Hillel biography

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For example with regard to the remarriage of an aguna, whose husband is not known with certainty to be alive or dead, the view of Hillel (and most of his colleagues) was that she can remarry even on the basis of indirect evidence of the husband's death. The difficulties which Hillel had to overcome in order to be admitted to their school, and the hardships he suffered while pursuing his aim, are told in a touching passage (Yoma 35b), the ultimate purpose of which is to show that poverty can not be considered as an obstacle to the study of the Law.

Some time after the death of Shemaiah and Abṭalion, Hillel succeeded in settling a question concerning the sacrificial ritual in a manner which showed at once his superiority over the Bene Bathyra, who were at that time the heads of the college. 5): "The uneducated has no aversion to sin; the ignorant is not pious; the timid can not learn, nor the passionate teach; he who is busied with trade can not become wise.

Many of these are recorded in the early chapters of Pirkei Avot, the section of the Talmud concerned primarily with matters of ethics. 4): "Say not, 'When I have time I shall study'; for you may perhaps never have any leisure."

The precept that one should not separate oneself from the community, Hillel paraphrases, with reference to Eccl.

3). The fixation of the norms of the Midrash and of halakic Scripture exposition was first made by Hillel, in the "seven rules of Hillel," which, as is told in one source, he applied on the day on which he overcame the Bene Bathyra (Tosef., Sanh. IfNotNow was adopted by the name of an organization fighting to end American Jewish support for Israeli policies that harm the Palestinians.

With these words Hillel recognized as the fundamental principle of the Jewish moral law the Biblical precept of brotherly love (Lev. Hillel seems to have connected the precept of brotherly love with the Biblical teaching of man's likeness to God, on which account he calls the love of man "love of creatures" ("oheb et ha-beriyyot"); and it is worthy of note that the term "creatures" for men was then already the common property of the language.

From the doctrine of man's likeness to God Hillel ingeniously deduced man's duty to care for his own body.

31; Luke x. 13). ii. Hillel and his descendants established academies of learning and were the leaders of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel for several centuries. 14): "If I am not for myself, who is for me? 24, and applying a proverb, Hillel makes God speak to Israel: "To the place in which I delight my feet bring me.

I am the L-RD.

 

A beautiful and famous story in the Talmud expands on Hille’s view on this:

 

Shabbat 31a

On another occasion, it happened that a certain non-Jew came before Shammai and said to him, ‘Make me a proselyte, on condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.’ Thereupon he repulsed him with the builder’s cubit (ruler) which was in his hand.

He was the founder of Beit Hillel (the House of Hillel).

Hillel is always paired with his contemporary Shammai. The Hillel dynasty ended with the death of Hillel II in 365 CE.

Hillel the Elder’s friendly adversary was Shammai, a native of the Land of Israel about whom little is known except that he was a builder, known for the strictness of his views.

5).

The Study of the Law.

The many anecdotes, resting doubtless on good tradition, according to which Hillel made proselytes, correspond to the third part of his maxim: "Bring men to the Law." A later source (Ab. i. They are famous for their disputes in Jewish Law, always feverously debating for the “Sake of Heaven” – a term used when a debate is out of a desire to discover the truth and find the best way to live a Torah-driven life.

Hillel’s outlook was usually favored as it was more lenient.

Though they questioned him and made insulting allusions to his Babylonian origin, they were unsuccessful in their attempt (ib.).