How to Disagree — BT Eruvin 13b — #137

R. Abba said that Shmuel said: For three years Bet Shammai and Bet Hillel disputed, the former asserting, “The halakhah is in agreement with our views,” and the latter contending, “The halakhah is in agreement with our views.” Then a bat kol [heavenly voice] proclaimed, “Both these and these are the words of the living God, but the halakhah is in accordance with [the rulings of] Bet Hillel.” If both are “the words of the living God,” what entitled Bet Hillel to have the halakhah fixed in agreement with their rulings? Because they were kind and humble, they studied their own rulings and those of Bet Shammai, and even more they mentioned the opinions of Bet Shammai before their own… This teaches you that one who humbles themself, the Holy Blessed One exalts. And one who exalts themself, the Holy Blessed One humbles. One who seeks greatness, greatness flees from them, and one who flees greatness, greatness seeks them. One who forces the moment, the moment forces them. One who yields to the moment, the moment supports them.

INTRODUCTION

This may well rank among the ten most famous passages of Talmud. It is found on the same daf as the passage discussed in the previous issue of TMT. Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai, named for eponymous sages, were the two primary schools of rabbinic thought in the first and second centuries. The image of the two schools, representing the two predominant and most defining approaches to reconstructing Judaism and forging halakhah after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., has become iconic. Talmud records hundreds of debates between the two schools. Bet Hillel is generally portrayed as flexible-and-lenient and Bet Shammai as rigid-and-strict, so much so that BT Sanhedrin 88b says the as the schools grew, “dispute proliferated among the Jewish people and the Torah became like two Torahs.” Although this characterization is not always supported by the Talmud, itself, it persists as the prevailing generalization and caricature of the two groups, and consequently reflects a vast over-simplification of history. Nonetheless, the passage is a magnificent teaching about the desirable and admirable values, behavior, and relationships the Sages aspired to (and teach us to aspire to) in the highly competitive and politically charged environment of the Bet Midrash, where scholarship and political prowess were inseparably intertwined.

COMMENTARY

Telescoping to a mere threes years a long-running (undoubtedly multi-generational) and complex history of raucous debate fueled by differences in interpretive methods and overall philosophy, we are told that each schools asserted the superiority of their halakhic opinions. How could this be resolved? If the vote is evenly split between the two schools, the deciding vote is cast by heaven. This is most often expressed by Talmud as a bat kol (heavenly voice) that bespeaks God’s viewpoint. The bat kol does not say one side or the other is wrong, as we might expect or wish, in order to resolve the problem. Rather, the bat kol (i.e., God) declares that both schools legitimately express God’s will. However, the rulings of Bet Hillel are those that should prevail as halakhah for the Jewish people.

An obvious question is immediately raised: if both schools are promulgating equally legitimate expressions of God’s will, why does the bat kol affirm Bet Hillel’s view over that of Bet Shammai? While this seems illogical, the answer has nothing to do with knowledge of Torah, intellectual skill, or reasoning abilities. The answer is character: Bet Hillel treats others with kindness and humility. Their way of interacting, their way of treating others, their way of asserting their opinions counts as much as the opinion itself. If this seems a surprising response from heaven, recall we’re talking about discerning divine will. What does Bet Hillel's kindness and humility consist of? Talmud supplies two examples. First, they studied the opinions of Bet Shammai, which means they listened and considered fully the view of their opponents with a view to possibly changing their minds. Second, when discussing and teaching the halakhah, they not only acknowledged disagreement, but showed respect by citing the opinions of Bet Shammai before their own. This demonstrates the honor they accorded Bet Shammai: they treated them as colleagues, not enemies. This is followed by a warning: God so values humility over and above hubris and narcissism, that God intervenes to reward the one and diminish the other. What is more, those who “force time”—impatiently insisting on getting their way without due consideration to the views and needs of others—will in the end experience time forcing them.

Arriving at halakhic decisions, which amount to leaders’ efforts to shape community norms and practices, depends on a community that respects its leaders and accepts their decisions as coming from a place of mutual respect. In the rabbinic period, the Rabbi’s legislation was not easily enforceable. The most powerful tool available were persuasion deriving from respect for the community’s leaders. Therefore, conveying that while leaders idealistically argue their cases but nonetheless listen respectfully to conflicting views and work with colleagues toward the common goal of community stability and love of God, Torah, and the people Israel, must have garnered greater cooperation by the people outside the academies. Achieving this requires more than stellar intellectual backgrounds and superb reasoning powers. It require specific character traits. Foremost among these are kindness and humility, which leads to respect for others.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER AND DISCUSS

1. Do you recognize the characterizations of Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai in venues familiar to you, such as home and work? How would the attitude and approach of Bet Hillel help the situation (or not)?
2. Pirkei Avot 5:17 teaches that “a disagreement for the sake of Heaven will be preserved; one that is not for the sake of Heaven will not be preserved.” The example of the former is the debates between Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai? Why do you think they were viewed so positively?
3. In addition to kindness and humility, what other traits should communal leader possess?