Avodah Zarah, Daf Mem Het, Part 4

 

Introduction

This section opens with another mishnah about the asherah tree.

 

מתני׳ לא ישב בצילה ואם ישב טהור ולא יעבור תחתיה ואם עבר טמא היתה גוזלת את הרבים ועבר תחתיה טהור:

 

One may not sit in its shadow, but if he sat he is pure.

Nor may he pass beneath it, and if he passed he is impure.

If it encroaches upon the public road and he passed beneath he is pure.

 

One is not allowed to sit in the shade of an asherah, for by doing so he would be benefiting from an idolatrous object. However, sitting in its shade alone will not cause him to be made impure, because he did not actually sit underneath the tree. He is not allowed to pass under the asherah, and if he does he is impure.

If the asherah was leaning over onto the public road and a person passed underneath it, he is not impure. The impurity of the asherah is only rabbinically ordained, and in this case the Rabbis did not decree that one who walks underneath the asherah is made impure. The reason for this is that the Rabbis declared idolatrous objects to be transmitters of impurity in order to keep people away from them. Since this person who was walking on the public could not have avoided the tree, he is not impure.

 

גמ׳ לא ישב בצילה פשיטא!

אמר רבה בר בר חנה א"ר יוחנן לא נצרכא אלא לצל צילה

מכלל דבצל קומתה אם ישב טמא

לא דאפי’ לצל קומתה נמי אם ישב טהור והא קמ"ל דאפילו לצל צילה לא ישב

 

GEMARA. One may not sit in its shade. This is obvious!

Rabbah b. Bar Hanah said in the name of R. Yohanan: It was only necessary to mention it in the case of the shade of its shade.

By inference if he sat in the shade corresponding to the height of the tree he is defiled?

No, even if he sat in the shade corresponding to the height of the tree he is also pure, and it teaches us that he may not sit even in the shade of its shade.

 

Obviously one cannot sit in the shade of an asherah tree. This is clearly making use of the tree. The answer is that the mishnah teaches that he may not sit even in the shade of its shade. This is the shade that goes beyond the height of the tree.

The Talmud has now distinguished between the shade and the shade of its shade. We would think that the rule is stricter with regard to the shade. So if it is forbidden to sit in the shade of its shade then one who sits in the shade should be impure, like one who walks under the tree according to the mishnah.

The Talmud rejects that even sitting in the shade that corresponds to the height of the tree does not defile. The Mishnah teaches that while sitting in the shade does not defile, it is still prohibited to sit in the shade of its shade.

 

איכא דמתני לה אסיפא ואם ישב טהור פשיטא! אמר רבה בר בר חנה א"ר יוחנן לא נצרכא אלא לצל קומתה

מכלל דלצל צילה אפילו לכתחלה ישב

לא הא קמ"ל דאפילו לצל קומתה אם ישב טהור:

 

There are some who apply this teaching to the end of the mishnah: But if he sat, he is pure.

This is obvious! Rabbah b. Bar Hanah said in the name of R. Yohanan: It was only necessary to teach this in the case of the shade corresponding to the height of the tree.

By inference he may sit in the shade of its shade even ab initio?

No; rather it teaches us that even if he sat in the shade corresponding to the height of the tree he is pure.

 

This is another version of Rabbah b. Bar Hannah s statement. Obviously if one sits in the shade of the asherah tree he is pure. The mishnah did not need to teach that. After all, in the next clause we learn that he is impure only if he passes right underneath. The innovation is that this is true even if he sits in the shade of the tree s height.

But now this implies that he may sit in the shade of its shade.

The answer is that it is always forbidden to sit in any form of shade. The innovation of the mishnah is that even if he sits in the shade of the height of the tree, he is still pure.

 

To summarize the two versions, which are complementary, not alternatives:

According to version 1, we needed the first clause to teach us that he may not sit in the shade of its shade. According to version 2, we needed the second clause to teach that even if he sits in the shade of its height, he is still pure.