שוב מעשה בנכרי אחד שהיה עובר אחורי בית המדרש ושמע קול סופר שהיה אומר (שמות כח, ד) ואלה הבגדים אשר יעשו חושן ואפוד אמר הללו למי אמרו לו לכהן גדול אמר אותו נכרי בעצמו אלך ואתגייר בשביל שישימוני כהן גדול בא לפני שמאי אמר ליה גיירני על מנת שתשימני כהן גדול דחפו באמת הבנין שבידו בא לפני הלל גייריה
On another occasion it happened that a certain heathen came before Shammai and said to him, 'Make me a proselyte, on condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.' Thereupon he repulsed him with the builder's cubit which was in his hand.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Rashi: a cubit to measure off the amount of work done by a builder.
');"><sup>12</sup></span> When he went before Hillel, he said to him, 'What is hateful to you, do not to your neighbour:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The golden Rule; cf. Lev. XIX, 18: but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.- V. Hertz, Leviticus, pp. 22 or 223, and cf. R. T. Herford, Talmud and Apocrypha, p. 148.
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Bereishit Rabbah
Rabbi Tanchuma said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Menachem in the name of Rav said, "Adam taught all the craftsmen, as it says, 'And the craftsmen, they are adam-ic,' (usually, 'merely human,' Isaiah 44:11) i.e. they are from Adam." The Rabbis taught: "Even the ruling of manuscripts, Adam taught, as it says, 'This is the book,' i.e. it and its ruling, and continues, 'On the day that God created Adam;'" (Genesis 5:1) this accords with that which Rabbi Elazar b. Azaryah said, "Three wonders did God do on that day: On that day he created him, on that day he attended him, and on that day he gave him offspring." Ben Azzai said: “These are the generations of Adam" (Genesis 5:1) is a great principle in the Torah. Rabbi Akiva said: "This is a great principle of the Torah: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' (Lev. 19:18). meaning that one should not say, 'Since I am scorned, I should scorn my fellow as well; since I have been cursed, I will curse my fellow as well.'" Rabbi Tanchuma says, “If you do this -- know that God made the person you put to shame in His own image."
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