Talmud & Jewish Studies

In "The Stories of Appointment Hillel as Nasi in the Talmudic Literature – A Formative Legend of the Jewish Scholar's World", Menachem Katz discusses the story of the appointment of Hillel as Nasi, as it appears in its three principal sources: the Tosefta, the Yerushalmi, and the Bavli. In this story, Hillel the Sage plays the role of the ideal leader of the sages and of the Jewish people. Thus, the heart of the story was a matter of great importance for the tanaim and amoraim of the Land of Israel and of Babylon, i.e.; the qualities of the ideal sage and leader.
While examining the different answers to this question, Katz describes the way the Sages perceived their own writings and the way their writings relate to the Torah.
It is not the actual historical facts that are of interest here, but rather the concepts of the narrator as they are expressed in the different versions of the story. Katz identifies this story as a formative legend. Through a story that deals with specific circumstances, we learn how the world of our sages evolved as a substitute for revelation and prophecy. The different versions of the story represent different concepts. Studying these concepts teaches us about the self-awareness and self-consciousness of the sages.
Katz also suggests that understanding the tools and methods that the sages used when merging diverse opinions and notions together into a single story is of great importance. The unique combination depicts a magnificent picture, which allows us a glimpse into the rabbis' spiritual world.

The story as it appears in its three principal sources:
• Tosefta Pesahim 4:13–14,
• Yerushalmi Pesahim 6:1. 33a,
• TB Pesahim 66a.

Once the fourteenth [day of Nisan] fell on the Sabbath, they asked Hillel the Elder, "Does the Passover [sacrifice] supersede the Sabbath?"...

מפורסמת האגדה על אודות ל"ו צדיקים נסתרים שבזכותם העולם קיים. מקורה בדברי אביי בתלמוד בבלי. ברצוני להציע פירוש חדש לדברי אביי. לדעתי, אין אביי מדבר על מספר צדיקים שהעולם מתקיים בזכותם, אלא על מספר מינימלי של צדיקים המקבלים פני 'השכינה' בכל יום.