Avodah Zarah 10b (י:) — the Talmud in English

And we raise an objection: Why did he merely hint to him?

Let him say to him

explicitly,

why did he not say it to him explicitly, publicly?

And we answer:

Rabbi said

to himself:

The

prominent men of Rome

will hear of it and cause me distress,

and they will cause Rabbi distress.

And we raise an objection:

Let him say to him,

why did he not say to him

quietly?

And we answer:

Because it is written [Ecclesiastes 10]: “

Even in your thoughts, do not curse a king, and in your bedchamber do not curse a rich man.

For a bird of the sky may carry the sound.”

And the Gemara continues its account.

Antoninus had,

Antoninus had

a certain

daughter,

a daughter

whose name was “Gira.”

She committed a transgression,

she engaged in adultery—

He sent him—

Antoninus sent Rabbi a type of herb called

gargira,

and Rabbi understood the hint, based on the term gerira, dragging, meaning that she was “being dragged along,” as her heart was drawn after adulterers.

He sent him—

Rabbi sent Antoninus a type of vegetable called

kusbarta,

and this contained a hint: kos, slaughter, the daughter. That is, kill her!

Antoninus sent him

a type of vegetable called

karti.

He meant: If so, shall my offspring be cut off?

Rabbi sent him

a type of vegetable called

hassa,

meaning: Have mercy on her and do not kill her!

Every day he would send him—

Antoninus sent Rabbi each day

refined gold,

pieces of gold

in leather bags,

in large leather sacks

with wheat at their mouths,

covered with wheat at the opening of the sack, so that if they inspected it, they would see the wheat and not the gold.

He said to them,

Antoninus said to his men:

Bring wheat

bring wheat

to Rabbi!

He said [ [ליה רבי]]to him, Rabbi]:

I do not need it.

I do not need gold, for

I have plenty of it,

I have much gold.

Antoninus said

to Rabbi:

Let them be for those who come after you,

let those pieces of gold be for your heirs,

who will give them to those after them,

and they will give it to their heirs

who come after you,

those who come after you,

and those who come from them,

and the subsequent generations

will spend it on them,

will spend the gold on the Roman kings who will stand after them.

Antoninus had,

Antoninus had

a certain tunnel,

a cave,

which extended from his house to Rabbi’s house,

through which they could pass from his house to Rabbi’s house, and he would come secretly to Rabbi to study Torah.

Every day,

every day that he came to Rabbi’s house,

he would bring

with him

two slaves

two slaves to accompany and guard him.

One,

one slave,

he would kill,

he killed him

at the door of Rabbi’s house,

at the entrance to Rabbi’s house,

and the other,

the second slave,

he would kill

he killed him

at the door of his house,

at the entrance to his house on his return.

He did all this so that his connection with Rabbi would not become known. He further asked Rabbi to conceal the matter—

He said to him

to Rabbi:

When I come,

when I come to you,

let no man be found before you

let no person be found before you!

One day,

one day,

he found

he found

Rabbi Hanina bar Hama, who was sitting

who was sitting before Rabbi.

Antoninus said

Antoninus:

Did I not tell you,

did I not tell you that

when I come, no man should be found before you?!

Rabbi said to him

Rabbi:

This is not a human being!

This man is not a human being, but an angel.

He said to him,

Antoninus said to Rabbi Hanina:

Say to him,

go and say to

that slave,

to that slave

who is lying at the door,

who is lying at the entrance,

to rise and come!

Rabbi Hanina bar Hama went,

he went

and found him,

and found him

dead

for he had been killed!

Rabbi Hanina thought

to himself:

What shall I do now

how shall I act now?

If I go and tell him that he is dead,

if I return and inform him that he is dead, then

one does not give a response

a response

concerning misfortune,

concerning bad news [that is, one does not deliver bad tidings]. And if

I leave him

I abandon him

and go away,

and leave,

we will be showing contempt for the monarchy,

it will be an affront to the king’s honor, since I am not carrying out his orders.

What did he do?—

He pleaded for mercy for him,

he prayed for him,

and revived him,

and restored him to life,

and sent him

and sent him to Antoninus!

Antoninus said

to Rabbi, when he saw the slave whom Rabbi Hanina had revived:

I know,

I know,

that even the least among you,

even the smallest of you,

revives the dead! Nevertheless,

I ask that

when I come,

when I come to you,

let no person be found before you,

let no person be found before you.

Every day,

every day that he came to Rabbi,

Antoninus would serve

Antoninus

Rabbi—

he would feed him and give him drink,

serving him with food and drink.

When Rabbi wished to ascend to his bed,

when Rabbi wanted to go to bed,

Antoninus would bend down before the bed,

he would bow before the bed,

and say to Rabbi: Climb over me to your bed!

climb over me to your bed.

Rabbi said

to him:

That is not proper conduct,

it is not the way of the world,

to show such utter disregard for the monarchy,

to treat the monarchy with such contempt!

Antoninus said

to Rabbi:

Would that they would make me

would that they would appoint me to be

a mattress beneath you in the World-to-Come!

He said to him

Antoninus said to Rabbi:

Will I come to the World-to-Come

will I merit the World-to-Come?

He said to him

Rabbi:

Yes!

you will merit the World-to-Come.

He said to him

Antoninus:

But it is written [ [עובדיה א]]Obadiah 1:

“There shall be no survivor of the house of Esau,”

and the Romans are descended from Esau.

Rabbi answered him: The verse speaks

of one who performs the deeds of Esau.

But you do not perform the deeds of Esau!

He said to him

Antoninus:

But it is written [ [יחזקאל לב]]Ezekiel 32:

“There

in Gehinnom,

are Edom, her kings, and all her princes”?

Rabbi said to him:

One must be precise in the verse, for it says

“her kings,” and it does not say

it does not say

“all her kings.”

It says

“all her princes,” and it does not say

it does not say

“all her officers.”

It was taught likewise:

“Her kings”—

but not all her kings. “All her princes”—

but not all her officers.

And the beraita explains:

“Her kings,” but not all her kings—

“Its kings,” and not all its kings—

excluding

excluding

Antoninus son of Asuerus,

who will not fall into Gehinnom;

“All her princes,” but not all her officers—

excluding Kattia bar Shalom,

as will be explained.

The Gemara now explains the beraita’s statement that Kattia bar Shalom is destined for life in the World-to-Come.

Kattia bar Shalom—

what is the incident

that occurred with him?

There was a certain emperor,

there was an emperor among the Roman kings,

who hated the Jews,

who hated the Jews.

The emperor said to them,

the emperor said to

the eminent men of the kingdom,

the prominent men of the kingdom, expressing his words by way of a parable:

If someone develops a boil,

a rotting growth of flesh,

on his foot,

which pains him, should he

cut it off,

cut off the

flesh and live, or leave it and suffer?

His intention concerned the Jews: Should he, Heaven forbid, destroy them?

They said to him,

the eminent men of Rome:

Cut it off and live!

One of the eminent men of Rome, named

a gentile among the prominent Romans, named

Kattia bar Shalom, said to them: One reason

one reason not to destroy them is

that you cannot destroy them all,

you do not have the ability to destroy them all

for it is written [ [זכריה ב]]Zechariah 2: As the Holy One, blessed be He, said:

“For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens.”

And this must be asked:

What is the prophet saying here,

what did the prophet mean here?

If you say

that

he dispersed them,

that I dispersed them

to the four winds,

there is a difficulty—

Why does the verse say “as the four winds”?

Why does Scripture use the letter kaf of comparison?!

For according to your explanation, that He dispersed them to the four winds,

it should have said “to the four winds”,

the verse should have said.

Rather,

the verse says “as the four winds,” with the kaf of comparison, to teach:

Just as the world cannot exist

exist

without winds,

because of the abundance of vapor and heat,

so the world cannot exist

exist

without Israel!

This was Kattia bar Shalom’s first argument: He told the emperor that he could not annihilate them.

Furthermore,

another reason not to annihilate them is that

they will call you,

they will call you

“

a severing kingdom,” that is, a murderous kingdom!

The emperor said to him,

the emperor said to Kattia bar Shalom:

You have spoken well,

indeed, you have said correct things.

However,

but

whoever prevails over the king,

whoever bests the king in argument and thereby silences and humiliates him,

is thrown

they throw him

into the komonia ḥalila,

into a house filled with earth.

The Gemara continues its account of Kattia bar Shalom.

When they seized him and were taking him away,

when they seized him to lead him to the komonia ḥalila,

a certain Roman noblewoman said to him,

a prominent Roman woman said to him:

Woe to the ship,

woe to the ship

that sails without paying customs,

that sails without paying a tax! Her intention was that since you are being killed because of the Jews, it is a pity that you did not circumcise yourself [he imagined this as paying customs to God], so that they would allow you to pass and receive a share in the World-to-Come together with the Jewish people.

Kattia bar Shalom bent down,

Kattia bar Shalom bent down

over the head of his foreskin,

over the head of his foreskin,

cut it off

cut it off [ [בשיניה]]with his teeth]

with his teeth,

and said:

Now

I have paid my customs,

I have thereby paid the customs to her [sic],

I have passed through and crossed over,

and I can pass through, meaning enter the Garden of Eden.

When they were throwing him

when they were throwing him into the komonia ḥalila,

Kattia bar Shalom said:

I hereby bequeath

all my property

all my property

to Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues.

The Gemara now explains how Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues divided his property.

Rabbi Akiva went out and expounded:

It is stated concerning the showbread [Leviticus 24]:

“And it shall be for Aaron and his sons,”

meaning that Aaron and his sons shall divide the bread among themselves, and we derive:

Half for Aaron and half for his sons.

The High Priest takes half of the loaves for himself.

Thus, the meaning of the words “And it shall be for Aaron and his sons” is half and half. His words “to Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues” should likewise be interpreted as half and half.

A Divine Voice emerged

from Heaven

and said: Kattia bar Shalom is destined

for life in the World-to-Come!

When Rabbi heard this,

Rabbi wept and said: There is one who acquires his world

in a single hour,

and that is Kattia bar Shalom.

And there is one who acquires his world over many years.

Antoninus served Rabbi,

he served Rabbi.

Likewise, a certain gentile minister named

Adarkan, served Rav,

he served Rav.

When

when

Antoninus died, Rabbi said

with sorrow:

The bundle has come apart!

This is a metaphor: Our love, in which soul was bound to soul, has been severed.