Hillel the Prophet
What is hateful to yourself do not do to another. That is the whole Law. The rest is mere commentary. --Hillel the Prophet
"What is hateful to yourself" - What _is_ hate? I think it's what you feel toward something or someone you could have loved but you have come to wish for its destruction. How do you know something is hateful? Watching someone else being hateful to you will teach you much. However you come to know what is hateful, Hillel does not seem inclined to explain what "hateful" is, as if he is content to leave that as an exercise for the student. I like that.
"do not do to another." - Do not do hateful things to another. Another what? Well, again, he doesn't say. So it could be almost anything that you might regard as "another". Now, if that isn't the most wonderful way to describe your responsibilities to yourself and to "another"...
"That is the whole Law." - Is it possible there is no more to it than this? Can you imagine what it would be like to live among people who accepted this as "the whole Law"? How lively life would be, how diverse life would be, how interesting people around you would be, how free of each other we would be.
"The rest is mere commentary." - All of those millions of pages of "commentary".
1. There is an inherent, ennobling trust in human kind in deciding, as Hillel apparently did, that we can all live reasonably well together simply by not doing things to others that we consider "hateful" in ourselves.
2. This is one of my favorite features: This says absolutely nothing about what we should do. It only speaks of what we should not do. It's like having a map that shows you only the potholes.
3. I think it finds a truly perfect balance between the reponsibilities we have toward ourselves and the responsibilities we, as members of societies, accept towards others.
Footnote: This is the traditional answer given by Hillel (A contemporary of Jesus, as I understand it) in response to the demand of an impatient unbeliever that he be taught the whole of the Torah while he (the unbeliever) stood on one foot. There are probably as many variations as there are translations. This is the one I like best. The phrasing of the first sentence is arranged in varying ways. Typically, the word "Torah" is used instead of "Law". Often the directive, "Now go study it." is appended. However, Hillel's intent is unmistakable in all of them. I suspect his actual response referred to the Torah and included the directive. I like to think he didn't smile when he said it (on the outside).
- posted by Zeeper @ 10:59 PM
