Bet Aviv Lunch and Learn

The night before Passover, and the pilgrims at the Temple in Jerusalem are in panic. Passover
fell this year on a Saturday night, and it turns out the religious leadership doesn’t offer clear
guidance about whether the preparations for the Paschal Lamb offering can be done on the
Sabbath.
Into this vacuum of leadership enters an outsider, Hillel from Babylonia, and in a short series of
exchanges becomes President of Israel. Thus the Talmud introduces us to the figure of Hillel,
and through him to the basics of Talmudic scholastic study, and the tensions between tradition
and innovation.
This tale was so popular it was told three separate times in the Talmudic literature, and each
time with a totally different moral to the story (and a different sense of humor). Comparing
these three texts allows us to explore various visions of authority and innovation, how the
Torah is to be studied, and who is an authority in the Jewish world.