1. Aristophanes, The Women Celebrating The Thesmophoria, 50 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •court, gossip Found in books: Piotrkowski (2019) 250| 50. πρόμος ἡμέτερος— μῶν βινεῖσθαι; | |
|
2. Septuagint, 3 Maccabees, 1.2-1.3, 2.28-2.29, 3.12-3.29, 5.1-5.5, 5.14-5.22, 7.1-7.9 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •court, gossip Found in books: Piotrkowski (2019) 254 | 1.2. But a certain Theodotus, determined to carry out the plot he had devised, took with him the best of the Ptolemaic arms that had been previously issued to him, and crossed over by night to the tent of Ptolemy, intending single-handed to kill him and thereby end the war. 1.3. But Dositheus, known as the son of Drimylus, a Jew by birth who later changed his religion and apostatized from the ancestral traditions, had led the king away and arranged that a certain insignificant man should sleep in the tent; and so it turned out that this man incurred the vengeance meant for the king. 2.28. "None of those who do not sacrifice shall enter their sanctuaries, and all Jews shall be subjected to a registration involving poll tax and to the status of slaves. Those who object to this are to be taken by force and put to death; 2.29. those who are registered are also to be branded on their bodies by fire with the ivy-leaf symbol of Dionysus, and they shall also be reduced to their former limited status." 3.12. "King Ptolemy Philopator to his generals and soldiers in Egypt and all its districts, greetings and good health. 3.13. I myself and our government are faring well. 3.14. When our expedition took place in Asia, as you yourselves know, it was brought to conclusion, according to plan, by the gods' deliberate alliance with us in battle, 3.15. and we considered that we should not rule the nations inhabiting Coele-Syria and Phoenicia by the power of the spear but should cherish them with clemency and great benevolence, gladly treating them well. 3.16. And when we had granted very great revenues to the temples in the cities, we came on to Jerusalem also, and went up to honor the temple of those wicked people, who never cease from their folly. 3.17. They accepted our presence by word, but insincerely by deed, because when we proposed to enter their inner temple and honor it with magnificent and most beautiful offerings, 3.18. they were carried away by their traditional conceit, and excluded us from entering; but they were spared the exercise of our power because of the benevolence which we have toward all. 3.19. By maintaining their manifest ill-will toward us, they become the only people among all nations who hold their heads high in defiance of kings and their own benefactors, and are unwilling to regard any action as sincere. 3.20. But we, when we arrived in Egypt victorious, accommodated ourselves to their folly and did as was proper, since we treat all nations with benevolence. 3.21. Among other things, we made known to all our amnesty toward their compatriots here, both because of their alliance with us and the myriad affairs liberally entrusted to them from the beginning; and we ventured to make a change, by deciding both to deem them worthy of Alexandrian citizenship and to make them participants in our regular religious rites. 3.22. But in their innate malice they took this in a contrary spirit, and disdained what is good. Since they incline constantly to evil, 3.23. they not only spurn the priceless citizenship, but also both by speech and by silence they abominate those few among them who are sincerely disposed toward us; in every situation, in accordance with their infamous way of life, they secretly suspect that we may soon alter our policy. 3.24. Therefore, fully convinced by these indications that they are ill-disposed toward us in every way, we have taken precautions lest, if a sudden disorder should later arise against us, we should have these impious people behind our backs as traitors and barbarous enemies. 3.25. Therefore we have given orders that, as soon as this letter shall arrive, you are to send to us those who live among you, together with their wives and children, with insulting and harsh treatment, and bound securely with iron fetters, to suffer the sure and shameful death that befits enemies. 3.26. For when these all have been punished, we are sure that for the remaining time the government will be established for ourselves in good order and in the best state. 3.27. But whoever shelters any of the Jews, old people or children or even infants, will be tortured to death with the most hateful torments, together with his family. 3.28. Any one willing to give information will receive the property of the one who incurs the punishment, and also two thousand drachmas from the royal treasury, and will be awarded his freedom. 3.29. Every place detected sheltering a Jew is to be made unapproachable and burned with fire, and shall become useless for all time to any mortal creature." 5.1. Then the king, completely inflexible, was filled with overpowering anger and wrath; so he summoned Hermon, keeper of the elephants, 5.2. and ordered him on the following day to drug all the elephants -- five hundred in number -- with large handfuls of frankincense and plenty of unmixed wine, and to drive them in, maddened by the lavish abundance of liquor, so that the Jews might meet their doom. 5.3. When he had given these orders he returned to his feasting, together with those of his friends and of the army who were especially hostile toward the Jews. 5.4. And Hermon, keeper of the elephants, proceeded faithfully to carry out the orders. 5.5. The servants in charge of the Jews went out in the evening and bound the hands of the wretched people and arranged for their continued custody through the night, convinced that the whole nation would experience its final destruction. 5.14. But now, since it was nearly the middle of the tenth hour, the person who was in charge of the invitations, seeing that the guests were assembled, approached the king and nudged him. 5.15. And when he had with difficulty roused him, he pointed out that the hour of the banquet was already slipping by, and he gave him an account of the situation. 5.16. The king, after considering this, returned to his drinking, and ordered those present for the banquet to recline opposite him. 5.17. When this was done he urged them to give themselves over to revelry and to make the present portion of the banquet joyful by celebrating all the more. 5.18. After the party had been going on for some time, the king summoned Hermon and with sharp threats demanded to know why the Jews had been allowed to remain alive through the present day. 5.19. But when he, with the corroboration of his friends, pointed out that while it was still night he had carried out completely the order given him, 5.20. the king, possessed by a savagery worse than that of Phalaris, said that the Jews were benefited by today's sleep, "but," he added, "tomorrow without delay prepare the elephants in the same way for the destruction of the lawless Jews!" 5.21. When the king had spoken, all those present readily and joyfully with one accord gave their approval, and each departed to his own home. 5.22. But they did not so much employ the duration of the night in sleep as in devising all sorts of insults for those they thought to be doomed. 7.1. King Ptolemy Philopator to the generals in Egypt and all in authority in his government, greetings and good health. 7.2. We ourselves and our children are faring well, the great God guiding our affairs according to our desire. 7.3. Certain of our friends, frequently urging us with malicious intent, persuaded us to gather together the Jews of the kingdom in a body and to punish them with barbarous penalties as traitors; 7.4. for they declared that our government would never be firmly established until this was accomplished, because of the ill-will which these people had toward all nations. 7.5. They also led them out with harsh treatment as slaves, or rather as traitors, and, girding themselves with a cruelty more savage than that of Scythian custom, they tried without any inquiry or examination to put them to death. 7.6. But we very severely threatened them for these acts, and in accordance with the clemency which we have toward all men we barely spared their lives. Since we have come to realize that the God of heaven surely defends the Jews, always taking their part as a father does for his children, 7.7. and since we have taken into account the friendly and firm goodwill which they had toward us and our ancestors, we justly have acquitted them of every charge of whatever kind. 7.8. We also have ordered each and every one to return to his own home, with no one in any place doing them harm at all or reproaching them for the irrational things that have happened. 7.9. For you should know that if we devise any evil against them or cause them any grief at all, we always shall have not man but the Ruler over every power, the Most High God, in everything and inescapably as an antagonist to avenge such acts. Farewell." |
|
| 3. Hebrew Bible, Daniel, 1-2, 4-6, 3 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Piotrkowski (2019) 214 |
4. Septuagint, 2 Maccabees, 1.1-1.9 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •court, gossip Found in books: Piotrkowski (2019) 259 | 1.1. The Jewish brethren in Jerusalem and those in the land of Judea, To their Jewish brethren in Egypt, Greeting, and good peace.' 1.2. May God do good to you, and may he remember his covet with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, his faithful servants.' 1.3. May he give you all a heart to worship him and to do his will with a strong heart and a willing spirit." 1.4. May he open your heart to his law and his commandments, and may he bring peace.' 1.5. May he hear your prayers and be reconciled to you, and may he not forsake you in time of evil.' 1.6. We are now praying for you here." 1.7. In the reign of Demetrius, in the one hundred and sixty-ninth year, we Jews wrote to you, in the critical distress which came upon us in those years after Jason and his company revolted from the holy land and the kingdom' 1.8. and burned the gate and shed innocent blood. We besought the Lord and we were heard, and we offered sacrifice and cereal offering, and we lighted the lamps and we set out the loaves.' 1.9. And now see that you keep the feast of booths in the month of Chislev, in the one hundred and eighty-eighth year.' |
|
5. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 12.285, 12.349, 12.355-12.356, 12.387, 13.62-13.71 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •court, gossip Found in books: Piotrkowski (2019) 214, 254 | 12.285. 4. When Mattathias had thus discoursed to his sons, and had prayed to God to be their assistant, and to recover to the people their former constitution, he died a little afterward, and was buried at Modin; all the people making great lamentation for him. Whereupon his son Judas took upon him the administration of public affairs, in the hundred forty and sixth year; 12.349. And going away hastily from thence, they came into Judea, singing psalms and hymns as they went, and indulging such tokens of mirth as are usual in triumphs upon victory. They also offered thank-offerings, both for their good success, and for the preservation of their army, for not one of the Jews was slain in these battles. 12.355. And being incited by these motives, he went in haste to Elymais, and assaulted it, and besieged it. But as those that were in it were not terrified at his assault, nor at his siege, but opposed him very courageously, he was beaten off his hopes; for they drove him away from the city, and went out and pursued after him, insomuch that he fled away as far as Babylon, and lost a great many of his army. 12.356. And when he was grieving for this disappointment, some persons told him of the defeat of his commanders whom he had left behind him to fight against Judea, and what strength the Jews had already gotten. 12.387. Now as to Onias, the son of the high priest, who, as we before informed you, was left a child when his father died, when he saw that the king had slain his uncle Menelaus, and given the high priesthood to Alcimus, who was not of the high priest stock, but was induced by Lysias to translate that dignity from his family to another house, he fled to Ptolemy, king of Egypt; 13.62. 1. But then the son of Onias the high priest, who was of the same name with his father, and who fled to king Ptolemy, who was called Philometor, lived now at Alexandria, as we have said already. When this Onias saw that Judea was oppressed by the Macedonians and their kings, 13.63. out of a desire to purchase to himself a memorial and eternal fame he resolved to send to king Ptolemy and queen Cleopatra, to ask leave of them that he might build a temple in Egypt like to that at Jerusalem, and might ordain Levites and priests out of their own stock. 13.64. The chief reason why he was desirous so to do, was, that he relied upon the prophet Isaiah, who lived above six hundred years before, and foretold that there certainly was to be a temple built to Almighty God in Egypt by a man that was a Jew. Onias was elevated with this prediction, and wrote the following epistle to Ptolemy and Cleopatra: 13.65. “Having done many and great things for you in the affairs of the war, by the assistance of God, and that in Celesyria and Phoenicia, I came at length with the Jews to Leontopolis, and to other places of your nation, 13.66. where I found that the greatest part of your people had temples in an improper manner, and that on this account they bare ill-will one against another, which happens to the Egyptians by reason of the multitude of their temples, and the difference of opinions about divine worship. Now I found a very fit place in a castle that hath its name from the country Diana; this place is full of materials of several sorts, and replenished with sacred animals; 13.67. I desire therefore that you will grant me leave to purge this holy place, which belongs to no master, and is fallen down, and to build there a temple to Almighty God, after the pattern of that in Jerusalem, and of the same dimensions, that may be for the benefit of thyself, and thy wife and children, that those Jews which dwell in Egypt may have a place whither they may come and meet together in mutual harmony one with another, and he subservient to thy advantages; 13.68. for the prophet Isaiah foretold that, ‘there should be an altar in Egypt to the Lord God;’” and many other such things did he prophesy relating to that place. 13.69. 2. And this was what Onias wrote to king Ptolemy. Now any one may observe his piety, and that of his sister and wife Cleopatra, by that epistle which they wrote in answer to it; for they laid the blame and the transgression of the law upon the head of Onias. And this was their reply: 13.70. “King Ptolemy and queen Cleopatra to Onias, send greeting. We have read thy petition, wherein thou desirest leave to be given thee to purge that temple which is fallen down at Leontopolis, in the Nomus of Heliopolis, and which is named from the country Bubastis; on which account we cannot but wonder that it should be pleasing to God to have a temple erected in a place so unclean, and so full of sacred animals. 13.71. But since thou sayest that Isaiah the prophet foretold this long ago, we give thee leave to do it, if it may be done according to your law, and so that we may not appear to have at all offended God herein.” |
|
6. Josephus Flavius, Jewish War, 7.423-7.426 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •court, gossip Found in books: Piotrkowski (2019) 250, 254 | 7.423. Onias, the son of Simon, one of the Jewish high priests, fled from Antiochus the king of Syria, when he made war with the Jews, and came to Alexandria; and as Ptolemy received him very kindly, on account of his hatred to Antiochus, he assured him, that if he would comply with his proposal, he would bring all the Jews to his assistance; 7.424. and when the king agreed to do it so far as he was able, he desired him to give him leave to build a temple somewhere in Egypt, and to worship God according to the customs of his own country; 7.425. for that the Jews would then be so much readier to fight against Antiochus who had laid waste the temple at Jerusalem, and that they would then come to him with greater goodwill; and that, by granting them liberty of conscience, very many of them would come over to him. 7.426. 3. So Ptolemy complied with his proposals, and gave him a place one hundred and eighty furlongs distant from Memphis. That Nomos was called the Nomos of Heliopoli |
|
7. Josephus Flavius, Against Apion, 2.49-2.52 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •court, gossip Found in books: Piotrkowski (2019) 214 | 2.49. and as for Ptolemy Philometor and his wife Cleopatra, they committed their whole kingdom to Jews, when Onias and Dositheus, both Jews, whose names are laughed at by Apion, were the generals of their whole army; but certainly instead of reproaching them, he ought to admire their actions, and return them thanks for saving Alexandria, whose citizen he pretends to be; 2.50. for when these Alexandrians were making war with Cleopatra the queen, and were in danger of being utterly ruined, these Jews brought them to terms of agreement, and freed them from the miseries of a civil war. “But then (says Apion) Onias brought a small army afterward upon the city at the time when Thermus the Roman ambassador was there present.” 2.51. Yes, do I venture to say, and that he did rightly and very justly in so doing; for that Ptolemy who was called Physco, upon the death of his brother Philometor, came from Cyrene, and would have ejected Cleopatra as well as her sons out of their kingdom, 2.52. that he might obtain it for himself unjustly. For this cause then it was that Onias undertook a war against him on Cleopatra’s account; nor would he desert that trust the royal family had reposed in him in their distress. |
|
| 8. Palestinian Talmud, Avot, 1.2 (2nd cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •court, gossip Found in books: Piotrkowski (2019) 250 |
9. Babylonian Talmud, Yoma, None (3rd cent. CE - 6th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •court, gossip Found in books: Piotrkowski (2019) 250| 69a. וסיפא איצטריכא ליה פושטין ומקפלין ומניחין תחת ראשיהם,פושטין ומקפלין ומניחין אותן תחת ראשיהן שמעת מינה בגדי כהונה ניתנו ליהנות בהן אמר רב פפא לא תימא תחת ראשיהן אלא אימא כנגד ראשיהן אמר רב משרשיא שמעת מינה תפילין מן הצד שפיר דמי,הכי נמי מסתברא דכנגד ראשיהן דאי סלקא דעתך תחת ראשיהן ותיפוק לי משום כלאים דהא איכא אבנט ונהי נמי דניתנו ליהנות בהן הא מתהני מכלאים,הניחא למ"ד אבנטו של כהן גדול (בשאר ימות השנה) זה הוא אבנטו של כהן הדיוט אלא למאן דאמר אבנטו של כ"ג לא זה הוא אבנטו של כהן הדיוט מאי איכא למימר,וכי תימא כלאים בלבישה והעלאה הוא דאסור בהצעה שרי והתניא (ויקרא יט, יט) לא יעלה עליך אבל אתה מותר להציעו תחתיך אבל אמרו חכמים אסור לעשות כן שמא תיכרך נימא אחת על בשרו,וכ"ת דמפסיק ליה מידי ביני ביני והאמר ר"ש בן פזי אמר ר' יהושע בן לוי אמר רבי משום קהלא קדישא שבירושלים אפי' עשר מצעות זו על גב זו וכלאים תחתיהן אסור לישן עליהן אלא לאו שמע מינה כנגד ראשיהן שמע מינה,רב אשי אמר לעולם תחת ראשיהן והא קא מתהני מכלאים בגדי כהונה קשין הן כי הא דאמר רב הונא בריה דר' יהושע האי נמטא גמדא דנרש שריא,ת"ש בגדי כהונה היוצא בהן למדינה אסור ובמקדש בין בשעת עבודה בין שלא בשעת עבודה מותר מפני שבגדי כהונה ניתנו ליהנות בהן ש"מ,ובמדינה לא והתניא בעשרים וחמשה [בטבת] יום הר גרזים [הוא] דלא למספד,יום שבקשו כותיים את בית אלהינו מאלכסנדרוס מוקדון להחריבו ונתנו להם באו והודיעו את שמעון הצדיק מה עשה לבש בגדי כהונה ונתעטף בבגדי כהונה ומיקירי ישראל עמו ואבוקות של אור בידיהן וכל הלילה הללו הולכים מצד זה והללו הולכים מצד זה עד שעלה עמוד השחר,כיון שעלה עמוד השחר אמר להם מי הללו אמרו לו יהודים שמרדו בך כיון שהגיע לאנטיפטרס זרחה חמה ופגעו זה בזה כיון שראה לשמעון הצדיק ירד ממרכבתו והשתחוה לפניו אמרו לו מלך גדול כמותך ישתחוה ליהודי זה אמר להם דמות דיוקנו של זה מנצחת לפני בבית מלחמתי,אמר להם למה באתם אמרו אפשר בית שמתפללים בו עליך ועל מלכותך שלא תחרב יתעוך עובדי כוכבים להחריבו אמר להם מי הללו אמרו לו כותיים הללו שעומדים לפניך אמר להם הרי הם מסורין בידיכם,מיד נקבום בעקביהם ותלאום בזנבי סוסיהם והיו מגררין אותן על הקוצים ועל הברקנים עד שהגיעו להר גרזים כיון שהגיעו להר גריזים חרשוהו וזרעוהו כרשינין כדרך שבקשו לעשות לבית אלהינו ואותו היום עשאוהו יו"ט,אי בעית אימא ראויין לבגדי כהונה ואי בעית אימא (תהלים קיט, קכו) עת לעשות לה' הפרו תורתך,חזן הכנסת נוטל ספר תורה ש"מ חולקין כבוד לתלמיד במקום הרב אמר אביי כולה משום כבודו דכ"ג היא,וכהן גדול עומד מכלל שהוא יושב והא אנן תנן | 69a. That mishna’s teaching highlighting the prohibition to sleep in priestly vestments b is needed for the latter clause /b of that mishna, which states: b They remove /b their priestly vestments b and fold them and place them under their heads. /b Since they are allowed to sleep on them, it must be emphasized that they may not sleep while wearing them.,The Gemara considers resolving the dilemma from the latter clause: b They remove /b their priestly vestments b and fold them and place them under their heads. /b The Gemara suggests: b Learn from this /b that b it is permitted to derive benefit from priestly vestments. Rav Pappa said: Do not say /b that the mishna means they may actually place the vestments b under their heads /b as a pillow; b rather, say /b that the mishna permits the vestments to be placed only b next to their heads. Rav Mesharshiyya said: /b Given this understanding of that mishna, one can b learn from here /b that one who places b phylacteries to the side /b of his head when he sleeps has done b well; /b there is no concern that he will turn over in his sleep and lie upon them., b So too, it is reasonable /b to say b that /b the mishna permits the vestments to be placed only b next to their heads /b and not under their heads; b as, if it could enter your mind /b to say that the mishna permits the vestments to be placed b under their heads, and I would derive /b that it is prohibited b due to /b the fact the priestly vestments contain a forbidden mixture of b diverse kinds, as /b among them b there is /b the b belt, /b which is woven from a mixture of wool and linen. b And even if /b it is assumed b that it is permitted to derive benefit from /b priestly vestments, it would still be prohibited to lie upon them because by doing so the priests would be b deriving benefit from /b a garment made of b diverse kinds. /b ,The Gemara elaborates on the preceding argument: If one claims that the mishna permits priests to sleep upon their vestments, b it works out well according to the one who said: The belt of the High Priest /b worn on Yom Kippur, which does not contain diverse kinds, b is the same as the belt of a common priest. /b According to this view, the common priest’s belt does not contain diverse kinds, and therefore it may be permitted for a priest to sleep upon it. b However, according to the one who said /b that b the High Priest’s belt /b on Yom Kippur b is not the same as the belt of a common priest, /b and that the belt of the common priest is made of diverse kinds, b what is there to say? /b How could the mishna possibly permit priests to sleep upon their vestments?, b And if you say /b that with regard to the prohibition of b diverse kinds /b only b wearing /b or b placing /b the garment b upon oneself is prohibited, but spreading them out /b and lying upon them on b is permitted, /b and as such it should be permitted for the priests to sleep upon their vestments, this is incorrect. As, b wasn’t it taught /b in a i baraita /i that the verse states: b “Neither shall there come upon you /b a garment of diverse kinds”(Leviticus 19:19), which implies: b But you are permitted to spread it beneath you /b to lie upon. This is true according to Torah law, b but the Sages said: It is prohibited to do so, lest a fiber wrap upon his flesh, /b which would lead to the transgression of the Torah prohibition., b And if you say /b that a priest could still avoid the prohibition of diverse kinds by b placing a separation between /b himself and the belt containing diverse kinds, b didn’t Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi say /b that b Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said /b that b Rabbi /b Yehuda HaNasi b said in the name of the holy community in Jerusalem: Even /b if there are b ten mattresses /b piled b one atop the other and /b a garment of b diverse kinds /b is placed b underneath them /b all, b it is prohibited to sleep upon them? /b This is because the rabbinic decree is applied equally to all cases irrespective of whether the original concern exists. Therefore, there can be no way for the priests to sleep upon the vestments without transgressing the prohibition of diverse kinds. b Rather, /b must one b not conclude from /b the preceding discussion that the mishna permits the vestments to be placed only b next to their heads? /b The Gemara concludes: b Learn from it /b that this is indeed so., b Rav Ashi said: Actually, /b the mishna may be understood as permitting the vestments to be placed b under their heads. /b One should not object that by doing so the priests would be b deriving benefit from /b a garment made of b diverse kinds /b because b priestly vestments, /b and specifically the belt, b are stiff, /b and therefore the prohibition of diverse kinds does not apply to them. This is b in accordance with that /b which b Rav Huna, son of Rabbi Yehoshua, said: This stiff felt [ i namta /i ], /b made of diverse kinds, that is produced b in /b the city of b Neresh, is permitted, /b since a stiff object does not wrap around the body to provide warmth, and therefore the person wearing is not considered to have derived benefit from it.,Since the mishna’s intention is uncertain, it cannot provide a clear proof for the dilemma of whether it is permitted to derive benefit from priestly vestments. The Gemara therefore suggests another proof: b Come /b and b hear /b an explicit i baraita /i concerning this issue: With regard to b priestly vestments, it is prohibited to go out to the country, /b i.e., outside the Temple, while b wearing them, but in the Temple it is permitted /b for the priests to wear them, b whether during the /b Temple b service or not during the service, due to /b the fact b that it is permitted to derive benefit from priestly vestments. Learn from this /b that it is indeed permitted.,§ The i baraita /i taught that the priestly vestments may not be worn outside the Temple. The Gemara challenges this: Is it really b not /b permitted to wear priestly vestments b in the country? Wasn’t it taught /b in another i baraita /i , in i Megillat Ta’anit /i : b The twenty-fifth of Tevet /b is known as b the day of Mount Gerizim, /b which was established as a joyful day, and therefore b eulogizing /b is b not /b permitted.,What occurred on that date? It was on that b day that the Samaritans [ i kutim /i ] requested the House of our Lord from Alexander the Macedonian in order to destroy it, and he gave it to them, /b i.e., he gave them permission to destroy it. People b came and informed /b the High Priest, b Shimon HaTzaddik, /b of what had transpired. b What did he do? He donned the priestly vestments and wrapped himself in the priestly vestments. And the nobles of the Jewish People /b were b with him, /b with b torches of fire in their hands. And all that night, these, /b the representatives of the Jewish people, b approached from this side, and those, /b the armies of Alexander and the Samaritans, b approached from that side, until dawn, /b when they finally saw one another., b When dawn arrived, /b Alexander b said to /b the Samaritans: b Who are these /b people coming to meet us? b They said to him: /b These are the b Jews who rebelled against you. When he reached Antipatris, the sun shone and /b the two camps b met each other. When /b Alexander b saw Shimon HaTzaddik, he descended from his chariot and bowed before him. /b His escorts b said to him: /b Should b an important king such as you bow to this Jew? /b He b said to them: /b I do so because b the image of this man’s face is victorious before me on my battlefields, /b i.e., when I fight I see his image going before me as a sign of victory, and therefore I know that he has supreme sanctity., b He said /b to the representatives of the Jewish people: b Why have you come? They said /b to him: b Is it possible that /b the Temple, the b house in which we pray for you and for your kingdom not to be destroyed, gentiles will /b try to b mislead you into destroying it, /b and we would remain silent and not tell you? b He said to them: Who are these /b people who want to destroy it? The Jews b said to him: /b They are b these Samaritans who stand before you. He said to them: /b If so, b they are delivered into your hands /b to deal with them as you please., b Immediately, they stabbed /b the Samaritans b in their heels and hung them from their horses’ tails and continued to drag them over the thorns and thistles until they reached Mount Gerizim. When they arrived at Mount Gerizim, /b where the Samaritans had their temple, b they plowed it over and seeded /b the area b with leeks, /b a symbol of total destruction. This was b just as they had sought to do to the House of our Lord. And they made that day a festival /b to celebrate the salvation of the Temple and the defeat of the Samaritans.,It is apparent from the i baraita /i that Shimon HaTzaddik wore the priestly vestments even outside the Temple. This would seem to be in contravention of the ruling of the other i baraita /i prohibiting this. The Gemara resolves the contradiction: b If you wish, say /b Shimon HaTzaddik did not wear a set of genuine, sanctified priestly vestments; rather, he wore garments that were b fitting to be priestly vestments /b in that they were made of the same material and design. b And if you wish, say /b instead that he indeed wore a set of genuine priestly vestments, but in times of great need, such as when one seeks to prevent the destruction of the Temple, it is permitted to violate the i halakha /i , as indicated by the verse: b “It is time to act for the Lord, they have nullified your Torah” /b (Psalms 119:126).,§ It was taught in the mishna: b The synagogue attendant takes a Torah scroll /b and gives it to the head of the synagogue, who gives it to the deputy High Priest, who gives it to the High Priest. The Gemara suggests: b Learn from here /b that b honor may be given to a student in the presence of the teacher. /b Although the High Priest is considered everyone’s teacher and master, honor was nevertheless extended to other individuals without fear of impugning the High Priest’s honor. b Abaye said: /b A proof may not be adduced from here because b the entire /b process b is for the honor of the High Priest. /b The passing of the Torah scroll to people of increasing importance demonstrates that the High Priest is considered the most important of all those present.,§ It was further taught in the mishna: b The High Priest stands /b and receives the scroll from the Deputy. b By inference, /b until that point b he /b had been b sitting. But didn’t we learn /b in a mishna: |
|
| 10. Papyri, Cpj, 132 Tagged with subjects: •court, gossip Found in books: Piotrkowski (2019) 214, 254 |
