The Moral Maxims of the Sages of Israel: Pirkei AvotThe Moral Maxims of the Sages of Israel is a study of the moral maxims of the sages of Israel, who thrived from 300 B. C. E. to 200 C. E., that are contained in the work known as Pirkei Avot, probably the oldest anthology of its kind in literary history. Although the work has been translated from the original Hebrew numerous times, much of it remains inaccessible because of the epigrammatic rather than discursive style of the original, which employs