Avodah Zarah 45a — the Talmud in English

It is stated in the Torah [Deuteronomy 12]: “You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you are dispossessing worshipped their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills, and under every leafy tree.”

And the Sages expounded: “Their gods upon the mountains”—but not the mountains their gods; “their gods upon the hills”—but not the hills their gods. And it is learned from this that the mountains and the hills, and every object attached to the ground, are themselves not prohibited if they worshipped them, and it is permitted to quarry stones from them, to sow in them, and the like.

Nevertheless, it is forbidden to worship them, and one who worships them is considered as one who worships idols in every respect, for he intended to worship idols and denied the fundamental principle.

And our early Rabbis disputed this law [and Rashi wrote both interpretations]: Some say that the mountains were not made into idols at all, and their offering, such as one who slaughters an animal for the sake of the mountains and hills, is not prohibited, because it is not an offering of idolatry, since the mountains and hills do not become idols.

And there are those who hold that they indeed became idols, and their offering is prohibited for benefit like other offerings of idols; except that it is a scriptural decree that the mountains themselves, although they become idols, are not prohibited for benefit, and it is permitted to quarry from them and to sow in them.

And all this concerns the mountains themselves, but with regard to their coverings—for example, if they covered them with silver and gold and bowed to them, that is, to the mountains—the coverings are prohibited.

And the other laws concerning idolatry attached to the ground will be explained within the sugya.

Mishna:

The gentiles who worship the mountains and the hills

and the springs and everything that is in its natural state—

they are permitted, and what is upon them

such as coverings of silver and gold—

is forbidden

for benefit. And the prohibition of benefit from the coverings is learned from what

is stated [

Deuteronomy 7], “

You shall not covet the silver and gold upon them.”

Rabbi Yose the Galilean says:

It is stated in the Torah, “

Their gods upon the mountains”—

and we expound:

but not the mountains

themselves

their gods. ‘Their gods upon the hills’—

but not the hills their gods.

And

if so,

why is an ashera forbidden?

And why do we not expound: “beneath every luxuriant tree”—but not the luxuriant tree their god?

And why did the Torah prohibit an ashera, when it said [Deuteronomy 7], “And you shall cut down their asherot”? Is the tree not attached [to the ground]?

And Rabbi Yose the Galilean answers: An ashera is different,

because it has the imprint of human hands

for a person planted it as a tree, although it is now attached [to the ground].

And the Gemara will explain in what Rabbi Yose the Galilean disputes the first tanna.

Rabbi Akiva said: I shall expound

and explain

and reason before you!

What the Torah said, “You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations served there … their gods upon the high mountains and upon the hills and beneath every luxuriant tree”—its intention is not to expound from it, “beneath every luxuriant tree,” but not the luxuriant tree; rather, the Torah gives the Israelites entering the Land of Israel—and who did not know the abominations of the nations—signs concerning the places where the Amorites worshipped, and commands them to search there for idols in order to eradicate and destroy them. And this is the statement of the Torah:

Every place where you find a high mountain, a raised hill, and a luxuriant tree—

know that there is idolatry there!

And it follows from this that one must destroy the idols and not the mountains and the hills—

And indeed, from this verse also it is not understood that one must destroy every luxuriant tree, but rather search there for idols; and from another verse, which states, “And you shall burn their asherot with fire,” it is learned that an ashera is prohibited for benefit and that we are commanded to eradicate it.

Gemara:

The Gemara clarifies in what the first tanna and Rabbi Yose the Galilean disputed.

And Rabbi Yose the Galilean—

that is the first tanna

—do they not both hold that the mountains and hills are permitted?

Rami bar Hama said in the name of Resh Lakish: The covering of a mountain

is permitted

like

the

mountain

itself—this law

is what separates them

there is a difference between them—

The first tanna holds: The covering of a mountain is not like the mountain—

and

although the mountain is permitted, the covering

is forbidden,

and this is what he said: “And what is upon them is forbidden,” as it is stated: “You shall not covet the silver and gold upon them”—that is, everything that is upon them.

And

if

Rabbi Yose the Galilean holds: The covering of a mountain indeed

is like the mountain,

and just as the mountain is permitted and is not idolatry, so too the covering. And according to him, what the Torah said, “upon them,” refers only to idols completely detached [from the ground].

Rav Sheshet explains that they dispute concerning “a tree that one planted and only afterward worshipped.”

And this means: There is room to say that the ashera that the Torah prohibited is only when one planted a seed for the sake of an ashera and a tree grew from it, for then the “imprint of human hands” was for the sake of idolatry— Rashi explained that “one planted it initially for this purpose” means that he planted a seed, and with regard to this ashera there is no dispute, and according to everyone it is forbidden. But the Tosafot hold—and prove this from several proofs—that when one planted a seed it is permitted according to everyone, and it is not called the imprint of human hands, just as, according to Rashi, a tree standing by itself that grew in a forest from the six days of Creation is permitted according to everyone. And according to the Tosafot, “one planted it initially for this purpose” means that he planted a fully grown tree, not for the sake of an ashera—that is, he transferred a tree from one place to another and afterward worshipped it. And in this manner the tannaim, Rabbi Yose the Galilean and Rabbi Yose ben Yehuda, hold that it is called the imprint of human hands. And the Sages dispute this, holding that since it took root anew in the ground, the imprint of human hands was removed from it. So wrote Rashi. And the Ramban brings this interpretation in the name of “there are those who say,” and wrote about it, “I find no reason for this.” That is: The tannaim later [51b] dispute concerning a gentile who prepared an idol and afterward worshipped it: from when is it prohibited for benefit, whether from the time of its making or from the time of its worship. And one may ask: Granted, according to the one who says that it is prohibited immediately, at the time of its making, therefore the ashera becomes prohibited immediately, from the time of planting it for the sake of an ashera. But according to the one who says that it is not prohibited until the time of worship, what is different about an ashera that it becomes prohibited immediately? After all, they had not yet worshipped it at the time of planting, and it does not yet have the law of the prohibition of an ashera. Why, then, is it called as having the imprint of human hands, and in what does it differ from a tree that one planted and afterward worshipped? And the Ramban wrote that indeed, according to the one who holds that it is not prohibited until it is worshipped, its law is like that of one planted and afterward worshipped. And our sugya does not follow that view. And he holds that the verse, “And you shall burn their asherot,” speaks of a tree that they worshipped and afterward planted, or that they worshipped it even before it took root. And according to this view there is no special novelty concerning an ashera in comparison with other idols, and it becomes prohibited only after they worship it. And what the Torah doubled, saying in one verse “you shall burn” and in the other “you shall cut down,” is expounded for the exposition that we expound later in the Gemara: cutting down before conquest, and uprooting after conquest. And the Hazon Ish [ section 60, note 3] brings the view of the Tosafot [47b, s.v. “This is how we should read”] that even the appurtenances of idolatry are prohibited when one planted them and afterward worshipped them; this implies that the Tosafot dispute the Ramban, for concerning the appurtenances of idolatry they did not dispute, and according to everyone they are not prohibited until he worships them.

But a tree planted not for the sake of idolatry, and only afterward worshipped, does not have “the imprint of human hands” for the sake of idolatry; rather, its law is like that of the mountains and hills.

On the other hand, one can say that it is not comparable to the mountains and hills. For with regard to the mountains and hills, there is no imprint of human hands, and they never had an imprint of human hands. But a tree that one planted has “the imprint of human hands”—even though when he planted it and the imprint of human hands was upon it, the imprint was not for the sake of idolatry; nevertheless, it is not comparable to the mountains and hills. And the growth added to the tree after they worshipped it is prohibited.

And according to Rav Sheshet, the tannaim in the Mishna disputed this.

Rav Sheshet said: According to everyone,

all the tannaim hold that

the covering of a mountain is not like the mountain,

and they are prohibited for benefit.