are the feet of him who bringeth good tidings, who publisheth peace!"—is from Isaiah. Those words were spoken in the churches more than any others. "Peace" is Isaiah's great word. The passionate longing for peace raises the book of Isaiah, especially the part following the fortieth chapter, to a height reached by no other recorded word of man. How often the word "peace" is in his mouth! "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." "And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children." "For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." "Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord." "I will also make thy officers Peace, and thy tax-gatherers Righteousness." "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise." And so on, including those passages that are almost household words: "They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn the art of war any more." "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord."
WE are sometimes told that Jewish teaching emphasizes justice rather than love. But the most celebrated teacher, whose sayings are preserved in the Talmud, Hillel, was noted for his moderation, his gentleness, his humility "My humility is my exaltation; my exaltation is my humility," is one of those sayings. "Judge not thy neighbor till thou art in his place," is another, which strongly resembles the words said to have been spoken by Jesus in the next generation. "Judge not, that ye be not judged." In the same modest spirit is the saying, "Trust not thyself till the day of thy death." A story is told of a Gentile who
came to Hillel with the request that he be taught the substance of the Jewish religion so briefly that he might receive it while standing on one foot. He had already been to Shammai, Hillel's great contemporary, with the same request, but Shammai, happening to have a measuring rod in his hand at the time, had driven him from the house with blows. Hillel met the problem in his own way. His reply was, "What is hateful to thee, do not unto thy fellowman: this is the whole Law: the rest is mere commentary." This reply, too, has its counterpart among those sayings attributed to Jesus about half a century later. Someone, he is said to have been a lawyer, asked: "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" The answer was; "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind (Shema Yisroel... I'eahavta es Adonai Elocha, etc.). This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
HILLEL's reputation for patience was so great in Jerusalem that two of his fellow citizens once got into a dispute about it, which ended in one of them wagering 400 denarii that he could make Hillel lose his temper. It was a Friday evening, and Hillel was getting ready for the Sabbath. Suddenly a stentorian voice was heard in front of the house calling, "Reb Hillel! Reb Hillel! Does Reb Hillel live here?"
Hillel went out to see what the noise was about. “Reb Hillel, I have a question to ask of you,” said the strong-lunged brawler. “Ask on, my son,” replied Hillel, seating himself on a bench. “Why is it. Reb Hillel,” he solemnly demanded, “that the Babylonians have such round heads?” “Because the Babylonian midwives are unskillful,” instantly replied Hillel. The joker thanked him and went away. About an hour later the same deafening noise was heard in the street. Hillel again went out and was met by the same inquisitive seeker after truth. “Reb Hillel,” he said, approaching with great earnestness, “Why is it that the Tartars have such narrow slits of eyes?”