Avodah Zarah 18b (יח:) — the Talmud in English

He said to him

the guard:

And who says that this is so?

Who tells me that you are right, that if I recite this prayer I will be saved?

He said to him

Rabbi Meir:

Now you will see,

I will show you now!

There were

there

those dogs that were eating people,

man-eating dogs,

he took a clod,

Rabbi Meir took a clod of earth,

and threw it at them

to provoke them.

They came to eat it

when they came

to eat it—

he said

Rabbi Meir:

“God of Meir, answer me!”

And he was saved.

And the guard heeded Rabbi Meir:

he released her

he set her free

and gave her to him

and gave her to Rabbi Meir.

Eventually—

the matter became known in the king’s palace,

it became known in the royal palace that the guard had released the daughter of Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon.

They brought him

they brought the guard,

they raised him to the gallows,

they brought him up to the gallows to hang him.

He said

the guard:

“God of Meir, answer me!” They lowered him

They brought him down from the gallows, because they were unable to hang him.

They said to him

the executioners said to the guard:

“What is this?”

What is this incantation, and why are we unable to hang you?

He said to them

the guard:

“This is what happened,”

that is, he told them what had happened to him with Rabbi Meir.

The Romans wanted to capture Rabbi Meir.

They came and engraved an image of Rabbi Meir

they drew his likeness

on the gates of Rome,

on the gates of the city of Rome,

and announced,

they proclaimed:

“Whoever sees this likeness

whoever sees this image—

let him bring him

let him bring him to the authorities.

One day

one day,

they saw him

a certain Roman saw him,

and ran after him

he ran after him to capture him.

He ran away from them,

Rabbi Meir fled from them.

He entered

he entered

a brothel,

a house of prostitution, where they certainly would not search for him.

Some say

there are those who transmitted this tradition as follows:

He saw them cooking the food of gentiles,

he saw gentiles cooking a dish.

He dipped one finger into it,

he dipped one of his fingers into it,

and sucked the other one,

he sucked the other one.

Some say: Elijah came

Elijah arrived

and disguised himself as one of them,

and disguised himself

as a prostitute and embraced him,

embracing him.

They said

the Romans said:

“Heaven forbid! If this were Rabbi Meir,

if the one we pursued were Rabbi Meir,

he would not have done this;

he would not have entered a brothel, eaten the food of gentiles, or embraced a prostitute.” And they left him.

And since Rabbi Meir did not wish to rely on miracles,

he arose and fled,

he fled from the Land of Israel.

He came

he arrived

in Babylonia

and there the light of his Torah shone.

Some say: It was because of this incident.

This was the reason he fled to Babylonia.

And some say

he fled to Babylonia

because of

the

incident involving

his wife

Berurya

as explained by Rashi.

We learned in the Mishna about the stadiums of gentiles. The Gemara discusses whether it is permitted to go there.

The Sages taught:

A Jew

who goes to the stadiums,

a place where bullfights are held,

and to the siege-camps,

the siege that the Romans laid against a city they had conquered, where they staged entertainment and mockery and treated the inhabitants of the conquered city cruelly,

and saw there the snake-charmers

sorcerers,

and the snake-enchanters

those who whisper incantations to snakes, and all sorts of jesters:

“Bukkion, Mukkion, Mullion, Lullion, Belorin, Selagorin”—

this is a seat of scoffers. And concerning them

those who go there—

the verse says

from Psalms 1: “Praiseworthy is the man... and he did not sit in the seat of scoffers; rather, his desire is in the Torah of the Lord.”

Fortunate is the man ... who did not sit in the gathering of scoffers; rather, his desire is in the Torah of the Lord.”

And from the fact that the verse juxtaposes the happiness of one who did not sit in the seat of scoffers with the one whose desire is in the Torah of the Lord,

you learn

one should infer

, that these things lead a person to neglect Torah study.

And we raise a contradiction,

the Gemara cites another beraita that contradicts this, implying that it is permitted to go to these places:

As it was taught,

those who go

to the stadiums—

it is permitted

to go.

Because when he cries out

when he sees that a Jew is about to be thrown there, he cries out and begs them,

and saves

him.

And to the siege-camps it is permitted

to go,

for the sake of the settlement of the country,

he asks the wicked to save the Jews held in the besieged city from cruel abuse.

Provided that he does not join them in their reckoning,

that he does not participate with the conquerors in laying the siege,

but if he joins them in their reckoning,

if he is required to participate with them,

it is forbidden.

And we challenge this:

The stadiums contradict the stadiums.

One beraita prohibits going to the stadiums, while the other permits it?

The siege-camps contradict the siege-camps.

Granted, the siege-camps contradicting the siege-camps is not difficult,

and they can readily be reconciled:

Here,

the beraita that prohibits speaks

of one who joins them in their reckoning,

and therefore it is forbidden.

And here,

the beraita that permits speaks

of one who does not join them in their reckoning.

But

the contradiction between

the stadiums and the stadiums remains difficult.

And we answer:

It is a dispute between tannaim.

There is no contradiction here, because these are the opinions of two tannaim.

As it was taught,

the Gemara cites a third beraita in which tannaim dispute the law concerning going to the stadiums:

The first tanna says:

One may not go to the stadiums because they are a seat of scoffers

the version of the Bach:

because they are shedders of blood

. And Rabbi Natan—

permits it, for two reasons. First, because he cries out and saves

as above.

And

another reason

because

even if he is unable to save him, at least

he can give testimony concerning a woman so that she may remarry,

so that she will not remain an aguna all her life.

Thus the contradiction between the beraitot is resolved.

The Gemara cites another beraita concerning this matter.

The Sages taught: One may not go to theaters or circuses

places of entertainment that belonged to idols

because there they gather for idolatry,

they assemble and unite to arrange the needs of the idols and make vows to them, these are

the words of Rabbi Meir.

And the Sages say: A place where they gather for idolatry is forbidden because of suspicion,

that he went there to gather

for the worship of

idols, and

if

it is a place where they do not gather there—

it is forbidden because it is a seat of scoffers.

Rabbi Meir prohibited all such places, because he holds that all of them are presumed to be places where they gather for idols; and the Sages likewise prohibit all such places. If so, the Gemara asks:

What difference is there between them?

What distinction is there between their opinions, and in what law do they disagree?

And we answer:

Rav Ḥanina of Sura said:

The practical difference is the case of one who violated the words of the Sages, went there, and

conducted business

with them;

there is a difference between them

in the law—

According to Rabbi Meir, the money that the Jew received from merchandise he sold to them is forbidden, because they certainly gather for idolatry, and there is a concern that the money is “money of idolatry.”

According to the Sages, however, there is here only a prohibition due to suspicion or due to frivolity; therefore, the money in his possession is permitted. The Gemara cites statements of the Sages condemning frivolity.

Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi expounded: What

what is the explanation of that

which is written: “Praiseworthy is the man who did not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers.”

And this is apparently difficult:

Since he did not walk—

where

how

could he stand? And since he did not stand—

where could he sit? And since he did not sit—

where could he scoff

mock?

And we answer:

Rather,

the verse comes

to tell you that if he walked

merely in passing—

in the end he will stand

and linger among them for a while;

and if he stood—

in the end he will sit, and if he sat, in the end he will scoff.

And if he scoffed, concerning him the verse says

from Proverbs 9: “

If you have become wise

you have become wise for yourself, and if you scoffed

you alone shall bear it.”

Therefore, praiseworthy is one who did not go, even casually, lest he come to this.

Rabbi Eliezer said: Whoever scoffs—

suffering

comes upon him, as it is stated

in Isaiah 28: “

Now do not scoff, lest your bonds become stronger, for I have heard a decree of complete destruction from the Lord, God of Hosts, upon the whole land.”

And we interpret “your bonds” as referring to suffering, because this decree of complete destruction comes from the Lord.

Rava said to the Sages

his students:

Please,

I beg you,

I ask of you,

I request of you

not to scoff, so that suffering should not come upon you,

so that it should not come upon you

suffering.

Rav Ketina said: Whoever scoffs, his sustenance is diminished. As it is stated

in Hosea 7:

“He withdraws His hand from the scoffers.”

And we interpret this to mean that His “hand” is the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, which is full, open, and abundant to nourish all, and He—so to speak—withdraws it from the scoffers.

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Whoever scoffs—

falls into Gehenna, as it is stated

in Proverbs 21: “

The proud, arrogant scoffer is his name; he acts with arrogant wrath.”

And we interpret “wrath” as referring to Gehenna.

And

the meaning of “wrath”

is nothing other than Gehenna, as it is stated

in Zephaniah 1: “

That day is a day of wrath.”

It is the day of judgment, when the wicked are judged in Gehenna. In this verse, “The proud, arrogant scoffer is his name,” both scoffing and arrogance—which is pride—are mentioned. Therefore—

Rabbi Oshaya said: Whoever is arrogant

falls into Gehenna, as it is stated: “The proud, arrogant scoffer is his name; he acts with arrogant wrath.”

And “wrath” means nothing other than Gehenna, as it is stated: “That day is a day of wrath.”

Rabbi Tanḥum ben Ḥanilai said: Whoever scoffs—

causes destruction to come upon the world, as it is stated: “Now do not scoff, lest your bonds become stronger, for I have heard a decree of complete destruction.”

Rabbi Eliezer said: Frivolity is severe,

frivolity

for its beginning is suffering and its end is destruction.

Now the Gemara brings many homiletical interpretations and explanations of the first chapter of the book of Psalms.

Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi expounded: What,

what is the explanation of that

which is written: “Praiseworthy is the man who did not walk in the counsel of the wicked”?—

This is one who did not go to the theaters and circuses of the idolaters.

“Nor stand in the way of sinners”—

this is one who did not stand at the kanigyon,

animal hunting with dogs for entertainment.

“Nor sit in the seat of scoffers”—

this is one

who did not sit at games,

various games.

Perhaps a person will say: Since I did not go to the theaters and circuses, and I did not stand at the kanigyon—

I will go and challenge sleep!

The verse therefore teaches: “And in His Torah he meditates day and night.”

The Gemara continues and expounds another interpretation of the verse, “Praiseworthy is the man.”

Rav Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: What is the meaning of that which is written, “Praiseworthy is the man who did not walk in the counsel of the wicked”?—