The Oral Talmud with Benay Lappe and Dan Libenson Episode 128

The Sages taught: There was once an incident with a certain gentile who came before Shammai. He said to him: How many Torahs do you have? He said to him: Two -- the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. He said to him: The Written Torah -- I believe you about that. But about the Oral Torah -- I don't believe you. Convert me on the condition that you will teach me the Written Torah alone. He screamed at him and cast him out with a reprimand. He came before Hillel. He converted him. On the first day, he said to him: Alef, bet, gimmel, dalet. The next day he reversed them on him. He said to him: But yesterday you did not tell me like this! He said to him: On me alone did you not trust!? So, about the Oral Torah, too, trust me.

Another incident happened with a certain gentile who came before Shammai. He said to him: Convert me on the condition that you teach me all the Torah in its entirety while I stand on one foot. He pushed him away with the builder’s cubit that was in his hand. He came before Hillel. He converted him. He said to him: That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow; that is the entire Torah, all of it. And the rest? It's commentary. Go. Learn.

Another incident happened with a certain gentile who was passing behind the study hall and heard the voice of a teacher who was saying: “And these are the garments which they shall make: A breastplate, and an efod, and a robe, and a tunic of checkered work, a mitre, and a girdle” (Exodus 28:4). The gentile said: These garments -- for whom are they? They said to him: For the High Priest. That same gentile said to himself: I will go and convert so that they will install me as High Priest. He came before Shammai. He said to him: Convert me on the condition that you install me as High Priest. He pushed him away with the builder’s cubit that was in his hand. He came before Hillel. He converted him. He said to him: No person is appointed king other than one who knows the protocols of royalty. Go. Study the protocols of royalty. He went and read. When he reached: “And the common man that draws near shall be put to death” (Numbers 1:51), he said to him: With regard to whom is the verse speaking? He said to him: Even with regard to David, king of Israel. That same convert reasoned an a fortiori inference by/to himself: If the Jewish people are called God’s children, and due to the love that God loved them, He called them: “Israel, My firstborn son” (Exodus 4:22), and nevertheless it is written about them: “And the common man that draws near shall be put to death,” the lightweight convert who came with just his staff and traveling bag -- all the more so would he be worthy of being put to death. He came before Shammai. He said to him: Am I at all worthy to be High Priest? Is it not written in the Torah: “And the common man that draws near shall be put to death”? He came before Hillel. He said to him: Hillel the Humble, may blessings rest upon your head, for you have brought me under the wings of the Divine Presence.

After some days, the three gathered together in one place, and they said: Shammai’s strictness sought to drive us from the world; Hillel’s humility brought us close beneath the wings of the Divine Presence.