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Talking Talmud
Learning the daf? We have something for you to think about. Not learning the daf? We have something for you to think about! (Along with a taste of the daf...) Join the conversation with us!
Episodes
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 74: Jews and Non-Jews at the Wine Press
Several mishnayot: 1 - A long list of those items that are prohibited and in a mixture, prohibit the entire mixture in any amount. 2 - Libation wine that falls…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 73: Amoraim Agree and Disagree
Siyum tomorrow, Sunday! Mixtures of something permitted with libation wine - is prohibited, no matter how little libation wine is added. But water with wine or…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 72: Halakhah Is Not Science: Funnels
Terms used in negotiating a sale or a price - and how 4 people must be in agreement for a price to apply (though the customary appraisal is by 3 people) -…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 71: Soldiers and Merchants
2 new mishnayot! (first, on the bottom of the previous daf) - when a military group enters a city in a time of peace, then when the soldiers leave, open…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 70: Unsupervised Non-Jews
If a Jew leaves wine with a non-Jew, unsupervised, can (or when can) the Jew drink that wine? The 12 case-stories on this daf address this question, several of…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 69: Wine Stoppers and Supervision
As long as a Jew supervises an idolater's presence with wine, there's no concern about the wine - even the supervisor's presence is intermittent. Plus, other…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 68: The Ick Factor
More on the dispute about whether a mixture in which the forbidden component adds flavor that is detrimental - whether the mixture is permitted or prohibited?…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 67: Enhancing or Destroying the Taste of Food
On the principle of a forbidden item convey taste, and with it "forbiddenness," as manifest in hot split beans and vinegar vs. cold split beans and vinegar…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 66: Separating Mixtures
Old (fermented) wine that was used for a libation that spills onto grapes will be prohibited or not, depending on it affecting the taste of the grapes. New…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 65: Jews and Non-Jews: How Far Can Their Friendships Go?
Two stories about wine and categories of people: 1. A Jew sent to a non-Jew, on his festival, because he wasn't an idolater. But someone who hasn't converted…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 64: Not All Non-Jews Are Idolaters
A question is presented before a group of the sages: What is the law regarding the money from a sale of an object of idolatry in the hands of a non-Jew?…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 63: Commerce Concerns
A beraita about a man who was with a prostitute - can the money he didn't pay her with be used for purchase for the altar? What monies can be swapped for…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 62: Non-Jews, Non-Idolaters: "Stam Yeinam"
Chapter 5! And a new mishnah: A non-Jew who hires a Jewish worker raises question as to whether that Jew can accept his wages -- depending on the terms of the…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 61: Jews and Non-Jews Sharing Wine?!
When wine is in an idolater's domain, in a home that opens to the public domain, when is that wine permitted? And if it's in a Jew's domain? But what if the…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 60: Falling into the Vat
An idolater who crushes grapes via a press, but it's still potentially libation. But that's indirect.... and indeed, the wine is prohibited, but there's more…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 59: When Is a Convert Not (Yet) a Convert?
Rabbi Hiya bar Aba was in a place called Gavla - which place that is specifically is unclear, though suggestions are made - where he saw Jewish young women who…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 58: The Time the Non-Jew Shoved His Arm into a Wine Vat
An incident took place in Mehoza - a non-Jew asked a Jew if he has wine to sell. After he is told no, he shoves his hand into a barrel of wine and mixes it and…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 57: When Intent Doesn't Matter
Several stories - indicating that the concern about libation wine was real for them. For example, a person's lulav touching his wine. Or the extreme case of an…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 56: You Can't Make a Libation with Your Feet
First, why "libation wine" is a topic that draws so much attention. Wine cannot become "libation" wine until it goes into the cistern - is it fully processed…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 55: Suffering Personified
Agrippas, the Roman general, asked Rabban Gamliel (paraphrase): Your God is a jealous God, but people are only jealous of those who are in real competition, so…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 54: God Doesn't Interfere
R. Dimi came from the land of Israel to Babylonia and taught how the land itself isn't rendered prohibited by virtue of people bowing down, but…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 53: When an Object of Idolatry Can Be Used After All
Several mishnayot - beginning with nullifying an idol (on the bottom of the previous daf). Note that a non-Jew nullifies the idol, not a Jew, and only a…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 52: "Onias Worship": Not Idolatry, But Not Acceptable Either
A dispute on the prohibition of the idol when it's owned by a Jew vs. owned by non-Jew (Rabbi Akiva vs. Rabbi Yishmael). Also, vessels that were used in the…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 51: Not the Way It Was Done in the Temple
An idolatry that is served by using a stick, or breaking the stick, in front of an idol, the stick is then prohibited from use. If the stick were thrown, the…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 50: Not a Carpenter, Nor the Son of a Carpenter
More on the Mercury idol - including stones that were removed from the idol, and were then prohibited. Plus, other idolatries -- more than one that compares…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 49: No Financial Redemption for Idolatry
Rabbi Yosi vs. the Rabbis - on a field that was fertilized by the manure of idolatry, or the like, and how that field can be planted, and what terms are…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 48: The Asherah
A daf of 4 mishnayot! (1) 3 different kinds of trees and how they might have been used for idolatrous purposes, and whether they are permitted afterwards. (2)…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 47: A Lulav, a Rock, and the Privacy of the Bathroom
Resh Lakish poses a question: What happens to a lulav - a palm branch - from a tree that has been worshipped? That is, in the event that it was planted to…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 46: Attached to the Ground
More on the hills and mountains and rocks - where they are being worshipped by a non-Jew, that is, the boulders that separate from a rocky mountain. Is that…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 45: Mountains, Hills, and the Leafy Trees of Idolatry
A new mishnah! Things in the natural world that were worshipped - and whether that worship made them prohibited for benefit. For the most part, the hills and…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 44: The Bathhouse of Aphrodite
2 new mishnayot! First, an alternative to taking a graven image to the Dead Sea - grind it off (but then the leavings become fertilizer, which would be getting…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 43: Here There Be Dragons
What is the figure of a dragon that is prohibited? One descriptor is scales between the joints, and that is determined to be the halakhah. Also, the story how…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 42: The Destructive Power of the Dead Sea
More on finding shards, and the problematic nature of tangible hands, feet, etc., when found. But why are those tangible imagery forbidden? The idol has been…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 41: Idols, Graven Images, and Worshipped Sculpture
A Jew cannot benefit from an object that's been used for idolatry, of course, but that extends to images too. Though the majority view maintains that images…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 40: Permitted Foods, from Fish to Apple Wine
A new mishnah! (from the previous daf) Permitted foods, for a change, including milk that was milked by a non-Jew, who was watched by a Jew, and certain…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 39: Gone Fishing
Several kinds of fishes that are prohibited to be eaten. And several that are permitted, including contingent only on where they come from (depending on where…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 37: The Not-So-Permissive Court
Note: Previously labeled Daf 37, "A King's Table," was really the Daf 38 episode, sadly on account of human error. This episode the real Daf 37, "The…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 38: A King's Table
More on "bishul akum" -- the rabbinic prohibition against eating food cooked by a non-Jew. But anything that can be eaten raw isn't subject to the prohibition…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 36: "Bishul Akum" and Jews Separating from Non-Jews
On the oil that was decreed off-limits, until Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi said it was permitted. So the Gemara delves into the source of the degree, which becomes a…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 35: Rolling Out Decrees
First, a note on Rabbi Akiva's question on the previous daf. Then, a discussion about the cheese of non-Jews that leads into reflection on the verse, "for your…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 34: When Rabbi Akiva Didn't Know Everything
A Rabbi Akiva story -- wherein he didn't know the answer to 3 questions, though others in the beit midrash were able to shed light for him. (One of these…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 33: Correctives (or not) for Idolatrous Encounters in Daily Life
Jewish wine in non-Jewish jugs - there's a dispute over how prohibited the wine is, and under what conditions. But if there's a Jewish intermediary, that might…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 31: If a Tree Bears Fruit in a Forest...
NOTE: This episode is released out of order (after daf 32) because of a problem with the recording. We apologize for the inconvenience. There are 3 reasons why…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 32: How to Make the Very Best Wine
[Who's Who: The Emperor Hadrian] Hadrianic ceramics were prohibited for use by Jews -- white earthenware that absorbed the Roman wine, and then was broken and…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 30: Wine, Beer, Snakes, and Intermarriage
Various types of wine, and when they are permitted -- mostly they are prohibited, but not necessarily so, for example, if something is prepared prior to the…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 29: At the Barbershop
On bloodletting - as a healing practice - and how the practice would dictate restrictions to one's diet for a time. Also, precautions that a Jew must take in a…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 28: Shabbat Healing: Eyes and Ears and Mouth...
More on healing -- when the healer is an idolater or when the healing is done on Shabbat. With a focus on vinegar and its healing properties and when it is not…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 27: To Trust a Heretic
Circumcision that wasn't done for the sake of the mitzvah (or for God) was considered invalid. Of course, whether one needs that degree of intent is up for…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 26: Breaking Halakhah on Purpose - But Why?
A Jewish woman shouldn't deliver the child of a non-Jewish (pagan) woman, but the reverse is permitted. Plus, the question of being a wet nurse. Or what about…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 25: When the Sun Stood Still
On cows singing... and the sun standing still (how long is a key discussion), among other miracles from the Bible. Plus, the story of Nakdimon. Also, working…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 24: The Honorable Dama ben Netinah
More on the red heifer... and bestiality. Also, the purchase of precious stones Dama ben Netinah, an apparent idolater. Which seems to have been acceptable…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 23: What We Can Assume
More on the very difficult topic of bestiality. Beginning with the question of birds. Also, a study of the statuses of "lechathilah" and "bediavad" -- when…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 22: How Common Was Idolaters' Immorality Really?
A story about an idolater who works for a Jew -- and works on Shabbat, when the Jew cannot. Was that allowed? It depends on whether that was their original…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 21: Protecting the Homes and Fields of the Land of Israel
A new mishnah! A Jew may not rent a house to a non-Jew in the land of Israel, and clearly not a field. In Syria, a Jew may rent a house to the non-Jew, but not…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 20: No Mercy, No Favors
Beginning with a new mishnah that opens on the bottom of daf 19: One may not make jewelry for an object of idolatry -- but you can be hired to do such things…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 19: Learn the Torah That Delights You
Avoiding wickedness and wrong-doing: Interpreting the first psalm in the Book of Psalms (Tehilim) - happy is one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 18: Rabbi Haninah, Rabbi Meir, and Beruriah
More on Rabbi Hanina ben Teradyon - his trial and interrogation about why he engaged in Torah study. Plus, his daughter who ended up sentenced to a brothel…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 17: Heresy and Faith under Rome
Jesus! Literally. An appearance in some versions of the Talmud, but not all, as these passages were excised by the Jews -- in this case, as the known teacher…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 16: A Lion Is Not a Work-Horse
Selling horses to idolaters: Because the horse can be used for labor that isn't subject to violation of Jewish law. Also, a new mishnah prohibiting the sale of…
- Talking Talmud
Avodah Zarah 15: What Wil the Buyer Do?
Another "previous page" mishnah! In a place where they had the practice to sell "small" domesticated animals - sheep and goats - to non-Jews, they were…