THEY EACH SAID THREE THINGS. R. ELIEZER SAID: LET THE HONOUR OF YOUR FELLOW BE DEAR TO YOU AS YOUR OWN; BE NOT EASILY MOVED TO ANGER; REPENT ONE DAY BEFORE YOUR DEATH.LET THE HONOUR OF YOUR FELLOW BE DEAR TO YOU AS YOUR OWN. What does this mean? It teaches that as a man regards his own honour, so should he regard the honour of his fellow; and as a man would not wish to see an ill report spread about his own honour, so should he not wish to see an ill report spread about the honour of his fellow.Another interpretation of LET THE HONOUR OF YOUR FELLOW BE DEAR TO YOU AS YOUR OWN: Thus if a man once possessed a million and is now deprived of all his wealth, he should not lose his self-respect even to the slightest degree.1lit., ‘to the value of a peruṭah’. Though he is destitute his self-esteem should remain high; cf. Sanh. 92b (Sonc. ed., p. 621): ‘Even in times of danger one should not lay aside his insignia of office’. Honour is a precious possession.

BE NOT EASILY MOVED TO ANGER. What does this mean? It teaches that a man should be meek like Hillel the Elder and not impatient like Shammai the Elder.What was the meekness of Hillel the Elder? It is related2Cf. Shab. 31a (Sonc. ed., pp. 138ff) for variants of this passage. that two men once wagered with each other the sum of four hundred zuz, saying, ‘Whoever will succeed in provoking Hillel to anger will take the four hundred zuz’. One of them went [to call on Hillel]. The day was the eve of the Sabbath towards dusk, and Hillel was then washing his head. He came, knocked at the door, and called out, ‘Where is Hillel? Where is Hillel?’ Hillel wrapped himself in his robe and went to him, asking, ‘My son, what do you require?’ ‘I have a question to ask,’ he said. ‘Ask it,’ said Hillel. Thereupon he asked, ‘Why are the inhabitants of Palmyra bleary-eyed?’ He answered, ‘Because they live in sandy deserts, and the winds scatter the sand over their eyes; for that reason their eyes are bleary’. The man departed, waited a while, returned, again knocked at the door, and called out, ‘Where is Hillel? Where is Hillel?’ Hillel wrapped himself in his robe and went out to him, asking, ‘My son, what do you require?’ ‘I have a question3The Heb. halakah, the term for a legal decision, cannot have this meaning here. to ask,’ he said. ‘Ask it,’ said Hillel. Thereupon he asked, ‘Why have the Africans flat feet?’ He answered, ‘Because they live in marshy places and constantly walk in the water;4They therefore walk barefoot, and so their feet are broad because of not having been cramped by shoe or sandal. for that reason their feet are flat’. The man departed, waited a while, returned, again knocked at the door and called out, ‘Where is Hillel? Where is Hillel?’ He wrapped himself in his robe, and went out to him, asking, ‘What do you wish to ask?’ ‘I have a question to ask,’ he said. ‘Ask it,’ said Hillel. The man then wrapped himself in his cloak and sat down before him. ‘What do you wish to ask?’ said Hillel. The other rejoined, ‘Is that the manner in which a President5The Heb. is in the plural, referring to the Presidents of the Sanhedrin. replies? May there not be many like you in Israel!’ ‘Heaven forfend!’ exclaimed Hillel, ‘mind your temper. What is it you require?’ He asked, ‘Why have the Babylonians long heads?’6An insulting remark since Babylon was Hillel’s birthplace. He answered, ‘My son, you have asked an important question. Because they lack skilful midwives there, as soon as a child is born it is placed in the arms7The Heb. is ’ebarim, ‘limbs’, a peculiar word in the context. A variant is ḥeḳ, ‘bosom’. of male and female slaves; for that reason their heads are long. Here [in the Holy Land] there are expert midwives, and as soon as a child is born it is placed in a cot and its head is massaged; for that reason their heads are round’. Then said the man to him, ‘Through you I have lost four hundred zuz’. Hillel retorted, ‘Hillel is worthy that you should lose [twice] four hundred zuz on his account, and Hillel should not lose his temper’.

What was the impatience of Shammai the Elder? It is related that a man8In Shab., loc. cit., he was ‘a Gentile’, but in the context a Jew is clearly intended. once came and stood before Shammai and said to him, ‘Master, how many Torahs have you?’ He answered, ‘Two, one written and one oral’. The man said, ‘I believe you regarding the written, but I do not believe you regarding the oral’. Shammai rebuked him and [24b] angrily drove him away. The man then came before Hillel and asked, ‘Master, how many Torahs were given [to Israel]’. He answered, ‘Two, one written and one oral’. He said, ‘I believe you regarding the written, but I do not believe you regarding the oral’. Hillel said to him, ‘My son, take a seat’. He then wrote the alphabet for him. Hillel asked him, ‘What is this letter?’9Pointing to an alef. ‘An alef,’ he replied. Hillel said, ‘It is not an alef but a beth’. He asked, ‘And what is this letter?’10Pointing to a beth. ‘A beth,’ he replied. Hillel said, ‘It is not a beth but a gimel’. ‘Moreover, how do you know that this letter is alef, that beth, and the other gimel?’ continued Hillel. He replied, ‘So it has been handed down to us by our forebears: this is alef, that beth, and the other gimel’. ‘Just as you have accepted this11The letters of the alphabet. on trust, so accept the other12The existence of two Torahs. on trust.’Once a gentile was passing behind a Synagogue when he heard a child reciting the verse, And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe.13Ex. 28, 4. He came to Shammai and asked him, ‘Master, for whom is all that finery?’ He answered, ‘For the High Priest who stands and ministers at the altar’. The gentile said to him, ‘Make me a proselyte on condition that you appoint me High Priest’. Shammai retorted, ‘Is there no priest in Israel and have we no High Priests in Israel to serve in the High-priesthood, except this insignificant proselyte who comes with staff and scrip only and wishes to minister as High Priest?’ He rebuked him and angrily drove him away. The gentile then came to Hillel and said to him, ‘Master, make me a proselyte on condition that you appoint me High Priest, so that I may stand and minister at the altar’. Hillel said to him, ‘Take a seat, and I will tell you something. If a man wishes to have an audience of a human king, is it not proper for him to learn how to make his entrance and his exit?’ ‘Certainly,’ answered the gentile. Hillel continued, ‘As you are desirous to have an audience of the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, is it not all the more incumbent upon you to learn how to enter the Holy of Holies, how to trim the lamps, how to approach the altar, how to order the table, how to arrange the altar-pile?’ ‘Do whatever seems good to you,’ said the gentile. Hillel then wrote the alphabet for him which he soon learnt, and then [he studied] the Book of Leviticus. So he continued until he reached the verse, And the common man that draweth nigh shall be put to death.14Num. 1, 51. Then the proselyte reasoned within himself thus, ‘If Israelites who are designated sons of the All-present,15Cf. Deut. 14, 1. of whom the Divine Presence declares, Ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation,16Ex. 19, 6. are warned by Scripture, And the common man that draweth nigh shall be put to death, how much more so does it apply to me, an insignificant proselyte, who am come with nothing but my scrip!’ In this manner the proselyte was reconciled of his own accord. He came to Hillel the Elder and said to him, ‘May all the blessings of the Torah alight on your head! Had you been like Shammai the Elder, I would never have entered the assembly of Israel. The impatience of Shammai sought to destroy me out of this world and out of the world to come; your gentleness brought me to life in this world and in the world to come’. It is reported that that proselyte became the father of two sons; one he named Hillel and the other Gamaliel. They were called ‘Hillel’s proselytes’.

REPENT ONE DAY BEFORE YOUR DEATH. The disciples asked R. Eliezer.17Cf. Shab. 153a (Sonc. ed., p. 781). ‘Does, then, a man know on which day he will die that he should repent [the day before]?’ He replied, ‘All the more reason that he repent to-day lest he die tomorrow, or that he repent to-morrow lest he die the day after; as a consequence his whole life is spent in repentance’.R. Jose b. Judah said in the name of R. Judah b. R. Ilai, who said it in the name of his father R. Ilai, who reported it in the name of R. Eliezer the Great: REPENT ONE DAY BEFORE YOUR DEATH; WARM YOURSELF BEFORE THE FIRE OF THE SAGES, BUT BEWARE OF THEIR GLOWING COALS LEST YOU BE SCORCHED, FOR THEIR BITE IS THE BITE OF A FOX, AND THEIR STING IS THE STING OF A SCORPION; YEA ALL THEIR WORDS ARE LIKE COALS OF FIRE.18From Aboth 2:15 (Sonc. ed., II, 10, pp. 20f).