Midrash sobre Proverbios 5:8

(Fol. 16b) Our Rabbis were taught: When R. Elazar was captured by the government, through the accusation of the heretics, he was brought to the gallows, and the general said to him: "A sage like you should be engaged in such a valueless thing [as the Torah]?'" And he answered: "The judge is trustworthy to me [to judge honestly]." The general thought R. Elazar referred to him; R. Elazar, however, referred to the Heavenly judge. And he said: "Because you trust in me, I swear by dinus (his idol) that you are free from this accusation." When R. Elazar returned home [and felt sorry for having been accused of heresy], his disciples surrounded him to console him, but he did not accept it [fearing the miraculous escape]. Said R. Akiba to him: "Rabbi, allow me to say before you one of the things you taught me," and he allowed him. Whereupon R. Akiba said: "Rabbi, probably some explanations of the heretics (Fol. 17) pleased you, and you have accepted them, and therefore you were suspected and captured." Whereupon he answered: "Akiba, you have reminded me; it happened once that I walked in the upper market of Sepphoria, and I met one of the heretics named Jacob of the village of Sachania and he said to me: 'It is written in the Torah (Deut. 23, 19) Thou shalt not bring the hire of a harlot, etc. May then a privy for the high-priest be built out of that money?' And I kept silent. Said he to me: 'So have I been taught (Mich. 1, 7) For from harlot's wages she gathered them, and for harlot's wages shall they be used again; hence, money that comes from a dirty place, may be expended on a dirty place;' which explanation pleased me. It is for this that I was suspected and captured. And I confess that I have transgressed the following passage (Pr. 5, 8) Remove far from her thy way, and come not nigh to the door of her house. Remove from her, means from heresy, and come not nigh, refers to government." Others, however, interpret the same, Remove far, etc., refers to both heresy and government, and come not nigh, to prostitution, which place, according to R. Chisda, it is prohibited to approach from a distance of four yards.

Another matter, “all matters are wearying” – matters of heresy exhaust a person. There was an incident involving Rabbi Eliezer, who was apprehended for the purpose of heresy.⁶³He was apprehended by heretics in order to force him to concede to their beliefs. The governor took him and brought him up to the platform to judge him. He said to him: ‘Rabbi, is it appropriate for a great person like you to engage in these idle matters?’⁶⁴The reference is to the Oral Torah. He said to him: ‘I consider the judge trustworthy.’ [The governor] thought that he said it regarding him, but [in fact, Rabbi Eliezer] said it in reference to Heaven. [The governor] said to him: ‘Since you trusted me, although I [still] say what I have believed: [How] is it possible that these academies would be [so] mistaken [as to believe] in these idle matters, [but nonetheless] the verdict is that you are exonerated.’
After Rabbi Eliezer was exonerated [and allowed to descend] from the platform, he was distressed that he had been apprehended for the purpose of heresy.⁶⁵He did not understand why this had happened to him. His students entered to console him, but he did not accept it. Rabbi Akiva entered to him and said to him: ‘Rabbi, did, perhaps, one of the heretics ever say something before you and you found it pleasant?’ He said to him: ‘Yes, by Heaven, you reminded me. Once I was ascending in the upper marketplace of Tzippori, and a person approached me, and his name was Yaakov of the village of Sikhnaya, and he said to me one matter in the name of so-and-so⁶⁶Some say this is a reference to Jesus. and it brought me pleasure. That matter was: ‘It is written in your Torah: “You shalt not bring the fee of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 23:19). What are they?’ I said to him: ‘They are prohibited.’ He said to me: ‘They are prohibited for an offering, but is it permitted to destroy these [coins]?’⁶⁷Once they have been consecrated. I said to him: ‘If so,⁶⁸That they cannot be destroyed. what will he do with them?’ He said to me: ‘Let him make with them bathhouses and bathrooms.’⁶⁹For use in the Temple complex. I said to him: ‘You have spoken well,’ and a halakha⁷⁰That one must not engage in discourse with a heretic or accept his words. was temporarily concealed from me.
‘When he saw that I accepted his words, he said: ‘So said so-and-so: From repugnance it came, and to repugnance it should be expended,⁷¹The money came from payment to a harlot, and therefore should be used for repugnant matters, such as bathrooms. as it is stated: “For from the fee of a harlot she gathered them, and to the fee of a harlot they will return” (Micah 1:7). Let them be bathrooms for the multitudes,’ and it gave me pleasure. For that matter I was apprehended for heresy. Moreover, I violated what is written in the Torah: “Distance your way from her, and do not approach the door of her house” (Proverbs 5:8). “Distance your way from her,” this is heresy. “And do not approach the door of her house,” this is prostitution. Why? It is because: “For she has felled many wounded; abundant are all she has killed” (Proverbs 7:26).’
How far [must one distance oneself]? Rabbi Ḥisda said: Four cubits. For this, Rabbi Elazar ben Dama, son of the sister of Rabbi Yishmael, died. He was bitten by a snake, and Yaakov of the village of Sikhnaya came to cure him [through incantation] in the name of so-and-so, but Rabbi Yishmael did not allow him to do so. He said: ‘You are not permitted to do thus, ben Dama.’ [Ben Dama] said to him: ‘Allow me, and I will cite you proof from the Torah that it is permitted,’ but he did not manage to cite him proof before he died. Rabbi Yishmael rejoiced and said: ‘Happy are you, ben Dama, as your soul emerged in purity and you did not breach the boundary of the Sages, as anyone who breaches the boundary of the Sages, ultimately punishment befalls him, as it is stated: “One who breaches a fence, a snake will bite him” (Ecclesiastes 10:8).’ But was he not bitten [by a snake]? Rather, that a snake would not bite him in the future.⁷²Had he been cured from this snake bite, he would have thereby sinned and he would have in any event then received another snake bite that would have been incurable (Etz Yosef). What did he have in that regard?⁷³What proof did Rabbi Elazar ben Dama seek to bring? “That a man shall do and he will live by them” (Leviticus 18:5) – and not that he will die by them.⁷⁴This proves that one may violate most prohibitions in order to save a life (Yoma 85b).