Lesson 21: Aggripa I

When a dead person and a bride are being honoured and [the two processions] approach one another, we cause the funeral procession to make way for the bridal procession, because the honour of the living takes precedence over the honour of the dead. In the case of a royal procession and a bridal procession, the latter makes way out of respect for the king. King Agrippa made way for a bride and the Sages praised him. They asked him, ‘What was your reason for doing this?’ He replied, ‘I wear a crown every day but she wears a crown for one hour only’.

The Gemara asks: The Sages praised him; is that to say by inference that he did well in yielding? But didn’t Rav Ashi say: Even according to the one who said with regard to a Nasi who relinquishes the honor due him that his honor is relinquished, i.e., he may do so, with regard to a king who relinquishes the honor due him, his honor is not relinquished. As the Master said that the meaning of the verse “You shall place a king over you” (Deuteronomy 17:15) is that his awe shall be upon you. The Torah established that the subjects’ awe is an essential component of kingship and it is not the prerogative of the king to waive it. The Gemara answers: It was at a crossroads that he encountered the wedding procession, and the fact that he yielded to the bride was not obvious to onlookers. Therefore, the honor due the king was not compromised.

“He shall split it by its wings, but shall not separate” (Leviticus 1:17). Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The common man, if he smells the odor of wings, he is disgusted, and you say: “The priest shall burn everything on the altar” (Leviticus 1:9)? Why to that extent? It is, rather, so that the altar will be adorned with the offering of a poor person.
King Agrippa sought to sacrifice one thousand burnt offerings on one day. He sent and said to the High Priest, ‘let no man other than me bring [an offering] today.’ A certain poor person came with two turtledoves in his hand. He said to the priest: ‘Sacrifice these.’ He said to him: ‘The king commanded me and said to me: Let no man other than me bring [an offering] today.’ He said to him: ‘My lord High Priest, each day I trap four [birds] and I sacrifice two and support myself from two. If you do not sacrifice them, you are cutting off my sustenance.’ He took them and sacrificed them. Agrippa had a vision in a dream: The offering of a poor person preceded you. He sent and said to the High Priest: ‘Did I not command you: Let no man other than me bring [ an offering] today?’ He said to him: ‘My lord the king, a certain poor person came with two turtledoves in his hand. He said to me: Sacrifice these. I said to him: The king commanded me and said to me: Let no man other than me bring [an offering] today. He said to me: My lord High Priest, each day I trap four [birds] and I sacrifice two and support myself from two. If you do not sacrifice them, you are cutting off my sustenance. Should I not have sacrificed them?’ He said to him: ‘Everything that you did, you did well.’
There was an incident involving a certain bull that they were leading [to bring] as an offering but it would not allow itself to be led. A poor person came and in his hand there was a bundle of endives. He held it out [to the bull], which ate it. The bull vomited and expelled a needle and allowed itself to be led [and brought] as an offering. The owner of the bull had a vision in a dream: The offering of the poor person preceded you.
There was an incident involving a certain woman who brought a handful of fine flour, and the priest was disparaging her. He said: ‘Look at what they sacrifice. What is there to eat, what is there to sacrifice?’ The priest had a vision in a dream: Do not disparage her. It is as though she is sacrificing her soul. These matters can be derived a fortiori: If regarding one who does not sacrifice a soul, the term soul is written, for one who does sacrifice a soul, all the more so it is as though he is sacrificing his soul.

How is the portion of the Torah that is read by the king recited at the assembly, when all the Jewish people would assemble? At the conclusion of the first day of the festival of Sukkot, on the eighth, after the conclusion of the Sabbatical Year, they make a wooden platform for the king in the Temple courtyard, and he sits on it, as it is stated: “At the end of every seven years, in the Festival of the Sabbatical Year” (Deuteronomy 31:10). The synagogue attendant takes a Torah scroll and gives it to the head of the synagogue that stands on the Temple Mount. And the head of the synagogue gives it to the deputy High Priest, and the deputy High Priest gives it to the High Priest, and the High priest gives it to the king. And the king stands, and receives the Torah scroll, and reads from it while sitting.King Agrippa arose, and received the Torah scroll, and read from it while standing, and the Sages praised him for this. And when Agrippa arrived at the verse in the portion read by the king that states: “You may not appoint a foreigner over you” (Deuteronomy 17:15), tears flowed from his eyes, because he was a descendant of the house of Herod and was not of Jewish origin. The entire nation said to him: Fear not, Agrippa. You are our brother, you are our brother.And the king reads from the beginning of Deuteronomy, from the verse that states: “And these are the words” (Deuteronomy 1:1), until the words: “Hear, O Israel” (Deuteronomy 6:4). And he then reads the sections beginning with: “Hear, O Israel” (Deuteronomy 6:4–9), “And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken” (Deuteronomy 11:13–21), “You shall tithe” (Deuteronomy 14:22–29), “When you have made an end of the tithing” (Deuteronomy 26:12–15), and the passage concerning the appointment of a king (Deuteronomy 17:14–20), and the blessings and curses (Deuteronomy 28), until he finishes the entire portion. The same blessings that the High Priest recites on Yom Kippur, the king recites at this ceremony, but he delivers a blessing concerning the Festivals in place of the blessing concerning forgiveness for iniquity.

The mishna continues: And when Agrippa arrived at the verse: “You may not appoint a foreigner over you” (Deuteronomy 17:15), tears flowed from his eyes because he was a descendant of the house of Herod and was not of Jewish origin. The entire nation said to him: You are our brother. It is taught in the name of Rabbi Natan: At that moment the enemies of the Jewish people, a euphemism for the Jewish people, were sentenced to destruction for flattering Agrippa.

Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta says: From the day that the power of flattery prevailed, the judgment has become corrupted, and people’s deeds have become corrupted, and a person cannot say to another: My deeds are greater than your deeds, as everyone flatters one another and people no longer know the truth.