"There was an incident involving a certain gentile who was once
walking past the rear of a study hall when he heard the voice of the
teacher reciting the following verse to his class of students: 'These
are the vestments that they shall make: a breastplate and an ephod...'
(Exodus 28:4). The gentile stopped and said to the class: 'These lavish
garments, what are they for?' The students replied to him: 'They are
for the Kohen Gadol'. The gentile said to himself: 'I will go
and covert so that they will appoint me as the Kohen Gadol!'
"So the gentile came before Shammai and said to him: 'Convert me on the
condition that you have me appointed as Kohen Gadol.' Shammai pushed
him aside with the ruler he was holding in his hand. Undeterred, the
gentile came before Hillel and presented him with the same request, and
Hillel converted him."
-- Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 31a
No comments:
Post a Comment