("House of Shammai and House of Hillel"). Two rival schools of thought which, through their debates and controversies, greatly influenced the development of the Oral Law during the last decades of the Second Temple and immediately thereafter. These two schools were established by the foremost sages of that time, Shammai and Hillel (who was president of the Sanhedrin). Bet Shammai and Bet Hillel probably continued to exist until some time after 100 CE; only a few names of individual teachers have been preserved. Their controversies (316 are recorded) embrace every field of the Halakhah, and the opinion of Bet Shammai is usually stated first. Apart from those exceptions listed in the Mishnah (Ed. 4, 5:1-4), Shammai's school invariably adopted the more stringent view. Occasionally, Hillel's school changed its position and accepted that of Bet Shammai.
Broadly speaking, there is a fundamental difference between the two schools in their interpretation of Scripture. The Shammaites tend to interpret a biblical verse quite literally, whereas the Hillelites pay greater heed to its underlying purpose. An examination of ancient extra-tannaitic sources (e.g., the Apocrypha) reveals that Bet Shammai almost invariably follows the older halakhah, which was noted for its severity. Modern scholars therefore treat the Shammaites as conservatives and the Hillelites as liberals.
Since the mid-19th century, repeated efforts have been made to explain the controversies between the two schools on the basis of sociological factors. The Shammaites came from the wealthy rural aristocracy---a socio-economic group traditionally noted for its conservatism. The Hillelites, by contrast, represented their own "plebeian" class---the small merchants and artisans who lived in the towns. The Shammaites tended to advocate the older halakhah, a case in point being the law of Divorce. According to the School of Shammai, a man could divorce his wife only on the grounds of adultery; this view reflects an aversion to divorce, clearly expressed by the prophet Malachi (2:16). Hillel's school, however, granted a husband the right to divorce his wife if he had any serious complaint against her (Git. 9:10).
For all their differences, the two schools did not hesitate to intermarry, even though they disagreed about several of the marriage laws. This amicable relationship gave way, through external pressures, to acrimonious debate and even physical violence. Such pressures may well have stemmed from the increasingly oppressive Roman rule (c. 65 CE). Among the Shammaites, this evoked a sharp reaction and galvanized their wish to enact 18 prohibitive measures (gezerot) severely limiting contact between Jews and Gentiles. Outnumbering the School of Hillel, Shammai's followers triumphed and the measures were enacted. Some 40 years later, at Jabneh (Yavneh), it was finally resolved that the halakhah should always follow the opinion of Bet Hillel. The Talmud (Er. 13b) expresses the decision in this way: "For three years, the schools of Shammai and Hillel contended, each insisting that its opinion constituted the halakhah. Thereupon, a heavenly voice [Bat Kol] proclaimed: 'Both of them are the words of the living God, but the halakhah is according to Bet Hillel.' Why, then, should the Hillelites have been granted the decision?---Because they were pleasant and humble, teaching the opinion of both sides, and always stated Bet Shammai's view before their own."
