Practical Pirkei Avot #2 - The Bad Neighbor

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Torah Box’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

This teaching tells us three things. First, stay away from a bad neighbor. Second, don’t associate with bad people. And third, don’t despair about divine punishment. How do you apply this mitvah of staying away from a bad neighbor? Let me explain. Oh yeah, no, I’ll find him, I’ll kill him. The metal, no way. Everyone understands that it’s not recommended to live in a place with bad company or bad morals. Your neighbor included. You risk being influenced by him. Because as King Solomon says, if someone enters a place that smells bad, even if he doesn’t buy anything, he and his clothes will be impregnated with the bad smell. But if your neighbor doesn’t mean to be bad or mean, it’s not intentional. The Benishrai allows us to read the mishnah differently. Instead of reading arekenra, meaning keep away from your evil neighbor, we will read keep the evil away from your neighbor, meaning the evil within him. The implication is

Jump to a moment

1. 0:07This teaching tells us three things. First, stay away from a bad neighbor. Second, don’t associate…
2. 0:38company or bad morals. Your neighbor included. You risk being influenced by him. Because as King…
3. 1:08that by changing our outlook on him, by being kind, we could help him eradicate the…
4. 1:39to make himself comfortable. Your heart fills with good vibes and in exchange for their hateful…
5. 2:09minutes. It's okay, let me through. Why? Because you're annoying. You know my whole family is…
6. 2:41him. He's a good Jew, I really like him . Damn, What's with those red eyes?…

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