When did Rabbi Hillel live?

In a National Public Radio transcript of a broadcast called "Modern Lessons From Hillel," which originally aired on the news show All Things Considered with co-hosts Melissa Block and Robert Siegel on September 7, 2010, Siegel said: "Well, I mentioned something that a great Jewish sage, Rabbi Hillel, said not long before the time of Jesus. read more

Your wording is ambiguous because there are a number of people named Hillel mentioned in the rabbinic literature. There is Hillel the Elder, for which a link in Wikipedia has been given. read more

It has been remarked that Hillel did not, like Jesus, state the love of God to be the principal commandment of the Jewish teaching (see Delitzsch, "Jesus und Hillel," p. 17); but it must not be forgotten that Jesus gave his answer to a scribe, whereas Hillel answered the question of a prospective proselyte, to whom it was necessary first of all to show how the teachings of Judaism are to be practised by him who wishes to accept them. read more

There is Hillel the Elder, for which a link in Wikipedia has been given. But he is not called “Rabbi Hillel,” just Hillel, keeping with the saying that “גדול מרבן שמו”—his name is greater than his title. read more