Avodah Zarah 74a — the Talmud in English

Our Mishna adds to enumerate things that are forbidden for benefit and render their mixtures forbidden in any amount. However, the Mishna is not dealing with a mixture of liquid with liquid, where the prohibition is not present as such, but absorbed into the permitted substance. Rather, it deals with a mixture of dry with dry, in which a “thing sold by count” — that is, an item possessing importance in itself — became mixed with a permitted item. And it teaches us that it is not nullified even in a thousandfold mixture.

Mishna:

These

following things

are forbidden

for benefit in themselves,

and

if they became mixed with permitted items,

render them forbidden in any amount

[even if one of them became mixed with a thousand, all of them are forbidden]:

a. A barrel of

wine of idolatry,

which became mixed with a thousand permitted barrels—all of them are forbidden.

b.

And

a statue of

idolatry

which became mixed with a thousand permitted statues—all of them are forbidden.

c.

And leather with hearts torn out,

that is, the hide of an animal which they tore open, removed its heart, and offered it up for idolatry. And it is forbidden for benefit because of the “offering of idolatry.” If it became mixed even with a thousand permitted hides, all of them are forbidden.

d.

And an ox sentenced to be stoned,

an ox which killed a person and whose judgment was concluded that it should be stoned, which became mixed with a thousand permitted oxen—all of them are forbidden for benefit.

e.

And a beheaded heifer,

after they brought it down to the rugged valley as required by its law (see Deuteronomy 21:1–9).

f.

And the birds of a leper,

that is, the bird which the leper slaughters for his purification, is forbidden for benefit, as explained in Kiddushin (57a).

g.

And the hair

which the

Nazirite

shaved on the day his days of naziriteship were completed and burned (see Numbers 6:18), and this hair is forbidden for benefit. And if it became mixed with other hair, everything is forbidden.

h.

And the firstborn donkey

which was not redeemed and is still forbidden for benefit, or which was beheaded.

i.

And

a piece of

meat

which was cooked

with milk,

and became mixed with a thousand other pieces.

j.

And the goat sent away

to Azazel on Yom Kippur.

k.

And

non-sacred animals

slaughtered in the Temple courtyard,

are forbidden for benefit.

Behold,

all

these are forbidden

for benefit,

and

if they became mixed with others,

they render them forbidden in any amount.

Gemara:

The Gemara asks:

What is the tanna enumerating?

That is, what causes the items enumerated in the Mishna not to be nullified by the majority?

If he is enumerating “a thing sold by count,”

that is, if the reason they are not nullified by the majority is because they are a “thing sold by count,” then

let him also teach pieces of unslaughtered carcass,

which are also a “thing sold by count,” even though they were not forbidden for benefit.

And

if he is enumerating “things forbidden for benefit,”

and because they are forbidden for benefit they are therefore not nullified by the majority,

let him also teach leaven on Passover,

which is also forbidden for benefit?

Rav Hiyya bar Abba said, and some say

that this statement may also be said in the name of

Rav Yitzhak Nappaha: This tanna has two requirements.

That is, in order that it not be nullified by the majority, two conditions are required: a. that the prohibition be

a “thing sold by count,”

that is, an important item which people customarily sell by count,

and

b. that the prohibited item be

“something forbidden for benefit.”

The Gemara asks: If so,

let him also teach cracked nuts and Badan pomegranates

of orla, which became mixed with permitted produce,

for it is both a thing sold by count and something forbidden for benefit?

The Gemara answers:

That was taught there

(Orla, chapter 3, Mishna 7):

, “That which is fit for orla is orla.

That is, the produce of a tree to which the law of orla applies, which became mixed with other produce, is all forbidden because of orla. And likewise,

that which is fit for the mixed species of the vineyard,

which became mixed with the mixed species of the vineyard, everything is forbidden because of

“the mixed species of the vineyard.”

And furthermore, we have a difficulty:

let him also teach “loaves belonging to a householder”

which are a thing sold by count,

with regard to leaven on Passover?

The Gemara answers:

Who is the one from whom you hear that leaven on Passover is forbidden for benefit? Rabbi Akiva!

That was taught there,

in tractate Orla (at the end of the same Mishna cited above),

“Rabbi Akiva adds also loaves belonging to a householder.”:

We learned in the final clause of our Mishna:

“Behold, these

are forbidden and render [others] forbidden in any amount”:

The Gemara explains:

To exclude what?

That is, why did the tanna repeat and write, “Behold, these are forbidden and render [others] forbidden in any amount”?

To exclude a thing sold by count but not something forbidden for benefit; alternatively, to exclude something forbidden for benefit but not a thing sold by count.:

Mishna:

Wine of idolatry which fell into a pit

containing permitted wine,

all of it is forbidden for benefit.

Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel says: He sells all of it to a gentile, except for the value of the wine of idolatry in it.:

Gemara:

Rav said: The halakha is according to Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel

only if

a barrel

of wine of idolatry

became mixed with barrels

of permitted wine, and then he takes one of them and casts it into the river, and the rest is permitted.

But not

if

wine became mixed with wine.

And Shmuel said: Even

if

wine became mixed with wine,

it is permitted for benefit except for the value of that wine.

And likewise Rabbah bar bar Hana said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: Even wine mixed with wine.

And likewise Rav Shmuel bar Natan said in the name of Rav Hanina: Even wine mixed with wine.

And likewise Rav Nahman said in the name of Rabbah bar Avuha: Even wine mixed with wine.

Rav Nahman said: As a practical ruling, wine of idolatry,

which became mixed

wine with wine, is forbidden. A barrel with a barrel is permitted. Ordinary wine

of a gentile

, even wine with wine, is permitted

for benefit except for the value of that wine.