Now Hillel wasn’t merely trying to make a sale, trying to induce him to come in. We don’t induce geirim to come; if they come, they come, but we’re not going to put a table out on the campus and let anybody come and pick up brochures about the glories of Judaism and lure them in. If it’s a Jew, yes. But non-Jews, that’s not our job. We’d like them to be good kosher Bnei Noach. They have a lot of obligations. It’s enough to be a kosher non-Jew. Geirus is not our objective.
So you must say Hillel was telling this goy straight from the shoulder the truth of the Torah. It wasn’t a come-on, like people who want to make a Hillel House and they tell the students that to be kindly and compassionate, that’s all you need. No, we don’t say that! We say much more than that. We’re not interested in giving anybody any bargains. You have to learn the entire Torah and keep the entire Torah!
But when you’re coming in from the outside world into the world of Torah you must know that there’s something very important and not easy for you to take upon your shoulders — treat your fellow with the utmost respect. Kabolas HaTorah means that your biggest obligation is toward your fellowman. You know, sometimes a person likes mysticism; he likes abstractions. He might even like learning, all the technicalities. And so we tell him, “Excellent! That’s all good but you’re coming now into a world where human beings are most important and where the greatest emphasis is put on your behavior to your fellow man.”
