Hillel & Shammai

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Hillel & Shammai

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Posts: 17

(07/01/09 22:32:18)

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Hello! How numerous were these schools in the first century CE? Did they represent the entire body of the Pharisees or did they represent a fraction thereof? Which school had more adherents?

Thanks much, in advance!

Sophiee1

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(07/01/09 22:52:12)

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There were very many famous Yeshivas in the first century of the common era.

R' Hillel (110BCE-10CE) and R' Shammai (50 BCE-30 CE) both had very large Yeshivot (schools).

R' Akiva (50CE to 135 CE) had at one time twenty-four thousand students. The Romans put him to death by flaying him alive with hot combs. He died praying to G-d (the S'hma).

There was also R' Gamliel, a descendent of R' Hillel. (He died in 50 CE). Yochanan ben Zakai (30 CE - 90 CE) and others. Perhaps the Professor will chime in.

סופי

And everything that Sarah tells you, listen to her voice. Bereshit (Genesis) 21:12

ProfBenTziyyon

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Posts: 2198

(07/02/09 12:08:53)

Sophiee1 wrote:
Perhaps the Professor will chime in.

Ding! Ding!

Hillél and Shammai were the last of five "Pairs" (Hebrew זוּגוֹת zugot) who headed the Synhedrion in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE. The chain of transmission of the Oral Tradition is preserved in Treatise Avot of the Mishnah (chapter 1) as follows

מֹשֶׁה קִבֵּל תּוֹרָה מִסִּינַי וּמְסָרָהּ לִיהוֹשֻֽׁעַ
וִיהוֹשֻֽׁעַ לִזְקֵנִים
וּזְקֵנִים לִנְבִיאִים
וּנְבִיאִים מְסָרֽוּהָ לְאַנְשֵׁי כְנֶֽסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה
(1) Mosheh received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Y'hoshua,
and Y'hoshua [transmitted it] to the Elders,
and the Elders [transmitted it] to the Prophets,
and the Prophets transmitted it to the Members of the Great Synod....

שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק הָיָה מִשְּׁיָרֵי אַנְשֵׁי כְנֶֽסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה
(2) Shim'on Hatzaddik ("the Just") was one of the last members of the Great Synod....

אַנְטִיגְנוֹס אִישׁ סוֹכוֹ קִבֵּל מִשִּׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק
(3) Antig'nos of Socho received [the Oral Tradition] from Shim'on Hatzaddik....

יוֹסֵי בֶּן יוֹעֶֽזֶר אִישׁ צְרֵדָה וְיוֹסֵי בֶּן יוֹחָנָן אִישׁ יְרוּשָׁלַֽיִם קִבְּלוּ מִמֶּֽנּוּ
(4) Yosé ben Yo'ezer of Tz'rédah and Yosé ben Yohanan of Y'rushalayim received [the Oral Tradition] from him....

יְהוֹשֻֽעַ בֶּן פְּרַחְיָה וְנִתַּאי הָאַרְבֵּלִי קִבְּלוּ מֵהֶם
(6) Y'hoshua ben P'rahyah and Nittai of Arbél received [the Oral Tradition] from them....

יְהוּדָה בֶּן טַבַּאי וְשִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן שֶֽׁטַח קִבְּלוּ מֵהֶם
(8) Y'hudah ben Tabbai and Shim'on ben Shetah received [the Oral Tradition] from them....

שְׁמַעְיָה וְאַבְטַלְיוֹן קִבְּלוּ מֵהֶם
(10) Shma'yah and Avtalyon received [the Oral Tradition] from them....

הִלֵּל וְשַׁמַּאי קִבְּלוּ מֵהֶם
(12) Hillél and Shammai received [the Oral Tradition] from them.

The same five pairs of names appear again in Treatise Hagigah (chapter 2, para. 2) where a long-running dispute about the permissibility of performing the סְמִיכָה s'michah ceremony on a Festival day is reported

יוֹסֵי בֶּן יוֹעֶֽזֶר אוֹמֵר שֶׁלֹּא לִסְמוֹךְ, יוֹסֵי בֶּן יוֹחָנָן אוֹמֵר לִסְמוֹךְ
יְהוֹשֻֽׁעַ בֶּן פְּרַחְיָה אוֹמֵר שֶׁלֹּא לִסְמוֹךְ, נִתַּאי הָאַרְבֵּלִי אוֹמֵר לִסְמוֹךְ
יְהוּדָה בֶּן טַבַּאי אוֹמֵר שֶׁלֹּא לִסְמוֹךְ, שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן שֶֽׁטַח אוֹמֵר לִסְמוֹךְ
שְׁמַעְיָה אוֹמֵר לִסְמוֹךְ, אַבְטַלְיוֹן אוֹמֵר שֶׁלֹּא לִסְמוֹךְ
הִלֵּל וּמְנַחֵם לֹא נֶחֱלָקוּ. יָצָא מְנַחֵם נִכְנַס שַׁמַּאי - הִלֵּל אוֹמֵר לִסְמוֹךְ, שַׁמַּאי אוֹמֵר שֶׁלֹּא לִסְמוֹךְ
הָרִאשׁוֹנִים הָיוּ נְשִׂיאִים, וְהַשְּׁנִיִּים לָהֶם אֲבוֹת בֵּית דִּין׃
Yosé ben Yo'ezer says s'michah should not be performed, Yosé ben Yohanan says it should be performed;
Y'hoshua ben P'rahyah says s'michah should not be performed, Nittai of Arbél says it should be performed;
Y'hudah ben Tabbai says s'michah should not be performed, Shim'on ben Shetah says it should be performed;
Shma'yah says s'michah should be performed, Avtalyon says it should not be performed.
Hillél and M'nahém did not disagree. M'nahém resigned and Shammai took his place - Hillél says s'michah should be performed, Shammai says it should not be performed.
The first of each of these were N'siyim, the latter were Avot Beit Din.

The commentary digest Yad Avraham in the ArtScroll edition of Mishnah Treatise Hagigah (Mesorah Publications Ltd, New York, 1979; ISBN 0-89906-258-X) offers the following explanation of this rather confusing paragraph:

The Tanna now discusses the question of whether or not סְמִיכָה s'michah (pressing down on the head of a sacrificial animal) is performed on Yom Tov. In the case of most animal offerings, whether obligatory or voluntary, offered by individuals, the Torah ordained that the owner must place his hands on the living animal's head and press down on it with all his strength (G'mara 16b), as the Torah states: וְסָמַךְ יָדוֹ עַל־רֹאשׁ קָרְבָּנוֹ He shall press his hands on the head of his korban (Vayikra 3:2). According to tradition, this is required of all personal animal offerings with the exception of the korban pesah, first-born animals and animal tithes [see Rambam, Ma'aseh Hakorbanot 3:6].

Since s'michah requires one to press down on the animal with all his strength, it is considered equivalent to riding the animal which is forbidden on Yom Tov (see Beitzah 5:2). The question therefore arises as to whether s'michah should be done when the korban hagigah and olat r'iyyah are offered on Yom Tov. [If these offerings are brought during hol hamo'éd, s'michah is not forbidden and, indeed, it is required according to all authorities.]

One view is that it is permissible to perform s'michah the day before a korban is sacrificed; this renders s'michah on Yom Tov unnecessary. The other view is תֵּֽכֶף לִסְּמִיכָה, שְׁחִיטָה slaughter must immediately follow s'michah; which means that s'michah could only be performed on Yom Tov itself, just before the animal is slaughtered.

This dispute continued through several generations during the period when the Synhedrion was governed by two officials - the נָשִׂיא nasi (Prince of the Nation, or more strictly President of the Synhedrion) and the אַב בֵּית דִּין av beit din (Head of the Court). This dual leadership was known as זוּגוֹת zugot ("Pairs"). The period of the zugot ended with Hillél and Shammai and was followed by the era of Tannaiyim (Rabbinic authorities of the Mishnah period).

During the period of the zugot a dispute developed about the permissibility of s'michah on Yom Tov, a dispute that continued through five pairs of leaders. Most of the N'siyim maintained that s'michah was not to be performed whereas the heads of the Beit Din held that it should be. This was the first time a halachic dispute remained unresolved for any significant period of time. Previously, when such an issue arose, the Synhedrion would vote on the matter and establish the halachah. As a result, the Torah and its accepted interpretation remained as clear as it was on the day it had been given at Sinai.

The dispute concerning s'michah began as a result of Syrian-Greek persecution which had two effects: it interfered with the intensive study of the Torah, and it became impossible for the Synhedrion to meet to decide the halachah. This tragic situation began long after the death of Yosé ben Yohanan, the Av Beit Din who first ruled that s'michah should not be performed on Yom Tov, and near the end of the lifetime of Yosé ben Yo'ezer, the Nasi who came to the conclusion that his late colleague had been mistaken. Due to continuing persecution, the controversy continued until the time of Hillél and Shammai, when it was finally resolved in favour of Hillél's view that s'michah should indeed be performed on Yom Tov [see T'murah 16a; Dorot Rishonim 2:13; Tol'dot Am Olam].

http://mordochai.tripod.com - פרופ' מָרְדֳּכַי בֶּן-צִיּוֹן, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל

Last Edited By: ProfBenTziyyon 07/02/09 13:41:12. Edited 1 times.

Sophiee1

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(07/02/09 12:36:01)

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