2,711 pages of Talmud. A gem a day.

Avodah Zarah 45

That’s a picture of Denali, also known as Mount McKinley. Gorgeous. Makes one understand mountain worship. Mountain Worship is common in many cultures. Japanese have a faith called 山岳信仰, sangaku shinkō that regards mountains as sacred objects of worship. Korea, Tibet, Napal, China, and Andean people (and so many more) have mountain worship as well.

In Judaism, we can feel awe and wonder when looking at nature, including mountains. The difference is that we see them as wonders of God’s creation, not gods themselves. The daf has been telling us to destroy idols. But what if the people are worshipping mountains? How do we destroy them?

As it is taught in a baraita with regard to the verse: “You shall destroy all the places where the nations that you are to dispossess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every leafy tree” (Deuteronomy 12:2): Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda, says: From that which is stated in the verse: “You shall destroy…their gods, upon the high mountains,” from which the Sages derived: But not the mountains themselves that are their gods, and: “You shall destroy…their gods…upon the hills,” but not the hills themselves if they are their gods . . .

So gaze away. Enjoy the wonder of nature and the majesty of the mountains. And feel free to thank God for them . . .just don’t pray to them.

Avodah Zarah 44

Today’s daf is graphic! We get people doing (let’s say) interesting things with idols.

A wise gentile, Proclus ben Plospus, once asked a question of Rabban Gamliel in the city of Akko when he was bathing in the bathhouse of the Greek god Aphrodite. Proclus said to him: It is written in your Torah: “And nothing of the proscribed items shall cleave to your hand” (Deuteronomy 13:18). For what reason do you bathe before an idol in the bathhouse of Aphrodite?

What’s his answer? Even if people would give you a lot of money, you would not enter before your object of idol worship naked, or as one who experienced a seminal emission who comes to the bathhouse to purify himself, nor would you urinate before it. This statue stands upon the sewage pipe and all the people urinate before it. There is no prohibition in this case, as it is stated in the verse only: “Their gods” (see Deuteronomy 12:2), which indicates that a statue that people treat as a deity is forbidden, but one that people do not treat with the respect that is due to a deity is permitted.

Ha! The men in the bathhouse are naked, some having had seminal emissions, and apparently, urinating by or around this statue of Aphrodite. But, there are other things you might do with n object of idol worship. (Warning, R rated Talmudic passage follows.)

What is the meaning of “miflatztah”? Rav Yehuda says: It means an object that intensifies [mafli] licentiousness [leitzanuta]; as Rabbi Yosef teaches: Maacah fashioned upon the idol the likeness of a male organ, and she would engage in sexual activity with it daily.

Yep.

Is it too vulgar to make a joke about how women still say “Oh god, Oh god” when using items like this?

(Guess I just did.)

Avodah Zarah 43

On our daf today, we get a great story about a rabbis quest to annul the idolatrous status of a ring he finds. From it, we learn three laws, but also a lesson about what we might need to do when we find something that could be harmful for others.

Rabba bar bar Ḥana says that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: Once, I was following Rabbi Elazar HaKappar the Distinguished on the road, and he found a ring there, and there was a figure of a dragon on it. (Remember, the Dragon is a symbol of idolatry!) And he then encountered a minor gentile boy, but did not say anything to him. He then encountered an adult gentile, and said to him: Revoke the ring’s idolatrous status. But the gentile did not revoke it. Rabbi Elazar HaKappar then slapped him across his face, whereupon the gentile succumbed and revoked its idolatrous status. The Gemara comments: Learn from this incident the following three halakhot: Learn from it that a gentile can revoke the idolatrous status of both his object of idol worship and that of another gentile. And learn from the fact that Rabbi Elazar HaKappar waited to find an adult gentile, that only one who is aware of the nature of idol worship and its accessories can revoke the idol’s status, but one who is not aware of the nature of idol worship and its accessories, such as a minor, cannot revoke the idol’s status. And finally, learn from it that a gentile can revoke the status of an idol even against his will.

Rabbi Ḥanina ridiculed this ruling and asked: But why was it necessary to have a gentile actively revoke the idolatrous status of the ring?

Abaye said: Granted, the owner despairs of recovering the object itself, but does he despair of its forbidden [me’issura] idolatrous status? The owner does not assume that the object will never be worshipped again; rather, he says to himself: If a gentile finds it, he will worship it. If a Jew finds it, since it is valuable, he will sell it to a gentile who will then worship it. Therefore, Rabbi Elazar HaKappar had to have the ring’s idolatrous status revoked.

Great story! It does remind me of finding something dangerous on the road. What do you do? You can avoid it, which will protect you, but even better than that is getting rid of it so no one can get hurt by it. This may mean reporting if furniture fell on the road, if you see someone has a gun, or using pinchers to get rid of needles on the beech.

Good looking out Rabbi Elazar HaKappar.

Avodah Zarah 42

Do Jews believe in dragons? On our daf today, we get a new Mishna that tells us that we cannot repurpose items of idol worship with the following depictions on them:

MISHNA: In the case of one who finds vessels, and upon them is a figure of the sun, a figure of the moon, or a figure of a dragon, he must take them and cast them into the Dead Sea and not derive any benefit from them, as they are assumed to be objects of idol worship. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: Those figures that are upon respectable vessels are forbidden. Those that are upon disgraceful vessels are permitted.

Okay, so if I have forks with little suns on them – those are okay to use, but not a sun made of gold. But what about the dragon?

דְּרָקוֹן – “Darkon” or dragon, is featured in many biblical and rabbinic texts. There is Leviathan, the famous sea dragon. There is Daniel who refuses to worship the dragon (Daniel 14:23-27). Numbers 21:6 describes God sending “fiery serpents” as punishment for the complaining. Isaiah 14:29 is quite powerful:

Rejoice not, all Philistia,
Because the staff of him that beat you is broken.
For from the stock of a snake there sprouts an asp,
A flying seraph branches out from it.

We also have scenes in the Talmud of Rabbis fighting dragon like creatures. Remember back on Kiddushim 29b when we learned the story of Rabbi Acha who is staying in the study hall at night? All the rabbis warn him not to as there is a “demon.”

Rav Aḥa found no place to spend the night, and he entered and spent the night in that study hall of the Sages. The demon appeared to him like a serpent with seven heads. Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov began to pray, and with every bow that he bowed one of the demon’s heads fell off, until it eventually died. The next day Rav Aḥa said to the townspeople: If a miracle had not occurred, you would have placed me in danger.

All to say, we don’t worship dragons. Our rabbis didn’t worship dragons. But, that didn’t stop them from telling stories about those flying creatures.

Avodah Zarah 41

What do we put our faith into?

Avodah Zarah, the name of our tractate, means idolatry. Today, the rabbis debate if a statue that was the object of idolatry breaks, if the fragmented pieces are still prohibited as objects of idolatry, or if they are now permissble to use in other contexts.

It was stated: With regard to objects of idol worship that broke by themselves, Rabbi Yoḥanan says: It is prohibited to derive benefit from them. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says: It is permitted.

While Rabbi Yohanan says that even if the statue broke, you cannot use the pieces as they were subject to worship/idolatry. They explain below:

The Gemara explains the sides of the dispute. Rabbi Yoḥanan says that it is prohibited, as its owner did not revoke its status as an object of idol worship. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says that it is permitted, as the owner presumably revoked its status as an object of idol worship, having said to himself: If the idol could not save even itself from harm, can it save that man, i.e., myself?

Ben Lakish tries to think what the idolator might think, “if this idol could not save itself from being broken, then how can it save me?”

I love this text. What do we put our faith into? What do we expect to save us? It’s not just statues that we give our power to, that we allow to dictate our behaviors and lives. Everything breaks. Everyone will let us down at some time. Only God (the real one, who we make no graven images of) is constant. Only God never breaks.

Avodah Zarah 40

Today we get a dramatic story of … a stomach ache! And we get a true bonafide remedy 🙂

The Gemara cites a relevant incident: The Sages taught: Once Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi felt discomfort in his stomachand knew that apple wine would alleviate it. He said: Isn’t there any person who knows whether apple wine of gentilesis prohibited or permitted? Rabbi Yishmael ben Rabbi Yosei said before him: Once my father felt discomfort in his stomach and they brought him apple wine of gentiles that was seventy years old, and he drank it and was cured. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said to him: You had so much knowledge in your hand that could have relieved me, and yet you caused me to suffer by withholding it until now.

So, we learn that perhaps apple cider that is aged (apple cider vinegar) and cure him. But will they find it?

They checked and found one gentile who had three hundred large jugs of apple wine that was seventy years old, and Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi drank from it and was cured. He said: Blessed is the Omnipresent who delivered His universe to keepers.

Rabbi praises God for these gentiles who make apple cider vinegar. According to health.com “It can help to calm stomach discomfort associated with indigestion, reflux, bloating, or fullness. While studies have not been done to analyze how ACV works, the acidic nature of apple cider vinegar and other types of vinegar may support better stomach pH.” But don’t have too much!! Then it will hurt your stomach.

Avodah Zarah 39

I remember my grandfather, who was an orthodox rabbi, telling me he didn’t learned most of the halakha (laws of Judaism) just by watching his dad. On today’s daf, we see how the members of a learned rabbis’ household are trusted to know the laws . . . ant that when we don’t live in a house like that, what might happen.

The Sages taught: The wife of one who is not careful to keep the particulars of certain halakhot [am ha’aretz], who later marries a ḥaver, and likewise the daughter of an am ha’aretz who marries a ḥaver, and likewise the slave of an am ha’aretz who is sold to a ḥaver, must all accept upon themselves the commitment to observe the matters associated with ḥaver status.

So we see that those who grow up in a learned household are trusted. But what happens when they move out? But the wife of a ḥaver who later marries an am ha’aretz, and likewise the daughter of a ḥaver who marries an am ha’aretz, and likewise the slave of a ḥaver who was sold to an am ha’aretz, these people need not accept upon themselves the commitment to observe the matters associated with ḥaver status ab initio. This is the statement of Rabbi Meir.

Rabbi Yehuda says: They too must accept upon themselves the commitment to observe the matters associated with ḥaver status ab initio. And similarly, Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar would illustrate this point and say: There was an incident involving a certain woman who married a ḥaver and would tie for him phylacteries on his hand, and she later married a tax collector and would tie for him tax-seals on his hand, which shows that her new husband had a great influence on her level of piety.

Wow! What a deep message. This woman was so used to wrapping her husband’s tefillin, that when she remarried a tax collector, she would wrap his tax receipts as if they were tefillin.

This begs the question: if we are not wrapping ourselves in holiness, what are we wrapping ourselves in? What does what we wear say about who we are?

Avodah Zarah 38

Today’s daf is focused on the question of when it is permitted to eat something when a non-Jew was involved in the process of cooking it. I will spare you the details and only share one ruling. But oddly enough, this piece on cooking has me thinking a lot about the “kosher” status of work created using AI.

Along these lines, it was also stated: Rabba bar bar Ḥana says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says, and some say Rav Aḥa bar bar Ḥana says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Whether the gentile placed the meat on the fire and the Jew turned it over, or whether the Jew placed the meat on the fire and the gentile turned it over, the meat is permitted, and it is not prohibited unless its cooking from beginning to end was performed by the hand of a gentile.

Here we see that meat can be deemed “kosher” as long as a Jewish person has some part in it’s preparation. If a non-Jew does it from start to finish – then it’s not fit to eat. (An aspect of this is that there is no knowing if something may have happened to render the meat forbidden if there is no sort of instruction or supervision.)

Here is why this has me thinking of AI.

If I ask ChatGPT to write an article on Avodah Zarah 38, it may come up with something brilliant. However, my cutting and pasting it is hardly me writing it. However, if I take what I have just written and asked Chat GPT to check for spelling and grammar – it’s totally kosher. (I didn’t, so if there are errors, that’s why.) As we try and figure out how to use AI in ethical ways, today’s daf is a good one for us to use in thinking about how much of ourselves we need to put into the creation of something for it to be deemed “kosher” and when we need to say: This was written by AI.

This wasn’t. AI may very likely do a better job. But this is for me.

Avodah Zarah 37

Yesterday, we learned that the rabbis need to follow the lead of the people and not make rules no one can follow. They do not want to be considered to restrictive. Today, we learn that they also don’t want to be perceived as too permissive.

The Gemara relates a relevant incident: Rabbi Yehuda Nesia was traveling while leaning upon the shoulder of Rabbi Simlai, his attendant. Rabbi Yehuda Nesia said to him: Simlai, you were not in the study hall last night when we permitted the oil of gentiles. Rabbi Simlai said to him: In our days, you will permit bread of gentiles as well. Rabbi Yehuda Nesia said to him: If so, people will call us a permissive court. As we learned in a mishna (Eduyyot 8:4): Rabbi Yosei ben Yo’ezer of Tzereida testified with regard to the eil kamtza, a type of locust, that it is kosher, and with regard to the liquids of the slaughterhouse in the Temple that they are ritually pure, and with regard to one who touches a corpse that he is impure, as soon explained by the Gemara. And as a result, they called him: Yosef the Permissive.

This story gives us a perfect balance to yesterday’s daf. Just as a rabbi doesn’t not want to be too restrictive, he also does not want to be seen as too permissive. Rabbi Simlai seems to be excited that Rabbi Yehudah Nesia ruled to permit Jews to consume oil from gentiles. He suggests that they should give permission to eat gentile bread as well! In response, Rabbi Yehudah Nesia shares that if he is too lenient They will call his court permissive like, Yosef the Permissive – who, by the way, permitted three things.

So we learn that we need a balance between not making things too hard but still having expectations.

Avodah Zarah 36

Today’s daf reminds us that rabbis make mistakes too! I have two short gems, one that shows us that sometimes that fault is one of character and sometimes the fault is in expectations of what laws people can follow.

First fault: Talking behind another rabbi’s back:

Rav said to him: Was it Rabbi Simlai of Lod of whom you spoke and gave you this ruling? Residents of Lod are different, as they disparage the Sages’ decrees, and therefore Rabbi Simlai’s testimony is unreliable. Shmuel said to him: Shall I send for him? As a result, Rav became embarrassed.

Ha! Rav talks smack about Rabbi Simlai and so Shmuel says, “You want to say that to his face?” Even rabbis speak lashon harah (gossip) sometimes, and it’s not a good quality.

This next gem tells us that even though the rabbis decreed that people were not allowed to use gentile oil, most Jews did not observe the oil prohibition. Because most people didn’t observing the decree, Rabbi Yehduah Hanasi annulled it altogether!

It is the verse: “You are cursed with the curse, yet you rob Me, even this whole nation” (Malachi 3:9). This teaches that if there is the acceptance of the whole nation, yes, an ordinance may be instituted, but if not, no, the ordinance may not be instituted.

Where does Jewish authority come from? Not only from the rabbis or the Torah, but also, from other people. What can the community bear? What are the community norms? That’s just as important when trying to create a society that works.

So, sometimes rabbis mess up with their expectations of others and sometimes we fall short of others’ expectations. The goal is to learn from it and adjust and do better next time.