Amram TROPPER Ben-Gurion University of the Negev THE THREE DEATHS OF RABBI JUDAH BEN BAVA ABSTRACT The earliest narrative of Rabbi Judah ben Bava’s noble death appears in the Baby- lonian Talmud and according to the talmudic tale, the Romans butchered Rabbi Judah ben Bava when they caught him violating their prohibition against rabbinic ordination. In contrast to the Babylonian Talmud’s tale, two other sources, Tosefta Babha Qama and The Story of the Ten Martyrs, offer alternative portraits of Rabbi Judah ben Bava’s demise. These contrasting portraits of Rabbi Judah ben Bava’s end challenge the traditional notion that the talmud accurately reported the Roman prohibition of rabbinic ordination, Rabbi Judah ben Bava’s violation of the prohibi- tion and his subsequent death. Treating the talmudic tale as a literary narrative, I hope to offer a close reading, critique some historical interpretations of the tale and shed light on its formation. RÉSUMÉ Le récit le plus ancien de la « noble mort » de Rabbi Judah ben Bava apparaît dans le Talmud de Babylone et, selon le récit talmudique, les Romains ont massacré Rabbi Judah ben Bava quand ils l’ont surpris en train de transgresser leur interdic- tion de l’ordination rabbinique. Deux autres sources, Tosefta Babha Qama et L’His- toire des dix martyrs, racontent autrement la mort de Rabbi Judah ben Bava. L’exis- tence de ces versions divergentes remet en question l’opinion traditionnelle selon laquelle le Talmud rend compte avec précision de la prohibition de l’ordination rabbinique par les Romains et de la mort de Rabbi Judah ben Bava dans ce contexte. En lisant l’histoire talmudique comme un récit littéraire, j’espère offrir une explica- tion du texte, critiquer les interprétations historiques qui en ont été faites et éclaircir les détails de sa formation. Rabbi Judah ben Bava has long been viewed as a heroically defiant rab- binic sage brutally slain by the Romans in the mid-second century CE. The earliest narrative of his noble death appears in the Babylonian Talmud 1 and according to the talmudic tale, the Romans butchered Rabbi Judah ben Bava 1. See Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 13b-14a; Babylonian Talmud ῾Abhoda Zara 8b. Revue des études juives, 179 (1-2), janvier-juin 2020, pp. 35-61. doi: 10.2143/REJ.179.1.3287588 36 THE THREE DEATHS OF RABBI JUDAH BEN BAVA when they caught him violating their prohibition against rabbinic ordination. Presuming the historical credibility of the talmudic narrative, generations of commentators and scholars have read it as the faithful record of a tragic chapter in Roman-Jewish relations.2 Dominant till just a few decades ago, this historical reading classically maintains that when the Romans sought to abolish ordination as part of their efforts to undermine rabbinic authority in the wake of the Bar Kokhva revolt, Rabbi Judah ben Bava fearlessly thwarted the Roman plan by daring to ordain five or six disciples, selflessly sacrificing his life for the sake of ordination. In contrast to the Babylonian Talmud’s tale, however, two other sources offer alternative portraits of Rabbi Judah ben Bava’s demise: The Story of the Ten Martyrs (first attested in Heikhalot Rabati)3 and Tosefta Babha Qama 8:13.4 Although The Story of the Ten Martyrs, like the talmud, depicts Rabbi Judah ben Bava as a martyr, its rendering of his noble death bears no resemblance to the talmud’s tale. Tosefta Babha Qama, for its part, does not even portray Rabbi Judah ben Bava as a martyr! With no mention of the ordination prohibition or any Roman oppression, the Tosefta’s Rabbi Judah ben Bava dies of natural causes. These contrasting portraits of Rabbi Judah ben Bava’s death underscore the problematic presumption at the heart of the historical reading of the Babylonian Talmud’s tale. More specifically, they challenge the notion that the talmud accurately reported three historical events: the Roman prohibi- tion of rabbinic ordination, Rabbi Judah ben Bava’s violation of the prohi­ bition and his subsequent death. In line with current scholarship on sage stories,5 the three conflicting portraits encourage us to view their respective stories as literary narratives rather than historical reports. Treating the tal- mudic tale as a literary composition I will offer a close reading, critique some historical interpretations of the tale and explore its formation, seeking out the raw literary materials which informed its creation. In the process, I also hope to show how appreciation for the talmudic story’s formation sheds new light on Rabbi Judah ben Bava’s three deaths. 2. See n. 22 below. 3. The Story of the Ten Martyrs I.43, III-V.33-35 (G. REEG, Die Geschichte von den Zehn Märtyrern: Synoptische Edition mit Übersetzung und Einleitung, Tübingen, 1985). See also Midraš Ele Ezkera (A. JELLINEK, Beit ha-Midraš, vol. 2, Leipzig, 1853, reprint: Jerusalem, 1967, p. 69). 4. Tosefta Babha Qama 8:13. See also Palestinian Talmud Soṭa 9, 10 24a. 5. See n. 45 below. THE THREE DEATHS OF RABBI JUDAH BEN BAVA 37 A Close Reading of the Talmudic Tale The talmudic story of Rabbi Judah ben Bava’s noble death appears twice, once in Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 13b-14a and once in Babylonian Talmud ῾Abhoda Zara 8b. These parallel editions are almost identical, with only slight variations between them, and contextual considerations reveal that Sanhedrin has preserved the earlier and more original setting.6 The fol- lowing citation quotes the story in Sanhedrin along with its immediate liter- ary context: וחד לא סמיך? והאמ' רב יהוד' אמ' רב: ברם זכור אתו האיש לטוב ור' יהוד' בן בבא שמו שאילמל' הוא נשתכחו דיני קנסות מישר'. נישתכחו? לגרוסינהו! אלא בטלו דיני קנסות מישר'. פעם אחת גזרו מלכות הרשעה שמד על ישר' שכל הסומך יהרג וכל הניסמך יהרג ועיר שסומכין בה תחרב ותחום שסומכין בו תעקר. 6. Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 13b-14a cites the tale because it appears to contradict a baraita (Tosefta Sanhedrin 1:1) which parallels the mišna under consideration (Mišna San- hedrin 1:1; see Rashi, ad loc.; cf. Maimonides, Peruš ha-mišnayot, ad loc., Mišna ‘im peruš rabenu Moše ben Maimon, Y. KAPAH (trans. and ed.), Jerusalem, 1964, p. 147-149). Whereas the baraita states that ordination must be performed by three sages, the tale suggests that one sage is sufficient and Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin’s mobilization of the tale to contradict the ordination law at hand is both natural and straightforward. In contrast, Babylonian Talmud ῾Abhoda Zara 8b locates the tale within a parenthetical discussion that has little to do with either ordination or the local mišna. ῾Abhoda Zara enlists the tale to counter the claim that Jewish authorities ceased to implement fine (i.e. penalty) laws, which could only be adminis- tered by ordained sages, 40 years prior to the destruction of the temple. However, the claim that Jewish authorities ceased to implement fine laws in temple times because they were not ordained is weak since both talmuds presume that ordination was practiced after the destruc- tion of the temple. Since ῾Abhoda Zara enlists the tale when responding to a forced question within a parenthetical aside while Sanhedrin embeds the tale within a perfectly natural context, it seems likely that Sanhedrin has preserved the more original setting. Moreover, disparate elements scattered over distinct sugyot on Sanhedrin 13b-14b, such as the tale of Rabbi Judah ben Bava’s noble death, the link between the abolishment of fine laws and the cessation of ”מלמד שהמקום גורם“ ”,ordination, and the use of the phrase “to teach that the place matters (see also Babylonian Talmud Soṭa 45a; Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 87a), are neatly inte- grated into a single sugya on ῾Abhoda Zara 8b. Since the conflation of these elements in ῾Abhoda Zara is far more likely than their dispersal in Sanhedrin, it seems most probable that the ῾Abhoda Zara sugya drew inspiration from the sugya in Sanhedrin. On the philological consideration just applied, see A. TrOPPEr, Rewriting Ancient Jewish History: The History of the Jews in Roman Times and the New Historical Method, London, 2016, p. 138 (n. 17). In sum, the tale’s better fit in Sanhedrin and the conflation of scattered elements from Sanhedrin 13b-14b in ῾Abhoda Zara 8b point to Sanhedrin as the tale’s earlier and more original setting. Cf. D. HENSCHKE, “Custom Abrogates Law? (Corroborating a Theory) (Hebrew),” Diné Israel 17 (1993-1994), p. 135-155 (138 n. 6). In any event, the history of the tale prior to its appearance in Sanhedrin is beyond our ken. 38 THE THREE DEATHS OF RABBI JUDAH BEN BAVA מה עשה ר' יהוד' בן בבא? הלך וישב בין שני הרים גדולים, בין שני עיירות גד�ו לות, בין שני תחומי שבת, בין אושא לשפרעם, וסמך שם חמשה זקנים: ר' מאיר ור' יהוד' ור' שמע' ור' אלעזר בן שמוע, ור' אויא מוסיף אף ר' נחמיה. כיון שהכירו בהן אויבים אמ' להן: בני, רוצו! אמרו לו: ר', ואתה מה תהא עליך? אמ' להם: הרי אני מוטל לפניהם כאבן שאין לה הופכים. אמרו: לא זזו משם עד שנעצו7 בו שלש מאות לונכיאות8 של ברזל ועשאוהו ככברה. ר' יהוד' בן בבא אחריני הוו בהדי, והאי דלא קא חשיב להו משום כבודו דר' יהוד' בן בבא. ור' מאיר, ר' יהוד' בן בבא סמכיה? והא' רבה בר בר חנה אמ' ר' יוח': כל האומ' ר' מאיר לא סמכו ר' עקיב' אינו אלא טועה! סמכיה ר' עקיבא ולא קיבלוה, סמכיה ר' יהוד' בן בבא וקיבלוה. Cannot one man ordain (alone)? For did not Rav Judah say in Rav’s name: May this man indeed be remembered for blessing, and Rabbi Judah ben Bava is his name, for were it not for him, the laws of fines would have been forgotten from Israel.