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Avodah Zarah 48b

עבודה זרה מ״ח ע״ב

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Topic

An אשרה: sitting in its shade, walking under it, and planting beneath it (זה וזה גורם)

Overview

The משנה teaches rules about an אשרה, a tree that people worship. You may not sit in its shade, though if you did you stay טהור. You may not walk under it, and if you did you become טמא. רבי יוחנן explains that the ban on sitting reaches even the farther shade (צל צילה). A second version says the חידוש is that a person stays טהור even in the main shade. Walking under the tree makes a person טמא because some idolatrous offering is surely lying under it, and רבי יהודה בן בתירא learns from a פסוק that such an offering makes things טמא in a tent, like a dead body. For a tree hanging over a public road, you may pass under it if there is no other way; רב ששת still hurried past because an אדם חשוב must be extra careful. A new משנה discusses planting vegetables under an אשרה, and the גמרא asks whether רבי יוסי and the רבנן argue about זה וזה גורם. It resolves a clash with another משנה either by swapping the names or by saying the leaves' benefit is cancelled by the shade's harm. It then starts to question whether רבי יוסי really forbids זה וזה גורם, citing a teaching about ערלה, and that discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מַתְנִי׳

MISHNA:

לֹא יֵשֵׁב בְּצִילָּהּ,

One may not sit in its shade,

וְאִם יָשַׁב — טָהוֹר,

but if he sat — he is pure,

וְלֹא יַעֲבוֹר תַּחְתֶּיהָ,

and one may not pass beneath it,

The steps (30)

  1. StatementThe משנה: shade of an אשרה and passing beneath it
  2. ChallengeWhy teach that one may not sit in its shade? It is obvious
  3. Resolutionרבי יוחנן: even the farther shade is forbidden
  4. QuestionDoes this imply that the main shade makes a person impure?
  5. ResponseNo: even the main shade leaves a person pure
  6. ChallengeSecond version: why teach that one who sat is pure?
  7. Resolutionרבי יוחנן: needed for the main shade
  8. QuestionDoes this imply that one may sit in the farther shade from the start?
  9. ResponseNo: the point is only that even the main shade leaves him pure
  10. QuestionWhy does passing under the tree make a person impure?
  11. ResponseThere is surely an idolatrous offering under the tree
  12. QuestionWhose opinion is this?
  13. ResponseIt is רבי יהודה בן בתירא, who compares the offering to a dead body
  14. QuestionTree over a public road: 'passed' or 'may pass'?
  15. ResponseTwo answers: 'may pass' and 'if he passed'
  16. ResolutionNo real disagreement: it depends on whether there is another road
  17. Statementרב ששת asks to be rushed past the tree
  18. ChallengeEither way, running makes no sense
  19. ResolutionAn important person is different
  20. Statementמשנה: planting vegetables under an אשרה
  21. QuestionIs this an argument about זה וזה גורם?
  22. ChallengeThe other משנה shows the opposite opinions
  23. ChallengeBoth sides now contradict themselves
  24. Resolutionרבי יוסי's two opinions can be explained
  25. ResolutionThe רבנן are still a problem, so swap the names
  26. ResolutionSecond answer: keep the names, gain is cancelled by loss
  27. ResolutionApplying the rule: the leaves help, the shade harms
  28. ChallengeDoes רבי יוסי really forbid when two causes combine? The ערלה nut
  29. Challengeרב: רבי יוסי admits that what grows is permitted
  30. ProofA ברייתא also teaches that רבי יוסי admits