When they go low TB Yoma 71

 

The first mishnayot of Pirkei Avot enumerates the chain of tradition of the oral Torah. “Moses received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly.” Antigonus a man of Socho received [the oral tradition] from Shimon the Righteous, who was one of the last men of the Great Assembly. The transmission of the oral tradition entered the era of the zugot, pairs. The first pair was Yose ben Yoezer (a man) of Zeredah and Yose ben Yohanan [a man] of Jerusalem . The second pair was Joshua ben Perahiah and Nittai the Arbelite. The third pair was Judah ben Tabbai and Shimon ben Shetach. The fourth pair was Shemaiah and Avtalion. And the last pair was Hillel and Shammai. (Sefaria.org translation of Pirkei Avot)

To appreciate the story on today’s daf TB Yoma 71 we have to know that “Avtalion and Shemaiah were converts to Judaism or the descendants of converts; by tradition they were descended from King Sennacherib of Assyria.^[2] Despite this, they were influential and beloved. However, Graetz has argued that neither Shemaiah nor Avtalion was of Gentile descent, although both were Alexandrians.^[4]” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shmaya_(tanna))

Ҥ It was taught in the mishna: The people escort the High Priest to his house. And he would make a feast for his loved ones. The Sages taught in a baraita: There was an incident involving one High Priest who exited the Holy Temple and everyone followed him. When they saw Shemaya and Avtalyon, the heads of the Sanhedrin, walking along, in deference to them they left the High Priest by himself and walked after Shemaya and Avtalyon.

“Eventually, Shemaya and Avtalyon came to take leave of the High Priest before returning to their homes. Envious of the attention they received, he angrily said to them: Let the descendants of the gentile nations come in peace. Shemaya and Avtalyon descended from converts, and he scornfully drew attention to that fact. They said to him: Let the descendants of the gentile nations come in peace, who perform the acts of Aaron, who loved and pursued peace; and let not a descendant of Aaron come in peace, who does not perform the acts of Aaron and who speaks condescendingly to descendants of converts.”

This High Priest transgressed the prohibition of exploitation of words

(אונאת דברים) as described in massekhet Baba Metzia 58b “Mishna: Just as there is a prohibition against exploitation [ona’a] in buying and selling, so is there ona’a in statements, i.e., verbal mistreatment… GEMARA: The Sages taught: It is written: “And you shall not mistreat [tonu] one man his colleague; and you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 25:17)… If one is a convert and he came to study Torah, one may not say to him: Does the mouth that ate unslaughtered carcasses and animals that had wounds that would have caused them to die within twelve months [tereifot], and repugnant creatures, and creeping animals, comes to study Torah that was stated from the mouth of the Almighty?” (Sefaria.org translation)

 

You might say that Michelle Obama knew the Gemara in Baba Metzia when she said, “When they go low, we go high.” Words matter and we should watch what we say.