[1] This pair, among the Zugot, were the heads of the sixth generation. Although Menachem had initially been a colleague of Hillel, since he did not live long, Shammai took his place as head of the generation until its end. Shammai had also received [the tradition] from Shemayah and Avtalyon; therefore, in this pair, Shammai stood together with Hillel. Regarding the content of their teachings: the earlier Sages had held two distinct views concerning a person's way of life. The first concerned leadership and judgment — conducting justice properly within the community — and it was upon this that Yehudah ben Tabai and Shimon ben Shetach had given their warnings. The second view was that of Shemayah, who held that one should not concern himself with public office but rather with his craft and labor. Therefore, Hillel and Shammai came to teach that perfection depends neither on leadership nor on labor, but rather on the study of Torah and the performance of mitzvot — which constitutes a third view.

[2] Indeed, regarding the term *"shalom"* that Hillel mentioned in our Mishnah, and in every place where *"shalom"* appears in Scripture, the commentators have assumed that its meaning is always an agreement between quarreling factions — as our Sages, may their memory be blessed, stated (Sanhedrin 105a): "Amon and Moav made peace between themselves," [as it is written,] "When you approach a city to wage war against it, you shall call out to it for peace" (Devarim 20:10). Therefore they interpreted "loving peace and pursuing peace" to mean that a person should bring peace between his companions who are quarreling, and they brought proofs for this from verses and teachings that all revolve around this same axis — as though, in their view, the concept of shalom can only apply where there was previously strife and conflict, for there is no fissure without a hole [i.e., there is no effect without a prior cause].

[3] They did not recognize the true worth of peace, nor did they perceive the precious splendor of its greatness. For although the word shalom may be used to describe the reaching of agreement among those who were quarreling — as they assumed — it is equally used to denote peace in the absence of any strife or conflict, referring to the common good, and to the harmony and love that exist among people, which is the indispensable bond of civil society, the thread that binds and connects them all together. In its broadest sense, shalom is used to denote the soundness, wholeness, goodness, and beauty of a thing. It is for this reason that Hashem is called "Shalom" — for He is the One who binds the world together and sustains all existing things in their proper order, each according to its nature and stature. For when a thing is in its fitting order, it is in a state of shalom and uprightness. It is in this sense that this name is applied even to animals, as it says (Bereshit 37:14): "Go now and see the shalom of your brothers and the shalom of the flocks" — and it is well known that individual sheep do not wage war against one another; rather, the shalom spoken of in reference to them denotes their unity and good order. It is likewise for this reason that the Torah says (Devarim 23:7): "You shall not seek their shalom or their welfare" — for shalom here is a synonym for goodness and wellbeing. Similarly, the verse states "there is no shalom in my bones," where shalom refers to bodily health. And the prophet declared (Yeshayahu 45:7): "Who forms light and creates darkness, Who makes shalom and creates evil" — for just as light is the opposite of darkness, so too shalom, which is goodness, is the opposite of evil; "the one corresponding to the other did God make." For this reason you will find the word shalom used even in reference to things that are not living. It is written (Shmuel II 11:7): "And Dovid inquired of the shalom of Yoav, and of the shalom of the people, and of the shalom of the war." Even if we interpret "the shalom of Yoav" as his harmony with the people, and "the shalom of the people" as their harmony one with another, what are we to make of "the shalom of the war" — for who can speak of peace in war? Rather, the primary and original meaning of the word shalom is wholeness and completeness; a thing that is full and complete lacks nothing. And when strife and quarreling arise among people and they then reach a state of accord, this too is called shalom — for it resembles the wholeness, soundness, and goodness that had existed in that community and fellowship.

[4] Behold, Aharon — the holy one of Hashem — would do two things among Israel. The first: he was a lover of peace, meaning he loved their harmony and unity. The second: he was a pursuer of peace, meaning that when harmony and unity were absent among them, he would actively pursue peace in order to bring them into agreement and unite them together, so that they might return to their wholeness. Now, all the unity and harmony he fostered among them, and all the love he bore for his fellow creatures, was for the purpose of drawing them close to the Torah — for in this lies true and complete order among them. And because Moshe, due to his great solitude and aloneness, was unable to do this, his brother Aharon would accustom the people to the ways of peace, love, and unity, so that they might be one people. The ultimate aim of it all was to draw them close to the Torah and to its study. It was for this reason that his constant endeavor was to call all people by the Name of Hashem. And in the Midrash they said: "Peace" — this refers to Torah, as it is stated (Tehillim 29:11): "Hashem will give strength to His people; Hashem will bless His people with peace." Great is peace, for even the dead have need of it, as it is stated (Bereshit 15:15): "And you shall come to your fathers in peace and be buried," etc. Great is peace, for it is given to those who do teshuvah, as it is stated (Yeshayahu 57:19): "Peace, peace, to the far and to the near." Great is peace, for it is granted as the portion of the righteous, as it is stated (ibid. 57:2): "He shall come in peace; they shall rest upon their resting places." Great is peace, for it is not granted as the portion of the wicked, as it is stated (ibid. 48:22): "There is no peace, said Hashem, for the wicked." Great is peace, for it is given to those who love Torah, as it is stated (Tehillim 119:165): "Great peace have those who love Your Torah." Great is peace, for it is given to the humble, as it is stated (ibid. 37:11): "And the humble shall inherit the earth and delight in abundant peace." Great is peace, for it is given to those who perform tzedakah, as it is stated (Yeshayahu 32:17): "And the work of tzedakah shall be peace." Great is peace, for the name of the Holy One, blessed is He, is called Peace, as it is stated (Shoftim 6:24): "And he called it 'Hashem is Peace.'" Rabbi Chananya, the Deputy High Priest, says: Great is peace, for it is equal in weight to all the works of Creation, as it is stated (Yeshayahu 45:7): "Who forms light and creates darkness, who makes peace and creates evil." Rabbi Shimon ben Chalafta says: Great is peace, for all those blessings conclude with nothing other than peace, as it is stated (Bamidbar 6:25–26): "Hashem bless you and keep you; may Hashem cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may Hashem lift His face toward you and grant you peace."

[5] Because Hillel, in the preceding teaching, had demonstrated and revealed that the perfection and success of a person lies in drawing near to the Torah and studying it, the compiler of the Mishnah placed after it two additional teachings from Hillel. The first of these appeared to suggest that a person ought not to immerse himself in Torah excessively — and moreover, its words seemed to contradict one another. That teaching is thus presented, as it were, in the manner of a difficulty. After it comes a second teaching, in which Hillel's intention is clarified and the difficulty of the first teaching is resolved. For Hillel said: "One who magnifies his name loses his name." That is to say: one who devotes all his effort to extending and aggrandizing his name through Torah and making it renowned in the world — regarding this Hillel used the word nagad, "magnifies," because nagad in the Aramaic translation denotes extension and drawing-out, as Onkelos renders "draw and take for yourselves" using the root nagid. Thus, one who labors to aggrandize and extend his name will lose his name — this being measure for measure: he sought to make the name great, and it is lost. This teaching appears to indicate that it is not fitting to engage excessively in Torah study or to acquire through it fame and renown. Yet Hillel also said, in apparent contradiction: "One who does not add will be taken away." That is, one who does not increase in his learning — and among the forms of increase is the capacity to derive one matter from another — will be cut off and lost from the world. He also intended by this that when a person does not add from his own understanding, what he previously learned will deteriorate and be lost, for he will be like a man who is barren and begets no offspring, so that his name and household are cut off. It is for this reason that Shlomo said (Mishlei 1:5): "Let the wise man hear and add to his learning." And likewise Hillel also said: "One who does not study is worthy of death" — that is, one who does not study from the Torah all that he is capable of is liable to death; it is as if he said, whoever does not add to his learning will be cut off from the world. Of course, one who does not study at all — needless to say he will be cut off by Heaven — but he is also liable to death at the hands of man. This is the meaning of: "One who does not study is worthy of death." Hillel also said a further teaching that appears to contradict this one: "One who makes use of the crown will pass away" — that is, one who adorns himself with the Torah and makes use of its crown will chalaf — meaning he will pass away and be cut off from the world.

[6] Here you have, then, how Hillel reconciled statements that appear to contradict one another. At times he seems to distance a person from Torah study, saying: "One who magnifies his name loses his name, and one who makes use of the crown shall pass away" — which appears to contradict what he said: "Be of the disciples of Aharon, and bring them close to Torah." And at other times he commands its study and increase, as he said: "One who does not add shall be taken away, and one who does not learn is worthy of death." In order to resolve this difficulty — which arises from his own words against his own words — he brought the further teaching: "If I am not for myself, who is for me?" — in which he explained that Torah study which is not pursued for its own sake, that is, not for the perfection of the learner himself but rather for the sake of fame, is unworthy. This is the meaning of: "If I am not for myself, who is for me?" — that is: if I do not pursue my Torah study for my own sake, to perfect my own soul, but rather for the purpose of rendering decisions and magnifying my name and making use of the "crown" — then "who is for me?" meaning, who else is there who will bring goodness and benefit to a person, given that a person is closest to himself? And if he does not direct his efforts toward his own benefit but only toward exalting himself before others, who then will attend to the perfection of his own soul? From this perspective, the statements "One who magnifies his name loses his name, and one who makes use of the crown shall pass away" are entirely justified, since such a person does not learn Torah to perfect his soul but rather for the sake of rendering decisions and for imagined honor. However, when I am engaged for my own sake — laboring to benefit myself and my soul, and not for some external purpose foreign and separate from me — then "what am I?" The word "what" (mah) here is not an expression of diminishment but of greatness, as in: "How abundant is Your goodness" (Tehillim 31:20), "How manifold are Your works, Hashem" (ibid. 104:24), and "How good and how pleasant" (ibid. 133:1). The meaning is: when I labor for my own sake, I am doing something great — for then his Torah is truly lishmah (for its own sake). From this same perspective his words are understood: "One who does not add shall be taken away, and one who does not learn is worthy of death" — the entire intent being that one must learn and add to his Torah for the perfection of himself, and not for the purpose of rendering decisions. And since this world is the world of service, and the World to Come is the world of reward, as the Sages said: "One hour of repentance and good deeds in this world is more beautiful than all the life of the World to Come" — therefore he said: "And if not now, when?" That is: if not now, in this world, when I have the ability to benefit myself — then when shall I act for the sake of my own soul?

[7] These three sayings of Hillel have now been explained, in my view, and their thematic connection made clear. The principle that emerges from all three together is that a person must devote his efforts to the study of Torah, for it is the true happiness and success — not rabbinic office, and not a craft or trade. Furthermore, the Torah that one studies must be learned for its own sake (lishmah), and one must not direct it toward some imagined ulterior purpose — and it is for this reason that Shimon HaTzaddik said that the world stands "upon the Torah." And because Torah is the ultimate purpose of all other things, the Holy One, blessed is He, commanded the king — who was the pinnacle of honor and stature — that upon his ascending to the throne of his kingdom (Devarim 17:18–20): "he shall write for himself a copy of this Torah... and it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear... so that his heart will not be lifted up" and so forth. And Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, who was wiser than all men, and who set the Torah before the children of Yisrael — he did not study it for the purpose of teaching; rather, it is said of him (Bamidbar 12:3): "And the man Moshe was exceedingly humble." This is my explanation of these sayings.

[8] The commentators have followed a different path in their interpretation. They explained "loving peace" to mean that Aharon would seek to prevent any person from quarreling with another, and if people were indeed quarreling, he would pursue peace in order to reconcile them. Together with this, he loved his fellow creatures — not for any personal benefit, but out of a love of the good for its own sake, and in order to draw them close to the study of Torah. They further explained that after this, Hillel taught another moral lesson: that a person should not be haughty about his Torah learning or declare that he has already acquired all that he requires. This is the meaning of "one who increases his name loses his name" — rather, one must always strive in his learning, which is the meaning of "and one who does not add, diminishes." Yet one must not make use of the crown of Torah to sustain himself from it or to derive personal benefit from his learning — this is the meaning of "and one who makes use of the crown shall pass away." After this, Hillel conveyed a third teaching: that a person must recognize the deficiency of his own understanding, for he has no external guide to direct him toward perfection without effort on his part. This is the meaning of "if I am not for myself, who will be for me?" — that is, if I myself do not rouse myself, who will rouse me? And even when I am for myself, what am I, in terms of being sufficient to acquire perfection? The statement "and if not now, when?" refers to the years of free choice. I have already informed you that it is not my intention to offer interpretations of these passages unless a cohesive internal connection is found among them.