Customer Reviews

The Life and Teachings of Hillel

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With this book, Buxbaum provides a much-needed resource on the person generally recognized as the founder of rabbinical Judaism. He does a great service by giving the reader the historical, social/political, and religious context for the sayings attributed to Hillel -- both those that are well-known and those that are obscure.

Buxbaum also points to Hillel's more compassionate, inclusive interpretations of religious law as a helpful and appropriate counterpoint to the more legalistic approach of his contemporary, Shammai.

This volume is intended for the intelligent (and faithful) lay reader, rather than the scholar, but both will benefit from reading it. It brings to life a man of great influence and learning. It also revives a great tradition within Jewish life and thought.

Hillel is one of the greatest men who ever lived, and yet it is incredible how little most people -- even most Jews -- know about him. Commonly associated with a couple of glib quotations (e.g., "if I am not for me, who will be; if I am only for me, what am I?"), Hillel is perhaps the perfect bridge between Judaism and Christianity. That is nowhere more apparent than from reading Buxbaum's wonderful book.

In my own research concerning Jewish philosophy, I repeatedly go back to Buxbaum to rekindle my love for Hillel. Whether the reader is a high school student or a Jewish scholar, it is difficult to imagine not being touched by the example that Hillel provides. If I could take five Jewish books with me to a deserted island, this assuredly would be one of them.

Mr. Buxbaum gives a very thorough account of Hillel and the circumstances surrounding his life. I found that the discription of his teachers and the state of Israel at the time to be very insightful in understanding some of Hillel's well known phrases.

My only negative criticism is that many things in the book are repeated over and over again, giving the impression that Mr. Buxbaum had a pre-set number of pages he needed to fill. Basically, it could have been shorter.

In all, I got a lot out of reading this book.