Howie Marton is a retired ophthalmologist and avid learner. Lenny Fuld is a curious writer and consultant. Both are grandfathers. Both have lived some life. Both enjoy Pirkei Avot and wish to begin a conversation with their grandchildren about its lessons.

Both of us, Howie Marton and Lenny Fuld, together with our wives, have tried to guide our own children with the wisdom contained in Pirkei Avot. As our kids might say, “Eh, Dad, sometimes we got it.”

Ah, but our grandchildren…We know they will listen to our every word. With our grandchildren, we have an opportunity to start all over again.

Before you read our conversations, we think it’s important you know something about Pirkei Avot.

Avot, more commonly called Pirkei Avot (פִּרְקֵי אָבוֹת in Hebrew), occupies a relatively short section, or tractate, within the six orders of the Mishnah (מִשְׁנָה), the oral law of the Torah. Unlike most other tractates, Pirkei Avot does not expound on the law. Rather it offers the reader a bit of history, perspective on what is right and wrong, how to deal with your neighbors and your community. Pirkei Avot gives us a way of thinking about the life we lead.

There are six chapters within this small tractate of Avot and scores of mishnayot, or paragraphs. The topics covered by Avot include, showing respect and kindness, building character, establishing our relationship with God, achieving humility, learning how to learn Torah, discovering how to pray, watching what you say and how you say it, learning what it means to be patient, among many others.

So, to our grandchildren, we say, “Let’s talk, let’s debate, let’s have an important conversation about the way to live.”

Here we go.

(By the way, if you are not one of our grandchildren, we invite you to listen. Just don’t interrupt).