Horayot 2: אוֹ תַּלְמִיד וְהוּא רָאוּי לְהוֹרָאָה

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Massekhet Horayot deals with mistakes made by Jewish courts and by Jewish leaders, and the atonement sacrifices that are brought as a consequence of those errors.

Although the focus of the tractate deals with the sacrificial service, and it would appear that the proper place for it would have been in Seder Kodashim, it appears in Seder Nezikin because it, too, serves as a continuation and completion of Massekhet Sanhedrin. After learning the rules and regulations that apply to the Jewish court system, and specifically to the Great Sanhedrin that legislates and rules on capital crimes, it is important to also address the issue of how to deal with mistakes. It is impossible to avoid all circumstances of errors and mistakes, so we must be prepared for such situations, including arranging for atonement for them.

Avodah Zarah 76: אִידְּכַר מַאי עֲבַדְתְּ בְּאוּרְתָּא

For the source text click/tap here: Avodah Zarah 76

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Shevor Malka – Shapur – was the name of a number of Persian kings. Our final Daf in Avodah Zara appears to be referring to the first king Shapur, who continued his father’s success in wars against the Roman Empire, capturing the city of Netzivim and arriving at the border of Syria.

In the course of a number of attacks, he not only defeated the Roman emperor Valerian, but he captured him and held him until his death.

With regard to internal matters, he was an open-minded leader and allowed a good deal of freedom of religion. As is apparent from our Gemara, he was knowledgeable regarding Jewish customs.

We explore the figure of Shapur in rabbinic literature who represents far more than historical documentation; he functions as a multifaceted character through whom the rabbis explored, articulated, and transmitted their sophisticated understanding of minority survival strategies. Through carefully crafted narratives involving this Persian monarch, the Talmudic sages encoded lessons about diplomatic finesse, the preservation of religious integrity under foreign rule, and the transformation of apparent powerlessness into moral authority.

Avodah Zarah 75: מְלַבְּנָן וּמַטְבִּילָן וְהֵן טְהוֹרִין

For the source text click/tap here: Avodah Zarah 75

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Utensils that are made by non-Jews and purchased by Jews must be dipped in a kosher mikveh prior to their use.

The source for this halakha is the passage in Sefer Bamidbar (31:23) that describes how after the war with the Midianites, all metal vessels that were taken as booty in the war needed to be washed be-mei nidda – in a kosher mikveh containing 40 se’a of water. This is not a requirement connected to the laws of kashrut; the Torah requires this even if the utensil had been made kosher by means of heat in fire beforehand.

We explore the halachic ramifications of toveling keilim.

Avodah Zarah 74: סְתָם יַיִן אֲפִילּוּ יַיִן בְּיַיִן — מוּתָּר

For the source text click/tap here: Avodah Zarah 74

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The Mishnah's treatment of bitul (nullification) in our daf Avodah Zarah 74a presents a fascinating paradox within halakhic reasoning. While Jewish law generally operates on quantitative principles—most notably the rule that forbidden substances become nullified when diluted in sixty times their volume (batel b'shishim)—the Mishnah systematically enumerates a series of exceptions where any amount of contamination renders the entire mixture forbidden.

We explore the possible commonality of the diverse forbidden objects of our mishnah’s exception to the rule of batel beshishim.

Avodah Zarah 73: הִגְדִּילוּ בְּאִיסּוּר — אָסוּר, הִגְדִּילוּ בְּהֶיתֵּר — מוּתָּר

For the source text click/tap here: Avodah Zarah 73

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When we have mixtures of foods that are forbidden with foods that are permitted, can the forbidden food ever be perceived as so insignificant that it is nullified so that the mixture can be eaten?

The Mishna on our daf teaches that yayin nesekh – wine that has been poured off as a libation to pagan gods – that is mixed with other wine – can never be nullified. Similarly, water that has been sacrificed in that way that has been mixed with other water can never be nullified. Water mixed with wine or wine mixed with water, however, will become nullified if the volume of the permitted liquid overwhelms the forbidden liquid to the extent that it can no longer be tasted.

The general principle is that min be-mino – in a mixture where the two things are similar – one cannot nullify the other; min shelo be-mino – when the mixture is two dissimilar things – one can nullify the other.

In the intersection of ancient religious law and modern scientific understanding often reveals surprising parallels and illuminating contrasts. Few areas demonstrate this more clearly than the Talmudic laws of mixtures (ta'arovet) and contemporary fluid mechanics and chemistry. Both traditions grapple with fundamental questions about identity, boundaries, and the persistence of essential properties when substances combine.

Avodah Zarah 72: הַנִּצּוֹק וְהַקָּטַפְרֵס וּמַשְׁקֶה

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The Mishna on our daf is concerned whether when wine is poured into a barrel containing forbidden wine, perhaps the connection between the liquids will cause the permitted wine to become prohibited, as well. This theme leads to a number of warnings made to Jews who dealt with wine, as described by the Gemara.

Steinsaltz remarks "We find many pictures from the ancient world that show groups of people drinking from a single vessel by means of tubes and siphons. Some suggest that the words used in the Gemara to describe this – gishta and bat gishta – are related to the Persian word “to suckle” although the philological evidence is not clear.”

we explore the concepts of nitsok (stream), katafres (descending water), and mashkeh tofe’ach (moistening liquid)—and compares these ancient understandings with modern scientific knowledge of fluid dynamics, microbiology, and contamination theory.

Avodah Zarah 71: הָנֵי פָּרְסָאֵי מְשַׁדְּרִי פַּרְדָּשְׁנֵי לַהֲדָדֵ

For the source text click/tap here: Avodah Zarah 71

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The Mishna on our daf discusses how one can sell wine to a non-Jew, since the wine will become stam yeinam as soon as it is poured into his container. The Mishna teaches that if the non-Jewish buyer and the Jewish seller came to an agreement regarding the price of the wine before it was measured out into the non-Jew’s container, then the money is permitted. If, however, the wine was first measured out and only afterwards the price was discussed, then the Jew cannot make use of the money since the wine had already become stam yeinam before the sale took place.

We explore the use of wine in other ancient traditions and it transforming properties in their myths.

Avodah Zarah 70: לְנַסֵּךְ אֵין פְּנַאי, לִבְעוֹל יֵשׁ פְּנַאי

For the source text click/tap here: Avodah Zarah 70

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According to the Mishna on our daf, when a boleshet – an army unit – entered the city, during peacetime we are concerned about open barrels of wine but not about closed barrels of wine. During wartime we rule that all barrels of wine are permitted – whether open or closed – since we assume that the soldiers will not have time for libations to their gods, since they are occupied with their fighting.

When Rav Mari declared on our daf that soldiers "do not have time to pour libations, as their passion for idolatry is not pressing at that time, but they have time to engage in intercourse, because their lust is great even during wartime," he articulated a psychological insight that would not be fully understood by Western science for nearly two millennia.

This remarkable statement, found in Avodah Zarah 70b, represents one of the earliest systematic attempts to understand the differential psychology of human drives under military stress—a topic that has only recently become the subject of rigorous scientific investigation.

We explore The Limits of Virtue: Moral Psychology and Military Conduct.

Avodah Zarah 69: בְּבָא לָהֶם דֶּרֶךְ עֲקַלָּתוֹן

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

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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.

Avodah Zarah 68: הֲלֹא עוֹלֶה עַל שֻׁלְחָן שֶׁל מְלָכִים

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Rav Sheishes answered: Usually, Rav holds that if a forbidden item imparts a detrimental taste to the mixture, it is permitted. However, a mouse is a novel law, as people think it is repulsive, yet even so, the Torah specifically forbids it. It therefore forbids other things as well even though it imparts a detrimental taste to the mixture. The Rabbis asked Rav Sheishes: If this is so, whether it is moist or dried out it should transmit tumah!? However, the Mishna says that it only transmits tumah if it is moist (i.e. alive in normal conditions) and not if it is dried out!?

The Gemora replies: According to this, semen should also transmit tumah both when it is moist and dry. However, the Mishna says it only transmits tumah when it is moist. It therefore must be that the Torah only said it transmits tumah when it is in a form where it can fertilize, as opposed to when it is dry.

We explore the transition from Bible to Talmud in attitudes to semen and seminal emission.

Avodah Zarah 67: גִּיעוּלֵי גוֹיִם לָאו נוֹתֵן טַעַם לִפְגָם הוּא

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The Gemora had stated regarding the emissions of utensils used by idolaters that have been used within twenty-four hours, it is impossible that the absorption is not deemed slightly bad, and although with respect to all prohibitions, such a taste would be permitted, nevertheless, the Torah states that one is prohibited from using such a pot unless it is first scalded. The Ramban asks: If in regard to those utensils used by idolaters, the flavor is regarded like the substance, how is it possible to say that with respect to other prohibitions, the flavor is not forbidden like the substance?

Are the emissions from the idolaters’ utensils a distinct class of prohibition, different from any other prohibitions? The Midianite utensils were forbidden out of the concern that there were nonkosher foods cooked inside of it!

We explore the particular offense of Midian in bible and its transformation in talmud.