Beitzah 20B

והביא כל צאן קדר שבירושלים והעמידן בעזרה, ואמר: כל מי שרוצה לסמוך ⁠— יבא ויסמוך, ואותו היום גברה ידן של בית הלל וקבעו הלכה כמותן, ולא היה שם אדם שערער בדבר כלום.

and brought all the high-quality sheep of Kedar that were in Jerusalem, and he stood them in the Temple courtyard and said: Anyone who wishes to place his hands on the head of an animal should come and place his hands there. And on that day Beit Hillel gained the upper hand over Beit Shammai, and they established the halakha in this case in accordance with their opinion, and there was no one there who disputed the matter in any way.

שוב מעשה בתלמיד אחד מתלמידי בית הלל שהביא עולתו לעזרה לסמוך עליה, מצאו תלמיד אחד מתלמידי בית שמאי, אמר לו: מה זו סמיכה? אמר לו: מה זו שתיקה? שתקו בנזיפה, והלך לו.

And some time later there was another incident involving a certain disciple from among the disciples of Beit Hillel who brought his burnt-offering to the Temple courtyard in order to place his hands on the animal’s head on a Festival. A certain disciple from among the disciples of Beit Shammai found him and said to him: What is this placing of hands? Why do you place your hands on the animal’s head and thereby violate the statement of Beit Shammai? He said to him: What is this silence? Why do you not stay silent, as the halakha was not established in accordance with their opinion? He silenced him with a rebuke, and he, Beit Shammai’s disciple, departed quietly.

אמר אביי: הלכך, האי צורבא מרבנן דאמר ליה חבריה מלתא, לא להדר ליה מלתא טפי ממאי דאמר ליה חבריה, דאיהו אמר ליה: ״מה זו סמיכה״, וקא מהדר ליה: ״מה זו שתיקה״.

Abaye said: Therefore, it is clear from here that a Torah scholar whose colleague says something reprimanding or insulting to him should not answer back with something more than his colleague had said to him, to avoid adding fuel to the fire, as in the above story the one said to the other: What is this placing of hands? and the latter responded to the former using the same language: What is this silence?