What It's All About
On another occasion it happened that a certain heathen came before Shammai
and said to him, 'Make me a proselyte, on condition that you teach me the
whole Torah while I stand on one foot.' Thereupon Shammai repulsed him with
the builder's cubit which was in his hand. When he went before Hillel, Hillel
said to the proselyte, 'What is hateful to you, do not to your neighbour:
that is the whole of the Torah, the rest is the commentary thereof; go and
learn it.'
-Shabbath 31a
Commentary: All right! This certainly gives you the whole Torah
in a nutshell. To give you a little more background, the House of Shammai
was generally more strict in its rulings than the House of Hillel. The Talmud
says that the opinions of Hillel and Shammai are both correct, but that
in this world we decide the law according to Hillel. Thus, as you go throughout
your day, think about your actions. Are you treating your friends, your
family, your teachers, and your elders the way that you would like to be
treated? If not, then think about how you can change your actions. Notice
that Hillel sums up the Torah with what is basically an ethical commandment.
Notice also that even though he says that the rest of the Torah is just
commentary on this commandment, we are nevertheless obligated to "go
and learn it!"
