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On O n e F o o t : An In-Depth Analysis of B . Shabbat 30b­31a

It may be the best-known story in all rabbinic literature. Ask the question, "Teach me the Torah while standing on one foot" and the answer is almost a reflex-"That which is distasteful to you do not do to another." As it is usually told, however, the story is incomplete. It is part of an extended literary unit that teaches a much larger lesson than can be gleaned from the one, admittedly powerful, story of Hillel on one foot.

"Amre Inshe" - The Voice of the People as Authority in the Talmud

We have all heard what "They said". Unsolicited "they" will offer you advice or warnings for most anything you encounter. "They" have the hottest stock tips and the juiciest gossip. But "they" also are the repository for collected folk wisdom and long lost explanations. If you want to know how to cut an onion without crying, "they" will teach you the best way.

Rites of Passage: Rabbinic and Priestly Models

One erev Shabbat perhaps 50 years before the Common Era Hillel fell asleep on the roof of the study hall. He was a regular student there, but this day he lacked the necessary tuition and was denied entry by the guard. It was the middle of winter, the solstice, and snow fell that night blanketing the eager student. In the morning the teachers looked up from their darkened room, saw Hillel outlined in the skylight. Even though it was Shabbat, they went outside and carried him down. They brought him into the study hall, revived and warmed him. So goes the outline of a popular Talmudic tale (B. Yoma 35b) included in many religious school books 1. It is an appealing story for use in that setting. After all, it demonstrates the ethic that one violates the Shabbat in order to save a life. The story presents Hillel as the model of surpassing devotion ­ Torah study persists despite his poverty. More, it provides a dramatic example of the value of Talmud Torah: indeed this is a student who struggles to attend class, even on a snow day! How we wish our students would absorb the lesson of Hillel the student!

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A Baccalaureate Address for Pinkerton Academy
June 6, 2004

For the past several years all roads have led to Pinkerton. You came from Derry, Chester and Hampstead to this central and common location. Here you built your social life, engaged in sports, worked hard, I assume, on your academics, and matured into young adults. After graduation the roads lead in the opposite direction. You will go from here to all corners of the country and perhaps the globe. Some of you will go to college; others will travel. I assume some will join the military and some will go directly into the work force. You share this place, but the future will take you to many different places.

Hillel's Ascent to Power

Simple situations provide a powerful dramatic setting for a meeting between opposing forces. The very simplicity of the situation allows the full force of the confrontation to come to the fore. So it was when a simple question was posed to the sage Hillel. The question seemed to have an obvious, even non-consequential, answer: How is the Pesach offering affected when the 14th of Nisan, the eve of Passover, falls on Shabbat? We shall see that this question sets the stage for a clash of authority between different traditions.