Avodah Zarah, Daf Samekh Daled, Part 5
Introduction
Today s section contains yet another question asked of these rabbis while they were sitting. Personally, I find this the most interesting of the questions.
הדור יתבו וקמיבעיא להו גר תושב מהו שיבטל עבודת כוכבים?
דפלח מבטיל דלא פלח לא מבטיל או דלמא כל דבר מיני’ מבטיל והאי בר מיניה הוא
They were again sitting together and the question was raised: Can a ger toshav annul an idol? One who worships can annul and one who does not worship cannot annul? Or perhaps anybody who is one of them can annul it and he is one of them?
The ger toshav is a non-Jew who has accepted upon himself not to worship idols (he may have accepted other commandments, but clearly this is one of them). So can he annul idols? On the one hand, the act of annulment seems to only work for one who actually worships the idols. A Jew cannot annul an idol, only a non-Jew can. On the other hand, tribally he is one of them so maybe the fact that he is part of the world that does, generally, worship idols, he can annul the idol.
At the heart of this question seems to be the question of what constitutes a person s identity his beliefs and practices, or his ethnic background?
אמר להו רב נחמן מסתברא דפלח מבטיל דלא פלח לא מבטיל
R. Nahman said to them: It seems that one who worships can annul and one who does not worship cannot annul.
According to R. Nahman, the ger toshav cannot annul idols since he does not worship them.
מיתיבי ישראל שמצא עבודת כוכבים בשוק עד שלא באתה לידו אומר לעובד כוכבים ומבטלה משבאתה לידו אינו אומר לעובד כוכבים ומבטלה מפני שאמרו עובד כוכבים מבטל עבודת כוכבים שלו ושל חבירו בין עובדה ובין שאין עובדה
מאי עובדה ומאי שאינו עובדה אילימא אידי ואידי עובד כוכבים היינו שלו ושל חבירו אלא לאו עובדה עובד כוכבים ומאי שאינו עובדה גר תושב וש"מ גר תושב נמי מבטל
They raised a difficulty: If a Jew found an idol in a public place: before it comes into his possession he may ask an idolater to annul it, but after it comes into his possession he may not ask an idolater to annul it because [the rabbis] declared: An idolater can annul the idol belonging to himself or to another idolater whether he worships or does not worship it.
What does it mean he worships it and what means he does not worship it ? If I say that both refer to an idolater, then what is the difference between belonging to himself or to another idolater ! Rather is it not that he worships it refers to an idolater and he does not worship it refers to a ger toshav, and we can learn from this that a ger toshav can also annul?
The baraita says that only a non-Jew can annul an idol, but that he can annul idols belonging to his fellow and it also says that he can do so whether he worships it or not. These two phrases cannot be synonymous for if they are, the baraita would seem to be repetitive. Therefore, the Talmud interprets the phrase he does not worship it to refer to a ger toshav, who, it seems, can annul an idol.
לא לעולם אימא לך אידי ואידי עובד כוכבים ודקאמרת היינו שלו ושל חבירו רישא זה וזה לפעור וזה וזה למרקוליס סיפא זה לפעור וזה למרקוליס
No; I can say to you that in either case it refers to an idolater, and when you say that it is then identical with belonging to himself or to another idolater, I can say that in the first clause it means when each of them [worships] Peor or each [worships] Mercurius, whereas in the second clause it means when one [worships] Peor and the other [worships] Mercurius.
The Talmud rejects this understanding and gives a simpler meaning of the baraita. The first clause refers to a case where both idolaters worship the same god, and the second refers to those who worship different gods. One who worships Peor can annul the idol of one who worships Mercurius, because both are idolaters. But a ger toshav cannot annul idols because he does not worship them.