The Gemara in Maseches Berachos (20a) records a conversation between Rav Papa and Abaye, in which Rav Papa asks Abaye why the earlier generations merited miracles while the later generations do not. Abaye responds that the earlier generations sacrificed to sanctify God's Name, and thus merited miracles. As an example of such meritorious action, the Gemara records that Rav Ada bar Ahava tore a garment off of a woman, apparently because it was an immodest garment, and, upon learning that the woman was not Jewish, paid her four hundred zuz.
Is Rav Ada's action a model of zeal? Why is this incident identified as an example of a sacrifice to sanctify God's Name? Such an action performed in contemporary times would be labeled a desecration of God's Name, not a sanctification! Did Rav Ada have different values than we do, or was he operating under very different circumstances? If the latter, in what way were the circumstances different, and what lesson can we learn from it today?
