ת"ש אע"פ שנחלקו ב"ש וב"ה בצרות ובאחיות בגט ישן ובספק אשת איש ובמגרש את אשתו ולנה עמו בפונדק בכסף ובשוה כסף בפרוטה ובשוה פרוטה לא נמנעו ב"ש מלישא נשים מבית הלל ולא ב"ה מבית שמאי ללמדך שחיבה וריעות נוהגים זה בזה לקיים מה שנאמר (זכריה ח, יט) האמת והשלום אהבו ר"ש אומר נמנעו הן מן הודאי ולא נמנעו מן הספק
[The Gemara returns to the initial question of whether or not Beit Shammai acted in accordance with their own opinion.] Come and hear: Although Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel disagreed with regard to several cases, nevertheless, they did not refrain from marrying women from each other’s communities. The cases with regard to which they disagreed include rival wives, and sisters,1 Furthermore, Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel disagreed with regard to an outdated bill of divorce.2 And they likewise disagreed with regard to an uncertain married woman. And they also disagreed with regard to one who divorces his wife and later she lodged together with him at an inn. Additionally, they disagreed with regard to the issue of betrothal by money and with the equivalent value of money, and by a peruta or with the equivalent value of a peruta.3 Despite all this, Beit Shammai did not refrain from marrying women from Beit Hillel, nor did Beit Hillel refrain from marrying women from Beit Shammai. This serves to teach you that they practiced affection and camaraderie between them, to fulfill that which is stated: “Love truth and peace” (Zechariah 8:19). Rabbi Shimon says: They did refrain in the certain cases, but they did not refrain in the uncertain cases.
1 i.e., if two sisters had been married to two brothers and simultaneously became obligated in levirate marriage, Beit Hillel prohibit both in levirate marriage, and if they violated the prohibition and married regardless, they require a divorce. By contrast, Beit Shammai permit them to remain married.
2 Beit Shammai maintain that if the husband and wife continued to live together after the writing of the bill of divorce, the same bill of divorce can still be used later, whereas Beit Hillel dispute this.
3 According to Beit Shammai, the minimal amount of money effective for betrothal is a dinar or the equivalent of a dinar, whereas Beit Hillel maintain that even the less valuable peruta or its equivalent is sufficient.
Rabbi Avi Weiss, Spiritual Activism: A Jewish Guide to Leadership and Repairing the World
- Language must be used with care.
- Dissent is acceptable; deligitimization is not.
- Total material and spiritual commitment to the State of Israel must remain unconditional regardless of any disputes with particular Israeli policies.
- No stream of Judaism has a monopoly on love for the people of Israel, the Torah of Israel, and the land of Israel.
- We ca learn from oe another despite, and perhaps becasue of, our disagreements. The Orthodox can learn the universalistic agenda of tikkun olam from the non-Orthodox, and the non-Orthodox can learn the importance of ritual and say school education from the Orthodox.
- We should focus our collective energy on reaching the majority of American Jews who are uninvolved with Judaism.