Avodah Zarah 17a (יז.) — the Talmud in English

Rabbi Eliezer said to him:

Rabbi Eliezer:

Akiva, you have reminded me!

Once I was walking in the upper marketplace of Tzippori, and I encountered one [

of the disciples of Jesus the Nazarene]

whose name was Yaakov of Kefar Sekhanya. He said to me

that wicked man:

It is written in your Torah [

Deuteronomy 23]

“You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute … into the House of the Lord.”

And that wicked man asked him:

What is

the law—may one

make from it

from the fee

a lavatory for the High Priest?

Seven days before Yom Kippur, the High Priest would withdraw from his home to the Chamber of Parhedrin, in the Temple courtyard. There they prepared a place for all his needs, including a lavatory. That wicked man asked him whether it was permitted to make this lavatory from the fee of a prostitute. His question was whether such a fee is prohibited only when used to make an offering, or whether it is prohibited to make even other necessities in the Temple from it; he cited the lavatory of the High Priest as an example.

And I said nothing to him

to that wicked man.

That wicked man said to me:

that wicked man:

This is how I was taught [

by Jesus the Nazarene]:

It is written [Micah 1]:

“For she gathered it from the fee of a prostitute, and to the fee of a prostitute shall they return.”

And that wicked man interpreted it:

They came from a place of filth—

they shall go to a place of filth.

And I found the statement pleasing!

And

through this I was ensnared in minut,

since

I transgressed what is written in the Torah [

Proverbs 5] “Keep your way far from her, and do not approach the entrance of her house,” and we interpret:

“Keep your way far from her”—

this is minut.

“And do not approach the entrance of her house”—

this is the authorities,

the government.

King Solomon commands a person to distance himself from the authorities, because they set their eyes upon wealthy people in order to kill them and take their money.

And some say—

there are those who interpret this teaching as follows:

“Keep your way far from her”—

this is minut and the authorities.

“And do not approach the entrance of her house”—

this is a prostitute.

And the Gemara explains:

And how far

must one distance himself?

Rav Hisda said: Four cubits.

The Gemara now interprets the verse, “For she gathered it from the fee of a prostitute, and to the fee of a prostitute shall they return,” unlike the interpretation of that wicked man.

And as for the Rabbis,

who do not expound the heretical interpretation given by Yaakov, the disciple of that man,

this

verse in the book of Micah,

“from the fee of a prostitute”—

what do they expound from it?

As

said

Rav Hisda.

For Rav Hisda said: Every prostitute who is hired eventually

becomes despised in everyone’s eyes, and they then refuse to hire her. Since she has become accustomed to prostitution and can no longer find people who will hire her,

she hires

men, paying them money so that they engage in intercourse with her—

And this is as

it is stated [

Ezekiel 16] where the Prophet compares the Children of Israel to a prostitute and says:

“When you give a fee”

after you have become accustomed to being given a fee, and then

“though no fee was given to you, you became the opposite”

so that you give a fee to men instead of their giving one to you ”.

Accordingly, the meaning of the verse is: “For she gathered it from the fee of a prostitute”—the wealth that the prostitute gathered through her fees—“and to the fee of a prostitute shall they return”: ultimately, she will return it, giving it to others in order to satisfy her desires.

And

the distancing from the entrance of the prostitute’s house, which Rav Hisda established as four cubits,

conflicts

with

the view of Rabbi Pedat —

For Rabbi Pedat said: The Torah prohibited

with regard to forbidden sexual relations any other form of approach

only approach for the purpose of uncovering nakedness, as it is stated [

Leviticus 18]

“None of you shall approach any flesh of his flesh to uncover nakedness.”

Thus, the Torah prohibited only actual approach for the purpose of forbidden sexual relations, and there is no obligation to distance oneself from her by four cubits. Were it not for Rav Hisda’s statement, the verse “Keep your way far from her, and do not approach the entrance of her house” could have been explained as an instruction to refrain from having intercourse with her, rather than as an instruction to maintain the distance taught by Rav Hisda.

When Ulla would come from the house of study,

when he returned home from his study in the yeshiva,

he would kiss his sisters

his sisters

on their arms,

on their arms.

And some say

that Ulla would kiss them

on their breasts,

on their breasts. This was a kiss of greeting, as was customary in their time.

And one statement of his contradicts another statement of his.

Ulla’s statement here contradicts his own statement elsewhere —

For Ulla said:

Even

mere approach

to a forbidden relation

is prohibited, because of

the principle:

“Go, go, they say to the nazirite,

they say to a nazirite passing near a vineyard: Go away from here and avoid passing through it. Rather, go

around and around,

around the vineyard

“Do not approach the vineyard!”

The Gemara continues discussing minut and the authorities

. It is stated in the book of Proverbs [30]:

“The leech has two daughters: Give, give.”

What is

the meaning of

“Give, give”?

Mar Ukva said:

It is the voice of

two daughters crying out from Gehinnom

from their great suffering,

who say in this world, “Bring, bring.”

And who are they?

Who are those daughters?

Minut,

which cries out in this world, “Bring an offering to the idols,”

and the authorities,

which cry out in this world, “Bring money, gifts, and taxes to the authorities.”

According to this interpretation, the daughters cry out in Gehinnom in great suffering because they said, “Bring, bring.”

Some say

the Gemara gives another interpretation: Gehinnom cries out and says, “Bring, bring to me minut and the authorities, to punish them for saying, ‘Bring, bring.’”

Rav Hisda said in the name of Mar Ukva: The voice of Gehinnom cries out and says, “Bring me the two daughters who cry out and say in this world [

the version of the Ein Yaakov:

who say in this world]

‘Bring, bring.’”

The Gemara continues to expound another verse concerning minut

. It is stated in the book of Proverbs [2] that the Torah saves a person from a strange, foreign woman, which refers to minut. Her disgrace is explained there: she abandons the guide of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God; her house sinks down to death, and her paths lead to Gehinnom.

And it is stated there:

“None who enter her return, nor do they attain the paths of life.”

And we ask:

But since they do not return

that is, they do not repent—

where could they attain

the paths of life?!

And we answer:

This is what it says:

King Solomon says: “None who enter her return”—anyone who enters her house and apostatizes does not return, because it is exceedingly difficult to return—

and if they do return—

they will not attain the paths of life,

meaning that he will soon die in distress. This is a decree of the Holy One, blessed be He, who decreed death upon him.

And we challenge this:

Does this imply

does this mean

that everyone who withdraws from minut dies

dies?!

But

there was an incident:

a certain

woman

who came

who came

before

before

Rav Hisda

and came to repent and accept a punishment upon herself.

She said to him: My sins are exceedingly numerous, to the point that

my least serious sin

the lightest of the light

among them was that she

made

gave birth to

her younger son from

the intercourse of

her older son. And Rav Hisda said to her, “Prepare provisions for her!”

Prepare provisions for her journey! That is, her shrouds.

But she did not die!

Now we must infer:

From her saying, “The lightest of the light she committed,”

and so on, it follows

by implication

from her words

that minut

also

was present in her,

that she had also transgressed with regard to minut.

Why did she not die? She had come to withdraw from minut as well.

And we answer: That incident

was

because

she had not repented properly!

She had not fully repented,

and for that reason she did not die.

Some say

there is another formulation of the question and answer:

Does one who withdraws

from minut—

indeed

die,

whereas one who withdraws from a transgression

which is prostitution—

does not

die?!

But what of that woman who came before Rav Hisda

and said to him, “The lightest of the light,” and so on.

And he said to her [

Rav Hisda, “Prepare provisions for her

Equip her with provisions for her journey]

and she died!”

This is difficult: it appears that one who withdraws from the transgression of prostitution also dies.

And we answer: She had not withdrawn only from prostitution, but also from minut, as is evident from this:

From

what

she said: “The lightest of the light”

was forbidden sexual relations, it follows

by implication

from her words

that minut was also present in her.

Therefore she indeed died, because she had also withdrawn from minut.

The Gemara raises a difficulty from an incident involving a man who withdrew from the transgression of prostitution and died.

And

does one who withdraws

from the transgression of

prostitution

not die?!

But it was taught in a beraita

we learned:

They said about

Rabbi

Elazar ben Dordaya that he left no prostitute

whom he knew

in the world

with whom he had not engaged in intercourse!

Once, he heard that there was a prostitute in the cities of the sea

in a distant country,

who charged a purse of dinars as her fee. He took a purse of dinars and crossed seven rivers to reach her.

At the moment of the transgression

the beginning of the act—

she passed wind

a wind.

She said:

“Just as this wind will not return to its place—

so Elazar ben Dordaya will not be accepted in repentance.”

Elazar ben Dordaya went

Elazar ben Dordaya

and sat between two mountains and hills. He said, “Mountains and hills, ask mercy for me!

Accept me in repentance!

They said to him

“Before we ask on your behalf—

let us ask on our own behalf,”

as we too require mercy.

As it is stated [

Isaiah 54]

“For the mountains may move and the hills may falter.”

He said, “Heaven and earth, ask mercy for me!”

They said, “Before we ask on your behalf

let us ask on our own behalf. As it is stated [

Isaiah 51] “

‘For the heavens shall vanish like smoke, and the earth shall wear out like a garment.’”

He said, “Sun and moon, ask mercy for me!”

They said to him, “Before we ask on your behalf

let us ask on our own behalf. As it is stated [

Isaiah 24]

‘The moon shall be ashamed and the sun shall be embarrassed.’”

He said, “Stars and constellations, ask mercy for me!”

They said to him, “Before we ask on your behalf

let us ask on our own behalf. As it is stated [

Isaiah 34]

‘All the host of heaven shall melt away.’”

Elazar ben Dordaya said

: If there is no one to ask mercy for me—

“The matter does not depend

on others

but on me,”

and I myself must ask mercy for myself!

He placed his head between his knees and wept bitterly until his soul departed!

A Divine voice emerged and said, “Rabbi Elazar ben Dordaya

his repentance has been accepted, and he is

destined for life in the World-to-Come!”

And we challenge this: [

But here he was involved in a transgression

his withdrawal was from prostitution

and he died]?

And we answer:

There

in the case of Rabbi Elazar ben Dordaya,

too, since he was deeply attached to it

since he was very strongly bound to the transgression

it is comparable to minut.

He resembles minut, and just as one who withdraws from minut dies, so one who withdraws from a powerful attachment to prostitution dies.

When they told Rabbi this story,

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

the World-to-Come

over many years, and there is one who acquires his world in a single hour

of repentance.

And

further

Rabbi said: “Is it not enough

that it is not enough

for penitents that they are accepted

in repentance,

but they are even called ‘Rabbi.”

For the Divine voice called Elazar ben Dordaya “Rabbi.”

The Gemara continues to relate matters concerning distancing oneself from minut and prostitution.

Rabbi Hanina and Rabbi Yonatan were traveling on the road

they went on their way.

They arrived

they reached

two paths

two diverging paths, one path

one—

open

was open

to the entrance

to the entrance

of idol worship, and

the other path

one—

open

was open

to the entrance

to the entrance

of a house of prostitutes.

They discussed which of the two paths it was preferable to avoid taking.