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Babylonian Talmud, Eruvin
13b:
Rabbi Abba said in the name
of Shmuel: "For three years there was a dispute between Beit Shammai and
Beit Hillel, the former saying: 'The law follows our views,' and the latter
saying: 'The law follows our views.' A voice from heaven problaimed: 'Both are
words of the living God, but the law follows Beit Hillel."

Hillel and Shammi were the
two great rabbinic leaders at the end of the first century, BCE, and each headed
a school of thought (Beit = House of) which significantly shaped rabbinic
Judaism as we know it today, in the period just prior to and following the destruction
of the Second Temple in the year 70 CE. Over 300 of their halakhic desputes
are recorded in the Talmud.
Commentary:
In this most famous selection from Talmud Eruvin, the voice of God (bat kol,
lit, daughter of a voice; small voice) reveals the correct ruling while maintaining
that both reflect God's truth. The passage confirms the importance of both determining
some normative, accepted behavior and of accepting the truth in many approaches
and interpretations.
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