Torah Study > Chapter 5: Self and Community > Text 5

Consider each of Hillel’s statements separately and try to get a clear
sense of what Hillel is trying to say.

How are these statements connected to each other? Is there a clear
logic from one that leads to the next, or an order in which they must
be said?

In the first statement Hillel is expressing the idea that we all have a
responsibility to ourselves before we have a responsibility to others. This
is not necessarily intuitive (although in the modern world we are more
accustomed to this than to its alternatives). According to Hillel we must be
conscious of ourselves, our own needs, and our own individuality. Hillel is
prescribing a society in which an individual is at the center.

In the second statement he tempers this attitude (which has the potential
to lead to extreme selfishness) by adding that if my responsibility ends
with myself, I have not fulfilled my obligations. Once I have addressed my
own needs I must move outwards to others.

In the third statement Hillel is adding a call to action. Now is the
time to act on the previous two statements.

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How do you balance the demands of Hillel’s statements
in your own life?

How does “if not now, when” fit in with the first part of the text?
What are you putting off that you could be doing?

 

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