Shammai

Shammai (c. 50 BCE – c. 30 CE, Hebrew: שַׁמַּאי, Šammaʾy) was a Jewish scholar of the 1st century and an important figure in Judaism's core work of rabbinic literature, the Mishnah.

[3] Both were divided over an earlier rabbinic dispute, regarding the actual laying on of hands upon a sacrificial animal on a Festival Day, which Hillel permitted.

While the terms "liberal" and "conservative" may not perfectly capture the nuances of their positions, Hillel is generally considered to have been more lenient or flexible in his interpretations of Jewish law compared to Shammai.

After Menahem the Essene resigned from the office of Av Beit Din (or vice-president) of the Sanhedrin, Shammai was elected to it, Hillel being at the time Nasi (president).

[6] According to most opinions, the ordinances, which are listed in an appendix to the ArtScroll edition of the Mishnah of tractate Shabbos, dealt with ritual purity of the Terumah and increased separation between Jews and Gentiles.

[citation needed] Once, when a gentile came to him and asked to be converted to Judaism (or Noahide monotheism as H. Falk argues) upon the condition of extreme brevity ("on one foot") which Shammai held to be impossible, he drove the brazen applicant away; whereas Hillel rebuked him gently by saying, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.

[10] Once, when his daughter-in-law gave birth to a boy on Sukkot he broke through the roof of the chamber in which she lay in order to make a sukkah of it, so that his new-born grandchild might fulfil the religious obligation of the festival.