love of peace, in his love for his fellow man, and in his leading mankind to a knowledge of the Law (Pirkei Avoth 1:12). In mentioning these characteristics, which the aggadah attributes to Moses' brother, Hillel stated his own prominent virtues. He considered "love of his fellow man" the kernel of Jewish teaching. The Oral Law A gentile came to Shammai and asked how many Torahs there were. Shammai answered “two”: the written Torah and the Oral Torah. The gentile did not believe him and asked to be converted on condition he only had to learn the written Torah. Shammai sent him away. The gentile went to Hillel who converted him and then started teaching him the Torah(s). He started with teaching him the Hebrew alphabet: the first letter is “aleph”, the next letter is “bet”, etc. The next day, Hillel taught him: the first letter is “tav”, the next letter is “shin”, etc. (the alphabet backwards). The convert said that this was different to what he had been taught the previous day. Hillel replied that in the same way you need an oral teaching to learn the written alphabet, so you need an oral explanation to understand the written Torah The Golden Rule The comparative response to the challenge of a prospective convert who asked that the Torah be explained to him while he stood on one foot, illustrates the character differences between Shammai and Hillel. Shammai dismissed the man. Hillel told the man: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn." This rule and the similar Leviticus 19:18: "Love your fellow as you love yourself" are often referred to as The Golden Rule. Love of peace The exhortation to love peace emanated from Hillel's most characteristic traits—from that proverbial meekness and mildness—as in the saying: "Let a man be always humble and patient like Hillel, and not passionate like Shammai". Hillel's gentleness and patience are illustrated in an anecdote that describes how two men made a bet on the question of whether Hillel could be made angry. Though they questioned him and made insulting allusions to his Babylonian origin, they were unsuccessful. Obligations to self and others From the doctrine of man's likeness to God, Hillel deduced man's duty to care for his own body. According to Midrash Leviticus rabbah he said