Hillel the Elder was famous for his extraordinary patience — a patience so deep that his students believed it could not be broken. Two men once wagered four hundred zuz on whether one of them could make Hillel lose his temper.
It was a Friday afternoon, close to the Sabbath, when Hillel was washing his hair in preparation for the holy day. The challenger came to his door and called out rudely: "Who here is Hillel? Who here is Hillel?" — addressing the greatest sage in Israel as though he were a common servant.
Hillel wrapped himself in a robe and came out. "What do you need, my son?"
"I have a question. Why are the heads of the Babylonians round?" It was an absurd, insulting question — Hillel was himself from Babylon.
"An excellent question," Hillel replied without a trace of irritation. "Because their midwives are not skilled." The man left, waited a short while, then returned with another ridiculous question. And another. And another — each one more insulting than the last, each one timed to interrupt Hillel's Sabbath preparations.
Every single time, Hillel came out, greeted the man warmly, and answered patiently. Finally the man exploded: "I had four hundred zuz riding on making you angry, and you have cost me every coin!"
Hillel replied calmly: "Better that you should lose four hundred zuz, and four hundred more, than that Hillel should lose his temper." The alphabet of wisdom, the sages taught, begins with patience.