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Hillel the Elder

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Hillel the Elder

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Also known as Hillel, Hillel HaGadol

Jewish religious leader of the 1st century

OverviewAI-generated

Hillel the Elder was a male rabbi and part of the Tannaim, associated with the religion of Judaism. Born in Babylonia, specifically in Babylon, he lived during the period of the Parthian Empire. His students included Jonathan ben Uzziel, Johanan ben Zakai, Simeon ben Hillel, and the House of Hillel. He was a student of Shmaya and Abtalion. Hillel spoke Hebrew and is noted for his connection to Shammai the elder.

He died in Jerusalem in the year 100. His birth date is recorded as either 50 BCE or 100 BCE. Hillel is the father of Simeon ben Hillel. His teachings include the statement, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and learn." Other quotes attributed to him include, "A name made great is a name destroyed," and "He who does not increase his knowledge decreases it."

Synthesized by Vinony from 21 facts across 5 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, MusicBrainz, Wikiquote, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Quotes

  • דעלך סני לחברך לא תעביד. זו היא כל התורה כולה, ואידך פירושה הוא: זיל גמור
  • Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving your fellow creatures and drawing them near to the Law.
  • A name made great is a name destroyed. He who does not increase his knowledge decreases it.
  • אם אין אני לי, מי לי? וכשאני לעצמי, מה אני? ואם לא עכשיו, אימתי?
  • In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man.
  • One who increases flesh, increases worms; one who increases possessions, increases worry; one who increases wives, increases witchcraft; one who increases maidservants, increases promiscuity; one who increases man-servants, increases thievery; one who increases Torah, increases life; one who increases study, increases wisdom; one who increases counsel, increases understanding; one who increases charity, increases peace.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Born
Babylon , Parthian Empire
Died
c. 10 CE, Jerusalem , Roman Judea
Buried
Meron, Israel
Children
Simeon ben Hillel
Religion
Judaism

via Wikipedia infobox

~18 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Hillel (Hebrew: הִלֵּל Hīllēl; variously called Hillel the Elder or Hillel the Babylonian; died c. 10 CE) was a Jewish religious leader, sage and scholar associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud and the founder of the House of Hillel school of tannaim. He was active during the end of the first century BCE and the beginning of the first century CE.

Hillel is popularly known as the author of three maxims:

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Hillel the Elder” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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