Between Pesach and Shavuos, it is customary to learn the chapters of Pirkei Avos, Ethics of the Fathers. This week is the fourth perek, and there’s a very unique Mishna. Shmuel HaKatan says, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, lest HaShem see you are happy about it, and He will turn His wrath towards you.”
What’s special is that these were not Shmuel HaKatan’s own words. Rather, they come from Mishlei, Proverbs. The commentaries say that because this was a frequent refrain of his, something he constantly taught others, it is considered to be somewhat of a motto.
There is a common explanation of the phrase, “he used to say,” which we find often in Pirkei Avos. The message, we say, was not simply that the Tana articulated the words, but he actually lived them. He, his very being, through the way he conducted himself, conveyed a specific message.
Shmuel HaKatan didn’t need to introduce anything “new.” He taught us a lesson by showing that one could live the Torah in a very real and practical way.
