On Shavout we read the Book of Ruth about King David's great-grandmother who had converted to Judaism. Following Shavuot we renew the 6-week cycle of learning Pirkay Avoth through the summer. This study reviews the famous Hillel story in light of Hillel's teachings in Avoth.

The Talmud relates (Shabbos 31):

“A gentile once came to convert to Judaism, on the condition that he could learn the whole Torah while standing on one foot. He approached Shammai, who rejected him, so he went to Hillel, who taught him: "’That which you dislike don't do to your fellow: That’s the basis of Torah. The rest is commentary; go learn!"

Another gentile who wanted only the written Torah came to convert. Shammai refused him, so he went to Hillel. The first day, Hillel taught him the Hebrew Alphabet. The next day he reversed the letters. The convert was confused: "But yesterday you said the opposite!?" Said Hillel: "Now you see that the written word alone is insufficient. We need the Oral Tradition to understand the Written."

A third gentile was very impressed by the Priestly garments and came to convert. Again, Shammai dismissed him, but Hillel encouraged him to study more. After learning, he came to realize that even David, King of Israel didn't qualify to serve as a priest in the Temple, because he wasn't born a cohen.”

We praise Hillel for his tolerance and patience, but these stories raise serious Halachic issues.

1) Did Hillel endorse a 'quickie' conversion while standing on one foot?

2) A convert can't choose only parts of Torah that are to his liking, but must fully commit to all Divine and Rabbinical Mitzvos without exception.

3) How could Hillel accept a conversion for the seeming ulterior motive of external dress?

Rashi explains that Hillel was confident of their sincerity. But how are we to understand these converts’ explicit conditions?

Let us use Hillel’s teachings in Pirkay Avoth to better understand these stories in the Talmud.

"Hillel says: Love people and bring them closer to Torah." Hillel's personal love for people gave him the sensitivity to understand their real intent, and not be distracted by superficial impressions. Hillel taught: "Don't judge your friend until you reach his place!" Empathizing with the deep soul-searching that brought these converts to Judaism, Hillel could see through the outer facade.

1) Rather than an acrobat with fancy footwork, the first convert was searching for Unity. He had abandoned the pantheon of pagan gods and multiple deities to find Monotheism, One Torah from One G-d to One People. He sought to find the single unifying principle on which Judaism is based, so Hillel taught him that Love is the unifying Jewish foundation.

2) Having rejected man-made religions as useless human concoctions, the second convert was attracted to the Divine Torah given by G-d Himself, so he was surprised that we also follow a Rabbinic tradition. Rather than rebellious, he was sincerely asking a valid question.

Hillel creatively showed him how the two Torahs are intertwined; they are not separate systems. It's as basic as the Aleph Bais, where the interdependent written word and the oral tradition complement each other.

3) Disillusioned by pagan shallowness, the third convert sought higher meaning to life, yearning to reach the ultimate closeness to G-d. Under Hillel’s tutelage he learned that the High Priesthood wasn’t for everyone, not even for David King of Israel, and that Torah study itself provides the highest spiritual fulfillment.

In contrast to Hillel, Shammai took people at face value. From his perspective, he rightfully rejected them. Shammai's original stern attitude helps us appreciate his change in (Mishna 15): "Welcome everyone with a pleasant face." Although mellowed, Shammai would not relax his principles, still insisting: "Set yourself a time for Torah study;" i.e. not while standing on one foot.

This also explains Hillel’s uncharacteristic negativity in Mishna 13 where the kind and gentle Hillel condemns: "He who doesn't learn deserves death; Whoever doesn't increase, decreases; Whoever wears the mantle dies." Didn't Hillel say 'Don't teach angrily' (Avoth 2:5)?

Hillel here may be addressing his three converts still taking Hebrew lessons, still insisting on the Written Law, and still standing on a single phrase. He urges them to increase their knowledge and continue their studies to avoid wearing an unauthorized mantle.

This also explains the Mishna (Avoth 5:25): "Ben Bag Bag says: Turn it and turn it, for all is in it." The unusual name “Bag” is an acrostic 'Ben Ger,' a convert; a pseudonym to protect him from Roman persecution. “Bag” also has the numeric ‘Gimatira’ value of the Hebrew letter “Hay,” the special letter added to Abraham and Sarah, Judaism’s original converts.

A clue to his identity may also be found in the name 'Bag,' with the Hebrew letters Bet and Gimmel in alphabetical order. He may be Hillel’s convert who learned his Judaism through the Bet - Gimmel episode. "Turn it, and turn it again." He had become Jewish by turning the alphabet back and forth, and thus made it his name.

Does Hillel prefer Aramaic over Hebrew?

In contrast to the Talmud’s Aramaic vernacular, Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi edited the Mishnah in a classic and refined Hebrew (Rambam Terumos).

We must therefore explain four glaring exceptions to this rule in Pirkay Avoth:

We can understand why Hillel addresses the floating skull (2:6) in Aramaic, as an alien murderer who probably understood Aramaic better than Hebrew. As converts, B. Bag Bag and B. Hay Hay (5:21) were not native Hebrew speakers.

But why does Hillel choose to speak Aramaic in the first chapter (1:13) “He who expands his name, loses it…and who exploits the crown will pass?”

Some say that the Aramaic dialect reflects “Hillel the Babylonian’s” origin. Yet Hillel speaks Hebrew both before and after our Mishnah?!

This Mishna may be better understood against the background of Hillel’s famous episode. After urging us in the previous Mishna to bring people closer to Torah, Hillel relates his experience with the 3 Aramean converts who did not yet speak Hebrew (‘he taught him Alef, Bet, Gimmel, Daled’).

1) “He who seeks renown, loses” –refers to the first convert whom Hillel taught that expanding and intruding on other’s space violates the basic rule “Do not to others what you don’t want done to you.”

2) “He who does not increase, decreases” addresses the challenge to Oral addition, for without the Oral Torah, we lose even the basic Written Torah.

3) “He who exploits the crown will pass” relates to the convert who coveted the priestly garments, but learned that “A non-Kohen who nears will perish.”

Non-study is not a capital offense, except here if these gentiles did not heed Hillel’s advice ‘The rest is commentary; go learn.’

B. Hay Hay and B. Bag Bag may have indeed been Hillel’s converts! We know they conversed (Chagiga 9), and their words echo Hillel’s teachings:

“Turn it, and turn again” recalls Hillel’s reversing the Alef bet letters. “Wear it out, there is no better garment,” recalls the convert who aspired to the priestly clothes. Finally, the convert who tried to learn Torah quick and easy while standing on one foot, learned the hard way that “the Reward is commensurate to the effort.”