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Avodah Zarah 66b

עבודה זרה ס״ו ע״ב

Learn Avodah Zarah 66b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Forbidden wine (יין נסך) mixed into vinegar, and whether smell alone counts as forbidden benefit (בת תיהא)

Overview

This amud finishes the argument between אביי and רבא about forbidden wine that fell into a barrel of vinegar. אביי says the wine already smells like vinegar, so it counts as vinegar mixed with vinegar and forbids במשהו. רבא says taste decides, so it is still wine mixed with vinegar and forbids only בנותן טעם. The גמרא then brings a second argument between them, about a ישראל smelling a גוי's wine through the hole of the barrel (בת תיהא). אביי forbids this because smell counts, and רבא permits it because smell is nothing. רבא brings a proof from a משנה about bread baked in an oven heated with תרומה cumin, and אביי answers that there the forbidden cumin was already burned up. רב מרי then says their argument matches an argument of תנאים about hot bread placed on a barrel of תרומה wine. אביי begins to answer by quoting ריש לקיש, and that answer continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

רֵיחֵיהּ חַלָּא וְטַעְמָא חַמְרָא — חַלָּא,

Its smell is vinegar and its taste is wine: it counts as vinegar,

וְהָוֵה לֵיהּ מִין בְּמִינוֹ,

and so it becomes a kind mixed with its own kind,

וְכׇל מִין בְּמִינוֹ — בְּמַשֶּׁהוּ.

and any kind mixed with its own kind forbids by any amount.

רָבָא אָמַר: בְּנוֹתֵן טַעַם,

Rava says: it is forbidden only when it gives taste,

The steps (9)

  1. Statementאביי's reasoning: the wine counts as vinegar
  2. Statementרבא's view: the wine still counts as wine
  3. StatementSmelling wine through the barrel's hole
  4. StatementThe reasons: does smell count?
  5. Proofרבא's proof from bread baked with תרומה cumin
  6. Rejectionאביי: there the forbidden thing was burned up
  7. Statementרב מרי ties the smell argument to an older argument about hot bread on a wine barrel
  8. QuestionMust אביי also accept that this is an argument of תנאים?
  9. Resolutionאביי begins his answer by quoting ריש לקיש on the case of the משנה