Avodah Zarah 016

1:
The reason for the prohibition against selling to the non-Jews wild animals is obvious and clearly implied: they might be used in a manner which is dangerous to the public or they may be housed in such a manner that the safety of the public is threatened. We must bear in mind the Roman delight in ludi – games – in which the local circus was packed with gambling spectators to see men fight to the death against themselves and against wild animals. In ancient times such wild animals did roam the country-side of Eretz-Israel, so it is not surprising that enterprising Jews might see a way to make a profit – or even to earn a living. We need but remember the two bears who came out of the forest and killed the tormentors of the prophet Elisha [2 Kings 2:24] and the lions who roamed the land after the expulsion of the population of the Northern Kingdom, lions which so scared the earliest Samaritans [2 Kings 17:25-26]. And, of course, we should not forget that the great amora of Eretz-Israel, Resh Lakish, was a gladiator or a trainer of wild animals before he turned to Torah [Gittin 47a].

2:
The 'mansion' mentioned in our mishnah is the Greco-Latin word basilica, which originally meant a royal residence but eventually came to indicate a large public building. Every city, town and even township had its own basilica. The local basilica was used for shops, markets, offices and the like; but it always housed the local court house where the magistrate would sit in judgement. We may perhaps better understand why Jews were forbidden to build a basilica for the non-Jews if we consider the context of the prohibition. The judgements handed down in Roman courts of law were often harsh, cruel and fatal. Furthermore, doubtless every basilica had its own presiding deity.

3:
The scaffold was used for public executions – more than likely it was used for decapitation rather than strangulation. The stadium or circus was a place where criminals were sent to entertain the public by trying to defend themselves against wild animals, thus neatly combining the exercise of justice with public entertainment.

4:
The word I have translated 'dais' is ambiguous. It may refer rather to a high raised platform from which condemned criminals were hurled to their death. On the other hand, it may refer to the dais or platform on which the magistrate sat in judgement. Be its meaning what it may it is clear that our mishnah seeks to keep Jews far from anything to do with the Roman system of criminal correction.

5:
The latter part of our mishnah has a semantic difference from the earlier part. The reisha forbids Jews from building the places and objects mentioned; but the seifa prohibits Jews from joining non-Jews in certain building projects – either entirely or partially.

6:
The pedestals to which our mishnah refers are, of course, the raised basis for statues which so often were representations of some deity or other. In some cases even the deceased emperor was given divine status – and in a few cases divine status was conferred even before death!

7:
Every city, town, township and village had at least one bath-house. People would frequent the bath-house every day. It served not only for personal hygiene but it was also the place where one lazed around and listened to all the latest gossip – and probably also provided some! The bath-house was a place where people would meet people, and anyone who was anyone would wish to be seen in the bath-house as often as possible. The bath-house was not only a place where respectable people met respectable people; it was also a place where respectable people met less respectable people and where less respectable people met downright disreputable people – for lewd or criminal purposes.

8:
As we have already mentioned, almost every public building – basilica, mart or bath-house, had its presiding deity, a representation of which was set up in a special alcove in a prominent place. Our mishnah advises a Jewish constructor that he may take part in the erection of these public buildings, but when they come to creating the dome or alcove he must withdraw from the project.

9:
The Gemara [AZ 17a-b] introduces an anecdote which aptly illustrates the difficulties that Jews had with regards to these buildings:

In AZ 009 I wrote: Quite incredibly, in his commentary on our mishnah, Rabbi Ovadyah of Bertinoro says that this festival was initiated by Adam in the Garden of Eden!

Hayyim Halpern writes:

I am surprised that you are surprised at Rabbi Ovadya's 'theory' regarding the Adamic origin of Kalenda and Saturnalia. He was merely bringing the Gemara's comment right after the mishnah (AZ 8a).

I respond:

I was naive enough to expect that a sage like Rabbi Ovadyah of Bertinoro, brought up and educated in the blossoming renaissance of 15th century Italy, a contemporary of Michelangelo Buonarotti and Leonardo da Vinci, would have thought twice or three times before quoting a story which we may perhaps forgive sages who lived more than a millenium before him in the Middle East. I was wrong.