Eternal, and another verse says, an assembly for the Eternal, your God. How is that? Give part of it to the study of Torah and part to eat and to drink. Rebbi Abbahu said, a Sabbath for the Eternal, rest like the Eternal. Since the Eternal rested from saying, you also should rest from saying.

Rebbi Ḥanina said, with difficulty they permitted greeting on the Sabbath. Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said, when Rebbi Simeon ben Yoḥai saw that his mother enjoyed talking much, he said to her, mama, today is Sabbath. It was stated: It is forbidden to pray for his needs on the Sabbath. Rebbi Zeˋira asked Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba, may one say, “shepherd us, provide for us”? He answered him, these are formulas of benediction.