Avodah Zarah, Daf Yod Aleph, Part 6
Introduction
Today s section continues to discuss idol worship outside of Israel.
אמר רב חנן בר רב חסדא אמר רב ואמרי לה א"ר חנן בר רבא אמר רב חמשה בתי עבודת כוכבים קבועין הן אלו הן בית בל בבבל בית נבו בכורסי תרעתא שבמפג צריפא שבאשקלון נשרא שבערביא.
R. Hanan b. Hisda said in the name of Rav (and some say R. Hanan b. Rava said in the name of Rav): There are five fixed temples of idol-worship and they are: Bet Bel in Bavel, Bet Nevo in Kursi, Tar ata which is in Mapug, Zerifa which is in Ashkelon, and Nishtra which is in Arabia.
Rav seems to be saying that only in these places is there fixed idol worship. In such places, business with the idol worshippers would always be prohibited.
כי אתא רב דימי הוסיפו עליהן יריד שבעין בכי נדבכה שבעכו איכא דאמרי נתברא שבעכו
רב דימי מנהרדעא מתני איפכא יריד שבעכו נדבכה שבעין בכי.
When R. Dimi came he said: They added the fair [with the idol] in En-Beki and the Nidbakah of Akko [some call it Nitbara of Akko].
R. Dimi of Nehardea taught these in the reversed order: The market place of Akko, the Nidbakah of En-Beki.
These two sages provide a few additional places with fixed idol worship.
א"ל רב חנן בר רב חסדא לרב חסדא מאי קבועין הן?
א"ל הכי אמר אבוה דאימך קבועין הן לעולם תדירא כולה שתא פלחי להו
R. Hanan son of R. Hisda said to R. Hisda: What does it mean that they are fixed?
He answered him: This is how your mother s father explained it: They are fixed permanently; regularly, all the year round they worship there.
R. Hanan s maternal grandfather explains what fixed means.
אמר שמואל בגולה אינו אסור אלא יום אידם בלבד.
Shmuel said: In the Diaspora it is only forbidden [to transact business with idolaters] on the actual festival days alone.
The Mishnah stated that it is prohibited to engage in business with pagans for three days before their festivals. Shmuel says that this prohibition does not apply in the Diaspora.
והא רב יהודה שרא ליה לרב ברונא לזבוני חמרא ולרב גידל לזבוני חיטין בחגתא דטייעי
שאני חגתא דטייעי דלא קביעא:
And is it forbidden even on the actual days of the festivals. Did not Rav Judah declare it permissible to R. Bruna to buy wine and to R. Giddal to buy wheat on the Festival of the Merchants?
The Festival of the Merchants is different, as it is not a fixed one.
Interestingly, here we see Babylonian amoraim actually engaging in business with pagans on the day of their festivals. While Shmuel was lenient in the Diaspora, he was not this lenient. The Talmud resolves this by stating that this festival of the merchants was not a fixed festival and therefore one could engage in business even on the day itself. It seems that there is a different, even more lenient meaning of fixed here. Fixed means that it happens not all the time, as it meant above, but at the same time every year.