Prayer vs. Torah Study

The Kohen Gadol had just completed the holiest day of the year—and yet, everyone walked away.

The Special Pair

I want to tell you about a fascinating meeting between two Jewish leaders that took place over 2,200 years ago.

This was during the time of the Second Beis Hamikdash, after the era of the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah. That’s when leadership shifted to the Sanhedrin—the supreme body guiding the Jewish people. The Sanhedrin was made up of seventy-one sages, and at its head were two individuals who jointly led the nation. This period is famously known as the “Era of the Zugos,” the Pairs.

The senior of the two was called the Nasi—he was the president of the Sanhedrin and held the highest level of authority. The second was the Av Beis Din, who served alongside him. While both were leaders, the Nasi had greater authority: he decided whether to add a leap year, he appointed new judges, and the Av Beis Din was expected to defer to his rulings.

The Zugos led the Jewish people for five generations. The final and most well-known pair were Hillel and Shammai. But today, I want to tell you about Hillel’s teachers—the fourth pair in the series: Shemaya and Avtalyon.

Shemaya was the Nasi, and Avtalyon was the Av Beis Din. In the introduction to Mishneh Torah, the Rambam notes something remarkable: Shemaya and Avtalyon were geirei tzedek—righteous converts.

Think about that for a moment. The two top leaders of the Jewish people at the time weren’t born Jewish. If you ever needed proof that in Judaism, anyone—regardless of background—can rise to the very highest positions, Shemaya and Avtalyon are the perfect example.

Now, the era in which they led wasn’t an easy one. The Roman military had taken over Eretz Yisrael, bringing an end to the rule of the Chashmona’im. But the fact that both leaders were converts tells us something else: that there were massive waves of conversion during that time. It wasn’t just Shemaya and Avtalyon—there were hundreds of thousands of people joining the Jewish people under Roman rule. These two simply rose to the top.

Some historians even suggest that their appointment was intentional—that because they were former Romans, they’d be more effective at navigating the difficult relationship with the Roman government.

The Offended High Priest

And now we come to a story connected to this week’s parsha. In Parshas Acharei Mos, we read about the special service performed by the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, on Yom Kippur. He had to wear white garments, immerse in the mikvah, and bring two goats—one as a sin offering and the other sent to Azazel, and more.

The climax of the day was when the Kohen Gadol entered the Holy of Holies—and just as important, when he made it out safely. As we say in the Yom Kippur machzor in the section called Seder HaAvodah: “They would escort him to his home, and he would make a holiday upon exiting the holy place in peace.” The entire nation would walk him home from the Beis Hamikdash with great joy.

The Gemara tells a fascinating story: Once, a Kohen Gadol left the Beis Hamikdash after Yom Kippur, and as expected, everyone followed him out in celebration. But then they noticed Shemaya and Avtalyon—the heads of the Sanhedrin—walking from a different direction. As soon as the crowd saw them, they left the Kohen Gadol and began following Shemaya and Avtalyon instead.

Later, when Shemaya and Avtalyon came to respectfully take leave of the Kohen Gadol, he said to them with a bitter edge: “Let the sons of the nations go in peace”—a not-so-subtle jab at their background, since they were converts, or children of converts.

But they responded powerfully: “Let the sons of the nations who act like Aharon—who love peace and pursue peace—go in peace. And let not the son of Aharon go in peace, if he does not act like Aharon” (Yoma 71b).

What they were really telling him was this: It’s true—we may come from humble origins, but we strive to follow in the footsteps of Aharon HaKohen, who loved peace and pursued peace, and who cared for every person. You, on the other hand—the biological descendant of Aharon—chose to insult and belittle us. That’s not the way of your grandfather.

The Rebbe’s View

The Rebbe raises a question: (Shemini 5728, Toras Menachem vol. 52, p. 353): How is it possible that the Kohen Gadol, after completing the holiest service of the year—after achieving forgiveness for all of the Jewish people and safely exiting the Kodesh HaKodashim—could react with arrogance or resentment? We know that if a Kohen Gadol wasn’t truly righteous, he wouldn’t have made it out alive. His successful exit proves that he was on a deeply elevated level.

And especially on Yom Kippur—a day when even ordinary people feel uplifted, especially by the time Ne’ilah comes around—how could the Kohen Gadol possibly be insulted over a personal slight? And more than that, we’re talking about Shemaya and Avtalyon—the Nasi and Av Beis Din of the Sanhedrin—figures that everyone was required to honor!

The Rebbe offers a beautiful explanation: The Kohen Gadol’s life’s work was tefillah—prayer. On Yom Kippur, in particular, he would pray five distinct prayers, going from strength to strength. In his worldview, prayer was the highest form of Divine service. But Shemaya and Avtalyon were Torah scholars; they represented Torah learning, and they believed that Torah was greater than prayer.

So when the Kohen Gadol saw that the people left him to follow Shemaya and Avtalyon, it wasn’t his ego that was hurt. It was his devotion to prayer. In his eyes, people were undervaluing the spiritual power of tefillah in favor of Torah study.

The Kohen Gadol represents the power of prayer. He prays on behalf of the Jewish people, and his whole role is to emphasize the importance of tefillah. That’s why it pained him to see that people were placing more value on Torah study than on prayer.

But Shemaya and Avtalyon were heads of the Sanhedrin—leaders whose lives revolved around Torah learning. And they, just by being who they were, showed that a person can start off as a non-Jew and still rise to become the Nasi of the Sanhedrin. As the sages teach (Bava Kama 38a): Even a non-Jew who learns Torah is considered like a Kohen Gadol—as it says, “The person who does them shall live by them.” It doesn’t say Kohanim, Levi’im, or Yisraelim—it says adam, “a person.” That teaches us that even a non-Jew who studies Torah reaches the level of the High Priest.

The truth is, both are needed. Torah and tefillah are equally important.

Every Shabbos, when a Jew walks into shul, it’s like having a conversation with G-d. First we pray—we speak to G-d. Then we read from the Torah—we listen to what G-d is saying to us. Torah and prayer aren’t in conflict. On the contrary, they complete each other.

A complete Jew is someone who knows how to talk to G-d—but even more importantly, knows how to listen to what G-d is saying back.