Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses a scenario whereby a person demonstrated respect for a sage, and even though we might have had other reason to mistrust him, the Gemara rhetorically declares: “If this Israelite does not neglect the respect due a Sage, would he commit a transgression and steal the possession of the priest?”

The idea that showing respect for a sage indicates higher moral character is used creatively to answer a difficult question. The Gemara (Berachos 32b) relates a difficult encounter between a sage and an officer:

“The Sages taught: There was a related incident, involving a particular pious man who was praying while traveling along his path when an officer [hegmon] came and greeted him. The pious man did not pause from his prayer and did not respond with a greeting. The officer waited for him until he finished his prayer.

After he finished his prayer, the officer said to him: You good for nothing. You endangered yourself; I could have killed you. Isn’t it written in your Torah: ‘Take utmost care and guard yourself diligently’ (Deuteronomy 4:9)? And it is also written: ‘Take therefore good heed unto yourselves’ (Deuteronomy 4:15)? Why did you ignore the danger to your life?

When I greeted you, why did you not respond with a greeting? Were I to sever your head with a sword, who would hold me accountable for your spilled blood?”

“The pious man said to him: Wait for me until I will appease you with my words. He said to him: Had you been standing before a flesh and blood king and your friend came and greeted you, would you return his greeting? The officer said to him: No. The pious man continued: And if you would greet him, what would they do to you? The officer said to him: They would cut off my head with a sword.”

“The pious man said to him: Isn’t this matter an a fortiori inference? You who were standing before a king of flesh and blood, of whom your fear is limited because today he is here but tomorrow he is in the grave, would have reacted in that way; I, who was standing and praying before the Supreme King of kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He, Who lives and endures for all eternity, all the more so that I could not pause to respond to someone’s greeting.”

“When he heard this, the officer was immediately appeased and the pious man returned home in peace.”

Many of the commentaries wonder what gave this pious person the right to risk his life? Taz (O.C. 66:1) answers that he was confident that any government official would not react and summarily execute him on the spot, rather he would ask for an explanation first, and only punish with death if indeed it appeared to be a form of insurrection. The Tzlach on that Gemara answers that since the official greeted him, it showed a degree of humility and he was therefore confident that he would not be so reactive as to execute him without asking for clarification.

Sefer Daf al Daf quotes Sefer Mishmar Halevyim who cites our Gemara as proof to the Tzlach’s idea. If a person shows a character trait of respecting a sage, we assume they have other moral qualities.

I wonder why it did not occur to the commentaries that this pious individual was in such a focused state, even in a trance, that he simply did not even hear or notice the official? After all, Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 98:1) states that the great pious people of the past were able to achieve such a degree of intensity that “they almost leave their bodies and come close to prophecy.”

Apparently, the expectations and ability to be pious, even in the era of the Gemara, did not include such a degree of concentration so as to not even notice another person.