Avodah Zarah 11b (יא:) — the Talmud in English

The one who slashes

and cuts

its hooves

of the animal’s

feet,

is permitted to do so only if he cuts them

from the knee joint [

the bone in the animal’s leg]

and below,

because when it is cut up to that point, the animal does not become a tereifa, whereas if it is cut above the knee joint, it becomes a tereifa.

And from the fact that the beraita distinguishes between whether the animal becomes a tereifa or does not become a tereifa, it is evident that it is speaking of a kosher animal, fit for consumption. But this is difficult: A kosher animal is not ordinarily used for riding, nor is it an implement used by a king?

The Gemara answers:

Rav Pappa interpreted

the beraita as speaking

of a wagon

drawn by cattle,

which pulls the cattle

in which the king sits. This is indeed the usual function of a wagon, which is drawn by a kosher animal, and it is in fact considered an implement used by the king.

We learned in our Mishna:

But the day of shaving his beard and his lock of hair.

The Gemara discusses the meaning of the Mishna’s words “and his lock of hair.” What did the gentiles do with the lock of hair that caused them to make this day a festival?

They raised a dilemma before them

the members of the academy were uncertain:

How is it taught?

How should the Mishna be read? Is it:

The day of shaving his beard and leaving his lock of hair,

when he leaves his hair at the back of his neck for the sake of idolatry?

Or perhaps,

the meaning of the Mishna is:

The day of shaving his beard and removing his lock of hair,

as it was their practice to shave only the lock of hair at the end of the year?

Come and hear:

The Gemara resolves that both practices are meant: They make a festival both on the day of leaving the lock of hair and on the day of removing it.

As it was taught: Both,

as both versions were taught in two separate beraitot, in one of them it is stated:

The day of shaving his beard and leaving his lock of hair.

And in the second it is stated:

The day of shaving his beard and removing his lock of hair.

The Gemara cites another festival observed by the Romans that is not mentioned in our Mishna.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: There is another

festival

that

is a festival,

which [

they]

have in Rome,

which is not taught in the Mishna.

Once

every seventy years

they bring a whole person and mount him on a lame person.

The whole person alludes to Esau, and the lame person alludes to Jacob, of whom it is stated: “And he limped upon his thigh.” They intend to allude to the fact that Esau still rides upon Jacob and rules over him.

the

And they cover

they conceal

the markets [

the legs]]

with inkh,

a precious stone so called.

And they proclaim before him:

a.

The reckoning

the account

of Kiri,

the officer, is

false,

it is a lie!

That is, they proclaim that Jacob’s prophecy, when he summoned his sons and prophesied to them that they would ultimately be redeemed at the end of days, is a lie.

b.

The brother of our master,

the brother of our master Esau, is

a forger,

he is a forger!”

They proclaim that Jacob deceived their master Esau, took his blessing, and thought to take the blessing in order to become master over his brother.

c.

Whoever sees

sees.

Whoever sees this celebration, held once every seventy years, sees it

and whoever does not see

and whoever does not see it now

will not see it,

for this celebration will not be held again until another seventy years have passed.

d.

What benefit came

what gain came

to the deceiver,

Jacob,

through his deception,

through what he did to Esau,

and to the forger through his forgery?

And they conclude it thus,

and this is how they conclude the proclamation:

e.

Woe to that one,

woe to Esau,

when judgment shall arise,

when Jacob shall arise.

Rav Ashi said: The mouths of the wicked caused them to stumble,

these wicked people stumbled through their own words!

For

if they had said,

if they had expressed themselves in this way,

“The forger, the brother of our master,”

he is a forger, the brother of our master,

as they were saying,

the wording would have implied that Jacob was the forger.

But

now

at present,

since they say

that they say:

“Our master is a forger,”

the wording implies that

our master himself,

our master personally,

is a forger!

He is the forger.

The Gemara raises a difficulty:

But as for the tanna of our Mishna,

the tanna of our Mishna,

why did he not count this one,

why does he not count this festival, which is a festival, in the Mishna?

The Gemara answers: Festivals

that exist

that are celebrated

every single year,

year after year,

he counts,

the tanna counts them. But this festival,

which does not exist every single year,

which is not observed every year but only once every seventy years,

he does not count,

he does not include it.

The Gemara discusses this further:

These,

these festivals taught in our Mishna, are only festivals

of the Romans,

of the Romans in the period when the Mishna was taught.

And as for those of the Persians—

what

what are the festival days of the Persian gentiles?

Mutardi and Turiskei, Moharnaki and Moharin.

These are the names of the Persian festival days, fixed for every year.

The Gemara continues its discussion:

These

are their festivals,

of the Persians and the Romans,

of the Persians and Romans;

and as for those of the Babylonians—

what

what are the festival days of the Babylonian gentiles?

Moharnaki and Aknitiya, Bahanuni, and the tenth

on the tenth day

of

the month of

Adar.

Rav Hanan bar Rav Ḥisda said in the name of Rav, and some say

that,

and there are those who transmit this report as follows:

Rav Hanan bar Rava said in the name of Rav: There are five permanent houses of idol worship

in the world, where idols are worshipped throughout the entire year and sacrifices are offered, and engaging in business with them is prohibited forever.

These are

the five houses of idol worship:

The house of Bel in

the land of

Babylonia; the house of Nebo in Kursi; Tarta in Mafg; Tzarifa in Ashkelon; and Nishra in Arabia.

When

he arrived,

Rav Dimi

from the Land of Israel to Babylonia,

he said: The Sages added

two more

to them,

and they are:

The market in Ein Bakh, and Nadbekha in Akko.

Some say

and there are those who say:

Nativra in Akko.

Rav Dimi of Nehardea taught them in the reverse order,

he taught them in the opposite order:

The market in Akko, and Nadbekha in Ein Bakh.

The Gemara explains the meaning of “they are permanent.”

Rav Hanan bar Rav Ḥisda said to Rav Ḥisda: What

is the meaning

of “they are permanent”?

He said to him,

Rav Ḥisda said to his son Rav Hanan:

Thus,

so

said your mother’s father,

your mother’s father:

They are permanent forever.

Idol worshippers are found there constantly;

the entire year continually

all year long

they worship it,

they worship this idol.

Shmuel said: In the Diaspora,

in our exile, where we live among the gentiles,

it is not prohibited

to conduct business during the three days before their festival

but only on the day of their festival itself,

because we cannot refrain from doing business with them, since we live among them and derive our livelihood from them. And this is also because we fear them.

The Gemara raises a difficulty:

And on the day of their festival

itself,

also, is it

is it indeed prohibited in the Diaspora

?!

But

yet,

Rav Yehuda permitted him

he permitted

Rav Bruna to sell wine,

to sell them wine,

and

he likewise permitted

Rav Gidel to sell grain

to sell them grain

on the festival of the merchants,

on the festival day of the merchants, who gathered once a year to eat, drink, and celebrate for the sake of idolatry.

It follows that in the Diaspora it is permitted even on the festival day itself?

The Gemara answers: He permitted it even on the festival day because

the festival of the merchants is different,

that festival of the merchants is different,

as it is not fixed,

since it is not a fixed festival, as they themselves are not particular to observe it every year.

Mishna:

The Mishna continues with the law concerning the prohibition against conducting business on their festival days.

A city in which there is

for the residents of the city

idol worship,

and the residents of that city observe a festival for it, it is prohibited to conduct business only with the residents of the city itself; but with the people who live

outside it, it is permitted

to conduct business with them, because they are not connected with the idol worship of the city’s residents. For such is the practice of the gentiles: Each person worships his own idol—this one worships his, and that one worships his—and the festival days of these are not the festival days of those.

And likewise, if

there was

for the residents

outside it an idol,

and the residents outside the city worship it on their festival day, then the residents of the city who are

within it are permitted

to conduct business with them.

The Mishna explains:

What does it mean to go there?

Is one permitted to travel from one city to a city in which that day is a festival, when his journey is not for business dealings with the residents of that city, but in order to speak with one of the city’s residents?

When the road is unique to that place,

that is, when it is clear that one traveling from his city to that city intends to go only there and not to another city, because there is no other road from that city continuing to another city, but the road between the two cities is used only as a road between those two cities—

it is prohibited

to travel there, because of suspicion: He appears to be going to worship idols there on the festival taking place there.

But if he could travel on it

on this established road

to another place

where there is no festival,

it is permitted.

For he will not be suspected of going to worship idols; rather, he is traveling on his way to another city by way of this city.

Gemara:

The Gemara discusses this:

What are the circumstances of “outside it”?

What distance must the market outside the city be from the city in order for it to be permitted to conduct business with them there?

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina: For example,

the distance between

Etaluzah,

the cattle market [

of Gaza,

and the city of Gaza.

This distance was known in the time of the Sages of the Gemara and was very short. Nevertheless, the halakha states that the market is not considered part of the city: When the festival is in the city, the market is not prohibited along with it, and likewise, if the festival is outside the city, the city is not prohibited.

Some say,

there are those who transmitted this report in a different formulation:

He asked,

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish

asked Rabbi Ḥanina: Etaluzah of Gaza,

which is very close to the city of Gaza—

what is the law?

Did the Mishna permit conducting business with them on the day of the festival taking place in the city, or not?