Chapter 2 Mishna 11
“[Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai] said [to his disciples]: ‘Go out and see which is the straight path a person should cling to... Go out and see which is the evil path a person should avoid.’”
We can propose a difficulty: why Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai asks his disciples what the evil path is, after already asking which is the good path — it would seem obvious that the opposite of the good path would be the one to avoid.
This can be understood in light of what is taught in Sefer HaGilgulim (Chapter 4), where it is explained that a person must fulfill all mitzvot with thought, speech, and action. It is not enough to simply do good and fulfill mitzvot, assuming that in doing so one automatically distances oneself from evil. Rather, one must actively hate evil and avoid it and choose good. This is why he repeated the question — what is the evil path — and specified, “from which a person should distance himself,” for in order to fulfill the mitzvah fully, one must not only choose the good, but also know what is the evil path to actively avoid it.
