Hillel the Elder

Hillel (hebrew ???) was a famous Jewish religious leader who lived in Jerusalem during the time of King Herod; he is one of the most important figures in Judaic history, associated with the Mishnah and the Talmud. He was the founder of Beit Hillel (House of Hillel) school, and the ancestor of the patriarchs who stood at the head of Palestinian Judaism till about the fifth century of the common era.

Related Topics:
Jew - Jerusalem - Herod - Judaic - History - Mishnah - Talmud - Beit Hillel - House of Hillel

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His two best-known statements are probably:

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:"If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?" (Pirkei Avot 1:14)

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:"That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and study it." (Babylonian Talmud, tractate Shabbat 31a. See the ethic of reciprocity or "The Golden rule")

Related Topics:
Babylonian Talmud - Ethic of reciprocity - Golden rule

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Hillel was a Babylonian by birth and, according to a later tradition, belonged to the family of David. Nothing definite, however, is known concerning his origin, nor is he anywhere called by his father's name, which may perhaps have been Gamaliel. When Josephus ("Vita," § 38) speaks of Hillel's great-grandson, Simeon ben Gamaliel I., as belonging to a very celebrated family (γένους σφόδρα λαμπροῦ), he probably refers to the glory which the family owed to the activity of Hillel and Gamaliel I. Only Hillel's brother Shebna is mentioned; he was a merchant, whereas Hillel devoted himself to study.

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In the Midrash compilation Sifre (Deut. 357) the periods of Hillel's life are made parallel to those in the life of Moses. Both were 120 years old; at the age of forty Hillel went to Palestine; forty years he spent in study; and the last third of his life he passed as the spiritual head of Israel. Of this artificially constructed biographical sketch this much may be true, that Hillel went to Jerusalem in the prime of his manhood and attained a great age. His activity of forty years is perhaps historical; and since it began about one hundred years before the destruction of Jerusalem, it likely covered the period 30 B.C.E. to 10 C.E.

Related Topics:
Midrash - Moses

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