Tag Archives: Pirkei Avot

Will Jewish Law Follow Beit Shammai?

In this fifth week between Pesach and Shavuot, it is customary to read the fifth chapter of Pirkei Avot. We read that “Every dispute that is for the sake of Heaven, will in the end endure; But one that is not for the sake of Heaven, will not endure.” (5:17) And then we are given an example of a dispute that was “for the sake of Heaven”, that of Hillel and Shammai. Recall that Hillel and Shammai were the leaders of the two main schools of Jewish learning roughly 2000 years ago in Judea. Hillel was president of the Sanhedrin, while Shammai was the deputy. Hillel passed away around the year 10 CE, and Shammai some time after that.

The Talmud (Eruvin 13b) states that the schools of Hillel and Shammai debated for 3 years about whose interpretation of Jewish law is correct, until a Bat Kol, a Divine Voice, resonated from Heaven to declare that the halakhah should follow Beit Hillel. The Bat Kol acknowledged that both interpretations are “words of the living God” or, more accurately, “the living Word of God”, but the scholars of Hillel’s school won. The Talmud explains why: “Because they were agreeable and forbearing, and would teach both their own statements and the statements of Beit Shammai.” And so, halakhah has generally followed Hillel ever since. That said, some things did come from Beit Shammai, most notably the 18 Decrees that include pat israel, gevinat akum, and by extension, chalav israel. Today, it is often repeated that in the forthcoming Messianic Age, the halakhah will switch to follow Beit Shammai entirely. Where did this idea come from, and does it have any validity? Continue reading →

What Does Authentic Judaism Look Like?

Today, there are so many different subgroups and denominations within Judaism – which is the most “authentic”? How can we determine what makes Judaism authentic? Find out as we explore the ten major qualities of Judaism based on the framework of the Ten Sefirot, and conclude with a list of ten critical questions for every Jew to ask about their Judaism.

A New Perspective on Rabbi Akiva, Rachel, and the 24,000

An illustration of Rabbi Akiva from the Mantua Haggadah of 1568

Now that Lag b’Omer is behind us and the mourning customs have been lifted, it may be a good time to reflect more deeply on the whole story of Rabbi Akiva and his 24,000 students. This story is very well-known, of course, and deeply ingrained in our psyches. But for me, like for many people, multiple aspects of the story never really made sense. So many questions emerge, each more troubling than the next.

First, how it is possible that 24,000 Torah giants—talmidei chakhamim and presumably very righteous people—were slaughtered in the span of just a few weeks? The students of the great and saintly Rabbi Akiva, no less? Why did he have to suffer such a horrendous loss? And all because the students “didn’t honour each other properly”? Since when does lack of honour incur mass execution? And what does it even mean, anyway, that they didn’t “honour” each other? How so?

Another question: why specifically 24,000 disciples? How did Rabbi Akiva even get such an astronomical number of students in the first place, at a time following the Great Revolt when the Jewish community in the Holy Land was decimated? And why does the number 24 keep coming up in the story? Recall that Rabbi Akiva left his home and was away from him wife for 24 years, returning with 24,000 students. Surely this is not coincidental. I believe it might actually hold the key to answering all of the perplexing questions above, as well as another big mystery:

Why is it that the mourning period for the 24,000 students specifically requires abstaining from weddings. As explored in the past, the earliest mention of “mourning” during the Omer is from the times of the Geonim, and suggests to only avoid weddings. (The first halakhic code to officially speak about it, the Arba Turim, notes a universal custom to avoid weddings, and only a local custom among some communities to avoid haircuts.) Why is the essence of mourning for the 24,000 specifically observed by prohibiting weddings? Continue reading →