Avodah Zarah, Daf Lamed Bet, Part 5

 

Introduction

Today s sugya continues to discuss the prohibitions in the mishnah.

 

בשר הנכנס לעבודת כוכבים מותר: מאן תנא אמר ר’ חייא בר אבא א"ר יוחנן דלא כרבי אלעזר דאי כרבי אלעזר האמר סתם מחשבת עובד כוכבים לעבודת כוכבים:

 

Meat which is being brought into an idolatrous place is permitted. Who is the tanna that teaches this?

R. Hiyya b. Abba said in the name of R. Yohanan: It is not R. Eliezer; for were it R. Eliezer, did he not say that an idolater generally has idolatry in his mind.

 

The mishnah allows a Jew to derive benefit from meat that an idolater was bringing to his temple. The Talmud notes that this does not accord with R. Eliezer for R. Eliezer thinks that in general an idolater has idolatry on his mind and thus will already have dedicated this meat to his god, even before it arrives at the Temple. By implication, the mishnah would hold that the idolater has not yet made up his mind whether this meat will be a sacrifice or not.

 

והיוצא אסור מפני שהוא כזבחי מתים: מ"ט? אי אפשר דליכא תקרובת עבודת כוכבים

מני רבי יהודה בן בתירא היא דתניא רבי יהודה בן בתירא אומר מנין לתקרובת עבודת כוכבים שמטמא באהל שנאמר (תהלים קו, כח) ויצמדו לבעל פעור ויאכלו זבחי מתים מה מת מטמא באהל אף תקרובת עבודת כוכבים מטמאה באהל:

 

But that which is brought out is forbidden, because it is regarded as sacrifices of the dead. What is the reason? Because it is impossible for some idolatrous sacrifice not to have taken place.

Whose opinion is this? That of R. Judah b. Batera; for it has been taught: R. Judah b. Batera says: From where can we deduce that idolatrous offerings defile by overshadowing? From the verse, They joined themselves to Ba al-Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead (Psalms 106:28) just as a dead body defiles by overshadowing, so too an idolatrous sacrifice causes such defilement by overshadowing.

 

The assumption of the mishnah is that any meat that came out of a place of idolatry must have been used in idolatrous worship.

The mishnah says that it is prohibited to derive benefit from meat that was used in idolatry. In a roundabout way, this rule is connected with the opinion of R. Judah ben Batera. R. Judah ben Batera said that we learn the rule that products of idolatrous sacrifice defile by overhanging (this means that if they are over an object, the object underneath is ritually defiled) by the comparison with the dead body. Rashi points out that in this context there is another level to the comparison just as it is prohibited to derive benefit from the dead body, so too it is prohibited to derive benefit from products of idolatry.