Hillel and Shammai, the Last of the Pairs

Hillel came up from Babylon as a grown man and lived in such poverty that, unable to pay the doorkeeper of the study hall, he climbed onto the roof and listened through the skylight until snow buried him. He led his generation for forty years as head of the Sanhedrin; beside him stood Shammai — sharp, exacting, uncompromising. They are the last of the zugot, the pairs.

Hillel was known for patience and for seeing to the heart of things. A gentile demanded that Shammai teach him the whole Torah while standing on one foot; Shammai drove him off with a builder's cubit. The same man came to Hillel, who said: 'What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow — that is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and learn.' To him are also credited 'If I am not for myself, who is for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?' and the prozbul, a device that kept credit available through the sabbatical year.

Their students formed Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai, disputing hundreds of questions. A heavenly voice declared: 'These and these are the words of the living God, but the law follows Beit Hillel' — because they were yielding, and cited their opponents first.