r 212 hillelbialik

Ilya Levkovich. Religionsschule Jeschurun. Materialien zur Referatsvorbereitung. Artikel "Hillel" aus Bilaik's The Book of Legends: Sefer ha-Aggadah. (pp. 204-207) בס״ד

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H i l l e l t h e E l d e r (fl. end of 1st century B.C.E.)

10. R. Levi said: In Jerusalem there was found a genealogical scroll in which was written, "Hillel is of David's stock."1 11. Hillel and Shebna were brothers. Hillel engaged in the study of Torah [in dire poverty], while Shebna engaged in trade rand prospered]. Eventually [after Hillel became famous], Shebna said to Hillel, "Come, let us be partners and share [the profits]."2 A divine voice went forth and proclaimed, "If this man were to give all the substance of his house for the love [of Torah, which he now professes], he would be utterly contemned" (Song 8:7).3 12. It is reported about Hillel the Elder that every day he used to work and earn one tropaic,4 half of which he would give to the watchman at the house of study; the other half he used on food for himself and the members of his household. One day he was unable to earn anything, so the watchman at the house of study did not let him in. He then climbed [to the roof] and hung on, sitting over the opening of the skylight, so that he could hear the words of the living God from the mouths of Shemaiah and Avtalion. It is said that the day was a Sabbath eve in the winter solstice, and snow came down on him from heaven. When the dawn rose, Shemaiah said to Avtalion, "Brother Avtalion, every day this house is bright with light, but today it is dark. Is the day cloudy?" When they looked up, they saw the figure of a man in the skylight. They climbed to the roof and found Hillel, covered with three cubits of snow. They removed the snow from him, bathed and anointed him, and, as they seated him in front of an open fire, they said, ''This man deserves to have the Sabbath profaned on his behalf.''5 13. Our masters taught: On one occasion, the fourteenth of Nisan fell on a Sabbath, and the Bene Betera6 forgot the law, so that they did not know whether offering the paschal lamb does or does not override the Sabbath. They asked, "Is there anyone at all who knows whether or not the paschal lamb overrides the Sabbath?" They were told, "There is a certain man who has come up from Babylonia -- he is known as Hillel the Babylonian. Since he ministered to the two notables of the generation, Shemaiah and Avtalion, he must know whether or not offering the paschal lamb overrides the Sabbath." So they sent for him and asked, "Do you know whether or not the paschal lamb overrides the Sabbath?" He replied, "Have we only one lamb -- the lamb offered on Passover -- that might override the Sabbath? Have we not in fact more than two hundred so-called paschal lambs during the year that override the Sabbath?"7 The Bene Betera, taken aback, asked, "How can you make such a statement?" He replied,

1 P. Ta 4:2, 68a. 2 The reward for Torah in the world-to-come and the profits of business in this world. 3 So lyyun Yaakov, ad loc. B. Sot 21a. 4 Half a denar. 5 The Sabbath may be profaned to save a human life. B. Yoma 35b and En Yaakov, ad loc. 6 Sages of Judea who were at the helm after the death of Shemaiah and Avtalion until the appointment of Hillel as patriarch (1st century B.C.E.) 7 The lamb offered in the moming and evening of fifty Sabbaths during the year plus the two additional daily offerings on a Sabbath add up to more than two hundred during a year.


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"In connection with the paschal lamb, Scripture prescribes that it be offered 'in its appointed time' [Num. 9:2], and in connection with [its analogue] the daily lamb, Scripture likewise prescribes that it be offered 'in its appointed time' [Num. 28:2] -- just as 'its appointed time' said in connection with the daily lamb involves overriding the Sabbath, so 'its appointed time' said in connection with the paschal lamb involves overriding the Sabbath. Besides, there is an argument a fortiori: if the daily lamb, whose omission is not punished by excision, overrides the Sabbath, then should not the paschal lamb, whose neglect is punished by excision, without question override the Sabbath? Immediately Hillel was placed foremost in the house of study and appointed patriarch over them, and the rest of the entire day he sat and lectured concerning the laws of Passover. In the course of his remarks, he was moved to chide the people of Jerusalem, saying, "Who brought it about that I have come from Babylonia and have been made patriarch over you? It was your own indolence -- you did not minister to the two notables of the generation, Shemaiah and Avtalion, who dwelled in your very midst." No sooner did he rebuke them than the answer to a question in Halakhah was hidden from him, so that when they asked him, "Master, what is the rule if a man forgot to bring in a knife on the eve of the Sabbath?" he had to reply, "I have heard the answer to this question but forgotten it. But depend on the people of Israel: if they themselves are not prophets, they are the children of prophets!" Indeed, the next day, one whose Passover offering was a lamb stuck the knife in its wool; one whose Passover offering was a goat tied the knife between its horns.8 When Hillel saw what was being done, he recollected the Halakhah and said, "What these men are doing is in line with the tradition I received from the mouths of Shemaiah and Avtalion."9 14. Our masters taught: It once happened that two men made a wager with each other, agreeing that he who was able to arouse the anger of Hillel would win four hundred zuz. So one of them said, "I will go [first] and arouse his anger." Since it was before the onset of Sabbath, Hillel was washing his head. The man went, passed by the door of Hillel's house, and called out, "Is there a Hillel10 here? Is there a fellow named Hillel around this place?" Hillel pulled his robe on and went out to him, saying, "My son, . what do you wish?" "I have a question to ask." "Ask, my son, ask." "Why are the heads of the Babylonians round?"11 "My son, you have asked quite a question. The answer is that their midwives are unskilled." The man left, stayed away for a while, then came back, calling out, "Is there a Hillel here? Is there a fellow named Hillel here?" Again Hillel pulled on his robe and went out to him, saying, "My son, what do you wish?" "I have a question to ask." "Ask, my son, ask." "Why are the eyes of the Palmyrians bleary?" "My son, you have asked quite a question. The answer is that they live in a [windswept] sandy country." The man left, stayed away for a while, and again came back, calling out, "Is there a Hillel here? Is there a fellow named Hillel around this place?" Once again Hillel pulled

8 And thus avoided having to carry the knife on the Sabbath. 9 B. Pes 66a and En Yaakov, ad loc.: P. Pes 6:1, 33a. 10 Insolently, without the courtesy of a prefixed title, besides being contemptuous, as if Hillel were an unknown nobody and not the premier scholar of his age. 11 Intended as a dig at Hillel, who was a Babylonian.


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on his robe and went out to him, saying, "My son, what do you wish?" "I have a question to ask." "Ask, my son, ask." "Why are the feet of the Ethiopians so wide?" "My son, you have asked quite a question. The answer is that they live in watery marshes."12 "I have many questions to ask," said the man, "but I am afraid that you may become angry [at me]." At that, Hillel wrapped his robe around himself, sat down before the man, and said, "All the questions you have to ask, go ahead and ask." The man: "Are you the Hillel who is called patriarch of Israel?" Hillel: "Yes." The man: "If you are the one, may there not be many like you in Israel." Hillel: "Why, my son?" The man: "Because on account of you I just lost four hundred zuz." Hillel: "Calm your spirit. Losing four hundred zuz, and even an additional four hundred zuz, was well worth it, [for you have learned that, whatever the provocation], Hillel will not lose his temper."13 15. Our masters taught: A certain heathen once came before Shammai and asked him, "How many Torahs have you?" "Two," he replied, "the Written Torah and the Oral Torah." "I will believe you about the Written Torah, but not about the Oral Torah. Take me as a proselyte, on condition that you teach me only the Written Torah." In response, Shammai scolded him and angrily ordered him to get out. When he went before Hillel, the latter accepted him as a proselyte. On the first day he taught him the letters of the alphabet in order: Alef, bet, gimmel, dalet [and so on to tav]. The following day he reversed the order of the letters. "But yesterday you did not teach them to me in this order," the heathen protested. "Is it not upon me," Hillel asked, "that you have to rely to know the correct order of letters in the alphabet? Then you must also rely upon me for the validity of the Oral Torah." On another occasion, it happened that a certain heathen came before Shammai and said to him, "Take me as a proselyte, but on condition that you teach me the entire Torah, all of it, while I stand on one foot." Shammai instantly drove him away with a builder's measuring rod he happened to have in his hand. When the heathen came before Hillel, Hillel said to him, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow man. This is the entire Torah, all of it; the rest is commentary. Go and study it." On another occasion, it happened that a certain heathen passing behind a synagogue heard the voice of a teacher reciting, "And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastpiece, and an ephod" (Exod. 28:4). He asked: "For whom are these intended?" He was told, "For the high priest." The heathen said to himself: I will go and become a proselyte so that I may be appointed high priest. He went before Shammai and said to him, "Take me as a proselyte, on condition that you appoint me high priest." Shammai promptly drove him away with a builder's measuring rod he happened to have in his hand. When the heathen went before Hillel, Hillel made him a proselyte, but then asked, "Is a king appointed unless he knows the details of governance? Go now and study details of [the Temple's) governance!" The new proselyte went and read Scripture. When he came to the verse "The layman that cometh nigh shall be put to death" (Num. 1:51), he asked Hillel, "To whom does this verse apply?" "Even to David, king of Israel." At that, that proselyte applied to himself an argument a fortiori: Israel are called sons of Him who is everywhere -- indeed, He speaks of them as "Israel, My firstborn son" (Exod. 4:22) out

12 Just as ducks' feet are webbed, so the feet of Ethiopians must be wide to enable them to get about. 13 B. Shab 30b-31a.


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of the love He has for them. Yet of them it is written, "The layman that cometh nigh shall be put to death." Surely how much more and more do these words apply to a lowly proselyte, who comes with his staff and his shoulder bag! Then he went before Shammai and said to him, "Could lever have been eligible to become high priest?14 Is it not written in the Torah, 'The layman that cometh nigh shall be put to death'?" Next, he went before Hillel and said to him, "O gentle Hillel, may blessings rest on your head for bringing me under the wings of the Presence!" Some time later, when the three aforementioned proselytes happened to meet in one place, they said, "Shammai's severity nearly drove us from the world [-to-come], but Hillel's gentleness brought us under the wings of the Presence." [Hence, say the sages): A man should always be as flexible as Hillel, not as inflexible as Shammai.15 16. "He who does good to his own person is a man of piety" (Provo 11:17),16 as may be inferred from what Hillel the Elder once said. After concluding a session of study with his disciples, he kept walking along with them. His disciples asked him, "Master, where are you going?" He answered, "To perform a precept." "What precept?" He replied, ''To wash up in the bathhouse." "But is this a precept?" "It is indeed. Kings' statues set up in theaters and circuses have to be scoured and washed down by a man specially appointed to look after them, who receives maintenance for the work. More -- he is esteemed as being among the notables of the kingdom. How much more and more am I required to scour and wash myself, I who have been created in God's image and likeness -- I, of whom it is written, 'In the image of God made He man'!" (Gen. 9:6). Another exposition: "He who does good to his own person is a man of piety," as may be inferred from what Hillel the Elder once said. After concluding a session of study with his disciples, he walked along with them. His disciples asked him, "Master, where are you going?" He replied, ''To do a good turn to a guest in my house." They said, "You seem to have a guest every day." He replied, "Is not my poor soul a guest in my body-here today, and tomorrow here no longer?"17 17. It is related of Hillel the Elder that, for a certain poor man who was of good family, he hired18 a horse to ride on and a slave to run before him. Once, when he could not find a slave to run before the man, he himself ran before him a distance of three mil.19 18. On one occasion Hillel the Elder had a meal prepared for a certain man. [Before they were called to sit down) a poor man came by, stood at Hillel's doorway, and said, "I am scheduled to marry today and have no provisions whatever." Hearing that, Hillel's wife took the entire meal and gave it to the poor man [without telling her husband). Then she kneaded fresh dough, cooked another pot of stew, and, when it was ready, placed it before Hillel and his guest. Hillel asked, "My dear, why did you not bring it sooner?" She told him what happened. He said, "My dear, in asking about the delay, I meant to judge you not on the scale of guilt but on the scale of merit, because I was certain that everything you did, you did for the sake of Heaven."20

14 Meaning: "I apologize to you for demanding something you could not possibly grant me." 15 B. Shab 31a. 16 JV: "The merciful man doeth good to his own soul." 17 Lev. R. 34:3. 18 "He hired" -- Alfasi; BR: "bought." 19 B. Ket 67b. 20 DER 6.


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19. Our masters taught: It once happened that Hillel the Elder, while returning from a journey, heard a cry of anguish in the city and said to himself: I am confident that this cry does not come from my house. To him apply the words "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord" (Ps. 112:7).21 20. When the Torah was forgotten in Israel, Ezra came up from Babylon and reestablished it. [Some of] the Torah was again forgotten, and Hillel the Babylonian came up and he, too, reestablished it. Hillel came up from Babylonia at the age of forty, ministered to the sages for forty years, and guided Israel for forty years. It is said of Hillel that there were no sages' words that he put aside and did not study. Then, too, [he studied) all languages, even those of mountains, hills, and valleys; of trees and herbs; of beasts, wild and tame; and of demons; as well as the parables of fullers and [fables of] foxes.22 21. Our masters taught: Hillel the Elder had eighty disciples. Thirty of them were worthy of having the Presence rest upon them, as it did upon Moses our teacher. Thirty were worthy of having the sun stand still for them, as it did for Joshua son of Nun; and the remaining twenty were more moderately competent. The oldest was Jonathan ben Uzziel;23 the youngest was Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai.24 22. Once, when Hillel took sick, all his disciples ca me to visit him, but Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai remained in the court yard. Hillel asked, "Where is the youngest of you, the one who is father of wisdom, father of the generations, and, needless to say, the most distinguished among you?" They replied, "He is in the court yard." Hillel: "Let him come in." When he came in, Hillel said to his disciples, "To this one apply the words 'I [Torah] cause those that love me to inherit substance, and I fill their treasuries' " (Prov. 8:21).25 23. Our masters taught: After the death of the last prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the holy spirit departed from Israel; yet they were still served by the divine voice. Once, when the rabbis were gathered in the upper chamber of Guria's house in Jericho, a divine voice sounded above them from heaven, saying, "There is one among you who is worthy of having the Presence rest upon him as it did upon Moses our teacher, but his generation does not merit it." The sages set their eyes on Hillel the Elder. When he died, they lamented and said, "Alas for the pious man, alas for the humble man, the disciple of Ezra [is no more]!''26

21 B. Ber 60a. 22 B. Suk 20a; Sif Deut., §357; Sof 16. 23 It is said he wrote a Targum to the Prophets. B. Meg 3a. 24 B. Suk 28a and En Yaakov, ad loc. 25 P. Ned 5:7, 39b 26 B. Sanh 11a.

r 212 hillelbialik

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