Study Avodah Zarah folio 57B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
בשוק טמא, ואמרי לה: טהור. יינן — גדולים עושין יין נסך, קטנים אין עושין יין נסך. אלו הן גדולים ואלו הן קטנים? גדולים — שיודעין בטיב עבודה זרה ומשמשיה, קטנים — שאין יודעין בטיב עבודה זרה ומשמשיה.
even if they are found in the marketplace, are ritually impure. But some say that they are ritually pure. With regard to their wine, the adults render the wine that they touch wine used for a libation, but the minors do not render the wine that they touch wine used for a libation. Which slaves are considered adults, and which slaves are considered minors? The adults are those who know the nature of idol worship and its accessories, and the minors are those who do not know the nature of idol worship and its accessories.
קתני מיהת: מלו ולא טבלו — אין, מלו וטבלו — לא! תרגמה אבני שפחות.
In any event, the baraita teaches that with regard to those slaves who were circumcised but did not immerse, yes, the wine they touch is prohibited, but with regard to those who were circumcised and immersed, no, the wine they touch is not prohibited, even if they have not yet forgotten their idolatrous worship. The Talmud replies: Interpret this halakha as referring only to the sons of female slaves who were raised in a Jewish home and never engaged in idolatrous worship, but not to slaves who were acquired from non-Jews.
הא ״וכן״ קתני! ארוקן ומדרסן.
The Talmud asks: Doesn’t the baraita teach that the halakha applies to slaves purchased from non-Jews and also to the sons of non-Jew female slaves, indicating that there is no differentiation between them? The Talmud replies: The baraita equates the two cases only with regard to the impurity of their spittle and of the objects upon which they tread.
הניחא למאן דאמר טמא, אלא למאן דאמר טהור, מאי איכא למימר?
The Talmud asks: This works out well according to the one who says that their spittle and the objects upon which they tread are impure. But according to the one who says that they are pure, what can be said? If the spittle of the slaves and the objects upon which they tread are pure, clearly the same halakha applies in the case of the sons of female slaves, and it is unnecessary to state this. One may therefore conclude that the baraita equated the two cases with regard to the status of the wine that they touch.