Conference taveng::bagels

    oh yeah...
    
    I forgot to tell you...I'm a read-only kind of guy with this particular
    conference but I thought I might be able to find some help with
    this question.
    
    Thanks again for any information you can share.
    
    Steve
   

It is Friday and the persons who know enough to give an authoritative answer
have already started Shabbos preparations, so I'll attempt a response.

Hillel was leader (co-leader? with his contemporary, Shammai) of the Sanhedron.
He was not just a rabbi; he was one of the all-time GREAT rabbis. Much of the
Mishna (the oldest part of the Talmud) consists of variant opinions from the
school of Hillel and the school of Shammai. Usually, Hillel's opinion prevailed.

The Mishna covers the practical application of the Jewish law
which is given in the Torah in extremely sketchy form. I don't know enough to
give any real examples, but it is sort of like this: the Torah has a commandment
to not harvest a field completely, but to leave the corners for the poor.
Precisely how much must a farmer leave? I am almost certain Hillel and Shammai
would have variant opinions. The opinions of all sides are recorded and treated
with respect in the Mishna, even those that were rejected.

The story you quoted is almost correct. As I understand it, a non-Jew went first
to Shammai and asked if he would teach him the Torah while he stood on one foot.
He was rejected out of hand by Shammai. The man then took his request to Hillel
and got the answer you quoted.

As for the date, you got me there. The Sanhedron came into existence when Israel
no longer had a High Priest and ended when Rome dismantled the Jewish state.
That limits the time-span somewhat.

Dave

    
    Hillel, also known as Hillel the Elder, lived at the end of the first
    century B.C.E. and beginning of the first century C.E. As mentioned in
    the previous note, he is regarded as one of the greatest sages of the
    second Temple period.

    Hillel, who lived in the third century C.E. was a scholar and the son of
    Gamliel III and the grandson of Judah ha-Nasi. He is mentioned in Gemara
    as well as a number of beraitot (Kidushim 75a; Gittem 37a)

    Hillel II, who lived from 330-365 C.E., was a nasi, the acknowledged
    leader of the Jews at that time. He is the one who is regarded as
    having been responsible for fixing the Jewish calendar as we know it
    now.  
    
    That is a very very short description of the three Hillels. More
    information can be found in such Encyclopaedias such as the
    Encyclopeadia Judaiaca published by the Keter Publishing House.
                         
    							....... Monty

  RE: 803.2

>                              The Sanhedron came into existence when Israel
>no longer had a High Priest and ended when Rome dismantled the Jewish state.

    What may be confusing is that the Sanhedrin did not have a continuous
    existence.  It functioned during the Second Commonwealth (although I
    have not been able to find good data on when it started) with the Cohen
    Gadol (High Priest) as nominal head.  It seems to have been abolished
    by the Romans after the Destruction.  Later, they allowed it to be
    reconstituted under rabbinic authority and it functioned for several
    hundred years.  (Side note: Although the Jews were banned from
    Jerusalem, they continued as an autonomous self-governing community in
    the Land of Israel--and constituted a plurality of the population--
    until some time after Christianity had become the official religion of
    the Roman Empire.)

    Thanks, all.  I appreciate your information.  I'll definitely have
    to track down the encyclopedia referenced in .3
    
    Thanks again,
    
    Steve

.0

"A heathen once came to Shammai and said, 'I will become a proselyte on the
condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot.'
Shammai chased him away with a builder's measuring stick.  When he appeared
before Hillel with the same request, Hillel said, 'Whatever is hateful to
you, do not do to your neighbor.  That is the entire Torah.  The rest is
commentary.'"

from the book: _Judaism_, edited by Arthur Hertzberg

Shalom,
Richard

With all due respect to Rabbi Hertzberg (assuming that Richard did not
himself prematurely cut off the ending), what follows "The rest is
commentary." is:  "Now go and study."

Bobbi (no I don't have reference books at work, but this is well known to
the relatively literate Jew) Fox

    .7
    
    You are correct.  The omission was an oversight on my part.
    
    Shalom,
    Richard