Gemara Clarity

Avodah Zarah 18b

עבודה זרה י״ח ע״ב

Learn Avodah Zarah 18b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Avodah Zarah 18b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The end of רבי מאיר's rescue story, the ban on stadiums, theaters and circuses as מושב לצים, and the severity of scoffing

Overview

This amud finishes the story of רבי מאיר rescuing the daughter of רבי חנינא בן תרדיון. He proves to the guard that saying 'אלהא דמאיר ענני' brings protection, and later those words save the guard from hanging. The Romans then hunt רבי מאיר. The גמרא gives two versions of how he escaped, and he finally flees to בבל. Next, a ברייתא calls stadiums and besiegers' camps a מושב לצים that leads to ביטול תורה. The גמרא resolves a contradiction with another ברייתא: for the camp it splits the cases, and for stadiums it says the two follow different תנאים, with רבי נתן permitting. A dispute between רבי מאיר and the חכמים about theaters and circuses matters for doing business there. The amud then lists the harsh punishments for scoffing and explains the opening פסוקים of תהלים. A new reading by רבי יונתן begins and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וּמִי יֵימַר דְּהָכִי אִיכָּא?

And who can say that this is so?

אֲמַר לֵיהּ: הַשְׁתָּא חָזֵית.

He said to him: Now you will see.

הֲווֹ הָנְהוּ כַּלְבֵי דַּהֲווֹ קָא אָכְלִי אִינָשֵׁי,

There were these dogs that would eat people;

שְׁקַל קָלָא שְׁדָא בְּהוּ.

he took a clod of earth and threw it at them.

The steps (26)

  1. QuestionThe guard asks how he can be sure the words will save him
  2. Responseרבי מאיר proves it with the man-eating dogs
  3. StatementThe guard is saved from hanging by the same words
  4. StatementThe Romans hunt רבי מאיר and he hides in a brothel
  5. StatementFirst version of the escape: pretending to eat gentile food
  6. StatementSecond version of the escape: אליהו disguised as a woman
  7. Conclusionרבי מאיר flees to בבל
  8. StatementStadiums and besiegers' camps are 'the seat of the scornful'
  9. ChallengeA second teaching permits going to both places
  10. ResolutionThe camp contradiction is solved, but the stadium one remains
  11. ResolutionStadiums: it is a dispute between תנאים
  12. StatementWhy theaters and circuses are forbidden
  13. QuestionWhat is the practical difference between them?
  14. ResponseThe difference is doing business there
  15. ChallengeA puzzle in the פסוק 'אשרי האיש'
  16. ResolutionEach small step leads to the next
  17. StatementScoffing brings suffering
  18. Statementרבא begs his students not to scoff
  19. StatementScoffing shrinks one's livelihood
  20. StatementA scoffer falls into גיהנם
  21. StatementA haughty person falls into גיהנם
  22. StatementScoffing brings destruction on the world
  23. StatementScoffing starts with suffering and ends with destruction
  24. StatementReading the first פסוק of תהלים as a warning against gentile entertainment
  25. StatementAvoiding bad places is not enough; you must learn Torah
  26. StatementA new reading of 'Happy is the man' begins