One of the most oft quoted part of the Talmud is the series of three would-be converts each coming before Shamai and then Hillel. Each was interested in joining the Jewish people but had their own stipulation. The most famous of these is the middle one. It reads:
There was another incident involving one gentile who came before Shammai and said to Shammai: Convert me on condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I am standing on one foot. Shammai pushed him away with the builder’s cubit in his hand. This was a common measuring stick and Shammai was a builder by trade. The same gentile came before Hillel. He converted him and said to him: That which is hateful to you do not do to another; that is the entire Torah, and the rest is its interpretation. Go study.
Shabbat 31a
I have and will write much on this idea, but today I am interested in this minimalist negatively phrased Golden Rule. So the rest of the Torah is just commentary on being Kind or in this negative framing, just not being a schmuck.
I was particularly interested in this ideas in our transition from Parshat Yitro, last week’s Torah portion, and Mishpatim, this week’s Torah portion. Last week was filled with all the pyrotechnics of Sinai and then this week we get many many rules. There is a big idea of Revelation and at the same time the Devil is in the details of the manifold rules about how to make Revelation relevant in our daily lives. Both the theory and the practice are both necessary and insufficient by themselves. And all the while we cannot forget the third component. We all need to “Go study“.
*A short and sweet idea you could read this while standing on one leg.
Said to Myself 
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