Our Gemara on Amud Aleph uses an interesting idiom to describe a certain class of uneducated people, “dwellers on the corner.” This idiom is used to refer to a layperson who might still serve as a judge, assuming the other judges are learned.

This idiom for an unlearned person is fascinating because idioms typically do not translate well from one language to another, and certainly not from one culture to another. Yet this idiom is remarkably evocative to our ears as well. We can imagine the person who hangs around street corners. However, language and assumptions can be deceptive. As we examine the commentaries, we see that the term “dwellers on the corner” is translated as subtly less pejorative. For example, Bava Kama (82a) explains the institution of reading from the Torah in the Shabbos afternoon service so as to occupy the “dwellers on the corner.” Unless the thugs of Babylonia were of a much more scholarly nature, it seems unlikely they would be coming to shul. Therefore, the idiom connotes a non-learned person but not necessarily a malicious one. Both Rashi here and in Bava Kama describe the person as someone who is idle from Torah, but not as an anti-social person.

To learn our holy and ancient texts properly, we must beware of idioms that deceptively translate but are not quite the same. This reminds me of an old friend who used to make fun of himself and his Americanized Hebrew, jokingly saying, “Ten li shever” to imply “give me a break.” Of course, he knew that the idiom did not translate into Hebrew.

Modern Hebrew idioms sometimes delightfully translate similar American phrases but with subtle Biblical overtones. For example, the English idiom “doomsday weapon” translates into Hebrew as “neshek Yom Hadin” which literally means “weaponry for the Day of Judgment.” Even though modern Israeli society and its Hebrew are painfully secular, it still cannot escape some deep Jewish flavor. This is a fulfillment of our sages' declaration (Sanhedrin 37a): “Even the empty people [reikanin] among you are as full of mitzvos as the pomegranate is full of seeds.”

Returning to our analysis of this idiom, some see the “corner dweller” as less innocuous. Yad Rama on our Gemara explains that the “corner dweller” is someone who is not gainfully occupied and sits idle, which is more critical. Avos DeRabbi Nosson (21:1) also uses the term to imply a negligently idle person, and Orchos Tzaddikim 19 follows a similar line.

The most negative attribution can be found in the Aruch (“Keren”), where he describes the “corner dwellers” as those who are idle and do not seek to grow in Torah. Similar attributions are offered by Kli Yakar (Devarim 11:30) and Radak (Tehilim 19:21). This translation makes for a perfect parallel to the Hebrew term for “study hall,” which is “Beis Midrash.” The literal translation is “House of Searching,” because the Jewish ethos of Torah study is to seek out enlightenment. In contrast, the English word “study” comes from the Latin “studere,” which connotes effort and application. This is a good description of an intellectual process, but the Hebrew connotes searching and seeking, not just focus. In Biblical usage, when Rivka was disturbed by her difficult pregnancy, she sought divine guidance: “Lidrosh Hashem” (Bereishis 25:22), which has the same root as “Beis Midrash.”

With this understanding of “corner dweller,” we can appreciate the poetic juxtaposition of words in Rabbi Nechunia Ben Hakana’s famous prayer for success in Torah study (Berachos 28b):

“I give thanks before You, Lord my God, that You have placed my lot among those who sit in the study hall, and that you have not given me my portion among those who dwell idly on street corners. I rise early, and they rise early. I rise early to pursue matters of Torah, and they rise early to pursue frivolous matters. I toil and they toil. I toil and receive a reward, and they toil and do not receive a reward. I run and they run. I run to the life of the World-to-Come and they run to the pit of destruction.”

The “corner dweller” seeks nothing, but the one who studies Torah goes to the house of Searching” to discover his intellectual and moral destiny.

Finally, when we use the English words “study Torah,” I think it is a mistranslation based on cultural assumptions and differences between English and Hebrew. More correctly, it should be described as “seeking Torah.”

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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