The tragic death of Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon TB Avodah Zarah 18

Today’s daf Avodah Zarah 17b-18 is the source of Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon’s tragic death.

 “The Romans brought Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon for judgment, and they said to him: Why did you occupy yourself with the Torah? Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon said to them, citing a verse: “As the Lord my God commanded me” (Deuteronomy 4:5). They immediately sentenced him to death by means of burning, and they sentenced his wife to execution by decapitation, and his daughter was condemned to sit in a brothel [kubba shel zonot]. The Gemara explains the Divine decree that he should receive this punishment: He was sentenced to death by burning, as he would pronounce the ineffable name of God with all of its letters, i.e., as it is spelled. The Gemara asks: And how could he do that? But didn’t we learn in the mishna (Sanhedrin 90a): These are the people who have no share in the World-to-Come: One who says that the Torah is not from Heaven or that there is no source from the Torah for the resurrection of the dead. Abba Shaul says: Also one who pronounces the ineffable name as it is written, with all of its letters, has no share in the World-to-Come. (According to tradition, only the High Priest was allowed to pronounce God’s name YHVH once in the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur-gg)

“The Gemara answers: Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon did it to teach himself, as it is taught in a baraita with regard to the prohibition against sorcery: “You shall not learn to do” (Deuteronomy 18:9); this indicates: But you may learn to understand and to teach. In other words, certain prohibitions do not apply when one is acting only in order to acquire knowledge of the subject.

“The Gemara asks: Rather, what is the reason that he was punished? The Gemara answers: He was punished because he would pronounce the ineffable name of God in public, instead of privately...

“The Sages said: Not even a few days passed before Rabbi Yosei ben Kisma (who foretold of Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon’s death-gg) died of his illness, and all of the Roman notables went to bury him, and they eulogized him with a great eulogy. And upon their return, they found Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon, who was sitting and engaging in Torah study and convening assemblies in public, with a Torah scroll placed in his lap.

“They brought him to be sentenced, and wrapped him in the Torah scroll, and encircled him with bundles of branches, and they set fire to it. And they brought tufts of wool and soaked them in water, and placed them on his heart, so that his soul should not leave his body quickly, but he would die slowly and painfully. His daughter said to him: Father, must I see you like this? Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon said to her: If I alone were being burned, it would be difficult for me, but now that I am burning along with a Torah scroll, He who will seek retribution for the insult accorded to the Torah scroll will also seek retribution for the insult accorded to me. “His students said to him: Our teacher, what do you see? Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon said to them: I see the parchment burning, but its letters are flying to the heavens. They said to him: You too should open your mouth and the fire will enter you, and you will die quickly. Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon said to them: It is preferable that He who gave me my soul should take it away, and one should not harm oneself to speed his death.

“The executioner [kaltzatoniri] said to him: My teacher, if I increase the flame and take off the tufts of wool from your heart, so that you will die sooner and suffer less, will you bring me to the life of the World-to-Come? Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon said to the executioner: Yes. The executioner said: Take an oath for me, that what you say is true. Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon took the oath for him, and the executioner immediately increased the flame and took off the tufts of wool from his heart, causing his soul to leave his body quickly. The executioner too leaped and fell into the fire and died. “A Divine Voice emerged and said: Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon and the executioner are destined for the life of the World-to-Come. Upon hearing this, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi wept and said: There is one who acquires his share in the World-to-Come in one moment, such as the executioner, and there is one who acquires his share in the World-to-Come only after many years of toil, such as Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Although Rashi doesn’t explain what pronouncing the ineffable name of God is, Tosefot ד"ה הוֹגֶה אֶת הַשֵּׁם בְּאוֹתִיּוֹתָיו provides two explanations. In the first explanation he cites Rashi without giving a source that Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon would use the 42 letter name of God in order to do his will. By the way, we do not know tradition what the 42 letter name of God was. Tosefot goes on explains that most commentators explain that Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon said in public God’s name YHVH instead of substituting Adonai (which literally means our Lord-gg) for it. “Not as I am written I am called. My name is written with yod-hey (י-ה) and is said as alef-dalet (א-ד) {my translation-gg}.” Daf TB Pesakhim 50a

By the way, the rest of today’s daf contains other interesting stories of other sages as well. I highly recommend studying the rest of the daf.