Chapter One - Mishna 10


Shemayah says, "Love work"
Shimon ben Shotach says: "Ask the witnesses many questions and be careful that your words do not teach them to lie."

In the court case above, we see the judge asking many questions, the judge could ask, the witness "How was he behaving?"; or he could say, "He was behaving very suspiciously, wasn't he?". In the second way, the judge is hinting to the witness what he is looking for. He must be very careful to get to the truth without showing him how to lie.

The Pirkei Avos series was developed by Pirchei Shoshanim