Bathhouses and Boundaries in Roman Jewish Life
About This Entry
Bathhouses were central to Roman civic life but often featured statues or inscriptions linked to idol worship. Given Jewish prohibitions against worshiping other gods, m. Avodah Zarah 3:4 asks whether Jews may bathe in such a bathhouse. The rabbis permit participation but draw lines: Jews may use the baths but not in ways that honor or serve idols. This text highlights how the rabbis negotiated Roman culture, adopting some practices while resisting their religious significance. The rabbis thereby balanced practical accommodation with religious boundaries, allowing Jews to share public spaces while maintaining their distinct identity.
Proqlos the son of Plaslos1 asked Rabban Gamaliel in Akko while he [Gamaliel—Ed.] was bathing in the bath of Aphrodite, and said to him: It is written in your Torah: And nothing of the devoted thing shall cleave to your hand (Deuteronomy 13:18), so why do you bathe in the bath of Aphrodite? He [Gamaliel—Ed.] said to him: One may not answer in a bath. And when he went out he said to him: I did not come into her space, she came into mine; people don’t say: The bath was made as an ornament for Aphrodite, but rather they say: Aphrodite was made as an ornament for the bath. Moreover, if you were given a great deal of money, you would not go in to your idol naked or after an emission of semen, nor would you urinate before her! Yet this [image] stands at the mouth of the sewer and everyone urinates before her! It is written only their gods (Deuteronomy 12:3)—that which is treated as a god is prohibited, but that which is not treated as a god is permitted.
Notes
Words in brackets appear in the original translation unless otherwise noted.
Likely a corruption of philosophos. The name is transmitted variously in the manuscripts.
Credits
Mishnah Avodah Zarah 3:4, trans. Christine Hayes, from The Oxford Annotated Mishnah, ed. Shaye J. D. Cohen, Robert Goldenberg, and Hayim Lapin (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022), 678–709.
Discussion Questions
Why would the ancient rabbis want to permit Jews to use Roman bathhouses?
What boundary between culture and religion is reflected in this text? What constitutes treating something as a god versus mere decoration?
Can you think of times when people adopt cultural practices but resist their meanings?
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