Commentary for Avodah Zarah 34:11
א"ל ומ"ט לא אתית לבי אבידן אמר להו זקן הייתי ומתיירא אני שמא תרמסוני ברגליכם [אמרו] ועד האידנא כמה סבי איתרמוס אתרחיש ניסא ההוא יומא אירמס חד סבא
Then they asked him, “Why did you not go to the House of Aveidan?” He replied, ‘I am old and I am afraid you will trample me under your feet.” [They said] “And how many old people have been trampled till now?” A miracle happened–on that very day an old man was trampled.
Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah
The House of Aveidan seems to be some place of religious disputation, more reflective of Babylonian than Palestinian reality. The authorities ask R. Elazar why he did not go there. As we have seen elsewhere, the rabbi makes an excuse and again a miracle occurs to bolster his excuse.
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