Avodah Zarah 002

9:
In the previous shiur we noted how the sages of the Talmudic era and most of the rabbis of the Middle Ages restricted the pejorative term Ovdey Avodah Zarah, idol worshippers, to the non-Jewish inhabitants of Eretz-Israel. These non-Jews are depicted as being immoral and depraved, whereas their counterparts in other countries are governed by some kind of ethical code.

10:
However, this depiction of the non-Jewish inhabitants of Eretz-Israel not only does not match our historical knowledge but it is also negated by several accounts in the Talmud itself. Let us look at one very famous story, which is recounted in The Gemara [Kiddushin 31a]:

It was on this story that the Amora Rabbi Ĥanina made his well-known observation:

11:
Other sources pad out the story: once a jewel fell out of the breastplate of the high priest and the sages wanted to replace it at enormous cost by buying another from Dama ben-Netinah, a non-Jewish citizen of Ashkelon, but the keys to the safe were under his father's pillow and he was not willing to disturb his father's rest, so he forwent the deal. A year later he was rewarded by Heaven in that a red heifer was born in his herd. Since a red heifer was a very rare occurrence and such an animal was needed for purposes of ritual purification Dama ben-Netinah knew that he could ask any price that he wanted: it was the ideal seller's market. But his ethical code would not let him do so and he demanded only that sum which he had lost the previous year because of the respect he showed his father.

(Those who are curious about the ceremony of the red heifer can read about it here, explanation #5. Those who are curious about the value of 600,000 – presumably dinars – may like to know that the daily wage of a day labourer was three or four dinars – around 80 dinars a month.)

12:
There is another incident recorded in the Talmud of Eretz-Israel [Pe'ah 3a] concerning this same Dama ben-Netinah:

With stories such as these it is very difficult to accept that all the non-Jews living in Eretz-Israel during the Talmudic era were immoral, unethical, lawless orgiasts.

13:
Of course, it is possible to claim that Dama ben-Netinah is the exception that proves the rule. But we must not fail to note that not only is this non-Jew singled out for great praise by the sages, but that they also hold him up as an exemplar. Nor is there any record of his fellow councillors objecting to the behaviour of Dama's mother, so presumably they shared his ethic or at least approved the honour he showed his mother.

14:
The real reason why the non-Jews of Eretz-Israel are singled out as pagans is quite simple: the Torah says that they are. Furthermore, the Torah requires them to be extirpated from the land:

This is very difficult reading and, of course, it is a commandment that was not carried out. In Talmudic times it could not be carried out. So an attempt at severe social separation was the next best thing.

To be continued.