Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 18, scan section 15

Rome, and they exclaimed: How nice are the steps of this girl! TRACT ABUDA ZARA (IDOLATRY). 31 And from that time she took care of her steps to please the spectators.] When all the three went out from the court, they justified the decrees upon them. Hanina said [Deut. xxxii. 4] : " He is the Rock, his work is perfect," etc. His wife said: "The God of truth and without iniquity"; and his daughter said [Jer. xxxii. 19]: " Great in council, and mighty in execu- tion (thou) whose eyes are open over all the ways of the sons of man. " Said Rabbi : How great are these upright that to justify their decrees, the three verses of justification came to their mouths, at the time of so great a trouble. The rabbis taught: When R. Jose b. Kisma became sick, R. Hanina b. Tradian called on him ; the former said to him : Hanina, my brother, are you not aware that this nation is reign- ing by heavenly decree, and notwithstanding that she has de- stroyed the Temple, burned the palaces, killed the pious and put out of the way all the best of Israel, she is still in force. About you, however, I heard that notwithstanding the decree of the government, you occupy yourself with the Torah pub- licly, and you bear with you the Holy Scrolls at all time. Hanina then answered: The heavens shall have mercy with us. Exclaimed Jose: I am relating to you reasons, and you say, the heavens shall have mercy. I wonder whether the govern- ment will not burn you with the Holy Scrolls on fire? Hanina then said: Rabbi, what will become of me in the world to come? And Jose asked him : Did not some of the meritorious acts come to your hand? And he answered: The money which I prepared to celebrate Purhn, I erred, thinking that it was of the charity treasury; I have distributed it to the poor, and thereafter I have not collected from the charity. If so, answered Jose, I wish that my share should be like yours, and my fate similar. It was said that a few days later R. Jose ben Kisma de- parted, and all the great men of Rome were going after his cofifin, lamenting him greatly. On their return, they found Hanina b. Tradian studying the Torah publicly with the Holy Scrolls in his bosom ; he was enwrapped in the Holy Scrolls and surrounded with branches of trees, which were kindled. And two woollen towels, soaked in water, were placed on his heart that his soul might not depart so quickly, and when his daugh- ter said to him: Father, is it just, what I see done with you? He answered: If I were burned alone, it would be hard for me, but now that I am burned in conjunction with the Holy Scrolls, I am sure that He who will take revenge for the Holy Scrolls 32 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. will take revenge for me also. His disciples questioned him: What do you see now? And he answered: I see the letters are flying away from the parchment while they burned. They said to him: Rabbi, open your mouth, so that the fire should catch you, and he answered: It is better that my soul be taken by Him who gave it and not I myself shall cause it an earlier death. The executioner then said to him : Rabbi, if I will increase this fire and will take off the woollen towels from your heart, would you bring me to life in the world to come? To which he an- swered, Yea. He then asked him to swear, which he did. Im- mediately he increased the fire, took off the towels, and his soul departed. The executioner himself then jumped into the fire. A heavenly voice was then heard : Hanina and the execu- tioner are prepared for life in the world to come. Rabbi then wept, saying: There is one again who bought his world in one moment, etc. Bruria, the wife of R, Mair, was a daughter of Hanina b. Tradian, and she said to her husband: It is a disgrace for me that my sister should be in the house of prostitution. He then took with him a rpixocftoi full with dmars, and said : I will go there, and if she is yet pure, a miracle will occur. He disguised himself as a military rider, visited her, asking her to listen to him. She, however, gives him many reasons, and finally tells him that in this place he will find many who are more beautiful than she. He then convinced himself that she answered the same to everyone, and went to her guardian asking him to ac- cept the money he brought for transferring her to him, saying: The half of the dinars will be suflficient to bribe the officers of the government, and the other half will remain for you. And to his question : What should I do when the half will be spent and they will still persecute me? he answered: You will then say, God of Mair, help me, and you will be saved. And whence do I know that so it is? Mair answered: I will convince you im- mediately. There were dogs who devoured people, and the guard stimulated them upon Mair, and he pronounced God of Mair, answer me, and they kept aloof from him. The guard then delivered to Mair his sister-in-law. Finally, the govern- ment got wind of it, and the guardian was brought to the gal- lows to be hanged, and as soon as he pronounced, God of Mair, help me, he was thrown down uninjured. And to the question. What is it? he related before all what happened. The govern- ment then engraved the picture of R. Mair on the gate of Rome, TRACT ABUDA ZARA (IDOLATRY). ^3 commanding that he who should see such a face should deliver him to the officers. It happened that he was once seen, and they ran after him ; he then ran away to a place of prostitution, and Elijah disguised himself as one of the prostitutes and em- braced him. The officers then said that it must be someone else, as Mair would not do so. Thereafter, Mair ran away to Babylon, according to some, because of this occasion, and ac- cording to others, because of that which happened to Brura.* (Concerning arenas and circuses) Tanaim differ in the follow- ing: An Israelite must not visit arenas, because they are consid- ered a place of scorners. R. Nathan, however, permits it for two reasons: first, one should be able to save an Israelite if it happened that he was placed there by animosity; and secondly, if it happened that an Israelite should die there, the visitor may then be a witness, so that the widow of the deceased should be allowed to remarry. The rabbis taught : One must not go to the theatres and cir- cuses, because at those places they gather up money for the idols; so R. Mair. The sages, however, say: In the places where they gather, it is prohibited because of the suspicion of idolatry. And in those where they are not gathering, it is pro- hibited, because they are considered places of scorners. R. Simeon b. Pazi lectured [Psalm i. i] : " Happy is the man who walketh not in the council of the wicked, and standeth not in the way of sinners, and sitteth not in the seat of scorners." If