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Avodah Zarah 48
1) [line 2] L'SHEM AVODAS KOCHAVIM - for the sake of being worshipped as
Avodah Zarah
2a) [line 3] GID'O - he trimmed it[s branches and shoots]
b) [line 3] PISLO - he cut it[s excess parts] (see YOSEF DA'AS)
3) [line 3] HECHELIF - it replaced [and grew back branches where they were
trimmed]
4) [line 4] NOTEL MAH SHE'HECHELIF - he must remove that which grew back
5) [line 4] HE'EMID TACHTEHA AVODAS KOCHAVIM - he erected beneath it an idol
6) [line 6] D'VEI REBBI YANAI - those of the Yeshiva of Rebbi Yanai
7a) [line 6] HIVRICH - he placed shoots of the original tree into the ground
by "bending them over" with their ends sticking out of the ground to produce
a new plant (once they have rooted, the connecting shoot is severed)
b) [line 6] HIRKIV - he grafted a branch from the original tree onto
another tree (by drilling a hole into a second tree and placing the branch
into that hole)
8a) [line 8] BITUL (AVODAH ZARAH: BITULAH)
It is impossible to Mevatel (nullify) an Avodah Zarah that belongs to a Jew.
A Nochri can Mevatel an Avodah Zarah that belongs to a Nochri, whether it is
his own or it belongs to someone else, thereby removing its Isur Hana'ah.
There is a Machlokes whether the Nochri must do some abusive action to the
Avodah Zarah in order to annul it or it is enough to verbally annul it.
(SHULCHAN ARUCH Yoreh Deah 146)
b) [line 8] L'INYAN BITUL ITMAR - the statement of d'Vei Rebbi Yanai was
said with regard to Bitul, nullifying the forbidden status of the Asheirah
tree (that is, it suffices to replant the branches by being "Hivrich" or
"Hirkiv" them in order to nullify their status of Avodah Zarah)
9) [line 13] TOSEFTEI ASURAH - its additions [that grow on it] are forbidden
10) [line 16] AMAR LECHA SHMUEL - Shmuel would answer to you (the Gemara,
and not Shmuel himself, is offering this answer for Shmuel -- RASHI)
11) [line 21] IKARO - its trunk
12) [line 36] TZIDON - Sidon, a city on the Mediterranean coast, to the
north of modern-day Israel. It was the capital of Phoenicia. It is within
the northwest boundary of the Holy Land (Bamidbar 34:7).
13) [line 37] GAL - a heap [of sand and stones]
14) [line 38] TZURAH - a graven image [of an idol]
15) [line 42] KOMARIM - idolatrous priests
16) [line 43] BEI NATZROFI - the house of Natzrofi, the name of an idol
(RASHI, ARUCH)
17) [line 43] D'RAMI BEI SHICHRA V'SHASI - for they make beer with it (the
dates) and they drink it [on their festival]
18) [last line] SAVEI D'FUMBEDISA - the elders of Pumbedisa. This refers to
Rav Yehudah and Rav Eina (Sanhedrin 17b). Pumbedisa was a town in Bavel
(lit. Mouth of Bedisa, a canal of the Euphrates), the location of a great
Yeshiva that existed for approximately 800 years. The scholars of Pumbedisa
were known for their keen intellect (Bava Metzia 38b). To emphasize its
importance as a Torah center, Rabah and Rav Yosef stated that just as one is
prohibited from leaving Eretz Yisrael to Chutz la'Aretz, so, too, is one
prohibited to leave Pumbedisa (Kesuvos 111a).
48b---------------------------------------48b
19a) [line 5] TZEL TZILAH - (lit. the shade of its shade) the relatively
weak (less dark) shadow that appears when the shadow is very long (in the
early morning and late afternoon hours, when the sun is close to the
horizon, which allows for a greater amount of scattered light to enter the
shadow).
b) [line 5] TZEL KOMASAH - (lit. the shade of its height) the strong, dark
shadow that appears when the shadow is equal to or less than the size of the
tree itself (such as when the sun is nearly directly overhead, and less
scattered light enters the shadow).
20) [line 17] "YA'YITZAMDU L'VA'AL PE'OR, VA'YOCHLU ZIVCHEI MESIM." - "They
attached themselves to Ba'al Pe'or, and they ate sacrifices of the
dead."(Tehilim 106:28)
21) [line 18] MES METAMEI V'OHEL (TUM'AS OHEL)
(a) A k'Zayis of the flesh of a Mes (corpse) is an "Avi Avos ha'Tumah" and
is Metamei through Maga (contact), Masa (carrying), and Ohel (being in the
same room (lit. tent). An Ohel is defined as a covered space that is at
least one Tefach in length, width and height. If a person becomes Tamei with
Tum'as Mes, he must wait seven days to go to the Mikvah. Furthermore, on the
third and seventh days he must have Mei Chatas (water mixed with ashes of
the Parah Adumah -- see Background to Avodah Zarah 46:19) sprinkled on him.
(b) In an Ohel ha'Mes, the house or room becomes Tamei even if the Mes is
passing through it and does not stop moving. A person who enters an Ohel
ha'Mes becomes Tamei even if only a bit of his body enters, even when
entering backwards. A Mechitzah (partition) in an Ohel ha'Mes only prevents
the spread of Tum'ah if it reaches the ceiling. (RASH to Keilim 1:4)
(c) The bones of a Mes are only Metamei through Ohel under one of three
conditions: 1. They constitute a quarter of a Kav (Rova Ha'kav); 2. They are
the majority of the human body (whether they are the majority of the *build*
(Rov Binyano) of the body or the majority of the *number* (Rov Minyano) of
248 bones; 3. The bone is a complete skull or a complete spinal column. In
order to be Metamei through Maga and Masa, it is enough for the bone to be
the size of a Se'orah (a grain of barley).
(d) When an object that can be Metamei b'Ohel is located in an Ohel, the
Ohel makes everything in it Tamei and protects anything that is above it
from becoming Tamei. That is, an Ohel is *Mevi* Tum'ah (spreads Tum'ah
inside of it) and is *Chotzetz* from Tum'ah (intervenes between the Tum'ah
and the space above the Ohel, preventing Tum'ah from spreading above it). If
the object of Tum'ah in our Sugya is located below the tree, the branches
above it create an Ohel over the Tum'ah.
(e) However, not all objects that cover Tum'ah are Mevi and Chotzetz. There
are objects that are Mevi and not Chotzetz and other objects that are
Chotzetz and not Mevi and even others that are neither Mevi nor Chotzetz
(Ohalos 8:5). An object that is flying through the air, such as a bird or a
Talis that is carried or caught up by the wind, is not an Ohel and is not
Mevi or Chotzetz, even if it is one Tefach wide.
22a) [line 21] AVAR - he passed (that is, if, b'Di'eved, he passed below
such a tree, then he remains Tahor, but he is not permitted to pass below
such a tree l'Chatchilah)
b) [line 22] OVER - he may pass (that is, even l'Chatchilah we may pass
below such a tree and he remains Tahor)
23) [line 25] SHAM'EI - his servant, attendant
24) [line 25] KI MATIS L'HASAM - when you arrive there (at the Asheirah tree
that bends over the public domain)
25) [line 26] ARHITNI - guide me quickly (lit. run me)
26) [line 30] YERAKOS - vegetables
27) [line 31] CHAZIRIN - (O.F. laitugue) lettuce
28) [line 33] HA'NEVIYAH NOSHERES ALEIHEN - the foliage falls down upon them
29) [line 34] ZEVEL - fertilizer
30) [line 35] ZEH V'ZEH GOREM
If two objects -- one forbidden ("Isur") and one permitted ("Heter") --
combine to produce a third object, the Tana'im argue as to whether the third
object is forbidden or permitted. In our case, the vegetables underneath the
Asheirah tree grow as a result of the ground beneath them (which is
permitted) and the foliage from the tree that falls upon them (which is
forbidden).
31a) [line 37] SHOCHEK V'ZOREH LA'RU'ACH - he may grind it (the object that
was worshipped as an Avodah Zarah) and disperse it into the wind
b) [line 38] MATIL LA'YAM - throw it into the sea
32) [line 39] "LO YIDBAK B'YADCHA ME'UMAH MIN HA'CHEREM" - "Nothing shall
remain in your hand from the banned property" (Devarim 13:18)
33) [line 44] MAH SHE'MASHBI'ACH BA'OR, POGEM BA'VASAR - that which improves
the hide, damages the meat. This refers to skinning the hide of an animal of
Hekdesh that became Pasul. It is prohibited to skin such an animal in the
manner that is used in order to make a water-sack, whereby instead of
peeling back the skin from the head to the feet, one cuts the skin by the
feet and proceeds to peel back the skin towards the head (Temurah 24a). Even
though skinning the animal in such a manner will produce a more valuable
hide, it damages the flesh and is thus prohibited.
34) [line 46] YICHUR - branch
35) [line 46] ORLAH
(a) In the first three years after a fruit tree is planted, its fruits are
called Orlah and are Asurim b'Hana'ah, as it states in Vayikra 19:23.
(b) If a person eats a k'Zayis of Orlah fruit, he receives Malkus. If he
derives benefit from Orlah (or any other food that is Asur b'Hana'ah),
according to most Rishonim he is punished with Malkus (TOSFOS Chulin 120a DH
Ela), while according to others, he is only punished with Makas Mardus, a
Rabbinic institution of Malkus. (RAMBAM Hilchos Ma'achalos Asuros 8:16 --
see also Mishneh l'Melech to Hilchos Yesodei ha'Torah 5:8)
36) [line 46] EGOZ - nut
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