HILLEL AND SHAMMAI RECEIVED THE TRADITION FROM THE PRECEDING. HILLEL SAID: BE OF THE DISCIPLES OF AARON, LOVING PEACE AND PURSUING PEACE, promoting peace between man and wife, LOVING MANKIND AND BRINGING THEM NEAR TO THE TORAH.HE USED TO SAY: WHOEVER MAKES HIS NAME GREAT LOSES HIS NAME; WHOSOEVER INCREASES NOT HIS KNOWLEDGE DECREASES IT; HE WHO DOES NOT STUDY DESERVES DEATH; AND HE WHO MAKES USE OF THE CROWN1Usually explained: he who makes worldly use of the crown of the Torah; but cf. the end of this chapter. WILL PASS AWAY.
HE FURTHER USED TO SAY: IF I AM NOT FOR MYSELF WHO IS FOR ME? AND IF I AM ONLY FOR MYSELF, WHAT AM I? AND IF NOT NOW, WHEN?
LOVING PEACE. What does this mean? It teaches that a man should love [to foster] peace in Israel between man and man, just as Aaron loved [to foster] peace in Israel between man and man, as it is stated, The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and did turn many away from iniquity.2Mal. 2, 6. R. Meir said: What is meant by and did turn many away from iniquity? Whenever Aaron walked along the road and met a wicked man, he would offer him greetings. On the following day when that man was about to commit a transgression, he would say, ‘Woe is me! How can I raise my eyes after doing that and look Aaron in the face? I should be ashamed before him, since he greeted me’. Consequently that man withholds himself from transgression.Similarly, when two men had quarrelled one with the other, Aaron would go and sit with one of them and say, ‘My son, see what your companion is doing!3So according to GRA; V reads ‘saying’. He beats his breast and tears his clothes, exclaiming, “Woe is me! how can I raise my eyes and look my companion in the face? I am ashamed before him since it is I who offended him” ’. Aaron would sit with him until he had removed all enmity from his heart. Then Aaron would go and sit with the other and say likewise, ‘My son, see what your companion is doing! He beats his breast and tears his clothes, exclaiming, “Woe is me! how can I raise my eyes and look my companion in the face? I am ashamed before him since it was I who offended him” ’. Aaron would sit with him until he had removed all enmity from his heart. Later when the two met, they embraced and kissed each other. Therefore it is stated, They wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.4Num. 20, 29.
Another interpretation—why was it that for Aaron all the house of Israel wept thirty days, i.e. the men as well as the women? Because Aaron judged everyone favourably,5The usual and literal connotation of the phrase is: ‘he judged a judgment of truth according to its truth’, i.e. he dealt out justice strictly and in all its severity. This quality, however, is inapplicable to Aaron in this context where he is described as overlooking faults. In the parallel passage in the Yalḳuṭ on the verse in Num. ibid., this phrase is descriptive of Moses and not of Aaron; consequently the commentators have resorted to emendation here in order to make the passages correspond (cf. GRA and the Glosses of J. Bachrach). The translation given in the text retains the original reading and is to be interpreted: he regarded every matter in the light of truth, i.e. he considered every person’s action as right (he ‘gave him right’), or at least endeavoured to see justification in every person’s action, taking a favourable view of it. Cf. the expression in Aboth 1:6, ‘Judge all men in the scale of merit’. for he never said to any man or any woman, ‘You have done wrong’. Therefore it is written of him that all the house of Israel wept for him. Of Moses, on the other hand, who rebuked the people with harsh words, it is stated, And all the children of Israel wept for Moses.6Deut. 34, 8. Moreover, many thousands in Israel were given the name Aaron, since but for him they would not have come into the world, because he was the peacemaker between husband and wife. When [after being reconciled] they were united, they would name the child who was born after him. [23a]Others say that for this reason it is stated, And they wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel—because who could look upon Moses our teacher sitting and weeping and himself not weep? Others express it in this way: Who could look upon Eleazar and Phinehas,7The son and grandson of Aaron respectively. the two High Priests, standing and weeping and himself not weep?
At that time Moses wished to die in the same manner as Aaron had died; because he saw Aaron’s couch arrayed in great splendour, and hosts of ministering angels lamenting him. Did Moses express this desire in the hearing of another person? No, he only expressed the wish to himself and the Holy One, blessed be He, heard his whisper [and granted his wish,] as it is stated, And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor.8Deut. 32, 50. From this you may infer that Moses wished to die the same death as Aaron.At that hour [when Moses was to die], He said to the angel of death, ‘Go and bring Me the soul of Moses’. The angel of death went and stood before him and said, ‘Moses, deliver your soul to me’. Moses rebuked him saying, ‘In the place where I am seated you have not the right to stand,9For Moses was engaged in the study of the Torah, and the angel of death cannot approach one who is so engaged; cf. Shab. 30b (Sonc. ed., p. 134). yet you say to me, “Deliver your soul to me” ’. He rebuked him and drove him away in anger. At length the Holy One, blessed be He, [intervened and] said to Moses, ‘Moses, you have had enough of this world; the world to come awaits you since the six days of creation’, as it is stated, And the Lord said: Behold there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock.10Ex. 33, 21. The Holy One, blessed be He, took the soul of Moses and stored it under the Throne of Glory, as it is stated, The soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God.111 Sam. 25, 29. When He took his soul it was with a kiss, as it is stated, By the mouth of the Lord.12Deut. 34, 5. So lit.; E.V., according to the word of the Lord.Not only the soul of Moses is stored under the Throne of Glory but the souls of the righteous are also stored there, as it is stated, The soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God. It is possible [to think that] it is the same with the souls of the wicked; therefore Scripture declares, And the souls of thine enemies, them shall He sling out as from the hollow of a sling131 Sam. ibid.. To what may this be compared? To a man who took a stone and placed it in a sling; though he hurls it from place to place he knows not where it will come to rest. Similarly, the souls of the wicked are held fast [as in a vice],14lit. ‘muzzled’; cf. Shab. 152b (Sonc. ed., p. 779) and Rashi’s comment ad loc. and driven about aimlessly in the world, knowing not whereon to rest.Again said He to the angel of death, ‘Go and bring Me the soul of Moses’. He went and searched for him in his usual place but could not find him. He went to the Great Sea and asked, ‘Has Moses been here?’ The Sea replied, ‘Since the day Israel passed through me I have not seen him’. He went to the mountains and hills and asked, ‘Has Moses been here?’ They replied, ‘Since the day Israel received the Torah on Mount Sinai we have not seen him’. He then went to Sheol and Abaddon15lit. ‘[place of] Destruction’; used in the Bible as a term for Sheol (Job 26, 6) death (ibid. XXVIII, 22) and the grave (Ps. 88, 12). and asked, ‘Has Moses been here?’ They replied, ‘We have heard his name but have not seen him’. He went to the ministering angels and asked, ‘Has Moses been here?’ They replied, ‘God understandeth his way, and He knoweth his place.16Job 28, 23, E.V., the way thereof … the place thereof. God has hidden him away for life in the world to come, and no creature knows his whereabouts’, as it is stated, But wisdom, where shall it be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living. The deep saith: It is not in me; and the sea saith: It is not with me.17ibid. 12-14. The passage is related to Moses who possessed the wisdom of the Torah. Destruction and Death say: We have heard a rumour thereof with our ears.18ibid. 22. Joshua also was sitting and grieving over Moses, because he did not know where he was, until the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, ‘Joshua, why do you grieve for Moses? Moses My servant is dead’.19Josh. 1, 2.
PURSUING PEACE. What does this mean? It teaches that a man should pursue peace in Israel among all men in the same way that Aaron pursued peace in Israel among all men; as it is stated, Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.20Ps. 34, 15. R. Simeon b. Eleazar said: If a man stays at home in quietude, how can he pursue peace in Israel among all men? He should rather leave his home and go about the world so that he can pursue peace in Israel, as it is stated, Seek peace, and pursue it: meaning seek peace in your own place, and pursue it by going elsewhere.Even the Holy One, blessed be He, made peace on high.21Cf. Job 25, 2. What manner of peace did He make on high? By not naming ten [angels] ‘Gabriel’, ten ‘Michael’, ten ‘Uriel’, or ten ‘Raphael’, after the manner of men who name ten [persons] ‘Reuben’, ten ‘Simeon’, ten ‘Levi’, or ten ‘Judah’. Had He done as men do, on summoning one [angel, all bearing that name] would come before Him and they would be envious of one another. He therefore named one [angel] ‘Gabriel’ and one ‘Michael’, so that when He summons an angel [by name] only one appears before Him and is sent wherever He wishes. And whence do we know that [the angels] reverence one another, respect one another, and are more humble than human beings? When they are about to open their mouths to sing hymns, one says to the other, ‘You begin, for you are greater than I’; and the other replies, ‘No, you begin, for you are greater than I’. This is quite unlike the behaviour of human beings, everyone saying to his fellow, ‘I am greater than you’. According to another view [the courteous remarks are made by] groups of angels, one group saying to the other, ‘You begin, for you are greater than we’; as it is stated, And one called unto another, and said.22Is. 6, 3 where the reference is to groups of seraphim.
LOVING MANKIND. What does this mean? It teaches that a man should love his fellow-creatures and not hate them; for so we find it among the men of the generation of the Dispersion. Since they loved one another,23This is inferred from the statement that they were of one language and of one speech (Gen. 11, 1). the Holy One, blessed be He, did not wish to destroy them, but dispersed them to the four corners of the earth.24ibid. 8. Because the men of Sodom, on the other hand, hated one another, the Holy One, blessed be He, destroyed them from this world and the world to come; as it is stated, The men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against the Lord exceedingly.25ibid. XIII, 13. [Wicked signifies that they hated one another;]26Inserted by GRA; it is also found in all the parallel passages. sinners, that they offended against morality; against the Lord, that they profaned the Name; exceedingly, that they sinned with premeditation. Hence you learn that because they hated one another, the Holy One, blessed be He, destroyed them from this world and from the world to come.
AND BRINGING THEM NEAR TO THE TORAH. What does this mean? It teaches that a man should prevail upon his fellows and bring them beneath the wings of the Divine Presence, as our father Abraham used to prevail upon men and bring them beneath the wings of the Divine Presence. Not only Abraham did this, but also Sarah, as it is stated, And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had made in Haran.27ibid. XII, 5; so lit.; E.V., had gotten in Haran. [Midrash Rabbah, Genesis, XXXIX, 14 (Sonc. ed., p. 324) explains it of the proselytes made by Abraham and Sarah.] Is it not a fact that all mankind cannot create even a gnat? How, then, can Scripture declare, And the souls that they had made in Haran! It teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, accounted it to them as though they had created them.28This paragraph is clearly out of place here; it is inserted by GRA after the first sentence in the paragraph which follows. Just as a man does not share his fellow’s reward in this world, so a man does not share his fellow’s reward in the world to come; as it is stated, And behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter.29Eccl. 4, 1. Why does the verse repeat they had no comforter? It speaks of those men who in this world eat and drink and are fortunate in their sons and daughters, but in the world to come have nothing30Because they did not live a good life but a life of self-centred pleasure. and are without a comforter. In this world, if a man has been robbed or suffered a bereavement, his sons, brothers and kinsmen come to comfort him. It is possible [to imagine] that it is the same in the world to come; therefore Scripture declares, He hath neither son nor brother.31ibid. 8. Similarly, if a man sins and begets an illegitimate child, they say to him, ‘Fool that you are! You have harmed yourself and also the child’. For that illegitimate son may be desirous of studying Torah together with the scholars who sit and study in Jerusalem. He joins their company until they reach Ashdod; there he halts and cries, ‘Woe is me! Had I not been of illegitimate birth, I should now be studying with those who were hitherto my fellow-students; but being illegitimate I may not sit and study with them because an illegitimate is not allowed to enter Jerusalem; as it is stated, And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.32Zech. 9, 6.
HE USED TO SAY: IF I AM NOT FOR MYSELF, WHO IS FOR ME? If I do not win merit for myself in my lifetime, who will do so for me?33According to GRA the preceding paragraph should follow here. AND IF I AM ONLY FOR MYSELF, WHAT AM I? If I have won merit for myself alone, what have I achieved?34V reads ‘If I do not win merit for myself, who will do so for me?’ This cannot be correct because it merely repeats the preceding sentence. The translation in the text is based on a suggestion by Schechter ad loc. AND IF NOT NOW, WHEN? If I do not win merit for myself in my lifetime, who will do so for me after my death? As Scripture declares, For a living dog is better than a dead lion.35Eccl. 9, 4. A living dog is better refers to a wicked man while he exists in this world;36Because as long as he is alive there is hope that he may repent. than a dead lion refers to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who sleep in the dust.37And all their achievements have come to an end.Another interpretation: A living dog is better refers to a wicked man while he exists in this world, because if he repents the Holy One, blessed be He, receives him; whereas a righteous man, once dead, cannot add to his merits.
He used to say: If you will come to my house I will go to yours. Wheresoever my heart desires [to go] there my feet lead me.38Quoted as a saying of Hillel in Suk. 53a (Sonc. ed., p. 253).‘If you will come to my house I will go to yours.’ What does this mean? It refers to the persons who are found in the Synagogues and Houses of Study early in the morning and late at night. The Holy One, blessed be He, will bless them in the world to come, in accordance with what is stated, In every place where I cause My name to be mentioned I will come unto thee and bless thee.39Ex. 20, 21.‘Wheresoever my heart desires [to go] there my feet lead me.’ What does this mean? It refers to the persons who leave their silver and gold behind and go up [to Jerusalem] for the Festival to appear before the Divine Presence in the Temple. The Holy One, blessed be He, stands on guard for them in the midst of their homesteads, as it is stated, Neither shall any man covet thy land, when thou goest up to appear before the Lord thy God.40ibid. XXXIV, 24.
He used to say: If I am here, all are here; if I am not here, who is here?41A continuation of the passage quoted from Suk. 53a. Turn it42The Torah. and turn it again, for everything [23b] is in it. And with regard to all things [the rule applies]: according to the labour so is the reward.43The last two maxims are quoted from Aboth 5 (end) in the names of Ben Bag Bag and Ben He He respectively, who were reputed to have been Hillel’s disciples. [In Ḳid. 10b (Sonc. ed., p. 40) the full name appears as Joḥanan b. Bag Bag. Some scholars interpret ‘Bag’ as an abbreviation of ‘Ben Ger’ (son of a proselyte) and conjecture that ‘Bag’ and ‘He’ are identical, the numerical value of BG, being five, indicated by the letter he.]
The story is told of Hillel the Elder that he was walking along the road when he met some men carrying wheat. He asked them, ‘How much a se’ah?’ They replied, ‘Two dinars’. Later he met other men [carrying wheat] and he asked them, ‘How much a se’ah?’ They replied, ‘Three dinars.’ He said to them, ‘But those who were in front of you only asked two dinars’. They rejoined, ‘You stupid Babylonian, do you not know the rule: according to the labour so is the reward?’44Since the latter had brought the wheat from a longer distance their charge was higher. He said to them, ‘You foolish and empty-headed persons! Because I ask you [a civil question], do you answer me [rudely]?’ Nevertheless Hillel the Elder so affected them that he turned them on to the good path.MOREOVER, HE SAW A SKULL FLOATING ON THE SURFACE OF THE WATER; HE SAID TO IT, ‘BECAUSE YOU DROWNED OTHERS THEY DROWNED YOU, AND THEY THAT DROWNED YOU WILL THEMSELVES BE DROWNED’.45Quoted from a maxim of Hillel in Aboth 2:7 (Sonc. ed., II, 6, p. 16). It is in Aramaic, not Hebrew.
He also said the following four [aphorisms] in Aramaic: WHOSOEVER MAKES GREAT HIS NAME LOSES HIS NAME; HE WHO DOES NOT WAIT UPON SCHOLARS DESERVES DEATH; HE WHO DOES NOT INCREASE HIS KNOWLEDGE LOSES WHAT HE HAS; AND HE WHO MAKES USE OF THE CROWN WILL PASS AWAY AND PERISH.46A quotation from Aboth 1:13, with variants, the most important being in the third saying which reads in the Mishnaic version, ‘he who does not study deserves death’. [The version given here, ‘he who does not wait’, etc., occurs in Nazir VII, 1, 56b, where it is attributed to R. ‘Aḳiba.]WHOEVER MAKES GREAT HIS NAME LOSES HIS NAME. What does this mean? It teaches that a man should not spread abroad of himself a reputation [for wealth] in the kingdom, because if he does so, before long the authorities will cast their eyes upon him, kill him, and confiscate his wealth.47Cf. XI, 3, above, p. 68.HE WHO DOES NOT WAIT UPON SCHOLARS DESERVES DEATH. What does it mean? The story is told of a certain man of Beth-Ramah48The modern Beit Rima, about 20 miles north-west of Jerusalem. who used to conduct himself in the strictest piety, that Rabban Joḥanan b. Zakkai once sent a disciple to him to test him in his conduct.49Since, as stated later, the man was the High Priest, who generally belonged to the Sadducean party, Rabban Joḥanan investigated a report that he followed Pharasaic teaching and practice (cf. Finkelstein, op. cit., pp. 152f). When he arrived, he found that the man took some oil and set it on the oven-range [to be warmed], then he removed it from the range and poured it into a dish of crushed beans. On being asked what he was doing, the man replied, ‘I am a High Priest50Not necessarily the High Priest in office at the time, but who had served at one time in that office and had therefore retained the title. and I always eat terumah in conditions of cleanness’. ‘Is this oven-range clean or unclean?’ [the disciple] asked him, and he answered, ‘Is it ever mentioned in the Torah about an oven-range being unclean? Surely the Torah speaks only of a common oven as being unclean; as it is stated, Whatsoever is in it shall be unclean’.51Lev. 11, 33, where the reference is to an earthen vessel. The other retorted, ‘Just as the Torah speaks of a common oven as being unclean, so it likewise speaks of an oven-range as being unclean; for it is stated, Whether oven, or range for pots, it shall be broken in pieces; they are unclean’.52ibid. 35. He added, ‘If that is what you were accustomed to do, you have never eaten clean terumah in your life’.HE WHO DOES NOT INCREASE HIS KNOWLEDGE LOSES WHAT HE HAS. What does it mean? It teaches that if a man has studied one tractate, or even two or three tractates, and does not add anything thereto, eventually he will forget what he learnt in the beginning.AND HE WHO MAKES USE OF THE CROWN WILL PASS AWAY AND PERISH. What does this mean? It teaches that he who makes use of the Expressed Name53Generally identified with the Tetragrammaton, and synonymous with the ‘Unique Name’. It was commonly held that by pronouncing the Name of God as it is written, one could work miracles, and Hillel’s saying is interpreted as a warning against the practice. has no portion in the world to come.