Study Avodah Zarah folio 51A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
חייב, בשלמא עביט של מימי רגלים — איכא זריקה משתברת, אלא צואה, מאי זריקה משתברת איכא? בצואה לחה.
is liable, even though these substances are repugnant, and even when this is not the typical manner of worshipping that idol. Granted, when one pours a chamber pot of urine before the idol, there is an act of throwing that scatters the offering. But in the case of excrement, what act of throwing that scatters the offering is there? The Talmud answers: This is stated with regard to moist excrement, which breaks apart when thrown.
לימא כתנאי: שחט לה חגב — רבי יהודה מחייב, וחכמים פוטרים.
The Talmud suggests: Let us say that one’s liability for breaking a stick as a form of idol worship is the subject of a dispute between tanna’im: If one slaughtered a locust for an idol, R' Yehuda deems him liable, and the Rabbis deem him exempt from punishment.
מאי לאו בהא קמיפלגי, דמר סבר: אמרינן כעין זביחה, ומר סבר: לא אמרינן כעין זביחה, אלא כעין פנים?
What, is it not about this issue that they disagree: One Sage, R' Yehuda, holds that we say that one is liable even in the case of a rite that merely resembles slaughtering an animal, e.g., slaughtering a locust or breaking a stick. And one Sage, i.e., the Rabbis, holds that we do not say that it is sufficient for the rite to merely resemble slaughtering an animal. Rather, the rite must be like the type of slaughtering performed inside the Temple. One is therefore not liable for slaughtering a locust, since locusts are not slaughtered in the Temple.
לא, דכולי עלמא לא אמרינן כעין זביחה, אלא כעין פנים בעינן, ושאני חגב הואיל וצוארו דומה לצואר בהמה.
The Talmud rejects this suggestion: No, everyone holds that we do not say that one is liable even for a rite that merely resembles slaughtering an animal. Rather, we require the rite to be like the type of slaughtering performed inside the Temple. And the case of a locust is different, since its neck is similar to the neck of an animal. R' Yehuda therefore considers slaughtering a locust similar to the type of slaughter performed in the Temple.