Talmud Bavli, Avodah Zarah

4 texts in Midrash Aggadah

What God Does During the Twelve Hours of Day

Avodah Zarah 3a

What does God do all day? The Talmud in Tractate Avodah Zarah takes this question seriously. The rabbis laid out a detailed twelve-hour schedule. During the first three hours, God ...

GodCosmologyTorahNations

God Plays With Leviathan Every Afternoon

Avodah Zarah 3b

The Talmud in Tractate Avodah Zarah says that every afternoon, God plays with Leviathan—the colossal sea creature described in (Job 41:1) and (Psalms 104:26). The fourth quarter of...

GodCosmologyTorahNations

Rabbi Elazar ben Dordia Weeps Until His Soul Departs

Avodah Zarah 17a

Rabbi Elazar ben Dordia was a man consumed by desire. The Talmud in Tractate Avodah Zarah says there was not a single prostitute in the world he had not visited. When he heard abou...

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Rabbi Chanina ben Teradion's Martyrdom by Fire

Avodah Zarah 18a

The Romans wrapped Rabbi Chanina ben Teradion in a Torah scroll, piled bundles of vine branches around him, and set him on fire. To prolong his agony, they placed wet wool over his...

MartyrdomRomeWomen of the BibleWisdom