Julian Ungar-Sargon

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Daf Ditty

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

Avodah Zarah 69: בְּבָא לָהֶם דֶּרֶךְ עֲקַלָּתוֹן

jyungar August 26, 2025

For the source text click/tap here: Avodah Zarah 69

To download, click/tap here: PDF

The Mishna on our daf describes several cases where barrels of wine are left in a place where a non-Jew has access to them and the Jew who is in charge of the wine leaves.

We explore the complex halakhic framework governing when and under what circumstances Jewish law permits trust in gentiles, particularly in matters of wine supervision and commercial relationships.

We discover a sophisticated criteria for evaluating gentile trustworthiness based on factors including supervision, time constraints, legal status, and situational context. Rather than blanket prohibition or permission, the halakhic system creates nuanced categories that reflect both practical concerns about idolatrous wine and broader principles of inter-group relations.

We end with the scholarship of Jacob Katz and his groundbreaking work on the fraught Jewish Gentile relationships during the medieval and modern period.

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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.​