Study Avodah Zarah folio 22A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אריסותא לרבי שמעון בן אלעזר לית ליה, אלא גוי מאי טעמא מותר? דאמרינן ליה וציית. כותי נמי אמרינן ליה וציית! כותי לא ציית, דאמר: אנא גמירנא טפי מינך.
The Talmud answers: R' Shimon ben Elazar does not accept the principle that a sharecropper works for his tenancy, rather than as the Jew’s employee. The Talmud asks: But if so, with regard to a non-Jew, what is the reason that it is permitted to rent to him? The Talmud answers that we say to him that he may not perform labor on certain days, and he complies. The Talmud asks: If that is so, then in the case of a Samaritan as well, we can say to him that he may not perform labor on certain days, and he will comply. The Talmud answers: A Samaritan will not comply, as he says: I am more learned than you, and I know that it is permitted to work on these days.
אי הכי, מאי איריא מפני שנקראת על שמו? תיפוק ליה משום ״לפני עור לא תתן מכשל״! חדא ועוד קאמר: חדא — משום ״לפני עור״, ועוד — מפני שנקראת על שמו.
The Talmud asks: If that is so, why does R' Shimon ben Elazar state specifically that the reason for the prohibition is because the field is called by the name of the owner? Let him derive this halakha due to the fact that the Samaritan, like a Jew, is commanded to refrain from labor during the intermediate days of the Festival, and since he will work on these days, renting him a field is included in the prohibition: “You should not put a stumbling block before the blind” (Leviticus 19:14). The Talmud answers: R' Shimon ben Elazar states one reason and adds another: One reason is that of the prohibition: You should not put a stumbling block before the blind; and, furthermore, it is prohibited because the field is called by the name of the owner.