Rabban Gamliel Pours Wine and Onkelos Reads the Mezuzah

It happened that Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, and Rabbi Tzadok were reclining at the wedding feast of the son of Rabban Gamliel, and Rabban Gamliel stood and served drink to them. He gave a cup to Rabbi Eliezer, who did not accept it; he gave one to Rabbi Yehoshua, who accepted it. Rabbi Eliezer said to him: What is this, Yehoshua? We sit while Rabban Gamliel, son of a master, stands and serves drink to us! He said to him: We find one greater than he who stood and served them. Abraham our father was the great man of his generation, and it is written, "and he stood over them" (Genesis 18:8). And lest you say they appeared to him as ministering angels, they appeared to him only as Arabs (wandering nomads), and yet he served them. Shall Rabban Gamliel, son of a master, not stand and serve drink to us? Rabbi Tzadok said to them: How long will you set aside the honor of the Omnipresent and busy yourselves with the honor of mortals? The Holy One, blessed be He, makes the winds blow and raises the clouds and brings down the rain and makes the ground sprout and sets a table before each and every one, and shall Rabban Gamliel, son of a master, not stand and serve drink to us? Whence comes this saying that people say, "When I was small I was a man, now that I am old I am a child"? For at first it is written, "and the LORD went before them by day" (Exodus 13:21), and at the end it is written, "Behold, I send an angel before you" (Exodus 23:20). Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: All that Abraham did for the ministering angels himself, the Holy One, blessed be He, did for his children himself, as is written concerning Abraham. Onkelos bar Kalonikos converted. Caesar sent a troop of Romans after him. He drew them in with Scripture verses and converted them. Caesar again sent a troop of Romans after him. He said to them: Do not say anything to him at all. As they were taking him and going, he said to them: Let me tell you a small matter. Does a lesser official carry the torch before a greater, and the greater before the ruler? They said to him: No. He said to them: And concerning the Holy One, blessed be He, it is written, "and the LORD went before them by day" (Exodus 13:21). They converted. Caesar sent another troop after him. He said to them: Do not converse with him at all. As they seized him and went, he saw a mezuzah and placed his hand upon it and said to them: What is this? They said to him: You tell us. He said to them: The way of the world is that a king sits within and his servants sit outside and guard him, but the Holy One, blessed be He, guards Israel from outside while they sit within, as it is said, "the LORD shall guard your going out and your coming in" (Psalms 121:8). They converted.