The Three Deaths of Rabbi Judah ben Bava

• In Event: Methods and History in the Redaction of the Bavli

Abstract

Rabbi Judah ben Bava has long been viewed as a heroic rabbinic sage who was brutally slayed by the Romans in the mid-second century CE. Evidence of his martyrdom appears for the very first time in the BABYLONIAN TALMUD. In the talmudic tale, the Romans butcher Rabbi Judah ben Bava when they catch him violating their prohibition against rabbinic ordination, and generations of commentators and scholars have read this tale as the faithful record of a tragic chapter in Roman-Jewish relations. In contrast to the BABYLONIAN TALMUD’s tale, however, two other sources present alternative portraits of Rabbi Judah ben Bava’s demise: THE STORY OF THE TEN MARTYRS depicts Rabbi Judah ben Bava as a martyr but its tale of his noble death bears no resemblance to the talmud’s account and according to TOSEFTA BAVA KAMMA, Rabbi Judah ben Bava actually died of natural causes! These contrasting portraits of Rabbi Judah ben Bava’s death challenge the traditional presumption that the talmud accurately reported the Roman ordination prohibition, Rabbi Judah ben Bava’s violation of the prohibition and his subsequent death. Moreover, they strongly encourage us to view the three stories of Rabbi Judah ben Bava’s death as literary narratives rather than as historical reports. In light of these insights, my paper will investigate the literary formation of the talmudic account of Rabbi Judah ben Bava’s martyrdom in the hopes of uncovering the raw materials which inspired its construction. I will also suggest that our newfound appreciation for the talmudic tale’s literary formation paints all three deaths of Rabbi Judah ben Bava in a new light.

Author

• Amram Tropper, Ben Gurion University