Avodah Zarah 40b — the Talmud in English

And was it not taught in a beraita: Just as the signs of the eggs

of a pure bird

so are the signs of the embryos

of the eggs

of fish.

And it is thereby proven that even an impure fish has eggs?

And the Gemara answers:

It is not a resolution that it is resolving it,

meaning, are you not resolving the beraita? For one can say as follows: Just as the signs of the eggs,

so are the signs of the innards of fish.

Indeed, an impure fish has no eggs.

And the Gemara discusses:

And how do you find

where do we find

in the signs of the innards of fish that there should be

these signs in them,

one

on one side

and one

on the other side?

The Gemara answers: This sign

you find it

it is found

in the shilfukha

in the fish’s bladder. And it is possible to distinguish by it whether it is of an impure or pure fish.

It was explained above that when the eggs have dissolved in the intestines of their mothers, an expert is required to determine whether they are of a pure fish or of an impure one.

The Gemara asks about this:

If there is no expert there, what

on the basis of what will they declare the eggs permitted?

Rav Yehuda said: Once he says, “I salted them,”

and saw that they were pure fish, and from them I removed these innards—

they are permitted.

Rav Naḥman said:

He is not trustworthy אלא

until he says

and shows that

these are fish

[and the Israelite sees that they are pure]—

and these are their innards.

But if he merely says, “I salted them,” he is not trustworthy, for perhaps he is not expert in them.

He instructed

ruled

Rav Yehuda for Ada the attendant

his servant:

Once he says—

“I salted them,”

he is trustworthy in this, and

they are permitted.

We learned in our Mishna:

And the leaf of ḥiltit

that comes from gentiles is permitted for eating.

And the Gemara discusses:

It is obvious,

for what reason would we prohibit it?

It was necessary

this permission was necessary

only for the particles in it.

Crumbs and small pieces that adhered to it or fell from it.

Lest you say: Perhaps he brought them and mixed them into it,

one must be concerned lest he mixed them with other particles that had been cut with a forbidden knife, and because of this they became forbidden—

it teaches us that this is only what was shaken off that was shaken off,

these particles are only what adhered to the leaves,

and came with it,

and arrived together with them. And there is no concern lest they had already sufficed to become mixed with forbidden substances.

We learned in our Mishna:

And the rolled olives of gluskaot

that are gathered in a vessel are permitted.

The Gemara asks:

Is it obvious?

It was necessary,

this permission was necessary only to say that

even though they are exceedingly loose,

the olives are so loose that their pits slip out of them easily.

Lest you say,

we would say that they apparently reached this degree of looseness because

wine

wine

was put into them

he put into them—

it teaches us: These,

these olives,

it is because of the oil

the oil

that they became loose,

and not because wine was put into them.

We also learned there concerning this matter:

And Rabbi Yosei says—

the shalḥin are forbidden.

And the Gemara discusses:

What are the circumstances

how are they

the shalḥin

these?

Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: Any that, when one holds it in his hand,

and by a slight grasp already

its pit slips out.

And since it is so loose, presumably wine was put into it, and it is forbidden.

We learned in our Mishna:

The locusts that come

from the basket [basket] are forbidden.

The Sages taught:

The locusts, the capers, and the leeks

[pickled and cooked leeks. And they are not forbidden, since their manner is to eat them alive. ]

that come from the storehouse

a warehouse,

and from the hefteq,

a storage place in the shop,

and from the ship—

are permitted.

Those sold in the qetluza

in the marketplace

before a shopkeeper—

are forbidden, because he sprinkles wine over them.

And likewise, the apple wine of idolaters, which comes from the storehouse, from the hefteq, and from the basket—

is permitted. That which is sold in the qetluza—

is forbidden, because they mix wine into it

grape wine, and therefore it is forbidden.

The Sages taught: Once Rabbi felt

pain

in his intestines. He said: “Is there anyone who knows

whether

the apple wine of idolaters

[for drinking this wine is beneficial for intestinal pain]

is forbidden or permitted?”

Rabbi Ishmael the son of Rabbi Yosei said to him: “Once Father felt pain in his intestines, and they brought him apple wine of idolaters that was seventy years old, and he drank and was cured.”

Rabbi said to him: “All this was in your possession

an answer to this matter,

and you cause me distress

by not revealing it to me until now?!

They investigated and found one idolater who had three hundred jars

vessels

of seventy-year-old apple wine, and he drank and was cured.

He said

Rabbi:

“Blessed is the Omnipresent, who delivered His world to guardians.”

Such as this gentile, who guarded the wine for seventy years, until Rabbi came and was cured through it!

We learned in our Mishna:

And likewise for teruma.

And the Gemara discusses:

What

what is the meaning of

“and likewise

for teruma”

in our matter?

Rav Sheshet said:

the intention is—

and likewise for a koen

who receives teruma; and although it is his and he may sell it, nevertheless it may be eaten only by kohanim. And because of this it is sold cheaply, since not many come forward to buy it.

And a koen

who is suspected of selling teruma as ordinary produce

in order that they should buy it for more, then the merchandise that

is before him is what is forbidden

to buy from him, for there is concern lest it is teruma.

But

fruit and the like

that comes from the storehouse, from the hefteq, and from the basket—

is permitted

to buy from him, because

he is fearful,

he is afraid to place teruma produce in the storehouse together with the other produce, since

he reasons: The Sages will hear of it,

the Sages will hear from this that I mixed teruma with ordinary produce,

and they will ruin it for me,

and they will declare my entire storehouse ownerless.

But concerning what stands before him, he is not so concerned, since it is a small amount of merchandise. And therefore, what is before him is forbidden to buy from him.

We will return to you, “They Do Not Set Up.”

Introduction

It is stated in the Torah [Deuteronomy 7] concerning the conquest of the Land from the Canaanites, idolaters: “You shall burn the graven images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold upon them and take it for yourself, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination of the Lord your God. You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and you shall be accursed like it; you shall utterly loathe it and utterly abominate it, for it is accursed.”

This comes to teach us that avodah zarah—that is, idols and images—is forbidden for benefit. And the Sages further expounded [below 51b] that not only the idols themselves are forbidden, but also the accessories of avodah zarah, such as the firepan in which one offers incense before it; and likewise the adornments of avodah zarah, such as garments that they spread before it; and likewise the offerings of avodah zarah, such as meat, wines, and oils that they placed before it as an offering—all are forbidden for benefit.

And this is the wording of Maimonides [Chapter 7 of the Laws of Avodah Zarah, law 2]: “Idolatry, its accessories, its offerings, and everything made for its sake are forbidden for benefit, as it is stated: ‘You shall not bring an abomination into your house.’ And anyone who benefits from any one of all these receives lashes twice: once because of ‘You shall not bring,’ and once because of ‘Nor shall anything of the accursed thing cleave to your hand.’”

Our Mishna discusses a Jew who finds an image [a statue]: how can he identify whether it was made for the sake of avodah zarah, or whether it was made for adornment alone [like a monument in honor] and not for idols; and in what manner it is forbidden and in what manner it is permitted.

Mishna:

All the images

that a Jew finds,

are forbidden

for benefit,

because they are worshipped once a year; the words of Rabbi Meir.

And the Sages say: It is not forbidden “

all” the images,

but

only those upon which it is recognizable that they are images of avodah zarah. And they are:

every one that has a staff in its hand or

that has

a bird or a sphere

in its hand; and the Gemara explains how these things prove that they are images of avodah zarah. And it likewise explains in what reasoning the Sages dispute Rabbi Meir.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: Also every one that has any object in its hand.

Gemara:

The Gemara explains the reasoning of the Sages and in what they dispute Rabbi Meir.

From the wording of the Sages’ statement, since they did not say, “Only one who has a staff in his hand is worshipped,” it follows that they do not dispute the fact that they are worshipped once a year, and nevertheless they permit them. Therefore we ask:

If they are worshipped once a year, what is the reason of the Rabbis?

Surely they are certainly forbidden! Do they distinguish between once and several times?!

And we answer:

Rabbi Yitzchak bar Yosef said in the name of Rabbi

Yochanan:

In a place where it is known that the gentiles worship these images even once, the Sages certainly forbid them—

but

in Rabbi Meir’s place, they would worship it once a year—

And Rabbi Meir

follows his own position,

for

in all the prohibitions of the Torah

he is concerned for the minority.

That is, he is concerned to be stringent even where the concern is remote. Therefore

he decreed concerning the other places

where it is not known whether the gentiles worship these images,

because of that place

because of the places where they worship it.

And the Rabbis, who are not concerned for the minority,

but follow the majority,

and in most places they do not worship them—

did not decree concerning the other places because of that place.

The Gemara adds to explain that Rabbi Meir did not forbid all images, nor in all places.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: [It is speaking] of statues of kings

made in the form of a king who died, and they place it at the city gate as a memorial to the king; and concerning them

we learned

that Rabbi Meir forbids. For they are not made merely for adornment; rather, because of the king’s great belovedness, they worship it once a year.

Rabba bar bar Ḥana said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: And

those statues

that

are

standing at the entrance of a state

the city,

we learned

that Rabbi Meir forbids. But with other images and in other places, they do not worship them; they are made only for adornment, and they are permitted.