Avodah Zarah 18b — the Talmud in English

He said to him

the guard:

And who says that this is so?

Who tells me that the truth is with you, that if I say this prayer I will be saved?

He said to him

Rabbi Meir:

Now you will see,

I shall 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

and threw it at them in order to anger 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 complied with Rabbi Meir,

he released her

he freed her

and gave her to him

and gave her to Rabbi Meir.

In the end —

the matter became known in the king’s house,

the matter became known in the royal palace, that the guard had released the daughter of Rabbi Hanina ben Teradyon.

They brought him

they brought the guard,

they raised him for hanging,

they brought him up to the gallows to hang him.

He said

the guard:

“God of Meir, answer me!” They brought him down

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 what is the reason that we are unable to hang you?

He said to them

the guard said to them:

“This is how the incident happened,

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

The Romans wanted to seize Rabbi Meir.

They came and engraved an image of Rabbi Meir

they drew his image

at the entrance of Rome

on the gates of the city of Rome,

they said

they proclaimed:

“Anyone who sees this face,

anyone who sees this image —

let him bring him

let him bring him to the authorities.

One day

one day,

they saw him

one Roman saw him,

he ran after him

he ran after him to seize him.

He ran away from them,

Rabbi Meir fled from them.

He entered

he entered

a brothel,

the house of prostitution, for surely they would not search for him in such a place.

There are those who say

there is one who transmitted this report as follows:

He saw gentiles cooking

he saw gentiles cooking a dish.

He dipped one into this,

he dipped one of his fingers,

and sucked the other

he sucked the other one.

There are those who say: Elijah came

Elijah arrived

and appeared to 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 whom we pursued were Rabbi Meir,

he would not have done this,

he would not have done so, entering a brothel, or eating the residue of gentiles’ food, or embracing 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.

There are those who say: because of this incident

this was the reason that he fled to Babylonia.

And there are those who say

he fled to Babylonia

because of

because

of the incident of

his wife

Beruriah

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 stadiums,

a place of bullfights,

and to a siege,

a siege that the Romans made against a city that they conquered, where they made amusement and mockery and treated the inhabitants of the conquered city with cruelty,

and saw there the snake-charmers

sorcerers,

and the snake-whisperers

those who whisper to snakes, and all kinds of jesters:

bukiyon, mukiyon, muliyon, luliyon, belorin, selagorin —

this is a gathering of scorners. And concerning them

concerning those who go there —

the verse says

[Psalms 40] “

Happy is the man... who has not sat in the gathering of scorners, but whose desire is in the Torah of the Lord.”

And from the fact that the verse connects the happiness of one who has not sat in the gathering of scorners with the one whose desire is in the Torah of the Lord,

you learn,

one should learn

, that these things bring a person to neglect of Torah.

And he raises an objection,

the Gemara brings another beraita that contradicts this, from which it appears that it is permitted to go to these places:

As it was taught,

those who go

to stadiums —

it is permitted

to go.

Because he cries out

when he sees that they are about to gore a Jew there, he cries out and pleads with them,

and saves

him.

And to a siege it is permitted

to go,

because of the settlement of the country,

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

Provided that he does not join with them

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

but if he joins with them

if he is obligated to participate with them,

it is forbidden.

And we ask:

The stadiums contradict the stadiums.

One beraita forbids stadiums and the other permits them?

The siege contradicts the siege.

Granted, the siege contradicting the siege is not difficult,

and it is easy to reconcile them:

Here,

the beraita that forbids speaks

of one who joins with them,

and therefore it is forbidden.

And here,

the beraita that permits speaks

of one who does not join with them.

But

the contradiction of

the stadiums contradicting the stadiums is 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 brings a third beraita in which tannaim dispute the law concerning going to stadiums:

The first tanna says:

One does not go to stadiums because they are a gathering of scorners

[the version of the Bah]:

because they are shedders of blood

. And Rabbi Natan —

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

as above.

And

another reason

one, because

even if he cannot save, in any event

he gives testimony concerning a woman in order to permit her to marry,

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

And the contradiction between the beraitot is resolved.

The Gemara brings another beraita concerning this matter.

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

[houses of mockery that belonged to idols]

because there they gather for idolatry,

they assemble and join together to arrange the needs of idols and vow 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 gathering of scorners.

Now Rabbi Meir forbade all places, because he holds that all of them are presumed to be places where they gather for idols, and the Sages too forbid all places; if so, the Gemara asks:

What is the difference between them?

What distinction is there between them, and concerning which law do they dispute?

And we answer:

Rav Hanina of Sura said:

The practical difference is: One who transgressed the words of the Sages and went there and

conducted business

with them,

there is a difference between them

there is a legal difference between them —

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

But according to the Sages, there is here only a prohibition because of suspicion or because of mockery; therefore the money in his possession is permitted. The Gemara brings statements of Sages concerning the disgrace of mockery.

Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi expounded: What is

what is the explanation of that

which is written: “Happy is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the gathering of scorners.”

And seemingly it is difficult:

Since he did not walk —

where

how

did he stand? And since he did not stand —

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

where did he mock

make fun?

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 a little,

and if he stood —

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

And if he mocked, concerning him the verse says

[Proverbs 9] “

If you have become wise —

you have become wise for yourself, and if you have mocked —

you alone will bear it.”

Therefore, happy is the one who did not go, even incidentally, lest he come to this.

Rabbi Eliezer said: Anyone who mocks —

sufferings

come upon him. As it is said

[Isaiah 28] “

And now do not mock, lest your bonds become stronger, for a complete and decisive decree I have heard from the Lord, God of Hosts, concerning the whole earth

”. And we expound “your bonds” as referring to sufferings, because this decree is complete and decisive from the Lord.

Rava said to the Sages

to his students:

Please,

I ask you,

I request of you,

I ask you

that you not mock, so that sufferings not come upon you,

so that they not come upon you

sufferings.

Rav Ketina said: Anyone who mocks, his sustenance diminishes. As it is said

[Hosea 7]

“He withdraws His hand from scorners.”

And we expound that “His hand” is the hand of the Holy One, blessed is He, which is full, open, and heaped up to sustain everyone, and He — as it were — withdraws it from scorners.

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Anyone who mocks —

falls into Gehinnom. As it is said

[Proverbs 21] “

The proud, haughty scorner is his name; he acts with the fury of presumptuousness.”

And we expound “fury” as referring to Gehinnom.

And

the meaning of “fury”

is nothing other than Gehinnom, as it is said

[Zephaniah 1] “

The day of fury is that day

”. It is the Day of Judgment, when the wicked are judged in Gehinnom. And in this verse, “The proud, haughty scorner is his name,” both mockery and haughtiness are stated, and haughtiness is “pride.” Therefore —

Rabbi Oshaya said: Anyone who is haughty —

falls into Gehinnom, as it is said, “The proud, haughty scorner is his name; he acts with the fury of presumptuousness.”

And “fury” means nothing other than Gehinnom, as it is said, “The day of fury is that day.”

Rabbi Tanḥum ben Hanilai said: Anyone who mocks —

causes annihilation to come upon the world. As it is said, “And now do not mock, lest your bonds become stronger, for a complete and decisive decree I have heard.”

Rabbi Eliezer said: Severe is

mockery,

for its beginning is sufferings and its end is annihilation.

And now the Gemara brings many expositions and explanations concerning the first chapter of the Book of Psalms.

Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi expounded: What is,

what is the explanation of that

which is written, “Happy is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked”? —

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

“Nor stood in the way of sinners” —

this is one who did not stand at the kangion

animal hunting by means of dogs for amusement.

“Nor sat in the gathering of scorners” —

this is one

who did not sit at games,

various games.

Lest a person say: Since I did not go to theaters and circuses, and I did not stand at the kangion —

I shall go and challenge sleep!

The teaching says: “And in His Torah he meditates day and night.”

And the Gemara continues and expounds another exposition on the verse, “Happy is the man”.

Rav Shmuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: What is written, “Happy is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked”? —