Avodah Zarah 51b

עבודה זרה נ״א ע״ב

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Topic

Offering on a במה after the משכן; what items found at an idol are forbidden; an idol's property; and when an idol becomes forbidden.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a ברייתא on ויקרא פרק יז. If an animal was made holy and also offered after במות became forbidden, the punishment is כרת, and the warning comes from 'פן תעלה עולתיך'. This fits רבי אבין's rule that 'השמר', 'פן' and 'אל' always mean a לא תעשה. If an animal was made holy while במות were allowed but offered after they were forbidden, there is a עשה and a לאו but no כרת. רבא then shows that 'ולא יזבחו עוד' can teach both this law and the idol-worship law learned earlier. Next a משנה rules that money, a garment or vessels found at an idol's head are permitted, but offering-type items are forbidden. The גמרא learns from two פסוקים that only decorative items are forbidden, and explains each permitted item as a case where it is not decorating the idol. It adds that inside an idol's partitions everything is forbidden, and that for פעור and מרקוליס even items outside the partitions are forbidden. A second משנה covers using an idol's garden or bathhouse, which אביי explains as depending on whether the כומרים profit. It also rules that a gentile's idol is forbidden immediately, which the גמרא shows follows רבי עקיבא against רבי ישמעאל. The amud ends as the גמרא starts explaining why 'places' in the פסוק must mean vessels, and that explanation continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (40)

1. StatementThe first part of the verses: holy and offered while private altars were forbidden
2. ProofProof: the verse gives a punishment
3. QuestionWhere is the warning?
4. ResponseThe warning: 'Lest you offer up your burnt-offerings'
5. StatementThe rule that 'השמר', 'פן' and 'אל' mean a prohibition
6. StatementThe second part of the verses: made holy while altars were allowed, offered after
7. ProofThe proof verse: offering on a private altar is like offering 'on the open field'
8. QuestionThere is a positive commandment, but where is the prohibition?
9. ResponseThe prohibition: 'ולא יזבחו עוד'
10. QuestionMaybe the punishment is כרת?
11. Response'זאת להם': only this, not כרת
12. Resolutionרבא: read the פסוק two ways
13. StatementThe משנה: What You Find at the Idol's Head
14. QuestionWhat Is the Source?
15. ResponseTwo פסוקים That Seem to Disagree
16. Resolution'With Them' Is Read Like 'On Them'
17. ChallengeWhy Not Read It the Other Way?
18. ResolutionOtherwise 'On Them' Would Be Extra
19. ChallengeIsn't money decorative?
20. ResolutionMoney in a purse tied around the idol's neck
21. ChallengeIsn't a garment decorative?
22. ResolutionA folded garment resting on the idol's head
23. ChallengeIsn't a vessel decorative?
24. ResolutionA pot turned upside down on the idol's head
25. StatementInside the partitions everything is forbidden
26. StatementNo partition rule for פעור and מרקוליס
27. QuestionWhat does 'no partitions' mean?
28. RejectionIt cannot mean inside is permitted
29. ResponseEven outside the partitions is forbidden
30. StatementThe idol's garden or bathhouse
31. StatementWhen a gentile's idol and a Jew's idol become forbidden
32. Statementאביי explains 'to its advantage' as profit for the priests
33. StatementA second version: אביי's words refer to the later clause
34. ConclusionThe practical difference between the two versions
35. QuestionWhose view is the rule that a gentile's idol is forbidden immediately?
36. ResponseIt is רבי עקיבא, based on a ברייתא about vessels
37. StatementVessels are forbidden only once they are used, so רבי ישמעאל rules on gentile and Jewish idols
38. Proofרבי עקיבא reverses the rule, matching our משנה
39. ChallengeHow can the verse be about vessels if it says 'places'?
40. ResolutionPlaces themselves cannot become forbidden, since the mountains are not destroyed