Avodah Zarah 28: מחללין עליה את השבת

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We know how seriously the Torah takes the laws of Shabbat, yet for piku’aḥ nefesh – when there is danger to life – the laws of Shabbat are pushed aside.

The Gemara on our daf notes that this is true not only when there is a clear danger, but also when there is any makah shel ḥalal – an internal injury – we will automatically be willing to treat the person, although Talmidei Rabbeinu Yona explain that this does not refer to a minor pain or complaint, only a known injury or serious pain.

This discussion leads to a question about whether an injury or disease to teeth and gums would be included. Are they considered to be “internal”? As a proof to this question, the Gemara tells of Rabbi Yoḥanan who was suffering from tzafdina, and was treated by a Roman matron, who agreed to share the secret of the treatment if Rabbi Yoḥanan swore not to reveal it to others.

We explore the disease of scurvy and the Galenic influences in talmudic medicine.

Avodah Zarah 27: מת? האיכא חיי שעה

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Can a woman – who does not have a circumcision – circumcise a baby?

Must the person who circumcises a Jewish child be Jewish himself?

Two passages are brought on our daf that limit the kind of people who can perform circumcision. Daru bar Pappa quotes the pasuk that permits only those like Abraham and his descendants to act as a mohel (see Bereshit 17:9), while Rabbi Yoḥanan quotes the pasuk that is understood to limit a brit milah only to people who, themselves, have been circumcised (see Bereshit 17:13).

The Gemara suggests several differences that may stem from these different sources. For example, according to the first pasuk, women may be excluded, since they cannot be circumcised. According to the second pasuk, however, since women are considered as if they have been circumcised, they would be able to circumcise others – with Moshe’s wife, Tzippora a prime example (see Shemot 4:25).

Avodah Zarah 26: אונוקי בשכר שרי משום איבה

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We begin with a new Mishna: Gentile women should not be midwives for Jewish women, nor should they be wet nurses for the babies of Jewish women. Jewish women can be midwives for Gentile women and Jewish women can be wet-nurses for the babies of Gentile women.

It becomes clear almost immediately through the Gemara that Gentile women are treated with suspicion. Either they will kill Jewish babies in ways that cannot be proven, or they will tell other Gentile women that they are doing so. Gentile wet-nurses might even put poison on their breasts before nursing in attempts to kill Jewish babies. This Mishna is in place to save Jewish babies from the evil that rabbis imagine is in the hearts of Gentile women.

We explore the history of Jewish midwives…

Avodah Zarah 25: אשה חשובה בין אנשים

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The prohibition of yichud, codified in the Talmud (Kiddushin 80b; Avodah Zarah 36b) and halakhically detailed in the Shulchan Aruch (Even HaEzer 22), forbids a man and woman who are not married to one another from being secluded in private spaces.

To many, this restriction appears anachronistic in an age that celebrates autonomy, gender equality, and sexual liberation.

Yet, in a cultural moment punctuated by scandals involving consensual and non-consensual sexual interactions (e.g., Weinstein, Epstein, #MeToo), the yichud framework warrants renewed attention.

Yichud is not primarily concerned with action but with potential: the creation of a situation where illicit sexual behavior might occur. The prohibition stems from the rabbinic maxim, ein apotropus le-arayot—“there is no guardian against sexual impropriety” (Avodah Zarah 36b). Human desire, rabbinic sources suggest, is unpredictable, transcultural, and requires external containment.

We explore the notions of power intimacy and sexuality.

Avodah Zarah 24: יתרו לאחר מתן תורה הוה

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In the prohibition from being animals for sacrifices the Torah informs us, on the contrary,

“And Yitro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt-offering and offerings for God” (Exodus 18:12). Yitro was not a Jew, and yet he brought offerings for God.

The Gemara answers: The incident with Yitro was also prior to the giving of the Torah.

The Gemara observes: Granted, this works out well according to the one who says that the incident with Yitro was prior to the giving of the Torah. But according to the one who says that the incident involving Yitro was after the giving of the Torah, what is there to say?

How could they accept offerings from him?

Rather, it must be that Yitro purchased the animals from a Jew.

We explore the world of Jethro, his character and the way midrash expounds on the pagan origins yet universal values of law and humanity.

Avodah Zarah 23: שאני פרה, הואיל ומום פוסל בה

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Rabbi Eliezer forbids purchasing a Para Aduma – a Red Heifer used in the process of purifying someone who was ritually defiled because of contact with the dead (see Sefer Bamidbar chapter 19) – from a non-Jew. The Sage, Sheila, explains that Rabbi Eliezer’s ruling is based on his reading of the passage (Bamidbar 19:2) that commands that Jewish people must “take” the animal, which is understood to mean that they must take it from a fellow Jew.

This explanation is challenged because there are other similar passages, for example when the Torah commands that contributions be taken from the people to build the mishkan – the Tabernacle – the same language is used, yet we know that some of the components used in the Temple were purchased from non-Jews. Rabbi Eliezer forbids purchasing a Para Aduma – a Red Heifer used in the process of purifying someone who was ritually defiled because of contact with the dead (see Sefer Bamidbar chapter 19) – from a non-Jew. The Sage, Sheila, explains that Rabbi Eliezer’s ruling is based on his reading of the passage (Bamidbar 19:2) that commands that Jewish people must “take” the animal, which is understood to mean that they must take it from a fellow Jew.

This explanation is challenged because there are other similar passages, for example when the Torah commands that contributions be taken from the people to build the mishkan – the Tabernacle – the same language is used, yet we know that some of the components used in the Temple were purchased from non-Jews.

Avodah Zarah 22: בשעה שבא נחש על חוה הטיל בה זוהמא

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Our first Mishna in the second Perek, teaches that we are not to keep our animals in Gentiles' inns because we suspect Gentiles of bestiality. This would be like putting a stumbling block before the blind (Leviticus 19:14). A woman may not seclude herself with a Gentile because Gentiles are suspected of immoral sexual behaviour. Finally, no Jew should seclude him/herself with a Gentile for Gentiles are suspected of bloodshed.

The Gemara tackles these points one at a time. First, we learn more about the rabbis concerns about Gentiles and bestiality. The rabbis can site verses that suggest that Gentiles regularly sodomize their animals and other verses that teach us that Gentiles would not defile their animals. It seems that an underlying tension is the need for Jews to do business with Gentile partners.

We exploree the history of bestiality in talmud, antiquity and criminology.

Avodah Zarah 21: מזוזה חובת הדר הוא

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According to the Mishna on our daf, there are a number of restrictions on selling or renting houses or fields to non-Jews. These restrictions may stem from concern that the places that are given to the non-Jews may lose the opportunity for fulfillment of mitzvot – e.g. that tithes will no longer be separated from the produce of the field – or that there is a prohibition against giving a non-Jew a stakehold in the land, based on the interpretation of the passage in Sefer Devarim (7:2) that concludes with the words lo teḥanem.

Rabbi Yosei distinguishes between three different areas: The Land of Israel itself, where these laws are most severe, Syria, and area to the north of Israel, where some of these laws apply while others do not, and Ḥutz la’aretz – the Diaspora – where both houses and fields can be sold to non-Jews.

we explore Selling Land in the Talmud: Property Transfer and Acquisition in Jewish Law as well as "Contested Territory: Israeli and Palestinian Land Claims from Ottoman Rule to Modern Statehood.”

Avodah Zarah 20: שמע מינה לדברים ככתבן הוא דאתא

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The gemara derives from the verse “lo techanem” 3 things that are forbidden, including the halacha in the mishna about selling items attached to the ground, complimenting non-Jews and giving them gifts for free.

Another interpretation of ‘lo sichaneim’ is: You shall not pronounce them as graceful; yet another interpretation of ‘lo sichaneim’ is: You shall not give them any free gift. The giving of free gifts [to idolaters] is itself a matter of dispute between Tannaim, for it has been taught: [The verse]: You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself - unto the stranger that is within your gates you may give it that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a heathen. This only tells us that it may be given away to a stranger or sold to a heathen. How do we know that it may be sold to a heathen?

Because Scripture says: You may give it — or sell it. How do we know that it may be given away to a heathen? Because Scripture says: You may give it that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a heathen: hence it may be derived that both giving and selling may be applied to a stranger or a heathen; these are the words of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yehudah, however, says: The words should be taken as they are written, giving being applied to a stranger, and selling to a heathen.

What are the limits of mercy vs cruelty?

Avodah Zarah 19: אין אדם לומד תורה אלא ממקום שלבו חפץ

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Basing himself on the passage in Sefer Tehillim (1:3) Rabbi Tanḥum bar Ḥanilai taught that Torah study should be divided into three parts, and a person should divide his years so that one third of the time is spent studying mikra (the written Torah), one third studying Mishna (oral traditions) and one third Gemara (underlying concepts and discussion of the Mishna).

Rashi understands the suggestion of dividing days to mean that the days of the week should be devoted to different areas of study. Tosafot disagree, and rule that every day should be divided up.

We explore torah learning from different perspectives.

Avodah Zarah 18: מוטב שיטלנה מי שנתנה

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They brought up Rabbi Chanina ben Tradyon and asked him: Why have you occupied yourself with the study of Torah?

He replied: as Hashem, my God has commanded me. Immediately they sentenced him to be burnt, his wife to be killed, and his daughter to dwell in a brothel.

The Gemora explains the reasons for these punishments: He was sentenced to death by burning because he pronounced Hashem’s Name (of forty-two letters) in its full spelling (and he did with it whatever he desired).

THE Romans found Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon sitting and occupying himself with the study of Torah, publicly gathering assemblies, and a Torah scroll in his bosom. Immediately they brought him, and wrapped him in the Torah scroll, and placed bundles of vine shoots around him and set them on fire. They then brought tufts of wool and soaked them in water, and placed them over his heart, so that his soul should not depart quickly.

We explore the story of his death and the struggle between sanctity of life and a painless death.

Avodah Zarah 17: יש קונה עולמו בשעה אחת

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It was said about Rabbi Elozar ben Dordia that he did not leave out any harlot in the world without cohabiting with her. Once, on hearing that there was a certain harlot in one of the towns overseas who accepted a purse of dinarim for her fee, he took a purse of dinarim and crossed seven rivers for her sake.

As he was about to cohabit with her, she blew with her mouth and said: As this blown breath will not return to its place, so they will never accept the repentance of Elozar ben Dordia.

He went and sat between two mountains and hills and exclaimed: Mountains and hills, plead for mercy for me! They said to him: Before we pray for you, we will pray for ourselves. So he said: Heaven and earth, plead for mercy for me!

We explore the subject of self immolation and teshuva.

Avodah Zarah 16: כך לימדני ישו הנוצרי

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Rabbi Akiva said: Master, perhaps some teaching of heresy had been transmitted to you, and it pleased you, and because of that you were arrested?

Rabbi Eliezer exclaimed: Akiva you have reminded me! I was once walking in the upper market of Tzippori when I came across a heretic, (Jesus of nazareth) and Yaakov of Kefar Sechaniah was his name, who said to me: It is written in your Torah: You shall not bring the hire of a harlot … into the house of Hashem your God. May such money be applied to the lavatory for the Kohen Gadol? I did not reply to him.

He said to me: I was taught as follows by my master: For they were gathered from the hire of a harlot, and they will revert to the hire of a harlot - they came from a place of filth, let them go to a place of filth.

We explore the character of Reb Eliezer Hyrcanus whose figure became associated with controversial positions and was ultimately excommunicated by his colleagues over his refusal to accept majority rulings in halakhic disputes.

Avodah Zarah 15: אֵין מוֹכְרִין לָהֶם לֹא זַיִין וְלֹא כְּלֵי זַיִין

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And furthermore, it is taught in a baraita: One may not sell weapons to gentiles or the auxiliary equipment of weapons, and one may not sharpen weapons for them. And one may not sell them stocks used for fastening the feet of prisoners, or iron neck chains [kolarin], or foot chains, or iron chains. This prohibition applies equally to both a gentile and a Samaritan.

The Talmudic baraita on our daf (Avodah Zarah 15b–16a) presents a rabbinic prohibition against selling weapons and related equipment to gentiles due to the concern that they may use them to harm Jews or others, or that the weapons might fall into the hands of enemies.

This is part of a broader principle: “לא תיתן להם חנייה בארץ” (“Do not give them a foothold in the land”)—a verse from Deuteronomy 7:2, which Chazal interpret broadly to restrict actions that may empower hostile gentiles.

We explore the sale of arms including the modern Israeli arms industry.

Avodah Zarah 14: שָׁאנֵי עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה דַּחֲמִירָא

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According to the Mishna, there were places in Israel where Jews sold behemot dakot – small, domesticated animals (sheep and goats) – to their non-Jewish neighbors, while in other places they did not. Behemot gasot – large cattle – however, were not sold to non-Jews in any place.

The Gemara explains that the source for these restrictions is not because they were worried about pagan idol worship, rather they stem from other halakhic concerns. Behemot gasot were used for field work that would be done on Shabbat as well as during the week. Since Jews are obligated to ensure that their animals do not work on Shabbat, they cannot lend their animals or rent them to non-Jews if they will be used on Shabbat. Since we are concerned that people would mistake purchase for renting or lending, even selling such animals was prohibited.

The reason given for restricting the sale of behemot dakot is a different one. The Gemara explains that bestiality was commonplace among some of the non-Jews who lived in Israel in the time of the Mishna. Since sexual relations with animals is forbidden to non-Jews as one of the seven Noaḥide laws, it would be forbidden for a Jew to aid and abet such behavior. Understandably, in places where such behavior was unheard of among the non-Jews, sale of these animals was permitted.

Avodah Zarah 13: גּוֹי שֶׁעָשָׂה מִשְׁתֶּה לִבְנוֹ

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Among the things that the Mishna prohibits selling to a pagan idol worshiper are:

itzterubalin – pinecones

benot shuaḥ – white figs

petotarot­ – stems (of the abovementioned itzterubalin and benot shuaḥ, which were hung by their stems in front of the idol)

levona ­- frankincense

tarnegol lavan­ -a white rooster

All of these are forbidden to be sold since a Jew is not allowed to assist a non-Jew in performing pagan idol worship. As one of the seven Noaḥide laws, such worship is prohibited to the non-Jew, and therefore forbidden to the Jew because of lifnei iver lo titen mikhshol – the prohibition against putting a stumbling block before the blind (see Lev. 19:14).

We explore the mythic history of the white rooster.

Avodah Zarah 12: יְהוּדִי שֶׁנִּמְצָא שָׁם מָה יַעֲשֶׂה

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Aside from actual idol worship, it is also forbidden to engage in activities that will appear as if a person was bowing down before an idol. Based on this concept, the Gemara on today’s daf quotes a baraita that teaches that if someone drops coins in front of an idol he should not bend over to pick them up, if it appears as though he is bowing to the idol. Similarly, if a public drinking fountain is built with a face so that the water flows from its mouth, a person may not place his mouth on the mouth of the figure in order to drink, since it appears as if he is kissing the idol.

This water fountain was in use in Pompeii during the time of the Mishna. In many places in the ancient world – and in some places to this day – it was common for public drinking fountains to be built for general use. Sometime these fountains were simple pipes, but in many places the mouth of the fountain was made into shapes, oftentimes in the figure of a face. While most of these decorative features were made simply to beautify the public area, occasionally the faces were those of idols. This led to a concern lest drinking directly from such fountains may appear to be kissing an idol, which would be forbidden.

Avodah Zarah 11: לֹא חַשּׁוּ לָהֶם חֲכָמִים

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A city in which there is idol worship, outside of it, it is permitted to conduct business. If there was idol worship outside of it, it is permitted within. May one go to a place where an idolatrous festival is taking place? Should the road lead only to that place, it is forbidden; if one could go by this road to another place, it is permitted.

The Gemora asks: What does the Mishna mean when it states, “outside of the city”? Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said in the name of Rabbi Chanina: It is referring to the meat market (which was located in close proximity to the) outside of Azza. Some say that Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish asked Rabbi Chanina: What is the law regarding the meat markets outside of Azza? Rabbi Chanina replied: Did you never go to Tzur and see a Jew and idolater cooking two separate pots on a stove? The sages did not worry about this.

We explore the notion of Marit Ayin and further the talmudic ambivalence to greco-roman iconography.

Avodah Zarah 10: אֲמַר לֵיהּ אַנְטוֹנִינוּס לְרַבִּי

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In the context of defining the term Yom Geinuseya shel Melakhim, which is ultimately understood as the day that the rule of the Roman leader was established, the Gemara on today’s daf tells of the close relationship between Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi (Rabbi) and the Roman emperor Antoninus. According to the opening story, Antoninus turned to Rabbi for advice on how to establish his son as his successor, something that was unusual in a political reality where the Senate chose the leader and generally refused to have a son follow his father as emperor. In the continuation of the stories of their relationship, the Gemara describes how Antoninus had a secret tunnel erected between their houses so that he could visit and serve Rabbi.

Avodah Zarah 9: שֵׁשֶׁת אֲלָפִים שָׁנָה הָוֵי הָעוֹלָם

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Our daf brings a teaching from Tanna deVei Eliyahu:

The world will last for six thousand years –

Two thousand of tohu (waste)

Two thousand years of Torah

Two thousand years of Messianic times.

The tanna continues that due to our sins we have already lost some of the years of Messianic times, since mashi’aḥ has not yet come.

Rashi explains that this exposition is based on the model of the days of a week (as in the passage in Sefer Tehillim 90:4), where each day represents one thousand years. The seventh day – Shabbat – parallels the thousand years of aḥarit ha-yamim – the End of Days – a period of peace and tranquility on earth. The two thousand years of Messianic times is the time period during which mashi’aḥ has the potential to arrive, although he can arrive at any point during that time.

We explore Rabbinic Chronology, Astronomical Knowledge, and Historical Consciousness in Light of Modern Scholarship