Avodah Zarah 052

1:
Clearly, our present mishnah is still concerned with the idols themselves. The question here discussed is at what stage in its history does an idol become forbidden. After all, if it does not have any religious significance it is no different from any other statue or icon.

2:
The Torah [Deuteronomy 7:25] commands thus concerning the idols of non-Jews:

The Torah could have said, with a greater economy of words, that Israel must "consign the images to the fire." The sages learn from the juxtaposition of the terms "the images of their gods" that these statues and icons only become prohibited from the moment that they become "their gods".

3:
In the case of a pagan making an idol, clearly his intention was to create a representation of his god; therefore, a Jew is forbidden to derive any benefit from such a statue or icon from the moment the artisan completes his task.

4:
However, the Torah also takes into account the sad possibility that a Jew will be tempted into idolatry. The Torah [Deuteronomy 27:15] states as follows:

From this the sages learn that in the case of a Jew making a statue or icon it only becomes an idol (and therefore forbidden) from the moment he performs religious rites before it. In his commentary on our present mishnah Rambam suggests that such rites might include the burning of incense before it or kneeling before it. In his commentary, Rabbi Ovadya of Bertinoro explains the rather strange words of the Torah "in secret". He says that a Jew would not initially perform such rites publicly for fear of the courts. Because the courts would implement the command of the Torah [Deuteronomy 13:7-12]:

To be continued.

You will recall that in AZ 049 I invited participants to take up the challenge offered by Mike Nichols. Mike had asked what relevance he should in everyday life find for the subject of our present study. In the previous shiur we read one response; here now is another. This comes from Yaier Lehrer:

In response to the inquiry related to the study of these items related to Avodah Zarah, the lesson we can learn is how far our rabbis wanted to go to avoid even the appearance of involvement in Avodah Zarah, as well as an apparent belief that once an item is used for Avodah Zarah it becomes unfit for Jewish use in any form.

If there is to be a practical application of the study of this Mishna (and I am rather certain one need not have a modern day application for every single Mishna), I would suggest that there are several reasons this is important. Firstly, from a historic standpoint, it gives us the context to understand the concerns of our forefathers in the communities in which they lived. We get a better understanding of the steps they felt necessary for the observance of Jewish tradition in a non-Jewish, heathen world.

Secondly, we can certainly take some lessons for this Mishna as Judaism in the Diaspora struggles to maintain an authentic identity in a non-Jewish world. I would suggest that in our dealings with the functionaries of other religions and in working along with other religions in our communities, keeping these particular Mishnayot in mind will us determine the boundaries we wish to set in our ecumenical events, functions and enterprises.

Furthermore, this Mishna gives us more context for the idea of the rabbinic concept of "building a fence" around the law. Here we saw a rabbinic thread that requires us to make every effort not to even come into contact with the objects of Avodah Zarah even if ourselves don't worship them. This gives us context even for our observance of some of our own rituals, which go to great lengths to maintain the spirit of the law, even though it sometimes may seem as if the law itself has no logical basis.

And here is another response from Mike Lewyn:

You asked what situations might be analogous to the avodah zarah issues in the Mishnah. Even if one assumes that avodah zarah is irrelevant to Christianity, I occasionally see Hindu/Buddhist idol-like statues in various situations. And certainly, St. Valentine's Day fairly screams "Avodah Zarah!" to me – and even fairly moderate Orthodox poskim think Halloween is off-limits to Jews. And that's just a start based on a minute of reflection.