Giyyur 008

18:
We have been examining a rather lengthy barayta which is quoted in the Gemara [Shabbat 31a] concerning the differing manner in which the two great sages Shammai and Hillel dealt with candidates for conversion who were 'problematic'. The first of the three cases that are reviewed in th barayta was discussed in the previous shiur), so we can now turn our attention to the second of the three cases.

19:
The barayta continues:

It is difficult to ascertain why this non-Jew made such a strange request of Shammai (and Hillel). It could well be that he, too, was one of the pagan Romans or Greeks who found the established Olympian religion intellectually unsatisfying and had already 'dabbled' in Judaism. He had found that Judaism interested him and now wanted a succinct explanation of what lies at the core of the Judaic faith. (We might surmise that previously other people had assailed him with long-winded expositions that had tired him and left him confused.) Of course, at first glance his request is impertinent and possibly insulting. Certainly, Shammai thought so. Shammai was a builder by profession and the would-be convert had apparently approached him while he was at work on a site, so he roughly pushed him away with the builder's measuring stick that he was using. (Let us note parenthetically that the great sages of the Talmudic era supported themselves by their own labours and derived no monetary benefit from the Torah that they taught and administered.)

20:
Rudely rebuffed by Shammai, one might have expected the candidate to desist. The very fact that he persisted in his search and approach Hillel indicates that his interest was neither passing nor flippant, and certainly not impertinent. As in the previous case, Hillel immediately perceived the earnestness of the non-Jew and accepted him. Although the barayta says that Hillel 'converted' him the situation as described indicates quite obviously that Hillel only accepted the non-Jew as a candidate for conversion. Hillel's response to the challenge to "teach me the whole of the Torah while I am standing on one leg" is now classic and deservedly world-famous. The essence of Torah is to train Jews how to relate to other people, how to maintain a pacific society. That is the heart of God's word to man: the rest is just lengthy explanation of that cardinal point.

21:
Familar as we are with the teachings of the Torah we might well raise an eyebrow (or two!) at this claim by Hillel. Is everything in the Torah really directed at this admirable aim? One might ask how the festivals and the sacrifices serve this purpose, for example. It would not be too difficult to try to show how any individual mitzvah served this purpose if one really wanted to. But it is perhaps more important to note that Hillel was not alone in his teaching. In the Talmud of Eretz-Israel [Nedarim 30b] we find that Rabbi Akiva comments on the biblical verse [Leviticus 19:18] 'You must love your neighbour as yourself': "This is the great principle of Torah." His younger contemporary, Rabbi Shim'on ben-Azzai, agrees that this is an important verse but he opines that there is an even more important verse [Genesis 5:1]:

Rabbi Akiva understands the 'neighbour' in the first verse to be a fellow Jew. For Rabbi Akiva the 'great principle' of Torah is that we must behave with love towards our fellow Jews. But ben-Azzai draws our attention to the fact that the whole of the human race is created in the image of God: "This is a greater principle than that."

22:
According to the Christian bible [Luke 6:31] the younger contemporary of Hillel, Jesus of Nazereth, taught the same idea but in positive terms: "Do unto others as you would have them do to you." Anyone who thinks for a few moments about these two enunciations of the 'great principle' of Judaism will realize that Hillel's version is greatly superior. He tells us that if something is unpleasant for you do not impose it on anyone else: refrain, and the least damage is done. Jesus says that if something is pleasant for you impose it on others. In his usual flippant manner the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw [1856-1950] highlighted the great flaw in the positive version of the principle:

23
Rashi, in his commentary on Hillel's teaching to the non-Jew, tries to avoid the obvious. He would have us believe that when Hillel refers to 'your fellow' he is referring to God: the 'golden rule' is "do not contravene God's law which is designed to regulate inter-personal behaviour. May God (and Rashi) for give me, but I am sure that he got it wrong!

24:
Now let us turn our attention to the third incident recorded in our barayta:

A non-Jew overhears a teacher instructing children. They were learning about the impressive regalia that was made for the High Priest. The non-Jew decides to convert so that he can wear that regalia. Shammai, if course, rejects him; but Hillel accepts him and tells him to start learning Torah (which, he intimates, is the handbook from which one learns how to be a High Priest). When the non-Jew, in his studies reaches the verse in Numbers that says that no one who is not a priest, a descendant of Aaron, may officiate at the altar, he realises that even high-ranking Jews ('David king of Israel') are barred from this task because of their birth. He reasons with himself: if there are those born Jewish who cannot aspire to the priesthood how much less so can I, a convert, so aspire? He remonstrates with Shammai who could so easily have explained to him that he could never be eligible to be High Priest. And he praises Hillel whose patience and understanding brought him into the Jewish fold even though he now understood that he could never be High Priest.

25:
As it now draws to an end our barayta summarizes:

In each of these three cases the would-be converts proposed an impossible condition upon their conversion. Shammai, according to the strict interpretation of the tradition, rudely dismissed them. Hillel, ignoring the rule that would-be converts cannot set any conditions upon their conversion, brought them with kindness and patience to become good Jews.

(If you would like to read the Hebrew text of this barayta please click here.)

To be continued.