הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, נָגֵד שְׁמָא, אָבֵד שְׁמֵהּ. וּדְלֹא מוֹסִיף, יָסֵף. וּדְלֹא יָלֵיף, קְטָלָא חַיָּב. וּדְאִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בְּתָגָא, חָלֵף
He [also] used to say: one who makes his name great causes his name to be destroyed; one who does not add [to his knowledge] causes [it] to cease; one who does not study [the Torah] deserves death; one who makes [unworthy] use of the crown [of learning] shall pass away.
In it, there are several points, each of which we briefly look at what Noahides can learn from it.
One who makes his name great causes his name to be destroyed
People who want to elevate themselves will end up embarrassed. What we do should be for G-ds Honor, where it does not matter what you do. But especially when we engage in G-ds Torah, learning and spreading the 7 Noahide Commandments, it should be for His honor and not for praise or appreciation of others. Or as it often goes these days: it’s not about the number of “likes” you get.
One who does not add [to his knowledge] causes [it] to cease
it is wise to schedule a set time every day to engage in studying the 7 Noahide Commandments. This will increase your knowledge then. Someone who goes to the gym will surely tell you that when he does not train his muscles become diminished, so too with this. If you don’t train, it will diminish and the knowledge you have will fade into oblivion.
One who does not study [the Torah] deserves death
G-d created the world because He is good and wants to give His goodness to man. Man lives to receive His goodness and to thank Him for it. By reading Torah, we get to know Him and know how to thank Him and make this world a good healthy world. Torah is life, and when you detach yourself from it, you detach yourself from life and death is a logical consequence.
Viewed on another level, you can also say there are violations of the 7 Noahide commandments that deserve the death penalty. (In our days, this is not practiced at the hands of people). So when you don’t immerse yourself in learning the 7 Noahide commandments, it is possible that you will make a mistake that deserves the death penalty.
One who makes [unworthy] use of the crown [of learning] shall pass away
G-d’s Torah is called “crown” here[1]. Unfortunately, there are those who misuse G-d’s Torah for their own interests, for their own religion, or for their own name [like the first point we started with]. G-d does not allow His Torah to be misused.
Let us read G-d’s Torah and study the 7 Noahide Commandments so that we can make G-d great through our thoughts, words and deeds and thereby inspire others.
By Angelique Sijbolts
Sources:
[1] Tosafot Yom Tov on Pirkei Avot 1:13:3
Texts: Sefaria.org
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