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A. STANLEY DREYFUS

wisdom comes merely as a consequence of his having lived long, as Job 32:7 promises:“Days speak, and the multitude of years imparts wisdom.”

More difficult is the appropriate treatment of the zaken ashmai, whom Sifra and the Talmud find unworthy of deference but whom Issi would honor." Rashi defines the ashmai as a guilty person, a scoundrel, and an ignoramus(ashem, rasha, am-ha‘aretz). Tosafot, differing with Rashi , holds that such a miscreant must be spurned and chastised; since the ashmai is still allowed to remain within the community, therefore, he must be deemed a bur and an am ha'aretz, rather than a scoundrel. These uncomplimentary designations have no universally accepted referent. As Epstein points out,'® many an am ha'aretz, though deficient in knowledge of Torah , is not to be dismissed as a rasha, because he still performs mitzvot, lays tefillin, prays, and listens attentively to the words of the wise, and the command to show respect applies to such as these. Again, there are simple amei ha’aretz who do not put on their zefillin regularly and who neglect the other mitzvot, although this laxness stems from their ability to comprehend what is required of them rather than from their willful rejection of religious obligation. That, says Epstein , is what Rashi meant when he described the ashmai as a rasha and an am ha aretz: he behaves like a sinner, but he does not sin intentionally. He isreally a bur, an empty person who belittles the Torah . Although we do not hold these people in contempt, since they do not act obstinately, still we do not rise to do them honor. In our lands, Epstein adds, one almost never encounters such people. Maimonides also takes issue with those who insist that only a scholar is entitled to deference, He writes:“We rise before one who is a zaken of distinction(muflag beziknah), even though one not a scholar'’ of exemplary learning must rise before a person who is pious and does 800d deeds(hasid uva’al ma’asim). On this, Joseph Caro observes,

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