Avodah Zarah, Daf Yod Bet, Part 2
Introduction
Today s sugya begins to explain the mishnah.
גמ׳ ה"ד חוצה לה?
אמר רשב"ל משום ר’ חנינא כגון עטלוזא של עזה
GEMARA. What is a case of outside it [where it is permitted to engage in business with pagans]?
R. Shimon b. Lakish said: Such as the fair in Gaza.
R. Shimon b. Lakish cites the fair in Gaza as an example of a fair that takes place outside of the city.
וא"ד בעא מיניה רשב"ל מר"ח עטלוזא של עזה מהו? א"ל לא הלכת לצור מימיך וראית ישראל ועובד כוכבים ששפתו שתי קדירות על גבי כירה אחת ולא חשו להם חכמים.
Some relate this as follows: R. Shimon b. Lakish asked R. Hanina, How about the fair in Gaza?
He replied: Have you never gone to Tyre and seen a Jew and a pagan placing two pots on the same stove, and the sages were not concerned.
In this version of the above passage, R. Shimon b. Lakish asks R. Hanina if one can engage in business with pagans at the fair in Gaza. R. Hanina responds that it is permitted, for it is similar to a case where a Jew and a non-Jew placed two pots on the same stove. The Talmud will now delve into this case what could our concern have possibly been and how is this similar to the case of engaging in business with pagans at their fairs. We should note that Rashi extensively explains how these two issues are similar. I am going to keep my explanation short, on a slightly more superficial level.
מאי לא חשו להם חכמים?
אמר אביי משום בשר נבילה לא אמרינן דלמא מהדר אפיה ישראל לאחוריה ושדי עובד כוכבים נבילה בקדירה
What does it mean the sages were not concerned ?
Abaye said: The possibility of eating flesh of nebelah. We are not concerned lest the Jew would turn around and the non-Jew would drop some nevelah into his pot.
Abaye explains that we are not concerned lest the pagan throw some nevelah, improperly slaughtered meat, into the Jew s pot when the Jew is not looking. After all why would the non-Jew do that?
דכוותה ה"נ לא חשו להם חכמים משום דמי עבודת כוכבים.
As a parallel case, here too the Sages were not concerned lest he receive money used in idolatry.
Just as the sages were not concerned lest a non-Jew throw nevelah into the Jew s pot, the rabbis were not concerned lest the money used in the fair in Gaza came from the benefit of idolatry.
רבא אמר מאי לא חשו להם חכמים? משום בישולי עובדי כוכבים
Rava said: What does it mean the sages were not concerned ? That cooking was done by a non-Jew.
Rava said that they were not concerned lest the non-Jew cook the Jew s food, which means at least stir his pot. As we shall see later in the tractate, a Jew is not supposed to eat food cooked by a non-Jew.
דכוותה ה"נ לא חשו להם חכמים משום יום אידם
As a parallel case, here too the rabbis were not concerned about transacting business on account of the festivity.
The rabbis were not concerned lest the fair outside of Gaza was participating in the idolatrous practice occurring in Gaza.
רבה בר עולא אמר לא חשו להם חכמים? משום צינורא
דכוותה ה"נ לא חשו להם חכמים משום לפני אידיהן:
Rabbah b. Ulla said: What does it mean the sages were not concerned ? About the splashing [of food from the non-Jew s pot into the Jew s pot].
As a parallel case, here too the rabbis were not concerned about the days before the festival.
The rabbis were not concerned lest the food from the non-Jew s pot splashes into the food in the Jew s pot. Similarly, the rabbis were not concerned lest the Jew engage in business before the festival.