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Avodah Zarah 70b

עבודה זרה ע׳ ע״ב

Learn Avodah Zarah 70b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

When a non-Jew or an עם הארץ may have touched wine or pure items, and when we assume they did not

Overview

This amud brings several real-life stories about wine that a non-Jew might have touched. רבא permits wine near a gentile girl holding froth, because she probably took it from the outside of the barrel. An army opened many barrels in נהרדעא. רב דימי reports that רבי אלעזר permitted such a case but is unsure why, and the גמרא defends one possible reason: the soldiers were hunting for money, not wine. A wine-shop owner gave her key to a gentile woman, and the בית מדרש ruled that she only handed over the job of guarding the key. אביי supports this from a משנה about keys and טהרות, which leads to a dispute between רב and רבי יוחנן about a courtyard split by a low partition. Each side is challenged from ברייתות about courtyards and roofs, and each is defended. The amud ends with a new משנה: soldiers who enter a city in peacetime make open barrels forbidden, but in wartime all barrels stay permitted.

Opening lines

הָהִיא רְבִיתָא דְּאִישְׁתְּכַח

There was a certain girl who was found

דַּהֲוָת בֵּי דַנֵּי,

that she was among the wine barrels,

וַהֲוָת נְקִיטָא אוּפְיָא בִּידַהּ,

and she was holding froth in her hand.

אָמַר רָבָא: חַמְרָא שְׁרֵי,

Rava said: The wine is permitted,

The steps (17)

  1. StatementThe gentile girl holding wine froth
  2. ResolutionEven if no froth is left outside
  3. StatementThe army that opened barrels in נהרדעא
  4. Questionרב דימי is unsure of the reason
  5. ChallengeThis is uncertain touching, not uncertain entry
  6. ResolutionThey were looking for money, not wine
  7. StatementGiving the key to a gentile woman
  8. Proofאביי brings support from a משנה about keys
  9. QuestionAre purity laws really stricter than libation wine?
  10. ResponseYes: רב's ruling on a courtyard split by a low partition
  11. ChallengeChallenge to רב from the חבר's inner courtyard
  12. Resolutionרב answers: there he would be caught as a thief
  13. ChallengeA higher roof is safe only if the neighbor cannot reach it
  14. ResolutionOn the roof, the neighbor has an easy excuse
  15. ChallengeA roof right next door is fine even within reach
  16. Resolutionרב follows רבן שמעון בן גמליאל
  17. StatementSoldiers entering a city: open versus sealed barrels