Talmud su Levitico 10:20

BARAITHA. Sit before the elders and incline your ear to listen to their words.
GEMARA. As it is written, Ask thy father, and he will declare unto thee, thine elders and they will tell thee.⁹Deut. 32, 7.
BARAITHA. Endeavour in connection with their words to reply on the first point first and on the last point last.
GEMARA. We have learnt there:¹⁰Aboth V, 10 (Sonc. ed., V, 7, p. 64). Seven marks distinguish an uncultured man and seven a wise man. Why does [the Mishnah] first mention the uncultured man? It should have mentioned the wise man [first]!¹¹It is more befitting to begin with the qualities of the wise. Further, why [immediately after mentioning the uncultured man does it enlarge upon the marks] of the wise man [without first enumerating the marks of the uncultured man]?¹²The Mishnah reads: ‘There are seven marks of an uncultured man and seven of a wise man. The wise man does not speak’, etc. Because [the Mishnah] wishes to state, ‘The wise man does not speak before him who is greater than he in wisdom’. Let, then [the Mishnah] state, ‘The uncultured man speaks’, etc.! The teacher enumerates the merits of the wise, and as for the uncultured the converse [applies to them].
R. Aḥa said to Raba, ‘Whence do we know from the Torah that one should speak to the first thing first and the last thing last?’ [He replied,] ‘Whence [do we know it]? It is a Rabbinical teaching’. [R. Aḥa] retorted, ‘According to your reasoning, whence are all of them¹³The seven marks of the wise man. derived?’ He replied, ‘I will tell you them [all from the Torah]. “The wise man does not speak, etc.” [can be learnt] from Hushai, as it is written, Shall we do after his saying? if not, speak thou.¹⁴2 Sam. 17, 6. Ḥushai did not speak in the presence of Aḥitophel, who was greater in wisdom than he, but merely reported to Absalom what he had said. “He does not break in upon the speech of the wise”, as it is written, And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking … then spoke Azariah.¹⁵Jer. 43, 1f. “He is not hasty to answer”, as it is written, Be not rash with thy mouth.¹⁶Eccl. 5, 1. “He questions according to the subject”, as it is written, And he asked them … Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spoke? Is he yet alive?¹⁷Gen. 43, 27. And they answered, Thy servant our father is well, he is yet alive.¹⁸ibid. 28. “He speaks to the first point first”, as it is written, And (he) said: Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee. Is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?¹⁹ibid. XXIV, 23. And it is written, And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel²⁰ibid. 24. and then, We have both straw and provender enough.²¹ibid. 25. “And he acknowledges the truth”: This refers to Moses, as it is written, And when Moses heard that, it was well-pleasing in his sight;²²Lev. 10, 20, i.e. Moses acknowledged the force of Aaron’s argument. and it is written, For he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God’.²³Jer. 26, 16. The reference is to Jeremiah, the genuineness of whose prophecy is acknowledged by the princes.

The wise person does not speak before one who is greater than him in wisdom.
From whom do we learn this? From Moses, as it says (Exodus 4:30), “Aaron repeated all the words that the Eternal had spoken to Moses, and he performed the signs in the sight of the people.” And who was the appropriate person to say all these things, Moses or Aaron? One would assume Moses, for Moses had heard them from the mouth of the Almighty, whereas Aaron had heard them just from Moses! However, Moses said to himself: Can I speak in place of my older brother while he is standing right there? Therefore, he told Aaron to speak, as it says (Exodus 4:30), “Aaron repeated all the words that the Eternal had spoken to Moses.”
And he does not interrupt his fellow.
This is Aaron [as it says (Leviticus 10:19), “Then Aaron spoke…see, this day they brought their sin offering and their burnt offering.” But] he was quiet until Moses had finished speaking, and he did not tell Moses to cut his words short. Only afterward did he say to Moses, “See, this day they brought their sin offering and their burnt offering,” but we are in mourning [and cannot eat of the offerings]. And some say that Aaron pulled Moses aside and said to him, “Moses my brother, tithes are the least important of the offerings, and it is still forbidden for a mourner to eat them. A sin offering is the most important of the offerings, so all the more so is it forbidden for a mourner to eat it! Immediately, Moses admitted that [Aaron] was right, as it says (Leviticus 10:20), “And when Moses heard this, it was good in his eyes.” (And in the eyes of the Almighty.)
We learn also from the fact that Moses became angry with Elazar and Itamar, Aaron’s sons. From this, they say that when a person [makes a celebration] for his students, he turns his attention to the greatest of them. But when he becomes angry with them, he directs his anger to the lowliest among them, as it says (Leviticus 10:16), “And he became angry with Elazar and Itamar.” This shows that he was actually angry with Aaron as well.
Aaron was older than Moses, but the Eternal is greater than Aaron! So why didn’t the Eternal speak to Aaron? Because he did not have his sons stand guard. Because if he had put Elazar and Itamar on guard, then he could have kept Nadav and Avihu from sinning.
We learn also from Abraham our forefather, who prayed for the men of Sodom. The Holy Blessed One said to him (Genesis 28:26), “If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will save the whole place for their sake.” But the One who spoke and brought the world into being already knew full well that if there were even three or five righteous people in Sodom, it would have been saved. Yet the Holy Blessed One waited until Abraham finished talking, and only afterward replied, as it says (Genesis 18:33), “When the Eternal had finished speaking to Abraham, He departed…” (as if the Eternal had said to Abraham, see, now I am released, as it says [at the end of the verse]), “…and Abraham returned to his place.”

And he does not become agitated and respond too quickly.
This is Elihu ben Berakhel HaBuzi, as it says (Job 32:7), “I said to myself: Let age speak first.” This teaches that they were sitting in silence before Job. When he would stand up, they would stand up. When he would sit down again, they would sit down again. When he ate, they would eat. When he drank, they would drink. Finally, he asked permission to speak, as it says (Job 3:1, 3), “Afterward, Job began to speak, and cursed the day of his birth.” And he said, “Perish the day on which I was born, and the night it was announced: A male has been conceived!” Perish the day that my father came to my mother and she told him: I am pregnant. And how do we know that they did not all start speaking at the same time? For it says (Job 3:2), “Job answered and said…” and then (Job 4:1), “Elifaz HaTeimani answered and said…” and then (Job 8:1), “Bildad HaShukhi answered and said…” and then (Job 11:1), “Tzofar HaNa’amati answered and said…” and then (Job. 32:6), “Elihu ben Berakhel HaBuzi answered and said….” The book lays them out one at a time (however), to let everyone know that a wise person does not speak before someone who is greater in wisdom. And does not interrupt his fellow. And does not become agitated and respond quickly.
He asks appropriately. This is Judah, as it says (Genesis 43:9), “I will pledge myself for him.”
He asks inappropriately. This is Reuben, as its says (Genesis 42:3), “Reuben said to his father: Let my two sons die!”
He speaks of first things first. This is Jacob. And some say this is Sarah.
And last things last. These are the men of Haran.
And he admits to what is true. This is Moses, as it says (Deuteronomy 5:25), “The Eternal said to me…they did well to speak thus.” So, too, did the Holy Blessed One admit to what was true, as it says (Numbers 27:7), “The daughters of Tzelophechad have spoken correctly.”