Two mishnayot and some stories: An instigator and his manner of convincing people to sin — plus, his death sentence, and the rationale for making sure to entrap him if need be, to get him off the streets, as it were. Plus, the one who engages in the sin to convince others to join him. Also, the subverter – who tries to convince a whole city to sin. Also, returning to the topic of sorcery – first, the different levels of prohibition, in parallel to Shabbat. Then, a bunch of stories about sorcery that worked, but that was nonetheless forbidden. And a permitted example of sorcery – rabbis creating a calf, and going so far as to eat it. Plus, interpreting the Torah – the plague of “the Frog” – and how the Torah’s named singular frog became many, including a rebuke to Rabbi Akiva, whose interpretation is rejected. But even if not “everything goes” in interpreting narrative, the sages acknowledges their admiration for his prowess in abstruse areas of halakhah.
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