Avodah Zarah, Daf Nun Vav, Part 5

 

 

ההוא ינוקא דתנא עבודת כוכבים בשית שני. בעו מיניה מהו לדרוך עם העובד כוכבים בגת? אמר להו דורכין עם העובד כוכבים בגת.

 

There was a boy who had learned the tractate on idolatry when he was six years old. He was asked, May [an Israelite] tread grapes together with an idolater in a press?

He replied: One may tread grapes together with a non-Jew in a press.

 

Fascinatingly, we hear of a six year old boy who had learned, meaning memorized, tractate Avodah Zarah, probably of the Mishnah. With this knowledge in hand, he is asked a question of law can a Jew tread on grapes with an idolater? And the answer is clearly in our Mishnah yes he can.

 

והא קא מנסך בידיה

דציירנא להו לידיה

והא קא מנסך ברגל

ניסוך דרגל לא שמיה ניסוך

 

But does he not render it yayin nesekh by [the touch of] his hands!

We tie his hands up.

But he renders it yayin nesek by [the touch of] his feet!

Wine touched by the feet is not called nisukh.

 

The person who asks the boy this question asks two follow-up questions. First of all, when the idolater touches the liquid, does he not render it yayin nesekh? This very question shows a shift from the mishnaic law to the amoraic law. According to the mishnah, the liquid in the press is not considered wine and is therefore not subject to the laws of libated wine. Idolaters libate wine, not unfermented grape juice. There is thus no problem with their having contact with the latter.

In contrast, according to the amoraim (or at least some of them) all liquid is subject to these laws. Therefore, according to the boy, we must make sure he does not libate any wine by tying up his hands. This is, of course, an absurd resolution and effectively makes it impossible to the Jew to tread with the idolater.

But the idolater s feet will still touch the wine, protests the questioner. Again, we can see here that the understanding of the status of the liquid in the press has changed. Furthermore, it seems that the questioner understands the non-Jews to be defiling the wine in a way similar to the rules of impurity, and not the rules of yayin nesekh. Defiling is done through contact and it does not matter whether this contact is by hand or foot. The boy rejects this concept and answers that wine touched by feet does not count as yayin nesekh.

It is interesting that the Talmud attributes this discourse to a six year old boy. I m not familiar with other such cases in the Talmud (there may be some, but I just do not know of them). Perhaps the idea is that Avodah Zarah is such an important tractate, that even six year olds should know it. In a world saturated with idolatry, where assimilation was such a huge threat (perhaps even more than in our day), this tractate was especially important.