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(More customer reviews)Hillel may be the only ancient rabbi that most Jews, and many non-Jews, have heard of. The Jewish outreach program on many university campuses is named after this famous rabbi. And many people have also heard (part of) Hillel's famous statement summarizing the Torah while standing on one foot: "What is hateful to you, do not do unto others." But, as Rabbi Joseph Telushkin lucidly explains, there is a very great deal more to Hillel's life and work.
And not only is there more, Rabbi Telushkin argues, much of Hillel's core teaching is a) more relevant to the Jewish condition than it has been at any other time in the past 2000 years, and b) most Jews, including perhaps even most practicing rabbis, do not appreciate or act upon these core teachings.
Hillel taught many important lessons. I will discuss only one of them here. To learn about the others, and to learn far more detail than I can mention here, I urge you to read Rabbi Telushkin's well-written book Hillel: If Not Now, When? (For those familiar with his recent works on ethics, this book is much shorter, and although it will reward careful study, can be read through like a biography.)
Hillel is best-known for the above quoted statement of the golden rule. But as Rabbi Telushkin observes, the context of the quote, as well as the complete quote, are much less well-known.
The context is that Hillel is responding to a pagan who has approached him and requested that Hillel convert him to Judaism, and explain the Torah to him while standing on one foot. Hillel agrees! While such openness to conversion might not surprise a Christian, it does surprise most Jews, including most rabbis, today. Rabbi Telushkin is obviously troubled by the modern Jewish antipathy toward interested non-Jews. Citing Hillel, Telushkin argues that in societies that permitted it, Jews were very open to potential converts.
With the Roman destruction of the second Temple in the year 70, and the subsequent expulsion of the Jews from the Land of Israel, Jews found themselves almost everywhere among more or less hostile hosts. For much of this time, in both Christian and Muslim lands, conversion to Judaism was punishable by death. In fact, still today, conversion out of Islam is punishable by death in many parts of the Muslim world. Over these many centuries of oppression, Jews adopted the idea of resistance to accepting converts.
Telushkin presents a strong case, based on Hillel, that this resistance, while understandable, is an aberration. In addition to the famous one-foot story, Telushkin presents two other similar stories in which Hillel quickly accepts people who wish to convert. However, in each case, it is clearly understood that once they convert, they will need to learn more.
In fact, this immediate acceptance, before learning or study, is how most Jews alive today became Jews: they were immediately accepted into the Covenant knowing little or nothing about it, and they were then expected to learn about it. That is simply another way of saying that Judaism accepts young children as Jews if they happen to be born to a Jewish mother. These Jews, having been immediately accepted before they study extensively, remain Jews, regardless of whether they ever learn or practice anything Jewish.
Rabbi Telushkin is gently observing that the practice of being hostile to converts, as so many Jews today are, is a) inconsistent with historical teaching and practice pre-Roman-expulsion b) inconsistent with the often stated goal of keeping the Jewish community thriving and c) unfair and hurtful, since it discriminates against some people based on an accident of birth.
The close of the famous one-foot story is: "Now go an learn." A good place to start is Hillel: If Not Now, When?
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