(ב) שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק הָיָה מִשְּׁיָרֵי כְנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עַל שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד, עַל הַתּוֹרָה וְעַל הָעֲבוֹדָה וְעַל גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים:
(2) Shimon the Righteous was from the remnants of the Great Assembly. He would say, "On three things the world stands: on the Torah, on the service (HaAvodah), and on acts of lovingkindness."
(ג) אַנְטִיגְנוֹס אִישׁ סוֹכוֹ קִבֵּל מִשִּׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, אַל תִּהְיוּ כַעֲבָדִים הַמְשַׁמְּשִׁין אֶת הָרַב עַל מְנָת לְקַבֵּל פְּרָס, אֶלָּא הֱווּ כַעֲבָדִים הַמְשַׁמְּשִׁין אֶת הָרַב שֶׁלֹּא עַל מְנָת לְקַבֵּל פְּרָס, וִיהִי מוֹרָא שָׁמַיִם עֲלֵיכֶם:
(3) Antigonos, man of Socho, received from Shimon the Righteous. He would say, "Do not be as servants who are serving the master in order to receive a reward, rather be as servants who are serving the master not in order to receive a reward; and may the fear of Heaven be upon you."
Antigonus lived during the third century BCE at a time when Hellensism was a cultural force in the of Israel. Antigonus is one of the few sages who has a Greek name.
Antiginous from Socho? I know him, my friend Tiggy used to live South of Houston ––Rabbi Martin Cohen
Abravanel:
Antigonus compares the performance of a mitzvah to the duties of a servant. however, most servsants are not happy with their status in servitude. Is that what God wants, that the Jew serve with despair, shame, and sadness? Surely, the sage's advice should have been formulated: "Serve God out of love?"
(א) אנטיגנוס איש סוכו קבל משמעון הצדיק הוא היה אומר אל תהיו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב על מנת לקבל פרס אלא היו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב שלא על מנת לקבל פרס ויהי מורא שמים עליכם כדי שיהיה שכרכם כפול לעתיד לבא:
(ב) אנטיגנוס איש סוכו היו לו שני תלמידים שהיו שונין בדבריו והיו שונים לתלמידים ותלמידים לתלמידיהם עמדו ודקדקו אחריהן ואמרו מה ראו אבותינו לומר [דבר זה] אפשר שיעשה פועל מלאכה כל היום ולא יטול שכרו ערבית אלא אילו היו יודעין אבותינו שיש עולם [אחר] ויש תחיית המתים לא היו אומרים כך. עמדו ופירשו מן התורה ונפרצו מהם שתי פרצות צדוקין וביתוסין צדוקים על שום צדוק ביתוסין על שום ביתוס. והיו משתמשין בכלי כסף וכלי זהב כל ימיהם שלא היתה דעתן גסה עליהם אלא צדוקים אומרים מסורת הוא ביד פרושים שהן מצערין עצמן בעוה״ז ובעוה״ב אין להם כלום:
(1) Antigonos, man of Socho, received from Shimon the Righteous. He would say, "Do not be as servants who are serving the master in order to receive a reward, rather be as servants who are serving the master not in order to receive a reward; and may the fear of Heaven be upon you, so that your reward might be doubled in the age to come.
(2) Antigonus of Socho had two students who used to study his words. They taught his teachings to their disciples, and their deciples to their disciples. They carefully examined his words closely, and said: "How could our sages say such a thing." Should a laborer do all of his work and not take his reward in the evening. If our ancestors had known that there was a world to come, and that there will be a resurrection of the dead, they would not have spoken this way.
So they arose and withdrew from Torah and split into two sects, the Sadducees and the Boethusians: The Sadducees named after Tzaddok, Boethusians, after Boethus. They used silver and gold all of their lives because they were ostentatious; The Sadducees said, " It is a tradition among the Pharisees to afflict themselves in this word; yet in the world to come they have nothing.
(א) כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל יֵשׁ לָהֶם חֵלֶק לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה ס) וְעַמֵּךְ כֻּלָּם צַדִּיקִים לְעוֹלָם יִירְשׁוּ אָרֶץ נֵצֶר מַטָּעַי מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי לְהִתְפָּאֵר. וְאֵלּוּ שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם חֵלֶק לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא, הָאוֹמֵר אֵין תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים מִן הַתּוֹרָה, וְאֵין תּוֹרָה מִן הַשָּׁמָיִם, וְאֶפִּיקוֹרֶס.
(1) All Jews have a share in the World to Come, as it says, (Isaiah 60:21), “Thy people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.” These have no share in the World to Come: One who says that [the belief of] resurrection of the dead is not from the Torah, [one who says that] that the Torah is not from Heaven, and one who denigrates the Torah.
MISHNA: Anyone who performs one mitzva has goodness bestowed upon him, his life is lengthened, and he inherits the land, i.e., life in the World-to-Come. And anyone who does not perform one mitzva does not have goodness bestowed upon him, his life is not lengthened, and he does not inherit the land of the World-to-Come.
(ד) אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים הָרִאשׁוֹנִים שֶׁמָּא תֹּאמַר הֲרֵינִי לָמֵד תּוֹרָה בִּשְׁבִיל שֶׁאֶהְיֶה עָשִׁיר בִּשְׁבִיל שֶׁאֶקְרָא רַבִּי בִּשְׁבִיל שֶׁאֲקַבֵּל שָׂכָר בָּעוֹלָם הַבָּא. תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר (דברים יא יג) "לְאַהֲבָה אֶת ה'". כָּל מַה שֶּׁאַתֶּם עוֹשִׂים לֹא תַּעֲשׂוּ אֶלָּא מֵאַהֲבָה. וְעוֹד אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים בְּמִצְוֹתָיו חָפֵץ מְאֹד וְלֹא בִּשְׂכַר מִצְוֹתָיו. וְכֵן הָיוּ גְּדוֹלֵי הַחֲכָמִים מְצַוִּים לִנְבוֹנֵי תַּלְמִידֵיהֶם וּמַשְׂכִּילֵיהֶם בְּיִחוּד אַל תִּהְיוּ כַּעֲבָדִים הַמְשַׁמְּשִׁים אֶת הָרַב וְכוּ' אֶלָּא מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא הָרַב רָאוּי לְשַׁמְּשׁוֹ כְּלוֹמַר עִבְדוּ מֵאַהֲבָה:
(4) Said the ancient sages: "Peradventure you will say, behold, I study the Torah so that I will become rich, so that I will be called Rabbi, or so that I will receive reward in the World to Come, learn from what it is said: "That thou mayest love the Lord" (Deut. 30.20), all that you do, you shall not do save because of love. The sages, moreover, said: "For his commandments crave exceedingly, but not for the reward of His commandments". And the great sages likewise commanded particularly their intelligent and progressive disciples: "Be not like servants who minister to their master on condition of receiving a reward; but be like servants who minister to their master without condition of receiving a reward"; for, because he is the master it is proper to minister to him, as if saying, minister because of love.
Stephen Dubner
(Author of Freakanomics, Super Freakanomics, and How to Think Like a Freak)
One thing that's a fairly good general rule is that we believe very much societally in the power of moral incentives—urging people to do the right thing because it's the right thing.
But the data show that that rarely works. It doesn't mean people are immoral. It just turns out that moral incentives typically are not very successful, which doesn't mean they won't work in some cases.
Financial incentives aren’t necessarily better. But social incentives are often really strong—what you might call the “herd mentality.” If you want people to do “the right thing,” whatever that is, you don’t tell them, “You should do this because you’ll be a better person for it; it's the right thing to do.”
That will typically produce a much weaker outcome than if you simply tell people, “Did you know that a lot of your neighbors or people in your community are doing this thing? You might want to think about doing it, too.” And that kind of herd mentality or social incentive is typically stronger than a moral incentive.
The other thing about incentives is that a lot of them are created by people in a position of authority or power, who happen to be so in part because they're very disciplined, motivated, rational people.
They create incentives that they would respond to, but then, they unleash them into the world where not everybody is as disciplined and rational and motivated as they are. That will often lead to a failure.
(ב) בֶּן עַזַּאי אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי רָץ לְמִצְוָה קַלָּה כְבַחֲמוּרָה, וּבוֹרֵחַ מִן הָעֲבֵרָה. שֶׁמִּצְוָה גּוֹרֶרֶת מִצְוָה, וַעֲבֵרָה גוֹרֶרֶת עֲבֵרָה. שֶׁשְּׂכַר מִצְוָה, מִצְוָה. וּשְׂכַר עֲבֵרָה, עֲבֵרָה:
(2) Ben Azai says: Run to do an easy commandment as to a difficult one, and flee from sin; since a commandment leads to another commandment, and a sin leads to another sin; since the reward for a commandment is another commandment, and the reward for a sin is another sin.
(ב) וִיהִי מוֹרָא שָׁמַיִם עֲלֵיכֶם. אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאַתָּה עוֹבֵד מֵאַהֲבָה עֲבֹד גַּם כֵּן מִיִּרְאָה. שֶׁהָעוֹבֵד מֵאַהֲבָה זָרִיז בְּמִצְוֹת עֲשֵׂה, וְהָעוֹבֵד מִיִּרְאָה נִזְהָר מִמִּצְוֹת לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה, וְנִמְצֵאת דַּעֲבוֹדָתוֹ שְׁלֵמָה. וְכֵן אָמְרוּ חֲזַ"ל, עֲבֹד מֵאַהֲבָה עֲבֹד מִיִּרְאָה. עֲבֹד מֵאַהֲבָה, שֶׁאִם בָּאתָ לִשְׂנֹא דַּע שֶׁאַתָּה אוֹהֵב וְאֵין אוֹהֵב שׂוֹנֵא. עֲבֹד מִיִּרְאָה, שֶׁאִם בָּאתָ לִבְעֹט דַּע שֶׁאַתָּה יָרֵא וְאֵין יָרֵא בּוֹעֵט:
(2) "and may the fear of Heaven be upon you": Even though you serve out of love, also serve out of fear. For the one who serves out of love is quick concerning positive commandment, and the one who serves out of fear is careful concerning negative commandments, resulting in his service being complete. So said our sages, may their memory be blessed, (Jerusalem Talmud Sotah 25a:3), "Serve out of love, serve out of fear: Serve out of love, so if you verge on hating, know that you are a person who loves, for one that loves does not hate. Serve out of fear, for if you verge on rejecting, know that you fearful, for one who is fearful does not reject."
(א) פְּרָס. לְשׁוֹן עֶרֶךְ. בְּעֶרְכֶּךָ, מְתַרְגְּמִינַן פּוּרְסָנֵיהּ. וְהוּא מַה שֶּׁאָדָם נוֹתֵן לְמִי שֶׁעָבַד אוֹתוֹ וְהוּא אֵינוֹ חַיָּב בַּדִּין לִתֵּן לוֹ כְּלוּם, כְּמוֹ מַה שֶּׁיִּתֵּן אָדָם לִבְנוֹ קָטָן אוֹ לְאִשְׁתּוֹ אוֹ לְעַבְדּוֹ מִפְּנֵי קוֹרַת רוּחַ שֶׁעָשׂוּ לוֹ. וַאֲפִלּוּ לְתִקְוַת פְּרָס כָּזֶה לֹא יַעֲבֹד אָדָם אֶת בּוֹרְאוֹ, אֶלָּא מֵאַהֲבָה בִּלְבַד:
(1) "Reward (peras)": is a term of valuation. “For your valuation,” we have translated "For his poreis." It is what a person gives to someone who served him, when he is not legally obligated to give him anything, such as what a man would give to his minor son or to his wife or to his servant, because of the satisfaction they have given him. A person should not serve his Creator even for the hope of a reward such as this, but rather out of love alone.
(קיד) ואין ראוי לבטח על מעשהו הטוב ויבטיח נפשו בגמול העולם הזה והעולם הבא על מעשהו אך יטרח וישתדל בהודאה לטובות הבורא התמידות עליו לא לתקות גמול עתיד שיתחיב לו במעשהו. אך יבטח על האלהים בו אחר ההשתדלות לפרע הודאת הבורא על גדל טובתו עליו כמו שאמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה (משנה אבות א ג) אל תהיו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב על מנת לקבל פרס אלא הוו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב שלא על מנת לקבל פרס ויהי מורא שמים עליכם.
(114) It is not proper for one to trust in his own good deeds, and assure himself that he will receive reward in this world and the next due to his good deeds. Rather, he should strive and exert himself [to do good] and make efforts to thank G-d and be grateful for His constant kindnesses to him, and not be motivated by hope of future reward for his deeds. Rather he should trust in G-d and try his best to pay his debt of gratitude for His great favors towards him, as our sages have said "Do not be like servants who serve their master on condition of receiving reward, rather be like servants who serve their master without the condition of receiving reward, and let the fear of Heaven be upon you" (Avos 1:3)
"Genesis 18:1 Now YHVH was seen by him by the oaks of Mamre as he was sitting at the entrance to his"
"tent at the heat of the day."
"Genesis 18:2 He lifted up his eyes and saw: here, three men standing over against him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the entrance to his tent and bowed to the earth"
"Genesis 18:3 and said: My lords, pray if I have found favor in your eyes, pray do not pass by your servant!"
"Genesis 18:4 Pray let a little water be fetched, then wash your feet and recline under the tree;"
"Genesis 18:5 let me fetch (you) a bit of bread, that you may refresh your hearts, then afterward you may pass on- for you have, after all, passed your servant's way! They said: Do thus, as you have spoken."
"Genesis 18:6 Avraham hastened into his tent to Sara and said: Make haste! Three measures of choice flour! Knead it, make bread-cakes!"
"Genesis 18:7 Avraham ran to the oxen, he fetched a young ox, tender and fine, and gave it to a serving-lad, that he might hasten to make it ready;"
"Genesis 18:8 then he fetched cream and milk and the young ox that he had made ready, and placed it before them. Now he stood over against them under the tree while they ate."
