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Avodah Zarah 17b

עבודה זרה י״ז ע״ב

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Topic

Torah as protection from sin, and the Roman trials of רבי אלעזר בן פרטא (saved by miracles) and רבי חנינא בן תרדיון (sentenced to burning)

Overview

The amud opens in the middle of a story about two חכמים who walk past the doorway of the זונות to fight their יצר, and the women pull back out of respect. One חכם explains with a פסוק in משלי that Torah guards a person from lewdness, and רבא explains that מזמה means 'from זמה.' The גמרא then returns to the Roman arrests of חכמים. רבי אלעזר בן פרטא, facing five charges, envies רבי חנינא בן תרדיון, who faces one. רבי חנינא answers that רבי אלעזר will be saved because he did Torah and גמילות חסדים, while רבי חנינא did only Torah, just as רב הונא teaches. The גמרא asks whether רבי חנינא really lacked charity and concludes that he gave, but not as much as he should have. At his trial, רבי אלעזר בן פרטא escapes every charge through clever answers and miracles, including help from אליהו against a witness. רבי חנינא בן תרדיון openly says he learns Torah because ה׳ commanded it, and he is sentenced to burning, his wife to death, and his daughter to a brothel. The גמרא begins explaining the reason for his burning, and this continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

דִּנְכִיס יִצְרֵיהּ.

since its urge has been slaughtered.

אֲמַר לֵיהּ אִידַּךְ:

The other one said to him:

נֵיזִיל אַפִּיתְחָא דְּבֵי זוֹנוֹת

Let us go by the entrance of the prostitutes' house

וְנִכְפְּיֵיהּ לְיִצְרִין וּנְקַבֵּל אַגְרָא.

and overpower our inclination, and receive reward.

The steps (34)

  1. StatementLet's walk past the brothel and beat our inclination
  2. StatementThe women pulled back before the חכמים
  3. QuestionHow did you know this would happen?
  4. ResponseThe פסוק: Torah guards you from lewdness
  5. QuestionWhat does the word מזמה mean?
  6. ChallengeThen the פסוק should have said זמה
  7. ResolutionRead it as: from matters of זמה, the Torah guards you
  8. StatementArrested for one charge versus five
  9. Statementרבי חנינא flips the comparison
  10. Proofרב הונא: Torah alone is like having no God
  11. ChallengeBut רבי חנינא ran the charity fund
  12. ResolutionTrusted, but did not give himself
  13. ChallengeBut he gave his Purim money to the poor
  14. ResolutionHe gave, but not as much as he should have
  15. QuestionThe Romans charge רבי אלעזר בן פרטא with two crimes
  16. ResponseA robber can't be a scholar, so both charges fall
  17. QuestionThen why do people call you רבי
  18. ResponseHe is the master of weavers
  19. QuestionThe Romans test him with two coils of wool
  20. ResponseHornets miraculously show him the answer
  21. QuestionWhy didn't you come to בי אבידן
  22. ResponseHe was old and afraid of being trampled
  23. ChallengeHow many old men were ever trampled
  24. ResolutionThat very day an old man was trampled
  25. QuestionWhy did you free your slave
  26. ResponseHe denies it ever happened
  27. ChallengeSomeone stands up to testify against him
  28. Resolutionאליהו scares off the witness
  29. ChallengeThe witness ignores the warning and stands to testify
  30. Resolutionאליהו throws the witness four hundred פרסאות away
  31. QuestionThe Romans ask רבי חנינא בן תרדיון why he learned תורה
  32. ResponseHe answers that ה׳ commanded him
  33. StatementThe harsh sentences on him, his wife and his daughter
  34. StatementStarting to explain why he was sentenced to burning