Julian Ungar-Sargon

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Daf Ditty

A wide-ranging commentary on the daily page of Talmud.

Avodah Zarah 62: : וְאֶחָד סוּדָר שֶׁנֶּחְנַק בּוֹ — כּוּלָּם נִקְבָּרִים עִמּוֹ

jyungar August 19, 2025

For the source text click/tap here: Avodah Zarah 62

To download, click/tap here: PDF

Our Gemora explains that if a person was commanded to be killed by a beis din, the sword by which he was killed or the gallows on which he was hung must be buried, just like other objects from which one must not derive benefit.

Rabbi Yaakov Emden's responsum presents a fascinating application of ancient principles to an 18th-century practical situation. When an experienced shochet (ritual slaughterer) sought to acquire "a sharp and polished knife made from the finest metal" and purchased an executioner's sword, he created a halakhic crisis that illuminated fundamental questions about spiritual contamination.

Rabbi Emden's ruling—that no benefit could be derived from an instrument that had killed a person—extends Talmudic principles while revealing the complex relationship between different forms of sanctified violence.

Pischei Teshuvah asserts that Ya’vetz therefore concluded that one mustn’t derive benefit from any object used to kill a person.

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Julian Ungar-Sargon

This is Julian Ungar-Sargon's personal website. It contains poems, essays, and podcasts for the spiritual seeker and interdisciplinary aficionado.​