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Avodah Zarah 67b

עבודה זרה ס״ז ע״ב

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Topic

נותן טעם לפגם: when a forbidden food gives flavor that makes the mixture worse

Overview

This amud finishes רבי יוחנן's rule about mixtures. If you can taste the forbidden food but its substance is gone, the mixture is forbidden, but there are no מלקות. If the forbidden food made the flavor worse, the mixture is permitted. The גמרא explains that his word ריבה ('increased') teaches something extra: the mixture is permitted even if other things also helped spoil the taste. The גמרא then rules like the second version of ריש לקיש. רב כהנא says all the אמוראים agree that נותן טעם לפגם is מותר, but אביי objects that ריש לקיש may only have been quoting others. The גמרא asks whether anyone forbids a spoiling taste, and a ברייתא answers yes: רבי מאיר forbids it, while רבי שמעון permits it. רבי מאיר learns from גיעולי גוים, and the two תנאים argue over whether a קדירה בת יומא already spoils the taste a little. The amud ends as the גמרא begins רבי שמעון's own source, a ברייתא on the פסוק about נבלה, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

טַעְמוֹ וְלֹא מַמָּשׁוֹ — אָסוּר,

Its flavor but not its substance: forbidden,

וְאֵין לוֹקִין עָלָיו,

but one is not given lashes for it,

וְאִם רִיבָּה טַעַם לִפְגָם — מוּתָּר.

and if it increased the flavor to its detriment: permitted.

וְלֵימָא: אִם נָתַן טַעַם לִפְגָם — מוּתָּר!

But let him say: if it gave flavor to its detriment, it is permitted!

The steps (12)

  1. Statementרבי יוחנן: flavor without substance, and flavor that spoils
  2. ChallengeWhy say 'increased' instead of 'gave flavor'?
  3. ResolutionOther things that also spoiled the taste
  4. ConclusionThe הלכה follows ריש לקיש's second version
  5. Statementרב כהנא: everyone agrees spoiling flavor is permitted
  6. Rejectionאביי: ריש לקיש may only have been quoting
  7. QuestionDoes anyone forbid spoiling flavor?
  8. ResponseYes, a ברייתא shows a תנא who forbids a spoiling taste
  9. Responseרבי מאיר learns from the pots of non-Jews
  10. Rejectionרבי שמעון: the תורה only forbade a pot used that same day
  11. Resolutionרבי מאיר: even a same-day pot spoils the taste a little
  12. Responseרבי שמעון's own source: the פסוק about נבלה