Mishnah Avodah Zarah

1 On the three days preceding the festivals of idolaters, it is forbidden to conduct business with them, to lend articles to them or borrow from them, to lend or borrow any money from them, to repay a debt, or receive repayment from them. Rabbi Judah says: We should receive repayment from them, as this can only depress them. But they the Rabbis said to him: Even though it is depressing at the time, they are glad of it afterward.

2 Rabbi Ishmael says: On the three days before and the three days after, it is forbidden. But the Sages say: Before their festivities it is forbidden, but after their festivities it is permitted.

3 These are the festivals of the idolaters: Kalenda, Saturnalia, Kratesis, the anniversary of the kings’ accession to the throne and birthdays and anniversaries of deaths, according to Rabbi Meir. But the Sages say: A death at which burning of articles of the dead takes place is attended by idolatry, but where there is no such burning there is no idolatry. But the day of shaving one’s beard and lock of hair, or the day of landing after a sea voyage, or the day of release from prison, or if an idolater holds a banquet for his son, the prohibition applies only to that day and that particular person.

4 When an idolatrous festival takes place within a city it is permitted to conduct business with non-Jews outside it. If the idolatrous festival takes place outside it, business is permitted within it. Is it permitted to go there? If the road leads solely to that place, it is forbidden; but if one can go by it to any other place, it is permitted. A city in which an idolatrous festival is taking place, some of its shops being decorated and some not decorated: this was the case with Beth Shean, and the Sages said: In the decorated stores it is forbidden to buy but in the undecorated ones it is permitted.

5 The following things are forbidden to be sold to idolaters: itztrobalin, benot shuah with their stems, frankincense, and a white rooster. Rabbi Judah says: It is permitted to sell a white rooster to an idolater among other roosters; but if it is by itself, one should clip its spur and then sell it to him, because a defective animal is not sacrificed to an idol. As for other things, if they are not specified their sale is permitted, but if specified it is forbidden. Rabbi Meir says: Also a “good palm,” hazab and niklivas are forbidden to be sold to idolaters.

6 In a place where it is the custom to sell small domesticated animals to non-Jews, such sale is permitted; but where the custom is not to sell, such sale is not permitted. In no place, however, is it permitted to sell large animals, calves or foals, whether whole or maimed. Rabbi Judah permits in the case of a maimed one. And Ben Bateira permits in the case of a horse.

7 One should not sell them bears, lions or anything that may injure the public. One should not join them in building a basilica, a scaffold, a stadium, or a platform. But one may join them in building public or private bathhouses. When, however, he reaches the dome in which the idol is placed, he must not build.

8 One should not make jewelry for an idol such as necklaces, earrings, or rings. Rabbi Eliezer says: For payment it is permitted. One should not sell to idolaters anything that is attached to the soil, but once cut down it may be sold. Rabbi Judah says: One may sell it on condition that it be cut down. One should not rent houses to them in the land of Israel; and needless to say: Not fields. In Syria houses may be rented to them, but not fields. Outside of the land of Israel, houses may be sold and fields rented to them, these are the words of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yose says: In the land of Israel, one may rent them houses but not fields; in Syria, we may sell them houses and rent them fields; outside of the land of Israel, both may be sold.

9 Even in a place where they permitted renting a house, they did not say that this was permitted if it was for the purpose of a residence, since the idolater will bring idols into it; for it says: “You must not bring an abomination into your house.”Deuteronomy 7:26 In no place may one rent a bathhouse to an idolater, as it is called by the name of the owner.

1 One should not place animals in inns of non-Jews, because they are suspected of bestiality. A woman should not be alone with them, because they are suspected of licentiousness; nor should a man be alone with them, because they are suspected of shedding blood. A Jewish woman should not act as midwife to a non-Jewish woman, because she would be delivering a child for idolatry. But a non-Jewish woman may act as midwife to a Jewish woman. A Jewish woman should not suckle the child of a non-Jewish woman, but a non-Jewish woman may suckle the child of a Jewish woman on her premises.

2 We may allow them to heal us when the healing relates to money, but not personal healing; nor should we have our hair cut by them in any place, this is the opinion of Rabbi Meir. But the Sages said: In a public place it is permitted, but not when the two persons are alone.

3 The following things belonging to non-Jews are forbidden for Jews to use and the prohibition extends to any benefit that may be derived from them: wine, or a non-Jew’s vinegar that was formerly wine, Hadrianic earthenware, skins pierced at the animal’s heart. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: When its tear is round, the skin is forbidden, but if oblong it is permitted. Meat that is being brought into a place of idol worship is permitted, but that which is brought out is forbidden, because it is like a sacrifice to the dead, this is the opinion of Rabbi Akiba. With non-Jews going on a pilgrimage to worship idols it is forbidden to have any business transactions, but with those returning it is permitted.

4 Skin bottles or flasks of non-Jews in which a Jew’s wine is stored are forbidden and the prohibition extends to any benefit that may be derived from them, this is the opinion of Rabbi Meir. But the Sages say that the prohibition does not extend to deriving benefit. Grape seeds and grape skins of non-Jews are forbidden, the prohibition extending to any benefit that may be derived from them, this is the opinion of Rabbi Meir. But the Sages say: When fresh they are forbidden but when dry they are permitted. Fish brine and Bithynian cheese of the non-Jews are forbidden, the prohibition extending to any benefit that may be derived from them, this is the opinion of Rabbi Meir. But the Sages say that the prohibition does not extend to deriving benefit.

5 Rabbi Judah said: Rabbi Ishmael put this question to Rabbi Joshua as they were walking on the way, “Why have they forbidden the cheese of non-Jews?” He replied: “Because they curdle it with the rennet of a nevelah an animal that was not properly slaughtered.” He Rabbi Ishmael said: “But is not the rennet of a burnt-offering more strictly forbidden than the rennet of a nevelah? And yet it was said that a priest who is not fastidious may suck it out raw.” The Sages disagreed with this opinion and said that no benefit may be derived from it, although one who consumed it does not commit sacrilege against Temple property. Rabbi Joshua responded: “The reason then is because they curdle it with the rennet from calves sacrificed to idols.” He Rabbi Ishmael said to him: “If so, why do they not extend the prohibition to any benefit derived from it?” He Rabbi Joshua diverted him to another matter, saying: “Ishmael, my brother, how do you read: ‘For your masculine love is better than wine,’Song of Songs 1:2 or ‘For your feminine love’?” He replied: “‘For your feminine love.’” He said to him: “This is not so, for its fellow verse proves it: ‘Your masculine ointments have a good fragrance.’Song of Songs 1:3”

6 The following articles of non-Jews are prohibited but the prohibition does not extend to deriving benefit from them: milk that a non-Jew milked without an Israelite watching him; their bread and their oil, though Rabbi and his court permitted the oil; stewed and pickled things into which they are accustomed to put wine or vinegar; pickled herring that has been minced; brine in which no kalbit fish is floating; ḥilak; pieces of asafoetida; and sal conditum. These are prohibited but the prohibition does not extend to deriving benefit from them.

7 The following are permitted to be eaten by an Israelite: milk that a non-Jew milked with a Jew watching him; honey; grape clusters, even though they drip moisture, as the law that renders food susceptible to impurity by a liquid does not apply to them; preserves into which they are not accustomed to put wine or vinegar; pickled herring that has not been minced; brine containing fish; a leaf of asafoetida; and rolled olive cakes. Rabbi Yose says: Those olives having pits ready to drop out are prohibited. Locusts that come out of a shopkeeper’s basket are prohibited, but if from storage they are permitted. The same rule applies to terumah.

1 All images are prohibited because they are worshiped once a year, according to the opinion of Rabbi Meir. But the Sages say: an image is not prohibited except one that has a staff or bird or orb in its hand. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: Any image which has anything in its hand is prohibited.

2 One who finds fragments of images, they are permitted. If one found the figure of a hand or the figure of a foot, it is prohibited because such an object is worshiped.

3 If one finds utensils on which there is the figure of the sun or moon or a dragon, he casts them into the Dead Sea. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: If one of these figures is on precious utensils they are prohibited, but if on common utensils they are permitted. Rabbi Yose says: He may grind an idol to powder and scatter it to the wind or throw it into the sea. They said to him: Even so, it may then become manure, as it says: “Let nothing that has been proscribed stick to your hand.”Deuteronomy 13:17

4 Proclos son of Plosphos asked Rabban Gamaliel in Acco when the latter was bathing in the bathhouse of Aphrodite. He said to him, “It is written in your Torah: ‘Let nothing that has been proscribed stick to your hand.’Deuteronomy 13:17 Why are you bathing in the bathhouse of Aphrodite?” He replied to him, “We do not answer questions relating to the Torah in a bathhouse.” When he came out, he said to him, “I did not come into her domain, she has come into mine. People do not say, ‘the bath was made as an adornment for Aphrodite’; rather they say, ‘Aphrodite was made as an adornment for the bath.’ Another reason is, even if you were given a large sum of money, you would not enter the presence of your idol while you were nude or had had a seminal emission, nor would you urinate before it. But this statue of Aphrodite stands by a sewer and all people urinate before it. In the Torah it says only ‘their gods’Deuteronomy 12:3: what is treated as a god is prohibited, and what is not treated as a god is permitted.”

5 If idolaters worship mountains and hills, these are permitted, but what is on them is prohibited, as it says: “You must not covet the silver or the gold that is on them and take them.”Deuteronomy 7:25 Rabbi Yose the Galilean says: It says “their gods on the mountains,”Deuteronomy 12:2 not the mountains that are their gods; “their gods on the hills,”Deuteronomy 12:2 not the hills that are their gods. And why is an asherah prohibited? Because there was manual labor connected with it, and whatever has manual labor connected with it is prohibited. Rabbi Akiba said: Let me expound and decide the interpretation before you: wherever you find a high mountain or elevated hill or green tree, know that an idolatrous object is there.

6 If a Jew has a house next to an idolatrous shrine and it collapsed, he is forbidden to rebuild it. What should he do? He withdraws a distance of four cubits into his own ground and builds there. If the wall belonged both to him and the shrine, it is judged as being half and half. Its stones, timber and rubbish defile like a creeping thing, as it says: “You must utterly detest it.”Deuteronomy 7:26 Rabbi Akiba says: it defiles like a menstruous woman, as it says: “And you will treat as unclean the silver overlay of your images and the golden plating of your idols. You will cast them away like a menstruous woman. ‘Out!’ you will call to them.”Isaiah 30:22 Just as a menstruous woman makes impure an object by carrying it, so also an idolatrous object defiles by its being carried.

7 There are three types of shrines: a shrine originally built for idolatrous worship is prohibited. If one plastered and tiled an ordinary house for idolatry and renovated it, one may remove the renovations. If he had only brought an idol into it and taken it out again, the house is permitted. There are three kinds of idolatrous stones: a stone which a man hewed originally to serve as a pedestal for an idol is prohibited. If one plastered and tiled a stone for idolatry, one may remove the plaster and tile, and it is then permitted. If he set an idol on it and took it off, the stone is permitted. There are three kinds of asherah: a tree that was originally planted for idolatry is prohibited. If he chopped and trimmed a tree for idolatry, and it sprouted again, he removes the new growth. If he only set an idol under it and took it away, the tree is permitted. What is an asherah? Any tree beneath which there is an idol. Rabbi Shimon says: Any tree that is worshiped. It happened at Sidon that there was a tree that was worshiped and they found a heap of stones beneath it. Rabbi Shimon said to them, “examine this heap.” They examined it and discovered an image in it. He said to them, “since it is the image that they worship, we permit the tree for you.”

8 One may not sit in its shadow, but if he sat he is pure. Nor may he pass beneath it, and if he passed he is impure. If it encroaches on the public road and he passed beneath he is pure. They may sow vegetables beneath it in winter but not in summer, and lettuce neither in summer nor winter. Rabbi Yose says: Even vegetables may not be planted in winter because the foliage falls on them and becomes manure for them.

9 If one took pieces of wood from it the asherah tree, they are forbidden to be used. If he heated an oven with them: if it was new, it must be broken to pieces; if it was old, it must be allowed to cool. If he baked bread in an oven heated with wood from an asherah, it is forbidden to be used, and if the loaf became mixed with other loaves, they are all prohibited. Rabbi Eliezer says: Let him cast the advantage he derives into the Dead Sea. They said to him: There is no process of redemption for an idol. If one took a piece of wood from it to use as a shuttle, it is forbidden to be used. If he wove a garment with it, it is forbidden to be used. If the garment became mixed with others, and these with others, they are all forbidden to be used. Rabbi Eliezer says: Let him cast the advantage he derives into the Dead Sea. They said to him: There is no process of redemption for an idol.

10 How does one annul an asherah? If a pagan pruned or trimmed it, removing from it a stick or twig or even a leaf, it is annulled. If he smoothed it out for its own sake, it is prohibited; but if not for its own sake, it is permitted.

1 Rabbi Ishmael says: If three stones are lying side by side next to a Mercurius, they are prohibited; if there are two they are permitted. The Sages say: If the stones are seen to be connected with it they are prohibited, but if they do not appear to be connected with it they are permitted.

2 If he found on top of a Mercurius coins or a garment or utensils, these are permitted. But if he found grape-clusters, wreaths of grain, gifts of wine, oil or fine flour, or anything resembling what is offered on the altar, it is prohibited.

3 If an idolatrous shrine has a garden or bathhouse, one may use either so long as it is not to the advantage of the idolaters, but one may not use either if it is to its advantage. If the garden or bathhouse belonged jointly to it and to others, one may use them whether it is to the advantage of idolatry or not.

4 The idol of an idolater is prohibited immediately; but if it belonged to a Jew it is not prohibited until it is worshiped. An idolater can annul an idol belonging to himself or to another idolater, but a Jew cannot annul the idol of an idolater. One who annuls an idol annuls the things that pertain to it. If he only annulled the things that pertain to it, these are permitted but the idol itself is prohibited.

5 How does he annul it? If he cut off the tip of its ear, the tip of its nose, or the tip of its finger; or if he defaced it, although there was no reduction in the mass of the material, he has annulled it. If he spat before it, urinated before it, dragged it in the dust or hurled excrement at it, it is not annulled. If he sold or gave it as a pledge, Rabbi says that he has annulled it, but the Sages say that he has not annulled it.

6 An idol which its worshipers abandoned in time of peace is permitted, in time of war it is prohibited. Pedestals of kings are permitted because they set them up at the time the kings pass by.

7 They asked the elders in Rome, “If your God has no desire for idolatry, why does he not abolish it?” They replied, “If it were something unnecessary to the world that was worshiped, he would abolish it; but people worship the sun, moon, stars and planets; should he destroy his world because of fools?” They said to the elders, “If so, he should destroy what is unnecessary for the world and leave what is necessary for the world!” They replied: “If he did that, we should merely be strengthening the hands of the worshipers of these, because they would say: ‘Know that these are gods, for they have not been abolished!’”

8 A winepress containing trodden grapes may be purchased from a non-Jew even though it was he that lifted the trodden grapes with his hand and put them among the heap. And the juice does not become yen nesekh wine assumed to have been used as a libation until it descends into the vat. When it has descended into the vat, what is in the vat is prohibited; but the remainder is permitted.

9 A Jew may tread the winepress together with a non-Jew but may not pick grapes with him. If an Israelite was working in a state of ritual impurity, one may neither tread nor pick with him, but one may move empty casks with him to the press and carry them filled with him from the press. If a baker was working in a state of ritual impurity, one may neither knead nor roll dough with him but we may carry loaves with him to the bakery.

10 If a non-Jew was found standing by the side of a vat of wine, if he had loaned money to the Jew, then the wine is prohibited; but if he had not loaned money to the Jew, then it is permitted. If a non-Jew fell into a vat and climbed out, or measured it with a reed, or flicked out a hornet with a reed, or tapped on the top of a frothing cask: all of these things actually happened, and the Rabbis said that the wine may be sold, but Rabbi Shimon permits it even to be drunk. If a non-Jew took a cask, and in his anger threw it into the vat: this actually happened and the Rabbis declared it fit for drinking.

11 If a Jew prepares a non-Jew’s wine in a state of ritual purity and leaves it in the non-Jew’s domain, in a house which is open to the public domain, if it is in a city where non-Jews and Jews reside, it is permitted. But if it is in a city where only non-Jews reside, it is prohibited unless a Jew sits and guards it. There is no need for the guard to sit and watch the whole time; even if he keeps going out and coming in it is permitted. Rabbi Shimon ben Eleazar says: All domains of non-Jews are the same.

12 If a Jew prepares a non-Jew’s wine in a state of ritual purity and leaves it in the non-Jew’s domain, and the non-Jew writes for him: “I have received the money from you,” then the wine is permitted. If, however, the Jew wished to remove it and the non-Jew would not let it go until he paid him: this actually happened in Beth Shean, and the Rabbis prohibited it.

1 If a non-Jew hires a Jewish workman to assist him in the transportation of yen nesekh, his wage is prohibited. If he hired him to assist him in another kind of work, even if he says to him, “Move a cask of yen nesekh for me from this place to that,” his wage is permitted. If he hired a Jew’s donkey to carry yen nesekh, its wages are prohibited; but if he hired it to ride on, even though the non-Jew rested his jar of yen nesekh on it, its wages are permitted.

2 If yen nesekh fell on grapes, one may rinse them and they are permitted, but if they were split they are prohibited. If it fell on figs or on dates, if there is enough wine in them to impart a flavor, they are prohibited. It happened with Boethus ben Zonin that he carried dried figs in a ship and a cask of yen nesekh was broken and it fell on them; and he consulted the Sages who declared them permitted. This is the general rule: whatever derives advantage from yen nesekh by its imparting a flavor is prohibited, but whatever does not derive advantage from yen nesekh by its imparting a flavor is permitted, as, for example, vinegar that fell on split beans.

3 If a non-Jew was transporting jars of wine together with a Jew from place to place, and it was presumed that the wine was under guard, it is permitted. But if the Jew informed him that he was going away and he was absent a length of time sufficient for the other to bore a hole in a jar, stop it up and the sealing clay to become dry, the wine is prohibited. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: a length of time sufficient for him to open a cask, put a new stopper on and the new stopper to become dry.

4 If a Jew left his wine in a wagon or on a ship while he went along a shortcut, entered a town and bathed, it is permitted. But if the Jew informed him that he was going away and he was absent a length of time sufficient for the other to bore a hole in a jar, stop it up and the sealing clay to become dry, the wine is prohibited. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: a length of time sufficient for him to open a cask, put a new stopper on and the new stopper to become dry. If a Jew left a non-Jew in his shop, although he kept going in and out, the wine there is permitted. But if the Jew informed him that he was going away and he was absent a length of time sufficient for the other to bore a hole in a jar, stop it up and the sealing clay to become dry, the wine is prohibited. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: a length of time sufficient for him to open a cask, put a new stopper on and the new stopper to become dry.

5 If a Jew was eating with a non-Jew at a table and set some flasks on the table and others on a side table and went out, leaving them there, what is on the table is prohibited and what is on the side table is permitted. And if he said to him, “Mix some of the wine with water and drink,” even what is on the side table is prohibited. Opened casks are prohibited, and the closed ones are permitted except when he was absent a length of time sufficient for the non-Jew to open it, put a new stopper on and the new stopper to become dry.

6 If a band of non-Jewish marauders entered a city in a time of peace, the open casks are prohibited and the sealed are permitted; in a time of war both are permitted because they do not have the leisure to offer libations.

7 If a non-Jew sent to Jewish craftsmen a cask of yen nesekh as their wages, they are allowed to say to him, “Give us its value in money”; but after the wine has come into their possession the exchange is prohibited. If a Jew sells his wine to a non-Jew, if he set the price before he measured it out, the purchase-money is permitted; but if he measured it out before he set the price, the purchase-money is prohibited. If a Jew took a funnel and measured wine into a non-Jew’s flask and then measured some into a Jew’s flask, if a drop of the first wine remained in the funnel, then the wine measured into the second flask is prohibited. If he poured from his own vessel into a non-Jew’s vessel, the wine in the vessel from which he poured is permitted and the wine in the vessel into which he poured is prohibited.

8 Yen nesekh is prohibited and renders other wine prohibited by the smallest quantity. Wine mixed with wine and water with water prohibits by the smallest quantity. Wine mixed with water and water with wine disqualifies when the prohibited element imparts a flavor. This is the general rule: with the same type the mixture is disqualified by the smallest quantity, but with a different type it is disqualified when the prohibited element imparts a flavor.

9 The following are prohibited and render prohibited by the smallest quantity: a cask of yen nesekh; an idolatrous object; skins of animals which have holes over the heart; an ox which has been sentenced to be stoned; a heifer whose neck was broken; birds brought as an offering by a leper; the hair-offering of a nazirite; the firstborn of a donkey; meat cooked in milk; the scapegoat; and non-consecrated animals slaughtered in the Temple court. These are prohibited and render prohibited by the smallest quantity.

10 If yen nesekh fell into a vat, the whole of it is prohibited for use. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: The whole of it may be sold to non-Jews with the exception of a quantity corresponding to the value of the yen nesekh in it.

11 If a non-Jew covered a stone wine press with pitch it may be scoured and is then clean; but if it was of wood, Rabbi says that it may be scoured and the Sages say that he must peel off the pitch. If it was of earthenware, even though he peeled off the pitch it is prohibited.

12 If a Jew purchases cooking-utensils from a non-Jew, those that are customarily used with cold liquids, he must immerse; those that are customarily used with hot liquids, he must dip in boiling water; those that are customarily made white-hot in the fire, he must make white-hot in the fire. A spit and grill must be made white-hot, but a knife may be polished and is then ritually clean.