Hillel brought about a spiritual revolution, through his Midot, his love of man, his humility, his ethics. Jewish Law follows Hillel, not because of his superior learning, but because of Hillel's moral standing. Chazal teach in Shabbat 30b:
לעולם יהא אדם ענוותן כהלל, ואל יהא קפדן כשמאי
One should always be a humble person like Hillel, and not a formalist like Shammai.Too often, Halacha is applied in Shammai's way. Too often, basic ethics and exemplary behavior are sacrificed on the altar of Halachic stringencies. May the coming year, 2000 years after his death, see the revival of Hillel's revolution.
P.S. Someone showed me this:
One rabbi close to the affair called the new process "unprecedented humiliation," and said it was the direct consequence of new guidelines to prove Jewishness the Chief Rabbinate recently implemented.That is what I meant...
