JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

those reasons for the ascendance of Rabbinic halakhah over
that found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The Mishnah reports several instances in which Bet Hillel
retracted its opinion and agreed with that of Bet Shammai
(Yev. 15:3; Eduy. 1:12, et al.) But there is only a single instance
in which Bet Shammai retracted and agreed with Bet Hillel
(Ter. 5:4), when it is stated “after they agreed,” i.e., Bet Shammai
with Bet Hillel. In matters relating to the Temple the halakhah
was decided according to the opinion of Bet Hillel on
only one occasion (Tosef., Ḥag, 2:11, cf. Pes. 8:8; Tosef., ibid.,
7:13, et al.). At Jabneh, in the generation after the destruction
of the Temple, Bet Hillel gained the ascendancy (first–second
century), whereupon the halakhah was laid down according
to Bet Hillel. It was then stated that the possibility of making
a choice between the two schools applied only “before a *bat
kol [heavenly voice] went forth, but once a bat kol went forth,
the halakhah was always according to Bet Hillel, and whoever
acted contrary to the views of Bet Hillel deserved death. It
was taught: A bat kol went forth and declared, ‘The halakhah
is according to the words of Bet Hillel.’ Where did the bat kol
go forth?… At Jabneh” (TJ, Ber. 1:7, 3b; and parallel passages).
The determination of the halakhah according to Bet Hillel
was probably not accomplished in a single act but was rather a
process that continued during the entire Jabneh period, commencing
with Johanan b. Zakkai, soon after the destruction
of the Temple (70) and ending with the death of Rabban Gamaliel
before the Bar Kokhba war (c. 135). This process was
strongly opposed by the last adherents of Bet Shammai (Tosef.,
Eduy. 1:1; Tosef., Yev. 1:9–10; TJ, Shev. 4:5, 35b). In the amoraic
period the halakhah of Bet Hillel was accepted in the schools
of the amoraim who declared: “The opinion of Bet Shammai
when it conflicts with that of Bet Hillel is no Mishnah” (Ber.
36b, et al.). Several halakhot were, however, decided according
to Bet Shammai (see Ber. 51bff.; Tos. to Suk. 3a, s.v. de-amar),
and traces of the decision of Bet Shammai are to be found in
various passages in tannaitic and even amoraic literature. The
Kabbalah and following it Ḥasidism explained the differences
between the two schools in terms of their philosophies: Bet
Shammai has its origin in gevurah (“might”) and Bet Hillel
in ḥesed (“mercy”); in the future (i.e., the world to come) the
halakhah will be according to Bet Shammai (Zohar, Ra’aya
Meheimna 3:245a; Moses b. Menahem (Graft) Sefer va-Yakhel
Moshe 2 (1699)).
Bibliography: A. Schwarz, Die Erleichterungen der Schammaiten
und die Erschwerungen der Hilleliten (1893); Bacher, Tann 1
(19032), 11–22; Buechler, in: Sefer… M. Bloch (1905), 21–30 (Heb.
part); Weiss, Dor, 1 (19044), 167–76; M. Guttmann, Zur Einleitung in
die Halacha, 1 (1909), 36ff.; D. Hoffmann, Ha-Mishnah ha-Rishonah
(1913), 12–59; Frankel, Mishnah, 47–57, 94; L. Ginzberg, Perushim ve-
Ḥiddushim ba-Yerushalmi, 1 (1941), 146–7, 152–60; idem, On Jewish
Law and Lore (1962), 88–124; Sonne, in: Louis Ginzberg Jubilee Volume
(1945), 275–91; Guttmann, in: HUCA, 28 (1957), 115–26; Gilat, in: Bar-
Ilan Sefer ha-Shanah, 4–5 (1967), 104–16; L. Finkelstein, The Pharisees
(19623), index S.V. Hillel and Shammai. Add. Bibliography:
I. Konovitz, Bet Shammai-Bet Hillel (1965); Y. Gilat, Sefer Bar-Ilan,
4–5 (1967), 104–116; idem., Yad le-Gilat (2002), 156–166; J. Neusner,
bethlehem
The Rabbinic Traditions about the Pharisees Before 70 (1971), vol. 2; S.
Safrai, in: WCJS, 7 (1981), 21–44; M. Weiss, in: Sidra, 4 (1988), 53–66,
idem, in: Sidra, 6 (1990), 41–62; Y. Zusman, in: Tarbiz, 59 (1990),
11–76; Y. Ben-Shalom, Beit Shammai u-Ma’avak ha-Kannaim Neged
Romi (1993); J. Schwartz, in: Zion, 59:4 (1994), 515–520; V. Noam, in:
Jewish Studies, 41 (2002), 45–70.
[Shmuel Safrai]
BETH JACOB SCHOOLS, network of religious schools for
girls organized in Poland in the post-World War I era with the
aid of *Agudat Israel, an ultra-Orthodox organization whose
schools for boys were to be found in every community. While
the boys’ schools were of the old traditional type, the newly
formed schools for girls combined Jewish traditional studies
and industrial training.
The first school was founded in Cracow in 1917 by Sara
Schnirer. The school in Cracow had an enrollment of only 30
pupils, but the success of this early venture in imparting religious
Jewish studies, some secular learning, and vocational
training led to the formation of a large number of schools in
a number of countries. By 1929 there were 147 such schools
in Poland, and 20 schools in Lithuania, Latvia, and Austria.
The Beth Jacob school system included teachers’ training institutes
founded in 1931 and post-graduate courses (1933).
Two periodicals were published: Beth Jacob Journal and Der
Kindergarten.
With the invasion of Austria, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia
by the Nazis and subsequently by the Russians, the activities
of the Beth Jacob schools were discontinued. At the end of
World War II Beth Jacob schools were opened in Israel, England,
Switzerland, Belgium, France, Uruguay, Argentina, and
the United States. In Israel there are over 100 schools serving
15,000 girls. These schools, with their teacher-training programs
at the post-high school seminary level, have become
more flexible in recent years, allowing girls to study there simultaneously
for technical degrees in such fields as computers,
architecture, and interior design.
In the U.S. the Beth Jacob National Council was organized
in 1943. By 1947 there were eight schools under their aegis.
In 1951 two teacher-training schools were established and
in the late 1950s two high schools were founded. At the turn
of the century about 25 schools were in operation.
Bibliography: Z. Sharfstein (ed.), Ha-Ḥinnukh ve-ha-Tarbut
be-Eiropah Bein Shetei Milḥamot ha-Olam (1957), 61–83; J. Pilch
(ed.), A History of Jewish Education in the United States (1969), 140.
Add. Bibliography: J. Lupu, New Directions in Haredi Society:
Vocational Training and Academic Studies (2004).
[Judah Pilch]
BETHLEHEM (Beth-Lehem) (Heb. םֶחֶל תי ּב; ֵ Arab. Bait
Laḥm), city in Judah located five mi. (eight km.) S. of Jerusalem.
Bethlehem may be mentioned in the *el-Amarna letters
(14th century B.C.E.) as a city in the territory of Jerusalem (Bit
ilu Nin. Ib = the house of the god Ninib = Lahamu?; EA, 290;
however, the meaning of the ideogram Nin. Ib is not certain).
Tradition placed the tomb of *Rachel in the vicinity of Eph-
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3 533