Cast of Characters:
Elisha ben Avuya (Acher) - son of a rich merchant and a student of R. Akiva. He turned against the Torah and opposed it. R. Meir was his disciple even after this transformation; and not only did he urge him to repent while alive, he seemingly saved Elisha's soul once he died.
Rabbi Chiyya - Raised in Babylonia, R. Chiyya moved to Palestine and became the greatest scholar in R. Yehudah haNasi's academy. He was centrally involved in the compilation of the Bereita and the Tosefta and led his own academy in Tiberias. Known for his piety as well as his scholarship, it is said that all of his prayers were answered.
Rabbi Chiyya b. Ashi - student of Rav and was his personal assistant. Hence he was able to pass on many accounts of Rav's practices, which were used as legal precedents.
Charuta - The word "charuta" means (1) dancer/reveler, (2) a wedding party, (3) blackness/black sediment.
נְפַק אַחֵר לְתַרְבּוּת רָעָה. נְפַק, אַשְׁכַּח זוֹנָה תַּבְעַהּ, אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ: וְלָאו אֱלִישָׁע בֶּן אֲבוּיָה אַתְּ? עֲקַר פּוּגְלָא מִמֵּישְׁרָא בְּשַׁבָּת וִיהַב לַהּ, אָמְרָה: אַחֵר הוּא.
Acher went astray. He went and found a prostitute and solicited her for intercourse. She said to him: And are you not Elisha ben Avuya? Shall a person of your stature perform such an act? He uprooted a radish from a patch of radishes on Shabbat and gave it to her, to demonstrate that he no longer observed the Torah. The prostitute said: He is other than he was. He is not the same Elisha ben Avuya, he is Acher, other.
מעשה באדם אחד שהיה זהיר במצות ציצית שמע שיש זונה בכרכי הים שנוטלת ד' מאות זהובים בשכרה שיגר לה ארבע מאות זהובים וקבע לה זמן כשהגיע זמנו בא וישב על הפתחנכנסה שפחתה ואמרה לה אותו אדם ששיגר ליך ד' מאות זהובים בא וישב על הפתח אמרה היא יכנס נכנס הציעה לו ז' מטות שש של כסף ואחת של זהב ובין כל אחת ואחת סולם של כסף ועליונה של זהבעלתה וישבה על גבי עליונה כשהיא ערומה ואף הוא עלה לישב ערום כנגדה באו ד' ציציותיו וטפחו לו על פניו נשמט וישב לו ע"ג קרקע ואף היא נשמטה וישבה ע"ג קרקע אמרה לו גפה של רומי שאיני מניחתך עד שתאמר לי מה מום ראית ביאמר לה העבודה שלא ראיתי אשה יפה כמותך אלא מצוה אחת ציונו יהוה אלהינו וציצית שמה וכתיב בה (במדבר טו, מא) אני יהוה אלהיכם שתי פעמים אני הוא שעתיד ליפרע ואני הוא שעתיד לשלם שכר עכשיו נדמו עלי כד' עדיםאמרה לו איני מניחך עד שתאמר לי מה שמך ומה שם עירך ומה שם רבך ומה שם מדרשך שאתה למד בו תורה כתב ונתן בידהעמדה וחילקה כל נכסיה שליש למלכות ושליש לעניים ושליש נטלה בידה חוץ מאותן מצעותובאת לבית מדרשו של ר' חייא אמרה לו רבי צוה עלי ויעשוני גיורת אמר לה בתי שמא עיניך נתת באחד מן התלמידים הוציאה כתב מידה ונתנה לו אמר לה לכי זכי במקחךאותן מצעות שהציעה לו באיסור הציעה לו בהיתר זה מתן שכרו בעה"ז ולעה"ב איני יודע כמה
There was an incident involving a certain man who was diligent about the mitzva of ritual fringes [tzitzit]. This man heard that there was a prostitute in one of the cities overseas who took four hundred gold coins as her payment. He sent her four hundred gold coins and fixed a time to meet with her. When his time came, he came and sat at the entrance to her house.
The maidservant of that prostitute entered and said to her: That man who sent you four hundred gold coins came and sat at the entrance.
She said: Let him enter. He entered. She arranged seven beds for him, six of silver and one of gold. Between each and every one of them there was a ladder made of silver, and the top bed was the one that was made of gold.She went up and sat naked on the top bed, and he too went up in order to sit naked facing her. In the meantime, his four ritual fringes came and slapped him on his face. He dropped down and sat himself on the ground, and she also dropped down and sat on the ground.
She said to him: I take an oath by the gappa of Rome that I will not allow you to go until you tell me what defect you saw in me.
He said to her: I take an oath by the Temple service that I never saw a woman as beautiful as you. But there is one mitzvah that the Lord, our God, commanded us, and its name is ritual fringes, and in the passage where it is commanded, it is written twice: “I am the Lord your God” (Numbers 15:41). The doubling of this phrase indicates: I am the one who will punish those who transgress My mitzvot, and I am the one who will reward those who fulfill them.
Now, said the man, the four sets of ritual fringes appeared to me as if they were four witnesses who will testify against me.
She said to him: I will not allow you to go until you tell me: What is your name, and what is the name of your city, and what is the name of your teacher, and what is the name of the study hall in which you studied Torah?
He wrote the information and placed it in her hand.She arose and divided all of her property, giving one-third as a bribe to the government, one-third to the poor, and she took one-third with her in her possession, in addition to those beds of gold and silver.
She came to the study hall of Rabbi Ḥiyya and said to him: My teacher, instruct your students concerning me and have them make me a convert.
Rabbi Ḥiyya said to her: My daughter, perhaps you set your sights on one of the students and that is why you want to convert? She took the note the student had given her from her hand and gave it to Rabbi Ḥiyya.
He said to her: Go take possession of your purchase.Those beds that she had arranged for him in a prohibited fashion, she now arranged for him in a permitted fashion.
יוֹמָא חֲדָא הֲוָה קָא גָרֵיס בְּגִינְּתֵיהּ קַשִּׁטָה נַפְשַׁהּ חָלְפָה וְתָנְיָיה קַמֵּיהּ אֲמַר לַהּ מַאן אַתְּ אֲמַרָה אֲנָא חָרוּתָא דַּהֲדַרִי מִיּוֹמָא תַּבְעַהּ אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ אַיְיתִי נִיהֲלַי לְהָךְ רוּמָּנָא דְּרֵישׁ צוּצִיתָא שְׁוַור אֲזַל אַתְיֵיהּ נִיהֲלַהּכִּי אֲתָא לְבֵיתֵיהּ הֲוָה קָא שָׁגְרָא דְּבֵיתְהוּ תַּנּוּרָא סָלֵיק וְקָא יָתֵיב בְּגַוֵּיהּ אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ מַאי הַאי אֲמַר לַהּ הָכִי וְהָכִי הֲוָה מַעֲשֶׂה אָמְרָה לֵיהּ אֲנָא הֲוַאי לָא אַשְׁגַּח בַּהּ עַד דִּיהַבָה לֵיהּ סִימָנֵי אָמַר לַהּ אֲנָא מִיהָא לְאִיסּוּרָא אִיכַּוַּונִי כׇּל יָמָיו שֶׁל אוֹתוֹ צַדִּיק הָיָה מִתְעַנֶּה עַד שֶׁמֵּת בְּאוֹתָהּ מִיתָה
The Gemara relates: Rabbi Chiyya b. Ashi was accustomed to say, whenever he would fall on his face in prayer: May the Merciful One save us from the evil inclination. One day his wife heard him saying this prayer. She said: After all, it has been several years since he has withdrawn from engaging in intercourse with me due to his advanced years. What is the reason that he says this prayer, as there is no concern that he will engage in sinful sexual behavior?
One day, while he was studying in his garden, she adorned herself and repeatedly walked past him.
He said: Who are you?
She said: I am Ḥaruta, a well-known prostitute, returning from my day at work. He propositioned her.
She said to him: Give me that pomegranate from the top of the tree as payment. He leapt up, went, and brought it to her, and they engaged in intercourse.When he came home, his wife was lighting a fire in the oven. He went and sat inside it.
She said to him: What is this?
He said to her: Such and such an incident occurred; he told her that he engaged in intercourse with a prostitute.
She said to him: It was I. He paid no attention to her, thinking she was merely trying to comfort him, until she gave him signs that it was indeed she.
He said to her: I, in any event, intended to transgress.
The Gemara relates: All the days of that righteous man he would fast for the transgression he intended to commit, until he died by that death in his misery.