SHEYIBANEH BEIT HAMIKDASH...
A series of articles on Beit HaMikdash-related topics by Catriel Sugarman intended to increase the knowledge, interest, and anticipation of the reader, thereby hastening the realization of our hopes and prayers for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash.

Honoring the Kohein Gadol - the Flip Side of the Coin
"Our rabbis taught, 'It happened with a Kohein Gadol that as he came forth from the Beit HaMikdash, all the people followed him, but when they saw Sh'maya and Avtalyon, they forsook him and followed Sh'maya and Avtalyon (The descendants of Sennacherib the Assyrian king, Sh'maya and Avtalyon were the teachers of Hillel and the leaders of the Sanhedrin.) Eventually Sh'maya and Avtalyon visited the Kohein Gadol to take their leave. He said to him, 'May the descendants of the heathen come in peace.' They answered him, 'May the descendants of the heathen who do the work of Aaron arrive in peace, but the descendant of Aaron who does not do the work of Aaron, he shall not come in peace" (Yoma 71b). (Aaron pursued peace as did his disciples (Avot 1:12), however this High Priest, Aaron's unworthy descendant, did not pursue peace. Rather by his boorishness, he caused discord.) "If a bastard is learned in the Law, he precedes a High Priest who is ignorant of the Law" (Horayot 3:8) ... "How do we know this? From Scripture which states, 'She - the Torah - is more precious than rubies - Peninim (Mishlei 3:15) - (From a play on words, we derive that he who has acquired Torah - a Talmid Chacham, a sage - is more precious than he who enters Lefnai Velifnim - the innermost Sanctuary- i.e. the Kohein Gadol who enters the Kodesh HaKodashim (Horayot 13a).

The Gemara (Pesachim 57a) preserves a popular "street ballad" about the Sadducean Herodian and post-Herodian High Priests. The ballad shows the contempt and enmity of the people for these individuals.

Woe is me, for the house of Boethus: woe is me because of their clubs!
Woe is me, for the house of Annas: woe is me for their whispering!
Woe is me, for the house of Katros: woe is me for their pen!
Woe is me for the house of Ishmael (b. Pavi): woe is me for their fist!
For they are the High Priests, and their sons the treasurers;
Their sons-in-law are Temple Officers, and their servants beat the people with their staves…

With rare exceptions, these "spiritual leaders", foisted upon the people by the Roman and Herodian authorities were well known for their strong-arm methods and violence. They were insidious in their slander and secret denunciations of their opponents to the occupation authorities. The historian Joseph Klausner correctly noted that, "There could be scarcely a more dreadful and hateful picture of the High Priests and their families." [The wicked Ishmael ben Pavi referred to above is not to be confused with a later righteous Kohein Gadol of the same name.

Agrippas II in 59CE appointed this later Ishmael ben Pavi and he was popular among the people and very well thought of by the Sages. His mother made him white garments for the Avoda of Yom Kippur that cost the incredible sum of 100 Minae. After the conclusion of Yom Kippur, "he handed them over to the community" (Yoma 35b). He was one of the few Kohanim Gedolim who burnt a Parah Aduma (Para 3:5). "When Ishmael ben Pavi died, the splendor of the priesthood ceased" (Sota 9:15).] However, the Beit HaMikdash required a Kohein Gadol; the awesome Avoda of Yom Kippur was valid only when performed by a consecrated High Priest. The Kohein Gadol was the man who, arrayed in pure white linen garments as his ancestor Aaron before him, entered Kodesh HaKodashim and sought forgiveness for the sins of Am Yisrael. Whatever his moral state may have been, and no matter who appointed him, he could not be ignored. Nevertheless, the High Priest's leadership role in Yahadut was severely limited. It was Moshe Rabeinu, not his brother Aharon Hakohein who "received the Torah from Sinai and 'delivered' it to Yehoshu'a, and Yehoshu'a to the Z'keinim (elders), and the Z'keinim to the N'vi'im (prophets) and the N'vi'im to the Anshei Knesset Hagedola - the 'men of the great Assembly…" (Avot 1:2).

In contrast to the corrupt quisling High Priests of that age, the Pharisaic sages - the successors of the Anshei Knesset Hagedola - were renowned for their high ethical standards and for their moral sincerity. "Moreover, the Pharisees are friendly to one another, and are for the exercise of concord, and regard for the public;but the behavior of the Sadducees (the party of the High Priests) one towards another is in some degree wild, and their conversations with those that are of their own party is as barbarous as if they were strangers to them" (Josephus, Wars bk. 2:8). Josephus further records how 6000 Pharisees put their lives on the line and refused to swear allegiance to Herod. Surprisingly, Herod refrained from harming them (Antiquities bk. 17:3). "These (the Sages) have so great a power over the multitude, that when they say anything against the king, or against the High Priest, they are presently believed" (Antiquities bk. 13:10). In fact, " …they (the Sadducees) are able to do almost nothing of themselves, for when they become magistrates… they bind themselves to the notions of the Pharisees, because otherwise the multitude would not otherwise bear them" (Antiquities bk. 18:2). Recall the Talmudic quote regarding the remark of the father of the Sadducean High Priest to his son, "Even though we are Sadducees, we are afraid of the Pharisees" (Yoma 19b). The High Priest was a mere functionary and had no authority to decide Halacha. The disputes between the Sages and their Sadducee opponents regarding the Beit HaMikdash and the Avoda stemmed from a basic difference in their under- standing of the Mikdash and its place in the life of Am Yisrael. The Pharisaic sages conceived of a Beit HaMikdash, which would serve as the spiritual center of all Israel. The Beit HaMikdash as envisioned by the Sages, was a place where all Am Yisrael would be able to feel a sense of participation in the Avoda and thereby develop cognitive bonds and pride in being part of "a holy nation and kingdom of priests" (Sh'mot 19:6). In the Mikdash of the Sages, ongoing expenses were met not by the wealthy classes alone but by the half-shekel Temple tax that was paid yearly by all adult male Israelites (Shekalim 4:1). The philosophical differences between the 2 points of view cannot be overestimated!

Most of the Sages came from a working class background. This partially explains their great influence among the masses. Hundreds of Pharisaic sages and thousands of their students supported themselves with the labor of their own hands. The great sage Hillel was a day laborer (Yoma 35a) and R. Joshua ben Chanina, who lived in the generation of the Destruction, was a charcoal burner (Berachot 28a). Such men, who stressed the value of honest labor, were able to understand the needs of the people and relate to them. Even most of the rank-and-file Kohanim followed the leadership of the Sages and many of them, such as R. Tzadok, his son R. Eleazar, and R. Shimon son of the deputy Kohein Gadol, R. Yochanan ben Zakkai (?), R. Tarfon and R. Yosi Hakohein, entered the Yeshivot of the age and became great sages in their own right.

Catriel's book in progress: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrim’s Perspective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service