There was another incident involving one gentile who came before Shammai and said to Shammai: Convert me on condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I am standing on one foot. Shammai pushed him away with the builder’s cubit in his hand. The same gentile came before Hillel. He converted him and said to him: That which is hateful to you do not do to another; that is the entire Torah, and the rest is its interpretation. Go study.
Questions for thought:
What do you make of Hillel's suggestion? Is this a good summary of the Torah?
What parts of the Torah fit into his description and which do not?
Assuming that Hillel knew that there are parts of the Torah that do not easily fit under the rubric of "that which is hateful to you do not do to another" (for instance keeping kosher, not eating hametz on Pesah etc.) why do you think he made this famous statement?
And there already was an incident in which Rabbi Tarfon and the Elders were reclining in the loft of the house of Nit’za in Lod, when this question was asked of them: Is study greater or is action greater? Rabbi Tarfon answered and said: Action is greater. Rabbi Akiva answered and said: Study is greater. Everyone answered and said: Study is greater, but not as an independent value; rather, it is greater as study leads to action.
Why would R. Akiva say that study is greater than action? Try to evaluate this question without resorting to the answer that "everyone" gives at the end.
In your life, which is more important study or action? Why?
THE general object of the Torah is twofold: the well-being of the soul, and the well-being of the body. The well-being of the soul is promoted by correct opinions communicated to the people according to their capacity....The well-being of the body is established by a proper management of the relations in which we live one to another. This we can attain in two ways: first by removing all violence from our midst: that is to say, that we do not do every one as he pleases, desires, and is able to do; but every one of us does that which contributes towards the common welfare. Secondly, by teaching every one of us such good morals as must produce a good social state. Of these two objects, the one, the well-being of the soul, or the communication of correct opinions, comes undoubtedly first in rank, but the other, the well-being of the body, the government of the state, and the establishment of the best possible relations among men, is earlier in nature and time. The latter object is required first; it is also treated [in the Law] most carefully and most minutely, because the well-being of the soul can only be obtained after that of the body has been secured. For it has already been found that man has a double perfection: the first perfection is that of the body, and the second perfection is that of the soul. The first consists in the most healthy condition of his material relations, and this is only possible when man has all his wants supplied, as they arise; if he has his food, and other things needful for his body, e.g., shelter, bath, and the like. But one man alone cannot procure all this; it is impossible for a single man to obtain this comfort; it is only possible in society, since man, as is well known, is by nature social.
To the Rambam, what is the ultimate goal of the observance of Torah?
What parts of Judaism fit into the two categories of the Rambam--the wellbeing of the soul and the wellbeing of the body? Which comes first and which is more important?
In your life, does Judaism impact your body or soul more? When does Judaism impact you in these ways?
Rava was wont to say:
The objective of wisdom is to achieve repentance and good deeds;
that one should not read the Torah and study mishna and become arrogant
and spurn his father and his mother and his teacher and one who is greater than he in wisdom...
It is not stated simply: All who fulfill, but rather: All who fulfill them, those who perform these actions as they ought to be performed, meaning those who do such deeds for their own sake, for the sake of the deeds themselves, not those who do them not for their own sake.
Rava continued: One who does them not for their own sake, it would have been preferable for him had he not been created.
What, according to Rava, is the object of wisdom, which he almost certainly identifies with Torah?
What is the difference between doing something for "its own sake" and doing something "not for their own sake"?
What might be an example of performing a mitzvah for its own sake or performing it not for its own sake?