Pirke Avot

About the Author

Like all rabbinic literature, Pirke Avot is a collective, traditional document. It is not possible to designate one person as its author. The document is structured according to a well-conceived plan. Therefore, we can assume that an editor, or several subsequent editors, worked on it to give it its present shape.

Traditionally, a rabbi named Jehuda ha-Nasi (ca. 200 CE) is considered to have been the final collector and organizer of the Mishnah, of which Pirke Avot is one tractate. He is usually called simply “Rabbi.” Rabbi is said to have been born in 135 CE. He came from a wealthy family and received an education that included Greek, the common language of the Roman authorities in this part of the Roman Empire. Nasi means “patriarch,” referring to Rabbi Jehuda’s function as the formal leader of the rabbinic community toward the end of the second century CE. Rabbi resided in Beit She’arim and later in Sepphoris—two centers of rabbinic study in Galilee—after all Jewish religious activity was banned from Judah and its capital, Jerusalem, by the Romans. He was the first to be formally recognized as nasi and served as the spokesperson of the Jews with the Roman authorities. According to rabbinic legend, he developed a close friendship with the Roman emperor Antoninus, who would consult him on worldly and spiritual matters. Rabbi Jehuda was known for his strictly moral way of life. Even though it is unlikely that he composed or even compiled Pirke Avot singlehandedly, its contents seem to reflect the high moral standards that he set for himself and his students.