Avoda Zara 17: On Prostitution, Heresy, and Roman Courts

We learn tales of rabbis who faced the Roman courts.  This includes a number of interesting points, including:

• While we are supposed to distance ourselves from prostitutes, the rabbis seemed to walk near prostitutes on a number of occasions
• we are not supposed to have physical intimacy with close relations, though mothers/sons and fathers/daughters are permitted to show affection to each other
• one rabbi argues that while we cannot have intercourse with family members or many others, that does not include other sexual acts
• *my take on this is that we could extend this argument to gay and lesbian couples, where only heterosexual intercourse is forbidden unless married - thus gay and lesbian intercourse should be permitted
• Jews who participate in heresy might be killed immediately
• Then again, there may be reasons that those same Jews were allowed to live
• Rabbi Eliezer ben Durduyya was promiscuous with prostitutes; a tale is told about his visit with one last prostitute and his repentance
• Rabbi Elazar ben Parta and Rabbi Chanina ben Tardyon were said to walk by a house of prostitution; later they were captured and tried by the Romans
• These two rabbis argued about which was more righteous and deserving of life than the other
• Both rabbis were challenged about their study of Torah, teaching, and stealing