Avodah Zarah 071

נושא: AZ

BET MIDRASH VIRTUALI

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The following are prohibited and [impart] their prohibition with any amount: yeyn nesekh, idolatry, punctured leather, a stoned ox, a decapitated calf, a leper's birds, a nazir's hair, a donkey's redemption, [an admixture of] meat and milk, and secular slaughter performed in the priestly court. [All] these are prohibited and [impart] their prohibition with any amount.

1:
Since in the previous mishnah it was recorded that

yeyn nesekh is forbidden and becomes so in any amount

our present mishnah enlarges the scope and lists other items which are prohibited to eat or to derive benefit even in the smallest amount of admixture.

2:
The first item in the list is yeyn nesekh, and this has already been explained. The reason why it too is included in this list is because, as we have mentioned on numerous occasions, each mishnah was conned by rote and to start "editing" a mishnah was just asking for trouble. See Avot 172, paragraphs 15-17, for more information about this manner of learning the material and preserving it.

3:
The term "idolatry" in our mishnah refers to some kind of representation of a pagan god – statue or painting and so forth – that got mixed up with other such items which were of a secular nature. Rambam, in his commentary on our mishnah, gives an example which is so simple that one is surprised that it is not the first thought that comes into one's mind. He suggests as an example coinage; where it is known that one coin bears the image of some god or other and it has become mixed with lots of other coins which only have secular images on them.

4:
The next item is "punctured leather" or hides. We have met this disgusting pagan custom before: see AZ 025, paragraphs 13-15. Very briefly: A round hole in a hide was most probably made to permit a pagan priest to insert his hand into the animal's body in order to wrench out certain organs. This was done while the animal was still alive before being slaughtered. If such a hide becomes mixed up with other innocuous hides it renders all of them forbidden.

5:
We now come to the "stoned ox". The Torah [Exodus 21:28-30] says:

When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox is not to be punished. If, however, that ox has been in the habit of goring, and its owner, though warned, has failed to guard it, and it kills a man or a woman – the ox shall be stoned and its owner, too, shall be put to death. If ransom is laid upon him, he must pay whatever is laid upon him to redeem his life.

The owner of an ox (or any other dangerous animal) is required to take precautions to ensure that no one shall be hurt by his beast. However, the first time such a thing happens with an animal that would not necessarily be vicious the owner is not punished but just warned that he will be punished if it happens again. If a "warned ox" kills (or damages) a second time the owner is fined. In either case the ox is killed. Should the carcass of such an ox become mixed up with the carcasses of other oxen which died a natural death or were slaughtered for food the carcass of the "stoned ox" renders the whole collection prohibited. (Note that the Torah specifically states that the flesh of the stoned ox shall not be eaten.)

6:
We discussed the "decapitated calf" when we studied Tractate Sotah. See Sotah 096 and Sotah 097 for the full discussion. The matter relates to a law of the Torah [Deuteronomy 21:1]:

If a body be found slain in the land which God gives you as your possession, lying in the field, and it isn't known who has struck him…

The body of someone murdered by persons unknown pollutes the whole community and the justices of the nearest settlement are required to perform the ceremony of expiation which is described in the cited shiurim of Tractate Sotah.

To be continued.

In the previous shiur, in my response to Israel Man, I mentioned a responsum of Rabbi Elliot Dorf concerning yeyn nesekh. Oren Steinitz now writes as follows:

Other than Rabbi Dorf's teshuvah, it is important to note Rabbi Israel Silverman's stance on the matter, who claimed that since wine manufacturing in North America is fully automated it does not fall under the category of Stam Yeynam (Klein 1979: page 307). He also adds three reservations to this p'sak. First of all, this ruling does not apply to wines used in Pessach, in which on Kosher for Passover wines are to be used. Second, he states that for psychological reasons, only wine with a hekhsher should be used in religious ceremonies such as Kiddush and Havdalah. The third (and most interesting, in my opinion) reservation states that "since it is a mitswah to support Israel […] we should give priority to wines imported from Israel, all of which [sic!] are kosher according to the traditional standard". While I don't think Rabbi Silverman's assumption is still valid in 2009, as many small Israeli wineries do not bother getting a hekhsher, it once again demonstrates that assimilation is a matter of geography…

I respond:

I really do not understand what the psychology of using kosher wines in religious ceremonies is all about. Either something is permitted or it is forbidden. If stam yeynam is permitted then it is permitted also for Kiddush and Havdalah; if it is forbidden it is forbidden for secular use as well. As far as Israeli wines are concerned, if one does not buy from the overwhelming majority of wineries that have rabbinic supervision (and the notification is on the bottle) then the ancient Roman adage applies. Caveat emptor – the buyer must be careful to know what it is he is buying.

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