Hillel: If Not Now, When? by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin

    I really liked this book, although it is less of a biography than I anticipated. It turns out that we know extremely little about the life of Hillel, and instead we know much more about his views on ethics and Judaism. I really liked Rabbi Telushkin's approach, and he emphasizes something important: that for Hillel, religiosity was measured not by ritual observance to the strictest degree, but by ethical observance and good morality. Moreover, the Torah has an ethical will and ethical obligations, and sometimes literal adherence to the rule of the Torah may lead to violation of its ethical imperatives. In those circumstances, the ethical and fair should prevail.

    Telushkin is very kind to converts to Judaism, emulating Hillel. He writes of how there are three separate stories of converts seeking out Hillel, and how in each situation, Hillel helped them convert as easily and quickly as possible and then aided them in their Jewish education after. I even learned that in the story of Ruth, Ruth converts to Judaism and that her descendants eventually include David, so he is descended from an "impure" matrilineal line. And if its good enough for the King, then it should be good enough for everyone.

    Hillel also urged less judgment of others. Telushkin writes that as a rule, we generally judge ourselves by our intentions while we judge others by their actions. But Hillel said "do not be too sure of yourself until the day of your death," meaning not to be to confident in having overcome your evil inclinations. Telushkin points out that this may be the reason that Judaism focuses more on a person's day of death than their birthday, since that is when we can fully assess if someone lived righteously. Hillel is also the popularizer of the phrase, "do not judge your fellow until you are in his place."

    There's an interesting relationship explored in this book between Hillel and Jesus. Hillel was old enough to be Jesus' grandfather and there is no evidence that the two ever met, but it seems like Hillel may have influenced him. Jesus preached that "treat others as you would like them to treat you," which is an affirmative version of "what is hateful unto you, do not do to your neighbor." Many Christian and Jewish scholars have hypothesized that this reformulation is purposefully taking from Hillel.

    Telushkin ends up focusing on some of Hillel's teachings that come down to four good points. They are:

1. Ethics is the essence of Jewish religiosity.

2. Maintain an openness and receptivity to non-Jews who wish to convert.

3.  Exclude mean-tempered, volatile, and verbally abusive people from the teaching profession.

4. Use tikkun olam to root out any unfairness or unintended cruelty in Jewish law. Tikkun Olam means repairing the world and pursuing social justice.

Miscellaneous Facts:

• The Hasmonean King John Hyrcanus of Israel was a descendant of Judah Maccabee and forcibly converted the Idumeans (descendants of the Edomites) to Judaism, the only known example of mass forced conversion in Jewish history.
• Later Jewish teachings such as the book of Isaiah exhibit desire to spread Judaism beyond the original tribe of Israel.
• The Jewish marriage ceremony comes from oral law and is not recorded in the Tanakh.
• In the 1930s, City College of New York was 80% Jewish. 
• Apparently the disciples of the School of Shammai one day attacked and killed many of Hillel's students, resulting in increased power for Shammai and literalism for a time.
• Telushkin writes that he knows of no Jewish scholar who believes that Jesus thought during his life that he was forming a new religion. Jesus is even quoted as saying that he did not come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets, which Paul disagreed with and preached that they would change the old rules, like getting rid of kosher.
• The Talmud mandates that "We provide financial support to the Gentile poor along with the Jewish poor."
• Hillel is the first rabbinic stage to speak about an afterlife, but he warned people not to focus solely on the afterlife.
• Sukkot was totally forgotten in Israel and brought back by Ezra.