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On One Foot
By Shoshannah Brombacher
The great Talmudic sage Hillel was born in Babylonia in the first century BCE. As a young
man he came to the Holy Land to study Torah at the feet of the sages of Jerusalem. He was
initially a very poor, but brilliant student, and became a famous Torah scholar and eventually
the Nasi (president) of the Sanhedrin. He is often mentioned together with his
colleague,Shammai, with whom he often disagreed on the interpretations of Torah law:
Shammai often follows the stricter interpretation, whereas Hillel tended toward a more lenient
understanding of the law. In the great majority of cases, his opinion prevailed. Hillel
encouraged his disciples to follow the example of Aaron the High Priest to "love peace and
pursue peace, love allG-d's creations and bring them close to the Torah." Hillel was a very
humble and patient man, and there are many stories that illustrate this.
One famous account in the Talmud (Shabbat 31a) tells about a gentile who wanted to
convert to Judaism. This happened not infrequently, and this individual stated that he would
accept Judaism only if a rabbi would teach him the entire Torah while he, the prospective
convert, stood on one foot. First he went to Shammai, who, insulted by this ridiculous
request, threw him out of the house. The man did not give up and went to Hillel. This gentle
sage accepted the challenge, and said:
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the
explanation of this--go and study it!"
The Boat
From the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
A group of people were travelling in a boat. One of them took a drill and began to drill a hole
beneath himself.
His companions said to him: "Why are you doing this?" Replied the man: "What concern is it
of yours? Am I not drilling under my own place?"
Said they to him: "But you will flood the boat for us all!" (Quoted in Midrash Rabbah, Vayikra
4:6).
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The Fox in the Vineyard
From the Midrash
Published and copyrighted by Kehot Publication Society
A sly fox passed a lovely vineyard. A tall, thick fence surrounded the vineyard on all sides.
As the fox circled around the fence, he found a small hole in the fence, barely large enough
for him to push his head through. The fox could see what luscious grapes grew in the
vineyard, and his mouth began to water. But the hole was too small for him. So what did the
sly fox do? He fasted for three days, until he became so thin that he managed to slip through
the hole.
Inside the vineyard, the fox began to eat to his heart’s content. He grew bigger and fatter
than ever before. Then he wanted to get out of the vineyard. But alas! The hole was too
small again. So what did he do? He fasted for three days again, and then just about
managed to slip through the hole and out again.
Turning his head towards the vineyard, the poor fox said: “Vineyard, O vineyard! How lovely
you look, and how lovely are your fruits and vines. But what good are you to me? just as I
came to you, so I leave you . . .”
And so, our sages say, it is also with this world. It is a beautiful world, but—in the words of
King Solomon, the wisest of all men—just as man comes into this world emptyhanded, so he
leaves it. Only the Torah he studied, themitzvot he performed, and the good deeds he
practiced are the real fruits which he can take with him.