Study Avodah Zarah folio 17B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
as the inclination to engage in idol worship has been slaughtered and the temptation to sin in this manner no longer exists. The other said to him: Let us go by the path that leads to the entrance of the brothel and overpower our inclination, and thereby receive a reward. When they arrived there, th
One said to the other: From where did you know this, that the prostitutes would retreat from us in embarrassment? He said to him: It is written: “From lewdness [mezimma] it shall watch over you; discernment shall guard you” (Proverbs 2:11), i.e., the Torah will serve as a safeguard against lewdnes
The rabbis said to Rava: What is the meaning of mezimma? If we say that it is referring to the Torah that will guard you, as it is written in it: “Zimma” (Leviticus 18:17), and we translate this term as: The counsel of [atzat] the sinners, demonstrating that zimma is referring to counsel or wisdom,
§ The Talmud returns to its discussion of the judgments of the rabbis by the Roman rulers. A baraita states: When R' Elazar ben Perata and R' Ḥanina ben Teradyon were arrested by the Romans during the time of the religious persecution of the Jewish people, R' Elazar ben Perata said to R' Ḥanina ben
R' Ḥanina ben Teradyon said to him: Fortunate are you, as you were arrested on 5 charges but you will be saved; woe is me, as I have been arrested on one charge, but I will not be saved. You will be saved because you engaged in Torah study and in acts of charity, and I engaged in Torah study alone.