Ám háárec

He used to say: one with whom men are pleased, God is pleased. But anyone from whom men are displeased, God is displeased. Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas said: morning sleep, midday wine, children’s talk and sitting in the assemblies of the ignorant put a man out of the world.

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There are four types of character in human beings: One that says: “mine is mine, and yours is yours”: this is a commonplace type; and some say this is a sodom-type of character. [One that says:] “mine is yours and yours is mine”: is an unlearned person (am haaretz); [One that says:] “mine is yours and yours is yours” is a pious person. [One that says:] “mine is mine, and yours is mine” is a wicked person.

"what is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine" -- [that's an] am ha'arets (uneducated person, literally the people of the land): who benefits and gives benefit equally, and this is [for] the [advancement of] the inhabitation of the land. But he doesn't know the verse (Proverbs 15:27) which writes, "and the one hates gifts will live." And this is the [meaning] of the expression, am ha'arets, in every place - that he wants the refinement of the land but he does not have the wisdom to distinguish [what are] proper refinements.

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And it may be asked [regarding] what it said, "'What is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine' - [that is an] am haarets (ignoramus)": Why is this trait called, "an ignoramus" - when he says, "What is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine?" And why is that not an [average] temperament, like "What is mine is mine, and what is yours is yours?" And the understanding of this thing is that when he says, "What is mine is yours" - this trait is not that he is saying, "What is mine is yours," because he is generous and broad-hearted; and that is why he says, "What is mine is yours." For a generous person does not request anything from others, saying, "And what is yours is mine." Rather it is as if he is saying, "What is mine is yours," so that it also be that "What is yours is mine" - and my money will be your money and your money will be my money. And it is about this that it said that this trait is the trait of an ignoramus. For if he had intelligence and wisdom, intelligence and wisdom would dictate that everything that belongs to a man is his. But that which he said, "What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine," and did not make limits and a distinction between his money and the money of others - but rather that it is all equal, this like that - this thing is certainly a departure from the bounds of wisdom. As wisdom assesses everything according to what is appropriate for it and creates limits for each and every thing. And hence one who says, "'What is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine' is an ignoramus" - for he does not have any wisdom at all. And that is why he does not have assessment or limits. And we have already also told you earlier (Derekh Chayim 2:5, 4:1) that a person who receives from others has a physical level; for it is the physical that receives. And hence one who says, "What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine" - meaning to say I should receive from you and you will receive from me, each one should receive from the other - is someone physical. For the entire content of the physical is that it is always receiving, as we explained (Derekh Chayim 4:1) with, "Who is the rich one? He who is happy with his lot." And that is why it said that the one who says, "What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine," is the temperament of an ignoramus. For intelligence is simple, [so it] does not receive from anything besides it. Rather it stands by itself. And this explanation is very choice.

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It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Akiva said: When I was an ignoramus I said: Who will give me a Torah scholar so that I will bite him like a donkey? His students said to him: Master, say that you would bite him like a dog! He said to them: I specifically used that wording, as this one, a donkey, bites and breaks bones, and that one, a dog, bites but does not break bones.

The Gemara further relates: Rabbi Akiva was the shepherd of ben Kalba Savua, one of the wealthy residents of Jerusalem. The daughter of Ben Kalba Savua saw that he was humble and refined. She said to him: If I betroth myself to you, will you go to the study hall to learn Torah? He said to her: Yes. She became betrothed to him privately and sent him off to study. Her father heard this and became angry. He removed her from his house and took a vow prohibiting her from benefiting from his property. Rabbi Akiva went and sat for twelve years in the study hall. When he came back to his house he brought twelve thousand students with him, and as he approached he heard an old man saying to his wife: For how long

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