Avodah Zarah 050

1:
Clearly devotees were wont to leave offerings at the statues of their gods. The offerings expressed thanks for good things that had happened or appeasement when there was cause to be concerned that something untoward might happen. It is also obvious that these offerings, left in public places, were not retrieved by their owners; and yet they usually disappeared in a short while. Since a non-Jew who leaves an offering for an idol does not expect to retrieve it he has thereby relinquished ownership of what he has left. From the halakhic point of view such articles are hefker [ownerless] and may be retrieved by anybody.

2:
If a Jew is permitted to take ownership of articles left with an idol we must be very careful not to derive benefit from such offerings. Our mishnah gives examples of articles left with and idol that a Jew may appropriate to himself and examples of such articles that he is forbidden to take.

3:
The first clause of our mishnah describes articles left near an idol that were probably not intended as an offering. Perhaps people lost them there, or abandoned them there, or even chose to show disrespect to the idol (because of favours not received). If the articles are left in a manner that can be construed as disrespectful or just lacking in respect a Jew may take them for himself. In his commentary on our mishnah Rambam writes:

4:
The latter part of our mishnah is concerned with articles that it may be safely assumed were left with the idol as genuine offerings. On no account may a Jew derive benefit from these offerings. Grape clusters were usually offerings to the god Dionysos, though obviously they could serve other deities as well. A crown of wheat stalks was associated with the godess Demeter, but again, such a garland could decorate the head of any idol as an offering of thanks or appreciation.

5:
Wine, oil and flour were offered regularly on the altar of the Bet Mikdash in Jerusalem when it was standing; no doubt they were offered to pagan deities as well.

6:
In the Gemara [AZ 51b] we find an interesting distinction:

Rabbi Assi assumes that our mishnah is referring to an idol in its temple (and not in the public thoroughfare). Such idols were housed in a special cell at the end of the temple and the cell was covered by curtains to preserve the privacy of the god and to emphasize his sanctity. He says that anything left by a devotee inside the veil must be assumed to be an offering and hence forbidden. Only with regards to what is outside the veil – i.e. in the public domain – do the provisions of our mishnah apply. Rabbi Assi does not explain how a Jew comes to be inside a pagan temple!

In AZ 047 I wrote:

And now to Israel's second question. I am not aware of Jewish congregations using churches for worship – though I am sure that Israel is correct with his information. Relying on the opinion of the Me'iri and others about Christianity it would not be completely inappropriate to use a church hall for Jewish worship if that is the only option. I am assuming that the church hall has no religious significance for the Christians but only serves their communal purposes. However, if the hall has religious emblems or has some other religious significance I would not know how to explain its use by Jews for religious purposes – even if those emblems are temporarily removed.

Derek Fields writes:

I have two questions. First, if one relies on the Meiri's opinion that Christianity is not idolatry, then why can one not conduct a Jewish religious service in a place with Christian icons, so long as one does not acknowledge or use the Christian icons in the service? Setting aside the question of marat ayin, what difference does it make if a cross is hanging on the wall, if it has no idolatrous significance? When I was young, my parents belonged to a Reform congregation that was too small to afford their own worship space, so they used the local Episcopal church, whose members were happy to let us into their building on Friday night when it was otherwise empty. In spite of the Christian iconography, there was never any question but that a Jewish service was being conducted in that space. While I am sure that the halachic implications were not particularly relevant to this Reform congregation, if they had followed the Meiri on this, why would it have been a problem to use the church?

I respond:

Even if we assume that Christianity is not idolatry (and this is not a view that is universally held even today) it is certainly not Judaism! A Jew should pray in a place reserved for Jewish worship, a synagogue. Failing that she should worship in a place that is religiously neutral. The presence of icons, pictures, symbols which have human representation is forbidden in a place of Jewish worship; all the more so if those representations have religious significance in a different religion. I am not able to comment on the policies of Reform congregations.

And now to Derek's second question:

If, in spite of the Meiri's opinion, you can not worship in such an area, what is your opinion on interfaith community services that are conducted in a church to inject a faith experience into a community setting. Recently Haskel Lookstein was taken to task by the Orthodox Union for participating in an interfaith service in the National Cathedral celebrating Barack Obama's inauguration. Was he wrong to have participated, especially because the service was held in a church? Or is this a different issue because he was not conducting a Jewish religious service but participating in an ecumencial service?

I respond:

If we assume that Christianity is not idolatry I see no reason why a Jew should not be present during a Christian service provided it is clear that he is there only as a spectator and not as a participant. I would even be prepared to sanction some kind of participation of the event included several religions and was held in some kind of neutral venue.