Study Avodah Zarah folio 70A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
יצרא דיין נסך לא תקיף להו. זונה ישראלית וגוים מסובין — חמרא אסור, מאי טעמא? הואיל וזילה עלייהו, בתרייהו גרירא.
but the passion for wine used for a libation does not overwhelm their judgment, and they will not allow her to use it for a libation. In the case of a Jewish prostitute and non-Jews dining with her, the wine is forbidden. What is the reason? It is that since she is contemptible in their eyes, she is subjugated to them, and they use the wine for a libation without consideration for her.
§ The Talmud relates: There was an incident involving a certain house where Jews’ wine was stored. A non-Jew entered the house, and he locked the door before the Jew, but there was a crack in the door, and the non-Jew was found standing between the jugs. Rava said: All the jugs that were opposite the crack through which the non-Jew could be seen are permitted, because he would have been wary about being seen tampering with them. jugs on this side and that side of the crack, where the non-Jew could not be seen, are forbidden, as perhaps the non-Jew used them for a libation.
ההוא חמרא דישראל, דהוה יתיב בביתא, דהוה דייר ישראל בעליונה וגוי בתחתונה. שמעו קל תיגרא, נפקי, קדים אתא גוי אחדה לדשא באפיה. אמר רבא: חמרא שרי, מימר אמר: כי היכי דקדים אתאי אנא, קדים ואתא ישראל ויתיב בעליונה וקא חזי לי.
The Talmud relates: There was an incident involving a certain Jew’s wine that was stored in the lower story of a house, in which the Jew was living in the upper story and a non-Jew in the lower story, and the wine could be supervised from the upper story. One day the residents heard a sound of quarreling and went outside. The non-Jew came back in first and locked the door before the Jew. Rava said: The wine is permitted, because the non-Jew presumably said to himself: Just as I came back in early, perhaps my neighbor the Jew came back in early and is sitting in the upper story and watching me, and therefore he would not use the wine for a libation.