Avodah Zarah, Daf Kaf Zayin, Part 6
Introduction
This sugya continues to discuss the story that appeared at the end of yesterday s daf.
אמר מר לא עברת על דברי חביריך שהיו אומרים ופורץ גדר ישכנו נחש איהו נמי חויא טרקיה !
חויא דרבנן דלית ליה אסותא כלל
The Master said: Nor have you transgressed the words of you colleagues who said, He who breaks through a fence, a snake shall bite him ?
But a snake did indeed bite him!
The snake of the rabbis [did not bite him] which can never be cured.
The irony of the story is that the rabbis say to him that he should be happy that he did not break a fence by being healed by a heretic, for such a person will be bit by a snake. But Ben Dama was bit by a snake! The Talmud answers by saying that the bite of the snake referred to in that saying is worse than the bite a real snake. The type of snake referred to in that saying is the snake of the rabbis one bit by such a snake cannot be healed even in the world to come.
ומאי ה"ל למימר (ויקרא יח, ה) וחי בהם ולא שימות בהם
Now, what is it that he might have said? He shall live by them, (Leviticus 18:5) but not die by them.
Ben Dama could have responded to R. Ishmael that the Torah demands that one live through observance of the mitzvoth, not die by them.
ור’ ישמעאל הני מילי בצינעא אבל בפרהסיא לא דתניא היה רבי ישמעאל אומר מנין שאם אומרים לו לאדם עבוד עבודת כוכבים ואל תהרג שיעבוד ואל יהרג ת"ל וחי בהם ולא שימות בהם יכול אפילו בפרהסיא ת"ל (ויקרא כב, לב) ולא תחללו את שם קדשי
And R. Ishmael? This is only meant when in private, but not in public; for it has been taught: R. Ishmael used to say: From where can we deduce that if they say to one, Worship idol worship and you will not be killed, that he may worship it so as not to be killed? Scripture says, He shall live by them, but not die by them. This might mean even in public, therefore Scripture says, And you shall not profane My holy name (Leviticus 22:32).
R. Ishmael holds that while one may worship idols in private to save one s life, one may not do so in public for this would profane God s name. Ben Dama s act was in public, and therefore he did not have permission to be healed by the heretic.
אמר רבה בר בר חנה אמר רבי יוחנן כל מכה שמחללין עליה את השבת אין מתרפאין מהן
ואיכא דאמרי אמר רבה בר בר חנה אמר ר"י כל מכה של חלל אין מתרפאין מהן
Rabbah b. Bar Hanah in the name of R. Yohanan: Any wound for which Shabbat may be profaned should not be healed by them (by non-Jews).
Others say that Rabba b. Bar Hanah said: Any internal wound should not be healed by them.
There are two versions of what types of wounds should not be healed by a non-Jew. The first is the type of wound that may be healed on Shabbat meaning a life-threatening one. The second is an internal wound.
מאי בינייהו? איכא בינייהו גב היד וגב הרגל דאמר רב אדא בר מתנה אמר רב גב היד וגב הרגל הרי הן כמכה של חלל ומחללין עליהן את השבת
How do these versions differ? They differ in the case of a hand or foot wound, for R. Adda b. Mattena said in the name of Rav: A hand or foot wound is to be regarded as [serious as] an internal wound, and we may profane the Shabbat to heal it.
Hand and foot wounds are considered serious wounds for which one may break Shabbat even though they are not internal wounds. According to the first version, one may not be healed by a non-Jew for them, but according to the second version, one may since they are not truly internal wounds.