Avodah Zarah Daf 10 עבודה זרח דַף 10

There was once a שטר dated six years later than the current date, and they thought to treat it as a שטר מאוחר – postdated document, and not collect sold properties with it for another six years. However, Rav Nachman said it was written precisely, because we date שטרות by the Greek era, from when they became a global power, but this scribe counted from when they ruled in עילם, six years earlier. Rav Acha bar Yaakov asked how we know that our dating system is based on the Greeks; perhaps it is based on יציאת מצרים, which occurred exactly one thousand years earlier (in which case the שטר would be postdated)!? Rav Nachman answered (and a Baraisa says the same): בגולה אין מונין אלא למלכי יונים בלבד – in the Diaspora, we only count from the Greek kings.

Ravina proved this from a Mishnah, which teaches that the first of ניסן is the new year for “kings,” which is pertinent for dating documents, yet also teaches that the first of תשרי is the new year for "שנים" – years, which is also explained to mean dating documents!? The answer is that Jewish kings are counted from ניסן, and gentile kings from תשרי. Since our שטרות start their yearr from תשרי, it must be that שטרות are dated from the Greek era.

The Gemara relates many stories about the close relationship between Rebbe and Antoninus. It describes how Rebbe sent symbolic messages advising him how to install his son as a successor, to deal with troublesome Roman dignitaries, and a daughter who sinned. Antoninus would send sacks of gold to Rebbe covered with wheat to disguise their contents. Rebbe said he did not need it, but Antoninus said Rebbe’s descendants would need it to pay future Roman kings.

An underground passage led from Antoninus’s house to Rebbe’s house. Antoninus would visit daily, bringing two servants along, one of which he would kill at Rebbe’s entrance, and the other he would kill when returning. He instructed Rebbe that no one should be present when he visited. Once, Rebbe Chanina bar Chama was there, and when Antoninus protested, Rebbe replied: לית דין בר איניש – “This is not a man (but a מלאך).” Antoninus sent him to bring the servant, and Rebbe Chama, discovering him dead, davened and brought him back to life.

Antoninus would serve Rebbe food and drink, and even bent down for Rebbe to climb up on him to his bed, saying: מי ישימני מצע תחתיך לעולם הבא – “If only I would be made a mat under you in עולם הבא.” Rebbe assured him that he had a share in עולם הבא.

The Gemara relates the incident of קטיעא בר שלום: A Caesar who hated the Jews solicited advice from the Roman dignitaries to destroy them. קטיעא pointed out that the Jews are compared to the four winds, teaching that just as the world cannot exist without the four winds, כך אי אפשר לעולם בלא ישראל – so too, it is impossible for the world to exist without Yisroel. Furthermore, they would be called a “severed (i.e., deficient) kingdom.”

The Caeser conceded to his argument, but said the law is that anyone who bests the king is buried alive in a chamber of earth. As קטיעא was carried away, a matron called out to him, “Woe to the ship that goes without paying its taxes (i.e., woe to קטיעא, who is being killed for defending the Jews, but lacks circumcision to receive a portion with them in עולם הבא). קטיעא fell onto his ערלה and cut it off. A בת קול proclaimed he was prepared for עולם הבא, and Rebbe wept, saying: יש קונה עולמו בשעה אחת – “There is one who acquires his “world” in one hour, ויש קונה עולמו בכמה שנים – and one who acquires his “world” over many years.”