Stepping Up
הוּא (הלל) הָיָה אוֹמֵר… בִמְקוֹם שֶׁאֵין אֲנָשִׁים, הִשְׁתַּדֵּל לִהְיוֹת אִישׁ (אבות ב:ה):
We often find ourselves in situations where no one is prepared to step up and take responsibility. At these moments, “where there is no other,” Hillel encourages us to be the ish, the person who takes responsibility and does what is needed.
The meforshim apply Hillel’s words to various situations.
Responsibility for Ourselves
According to the Rambam,[1] the mishnah refers to Torah learning and personal growth. Though we should seek rebbeim to teach and guide us, we must also be ready to teach and guide ourselves. We should view ourselves as capable of[2] and responsible for developing ourselves.[3] Though many others teach and inspire us, ultimately, “Im ein ani li, mi li — if I am not responsible for myself, who will be?”[4]
The Meiri and Medrash Shmuel add another aspect to this sense of personal responsibility. They explain that Hillel teaches us to act properly even when no one else is around to witness our actions. Our internal compass and commitment to Hashem should be strong enough to guide us without the need for positive reinforcement.[5]
Communal Role
Other meforshim understand Hillel’s words as a call to contribute to the broader community; when no one else volunteers for a communal role, we should fill the void. The Bartenura[6] gives the example of teaching Torah: “When Torah teaching is needed, we should step up to teach.”[7]
Torah leaders have exhibited this sense of communal responsibility throughout the ages.
Hillel embodied his own words. Upon arriving in Eretz Yisrael and discovering that no one else was proficient in the laws of kodshim, he took on the role of Nasi to teach them.[8]
Centuries later, the Amora Rav followed this tradition. After passing through Sura and hearing a woman ask her friend how much milk to use when cooking meat, Rav decided to move there and open a yeshiva to educate the townspeople.[9] Although Rav already headed a yeshiva in Neharda’a, he also felt responsible for Sura.
Seventeen centuries later, Rav Aharon Kotler took a similar step. During the Second World War, Rav Aharon found himself in Shanghai with the Mir Yeshiva, unsure whether to proceed to Israel or America. He performed a goral ha’GRA (a system that identifies a pasuk meant to guide us), which landed on Hashem’s instruction to Aharon to meet and “help Moshe in the desert.”[10] Rav Aharon perceived it as a directive to join Rav Moshe Feinstein in America, a country whose desperate need for Torah teachers rendered it like a desert wasteland. Although Israel was his preferred Torah destination, Rav Aharon accepted the mission to travel to America. Upon his arrival, he established the Lakewood Yeshiva, which played a central role in spreading Torah across America.
Leadership
Hillel’s words apply to other forms of leadership as well.[11] We should be the ish who volunteers for important missions not being addressed.[12]
Moshe Rabbeinu was a model of such leadership. When he encountered an Egyptian assaulting a Jew, he “looked both ways and saw “ki ein ish” — there was no man.”[13] Though (presumably) many other people were at the building site (and we know that others found out about his action), no one intervened. Unlike the others, who were afraid to act or did not see acting as their responsibility, Moshe Rabbeinu stepped up and saved the Jew by killing the Egyptian, even though he realized that this action might force him to flee Egypt. Many people were there, but only Moshe was the ish willing to step up and intervene.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks describes the importance of this type of leadership:
Leadership is where a person takes responsibility where others are not present… Leadership is born when we become active, not passive, when we do not wait for someone else to act because perhaps there is no one else — at least not here, not now.
When bad things happen, some avert their eyes. Some wait for others to act. Some blame others for failing to act. Some simply complain.
But there are some people who say, “If something is wrong, let me try to put it right.” They are the leaders. They are the ones who make a difference in their lifetimes. They are the ones who make ours a better world…
A responsible life is a life that responds by taking responsibility.”[14]
Many of our ancestors exemplified this trait. Nachshon ben Aminadav serves as an excellent example. Bnei Yisrael stood at the banks of the Yam Suf, hemmed in from behind by the Egyptians. Hashem told them to move forward into the sea, but the people were afraid. When Nachshon saw that no one else was moving forward, he jumped into the water. He led the way through his leap of faith.
Many exemplary non-Jews have also taken such initiatives. An excellent example was the almost thirty thousand “righteous gentiles” who saved Jews during the Holocaust. These outstanding people, recognized by Israel as “Chassidei Umot Ha’Olam,” stepped up to assist their Jewish neighbors who had no one else to turn to. Like Moshe Rabbeinu, these righteous gentiles were willing to risk their own lives to help those no one else was willing to assist.
Being a Builder
While our primary obligation is to ourselves, Hillel reminds us of our obligation to the broader community and the world. Rebbe Elazar cited Rebbe Chanina,[15] who derived this insight from the pasuk: “v’chol banayich limudei Hashem, v’rav shalom banayich.”[16] Rebbe Chanina interpreted the word banayich (sons) as bonayich (builders), asserting that talmidei chachamim should aim to build the world. We transform from being banayich to bonayich or ish when we acknowledge the important role we are meant to play as builders.[17]
May Hillel’s words inspire us to take responsibility for ourselves and for others when we are needed!
Rav Reuven Taragin is the Dean of Overseas Students at Yeshivat Hakotel and the Educational Director of World Mizrachi and the RZA.
His new book, Essentials of Judaism, is available for purchase at rabbireuventaragin.com.
[1] The Rambam to Avot 2:6.
[2] See Devarim 30:11-14, Seforno on pasuk 11, and Yalkut Shimoni Devarim 940.
[3] Rabbeinu Yonah to Avot 2:6 adds that when there are no others to emulate, one should imagine himself in other generations, when there were. (See also Rabbeinu Yonah to Avot 2:8).
[4] Avot 1:14.
[5] See Onkelos and Radak to Melachim I 1:2.
[6] Bartenura to Avot 2:6.
[7] See Mishlei 5:16-17. Hillel himself taught: “B’sha’at ha’machnisin, pazer — When others are collecting their Torah and not sharing it, you should be the one to step up and spread it” (Berachot 63a). In fact, the gemara there quotes the statement of Bar Kapara, who seems to translate our mishnah into Aramaic, showing the connection between the two statements.
[8] Pesachim 66a.
[9] Masechet Chullin 110a. Rav Sherira Gaon (Igeret, pg. 79) fills in details of this story.
[10] Shemot 4:27.
[11] See Rashi to Avot 2:6 who explains Hillel this way.
[12] Hillel mentions specifically a situation where others are not stepping up. The Gra”m Horovitz understands the gemara in Berachot (63a) as teaching that one should not assume an additional position of leadership when others are available, even if it comes naturally. (See Tosafos to Sotah 22b s.v b’shavin and the Maharsha to Berachot who give other explanations about what the gemara adds.) This is an important lesson in today’s world, where many speak of their qualifications for leadership and wish to lead. Leadership is necessary when others are not already leading.
[13] Shemot 2:12. See HaKetav V’hakabbalah who explains the pasuk this way (and quotes Bar Kapara’s words from Berachot 63a). Interestingly, at the end of the second perek, Yitro uses the term “ish” as a way of describing Moshe as a respectable person.
This episode, which describes a situation where “ein ish,” may be the source of our mishnah.
[14] Taking Responsibility, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.
[15] Berachot 64a.
[16] Yeshayahu 54:13.
[17] Functioning as an ish is not just an ideal. There are times when failure to do so can lead to destruction. Gittin 55b tells us that Rebbe Zecharia ben Avkolas, the Kohen Gadol at the time of the churban, failed to make a decision regarding the sacrifice of a korban with a mum brought to the Mikdash. His lack of action led to the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash.
