“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”
— Pirkei Avot 1:14

Rabbi Hillel “the Elder” (Hillel haZaqén): life, work, legacy and teachings

1) historical Context and biographical profile

• Age and origin. Hillel flourished between the end of the first century a. C. and the beginning of I d. C.; was born in Babylon and went to Judea, where he became one of the figures foundation of rabbinic judaism.
• Training. It is linked as a disciple of Shemayá and Avtalión (Shmaya and Avtalyon), leading pharisees of the previous generation. The classical literature calls “Hillel the babylonian”.
• Poverty and tenacity. The famous scene of Yomá 35b narrates that, due to lack of money for the entrance to the Beit Midrash Hillel heard the class from the ceiling and was covered in snow; the teacher interrupted the Shabbat to save him. It is a story paradigmatic about his sacrifice for the study.
• Ascent to leadership. Before the legal questions of the Children of Betera (Bnei Batira) on if the sacrifice of the Passover moves to the Shabbat, Hillel showed that yes, with text-based; the tradition presents him since then as nasi (president) or, at least, as the ultimate authority farisea. The historicity of the title “nasi” to that point is discussed by much modern scholarship.

sources talmudic and posclásicas speak of “nasi”; historical studies nuanced that, while Hillel was as supreme authority, the institutional use of the title could be later or not uniform.

2) Work rules and method: the exegesis to the ordinances

2.1. The Seven Rules of Hillel (שבע מדות)

Hillel systematized a hermeneutical method to derive the law of Scripture: qal va-jómer (a fortiori), gezera shavá (analogy verbal), binyán av (general principle of one or two texts), klal ufrat uklal (general-particular-general), kayotzé bo mimakom ajer (a parallel from another region), and davar halamed me-inyano (the context). This canon opened the exegesis, rabbinic formal then expanded by R. Ishmael.

2.2. Prosbul: public policy pathway halachah

Hillel instituted the prosbul, a legal instrument for avoid the remission sabbath debt desincentivara loans to the poor: the debt is “gives” to the court and stops overridden in shemitá, correcting a perverse effect and preserving the credit social. The Tractate Sheviit 10:3 and Guitín 36a attributed explicitly to the ordinance to Hillel.

Scope and discussions: the Gemara discusses the basics: or “shemita” in force at the time postbíblica was rabbinicalor the beit din it has ability to expropriate (hefker beit din). In both frames, the prosbul is a innovation wise that aligns the law with the social purpose of the Torah.

2.3. Faults and customs paradigmatic

• Hanukkah: Beth Hillel set turn from least to most (1 to 8), the doctrine which prevailed in front of Beth Shammai (8 to 1).
• Kórej (the “sandwich of Hillel”) in the Seder: tradition of eating matzah with the maror together as an evocation of how Hillel meet “on matzot and bitter herbs they shall eat it”.

3) School and style: Beth Hillel vs. Beth Shammai

The dispute between the two schools involved ritual, purity, marriage, trade, etc., A bat kol he stated: “These and those are the words of the living God, but the halacha follows Beit Hillel” the justification for its humility, patience, and priority to the first expound the opinion of others. The data is a key part of the epistemology rabbinical and the prestige of Hillel.

4) Ethics and pedagogy: sentences and anecdotes

4.1. Aphorisms Pirqéi Avot

• “I know of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace; love the creatures and acércalas to the Torah.” (Avot 1:12).
• “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?; and if I am only for myself, what am I?; and if not now, when?” (Avot 1:14).
• “Don't say: when I have time I will study; it may not have.” (Avot 2:4).

4.2. Conversion and golden rule (Shabbat 31a)

The famous “teach me the Torah on one foot”: rejected by Shammai, the proselyte was received by Hillel, who said: “What is hateful, do not do to your neighbor; the rest is commentary”. It is a the negative formulation the golden rule and emblem respectful treatment of the conversos.

5) Legacy institutional and transmission lines

• Dynasty leadership. His line gave rise to the House of Hillel and to the head patriarchal (Gamaliel the Elderhis grandson and successor). While traditional sources do nasimuch of the research distinguishes between recognized authority and formality institutional degree at this stage.
• Doctrinal influence. The methodology exegetical, the bias to the leniency (without losing rigor) and the the ethics of dissent Beth Hillel shaped the halachah rules that was consolidated in the following centuries.

6) intellectual Profile: the keys to its “brand name” halachic

1. Humanism practical: Prosbul as engineering rules to protect the vulnerable, without breaking the system.
2. Disciplined approach: Seven rules to professionalize the legal referral.
3. Pedagogy of patience: stories of Shabbat 31a and Yomá 35b illustrate temperance and accessibility.
4. Culture of dissent humble: law as Beth Hillel by its mode of debate.

7) Chronology essential (approximate)

• c. 110-30 to. C.: birth and youth in Babylon; migration to Judea; study with Shemayá and Avtalión.
• c. 30. C.: episode Bnei Batira for the Passover on Shabbat; climb to the head farisea.
• The I century a. C. I–d. C.: consolidation of Beth Hillel, rules of hermeneutics and prosbul; disputes with Beth Shammai; anecdotes teaching.

8) historic Impact

• Architect of rabbinic judaism: when you set hermeneutical criteria and a style of regulations inclusiveHillel allowed the mosaic law to continue to be practicable to all the people in changing realities (economic and political).
• Ethical model: its maximum in Avot are today's quotations universal moral that inform both the community life as the personal discipline.