Avodah Zarah 10

The Talmud today tells a number of stories about the friendship between Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, the redactor of the Mishnah, and the Roman emperor Antoninus. The fact that these stories aren’t attributed to a particular source, and are written in a dialect that the characters in them didn’t even speak, suggest that these were folk tales that developed later, rather than historical reports.

The Talmud depicts Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi and Antoninus as close friends and the emperor as deeply respecting of the rabbi and the rabbinic movement. Here’s one example:

Every day Antoninus would minister to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi; he would feed him and give him to drink. When Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi wanted to ascend to his bed, Antoninus would bend down in front of the bed and say to him: Ascend upon me to your bed. He said: It is not proper conduct to treat the king with this much disrespect. Antoninus said: Oh, that I were set as a mattress under you in the World to Come! 

The emperor demonstrates extreme submission to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s holiness, and also to his physical body, going so far as to turn himself into the rabbi’s step stool. Another story describes their closeness in a different way: 

Antoninus had a certain cave that went from his house to the house of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. Every day he would bring two servants to serve him. He would kill one at the entrance of the house of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, and would kill one at the entrance of his house. 

Antoninus wants geographic access to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, but he also doesn’t want anyone to know about it. And like any good star-crossed relationship, many people get caught in the crossfire and die. But of course, a secret between two people is only a secret as long as both people keep it.

He said to him: When I come, let no man be found before you. One day, Antoninus found that Rabbi Hanina bar Hama was sitting there. He said: Did I not tell you that when I come to visit, let no man be found before you? Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said to him: This is not a human being. Antoninus said to Rabbi Hanina bar Hama: Tell that servant who is sleeping at the entrance that he should rise and come.

Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi argues that Rabbi Hanina is not human and that he was only asked to keep humans out. Antoninus asks Rabbi Hanina to prove it by reviving the man who is “asleep” outside. Apparently, Antoninus believes that only supernatural beings can resurrect the dead.

Rabbi Hanina bar Hama went and found that he had been killed. He said: How shall I act? If I go and tell Antoninus that he was killed, one should not report distressing news. If I leave him and go, then I am treating the king with disrespect. He prayed for God to have mercy and revived the servant, and he sent him. Antoninus said: I know that the least among you can revive the dead; but when I come let no man be found before you.

While Antoninus is impressed by Rabbi Hanina’s ability to have God resurrect the dead man, he remains insistent on complete secrecy. After all, it wouldn’t do for the Romans to find out he was best friends with the head of the rabbinic community, a community which was a religious and political minority in the empire. But the Talmud concludes that their friendship will continue even after death:

He said to him: Will I enter the World to Come? Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said to him: Yes. Antoninus said to him: But isn’t it written: “And there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau” (Obadiah 1:18)? Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi answered: With regard to those who perform actions like those of Esau.

Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi promises Antoninus that he has a place in the World to Come because even though he is a biological descendent of Esau (according to the rabbis), the complete destruction of Esau prophesied by Obadiah only applies to those whose actions are themselves wicked like Esau. (Apparently, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi either didn’t know or didn’t care about all the enslaved people Antoninus killed while going back and forth between their homes.)

These stories teach us three things: First, there has always been pleasure in imagining that you or your leaders have secret access to the rich and powerful. And that pleasure can sometimes make us unable to see who gets hurt in these stories. Second, and more inspiringly, no one is defined entirely by their ancestors. Our choices and our actions shape our futures even in the face of prophecy. And third, all men — even the most powerful — need friends. And that friendship takes work, whether it’s digging tunnels, serving as a step-stool or just making time in your busy schedules to see each other.

Read all of Avodah Zarah 10 Sefaria.

This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on June 28, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.