Avos 3:4, Alone together

Rabbi Chanina son of Tradyon would say: Two who sit and no words of Torah pass between them, this is a session of scorners, as is stated, "And in a session of scorners he did not sit" (Psalms 1:1).

As we continue to consider and weigh different kinds of belonging and not belonging, this Mishna begins to tell us us about different groups of people. We start with two people, discuss two for while and, in Mishna six proceed all the way to 10.

Perhaps as a literary technique, our first group is two who are disconnected. They sit together but do not speak to one another. Yet, they are not two individuals but a "session of scorners"(moshav leitzim), members of a group. Ruach Chaim points out that these two do not believe that there have anything to gain from a conversation, for each one considers his colleague to be so inferior in Torah as not to have anything to contribute. Paradoxically, in their separateness they are united. By rejecting each other, they become a group of scoffers.

I remember that in my youth I did not wish to be a conformist. I would wear a dark gray hat, which was more accepted at that time than it would be now, and in this way, I thought, I was my own man. This lasted until a wise man told me that everyone belongs to group. All that I was accomplishing is to be thought of as belonging to group of nonconformists. You see that rejection can be as unifying as non-rejection.

In one way, the sages indicate to us that speech is not the only thing that connects individuals. Many things can be the glue that holds a group together. Disdain can unite as surely as respect. One who had seen dysfunctional marriages and families can certainly attest the abiding ability of negativity to unite.

However, this not only that there is no speaking between these two people at all; it is that words of Torah do not pass between them. The essence of being a Jew is being united through the Torah. To sit and not discussed Torah is unifying through rejection, but it is not in any way as good as unity through unity. Perhaps, a paradox, but a paradox with meaning.

The Mishna then goes on to show us that it is much better to be held together by Torah then by rejection of Torah.

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