1)

(a)The Mishnah now discusses the Avodah-Zarah that we call 'Markulis' (which has derogatory connotations). Its real name is - 'Merkuris' (with an 'Ayin' after the 'Mem').

(b)Rebbi Yishmael rules that - three stones that are placed side by side are forbidden, whereas two are not.

(c)Two stones placed side by side and one on top - are certainly forbidden, since that is the basic manner of worship (See Tosfos Yom Tov).

2)

(a)The stones that Rebbi Yishmael is referring to are - four Amos away from the image (See Tiferes Yisrael) ...

(b)... because, he holds, one tends to make a small Markulis near a large one (even if it is not one stone on top of two).

(c)The Chachamim maintain that - whatever is seen together with the image (within four Amos of it) is worshipped together with it and is therefore forbidden (See Tosfos Yom Tov DH 'be'Tzad Markulis'); whatever is not, is permitted ...

(d)... because they hold that one does not tend to make a small Markulis beside a large one.

3)

(a)The Mishnah rules that money, clothes or vessels that one finds on the head of Markulis - are permitted ...

(b)... provided they are not there for ornamental purposes (See Tosfos Yom Tov).

(c)In order to be certain that they are not meant as ornaments, one would need to find ...

1. ... the money - inside a purse that is tied shut and hanging round Narkulis's neck.

2. ... the garment - folded and lying on its shoulder.

3. ... the vessels - lying on top of its head.

4)

(a)The Tana rules that bunches of grapes (See Tosfos Yom Tov), sheaves of corn, or bottles of wine or oil and flour that one finds on its head - are forbidden.

(b)And he adds to the list - 'anything whose equivalent is brought on the Mizbe'ach'.

5)

(a)The Mishnah permits benefiting from ...

1. ... a garden or a bathhouse that belongs to an Avodah-Zarah - provided one does not pays the priests, and ...

2. ... even if one does - if it is shared with another owner (See Tosfos Yom Tov).

6)

(a)The Avodah-Zarah of a Nochri - is Asur immediately; that of a Yisrael - only after he actually worships it.

(b)He learns...

1. ... the former from the Pasuk in Eikev "*P'silei Eloheihem* Tisr'fun ba'Eish", implying that - as soon as the Nochri carves it out it becomes Asur (See Tosfos Yom Tov).

2. ... the latter from the Pasuk "ve'Sam ba'Seiser" (in connection with the B'rachos and K'lalos on Har Gerizim and Har Eival) - implying that it only becomes an Avodah-Zarah once the Yisrael worships it in secret.

(c)The reasoning behind the latter ruling is - because the Yisrael is afraid to worship it other than in secret for fear of being discovered by Beis-Din).

7)

(a)The Tana also rules that - whereas one Nochri can be Mevatel the Avodah-Zarah of a fellow Nochri, a Yisrael cannot be Mevatel the Avodah-Zarah of a Nochri ...

(b)... even if the Nochri authorizes him to do so.

(c)He learns the former case too, from the same Pasuk in Eikev ("P'silei Eloheihem Tisr'fun ba'Eish") - which also implies that the Avodah-Zarah of a Nochri is only Asur as long as it is worshipped by them (See Tosfos Yom Tov), but not after they have nullified it (Bitul).

(d)According to some texts, a Nochri is able to be Mevatel even the Avodah-Zarah of a Yisrael (See Tosfos Yom Tov DH 've'shel Chavero') - if they own it jointly ...

(e)... but that is not the Halachah.

8)

(a)The Mishnah rules that if a Nochri nullifies only ...

1. ... an Avodah-Zarah (and not its Meshamshin [what is sacrificed to it]) - the Meshamshin are automatically nullified together with it (See Tosfos Yom Tov).

2. ... the Meshamshin but not the Avodah-Zarah - the Avodah-Zarah is not automatically Bateil.

9)

(a)The Tana rules that cutting off the tip of the ear, the nose or the finger of the image - is considered Bitul.

(b)He adds to the list 'Pachsah' - wherre the Nochri flattens the image's face ...

(c)... even though he did not actually remove anything.

10)

(a)If the Nochri simply declared it Bateil, it remains forbidden, and the same applies to where he ...

1. ... spat or urinated on it ...

2. ... dragged it in the mud, or ...

3. ... threw excrement over it ...

(b)... because it seems that the Nochri was temporarily angry with it, and that, when his anger abates, he will continue to worship it (See Tosfos Yom Tov).

(c)If the Nochri sells it or gives it to his creditor as a security, Rebbi considers this Bitul - the Chachamim do not ...

(d)... unless he sells it to a Yisrael (See Tosfos Yom Tov) smithy to melt down.

(e)The Halachah is - like the Chachamim.

11)

(a)The Mishnah ...

1. ... permits an image whose adherents moved permanently and left it behind - in time of war.

2. ... forbids it - in time of peace ...

(b)... since they were not harassed and it is clear that leaving it behind was an act of Bitul.

(c)'Bimusiyos shel Melachim' are - busts of kings that are hewn out of stone.

(d)The Tana permits them in spite of the fact that the king bows down to it when he passes - because they are only placed there temporarily, and sometimes the king chooses a different route and nobody takes any notice of them any more (See also Tosfos Yom Tov).

12)

(a)When the elders were asked in Rome that if Hash-m does not want Avodah-Zarah, why He does not destroy it, they replied that - if the people worshipped something that is superfluous, He would, but now that they are worshipping the sun, the moon and the stars (things that are vital to the world's existence), should He destroy His world because of the fools (See Tosfos Yom Tov)?

(b)And when they were asked why Hash-m does not then simply destroy the Avodah-Zaros that are not needed and retain those that are, they replied that - doing so would merely encourage the worshippers to claim that the fact that those gods were not destroyed proves their authenticity.

13)

(a)The Mishnah permits a Yisrael to purchase a trodden batch of wine from a Nochri even though the Nochri removes the grapes and places them in the 'Tapu'ach' - where the grapes are piled up in a heap.

(b)We would have thought it is Asur - because when removing the grapes from the press, the Nochri takes them in his hands, thereby rendering the wine Yayin Nesech (See Tosfos Yom Tov).

(c)And the reason that it isn't is - because this Tana maintains that it is not considered wine until it falls into the Bor (the wine-pit [See Tosfos Yom Tov]).

(d)Once it does - then it will become Asur as soon as he touches it - but not the wine that is still in the winepress (See Tosfos Yom Tov).

(e)This is the opinion of the Mishnah Rishonah. According to the Mishnah Achronah - the moment the wine begins to flow from the winepress (See Tosfos Yom Tov), it is subject to Yayin Nesech (See Tiferes Yisrael).

14)

(a)The Mishnah permits a Yisrael to press the grapes together with a Nochri. There is no problem with ...

1. ... benefiting from Isurei Hana'ah - since, as we just learned, this Tana permits the wine (even to drink), until it reaches the Bor.

2. ... causing Tum'ah (via the Nochri) - because the moment the Nochri begins to press the grapes he renders them Tamei (See Tosfos Yom Tov), in which case, the Yisrael has does nothing to cause Tum'ah.

(b)He is not allowed to pick grapes together with a Nochri however - because this Tana maintains that it is forbidden to cause Chulin in Eretz Yisrael to because Tamei (See Tosfos Yom Tov).

(c)This Mishnah is not Halachah however. On the one hand, the Yisrael is ...

1. ... forbidden to press the grapes together with the Nochri in the winepress - because, as we just learned, the wine becomes subject to Tum'ah as soon as it begins to flow from the winepress to the pit, whilst on the other, he is ...

2. ... permitted to pick them together with him - since it is allowed to cause Chulin in Eretz Yisrael to because Tamei (See Tosfos Yom Tov).

(d)A Yisrael should desist from taking a Nochri with him to transport grapes from the vineyard to the winepress - based on the principle that 'One instructs a Nazir to go round the vineyard' (to avoid the temptation to eat the grapes').

(e)Likewise here - once the Nochri accompanies the Yisrael to the winepress, he might help him to press the grapes.

15)

(a)It is wrong to work with grapes be'Tum'ah - since one causes the T'rumos and Ma'asros that they contain to become Tamei.

(b)The Mishnah therefore forbids picking the grapes, as well as pressing them (See Tosfos Yom Tov)together with a Yisrael who does - due to the La'av of 'Lifnei Iver' (helping a Yisrael to sin).

(c)One may however assist him in ...

1. ... transporting empty barrels to the winepress and ...

2. ... full barrels from the winepress, and in ...

3. ... placing the wine that is in the Bor into barrels (since the former is a stage before the sin, whereas the latter two cases are a stage later, and what was, was).

(d)By the same token, the Mishnah forbids assisting a Yisrael who is baking bread be'Tum'ah ...

1. ... to knead the dough or to arrange it for baking, but allows him to assist in ...

2. ... transporting the ready-baked loaves to the bakery.

16)

(a)The Mishnah forbids the wine in the Bor next to which a Nochri is standing - if he owes the Nochri money and the wine is mortgaged to him (the Nochri) ...

(b)... because we are afraid that he may have touched it to find out how it tastes (See Tosfos Yom Tov DH 'Asur' & 'Mutar').

(c)The first in the series of cases that the Tana now presents is where a Nochri fell into a wine-pit, and the second, where he was found measuring the wine in the pit with a measuring-stick. The Chachamim ruled that in these cases (both of which actually occurred) - the owner was permitted to sell wine in the wine-pit (but not to drink it).

(d)Despite the fact that, in the first case, the Nochri touched the wine when he fell in, it was not Asur be'Hana'ah - because he did not intend to touch it.

(e)Had he emerged alive from the Bor the wine would be forbidden - because we suspect that he touched the wine on his way out to thank his god for saving him.

17)

(a)They issued the same ruling regarding the third case in the list, where the Nochri swished away a hornet from the Yisrael's wine, and regarrding the fourth, where vapor was rising from the wine in the Bor - which the Nochri was blowing away with his hands.

(b)They were lenient in ...

1. ... the former case - bccause the Nochri did not touch the wine with his hands.

2. ... the latter case - because that is not the way one performs Nisuch.

(c)That is the opinion of the Tana Kama. Rebbi Shimon - permits even drinking the wine.

(d)The Halachah is - like the Tana Kama.

(e)In a case where a Nochri picked up a barrel of wine and angrily (See Tosfos Yom Tov) threw it into the wine-pit belonging a Yisrael - the Tana even allows the wine to be drunk.

18)

(a)The Mishnah discusses 'ha'Metaher Yeino shel Nochri' - where a Yisrael presses the grapes of a Nochri in accordance with the Halachah, with the intention of then selling the wine to fellow Yisre'eilim.

(b)The Yisrael will pay the Nochri - only later.

(c)Meanwhile, he places the barrel of wine - in the Nochri's domain.

19)

(a)The Tana permits the wine if the Nochri lives in a town whose residents are Nochrim and Yisre'eilim - only if the Nochri's house is open to the main street so that passers-by can see inside ...

(b)... since he will be afraid that a passing Yisrael will see him pouring the wine (See Tosfos Yom Tov) and he will lose the sale (See also Tiferes Yisrael).

(c)Bearing in mind that the Yisrael has not yet paid the Nochri, the wine is only permitted - provided the Nochri can no longer claim it in lieu of the money that the Yisrael still owes him (See next Mishnah).

20)

(a)The Tana forbids the wine outright - if the residents of the town are all Nochrim.

(b)For the wine to be permitted - the Yisrael will then have to appoint a Shomer (See Tosfos Yom Tov) ...

(c)... who needs to pop in at odd times, so that the Nochri will be afraid to be Menasech the wine in case he is caught in the act.

21)

(a)When Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar says 'Kol R'shus Goyim Achas hi', he means that - the same conditions will apply even if the Yisrael places the wine in the domain of another Nochri, other than the one who is selling him the wine (See Tosfos Yom Tov).

(b)According to the Tana Kama - in such a case, the wine will be permitted even if the Nochri lives in a town of only Nochrim.

(c)The Halachah is - like Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar (See Tosfos Yom Tov).

(d)According to both opinions however, the wine is always permitted - if the key and the lock to the room where the wine is kept are in the hands of the Yisrael.

22)

(a)Even if the wine is in the house of the Nochri in a town whose residents are both Yisre'elim and Nochrim, and where the house faces the main street, but where the Nochri refuses to release the wine until the Yisrael pays for it - the Mishnah declares the wine Asur ...

(b)... even if the Yisrael has a copy of the lock and key ...

(c)... because the Nochri will not be afraid to touch the wine, since, if he is caught, he will simply point out that the wine belongs to him.

(d)The wine will become permitted - as soon as he writes a note to the effect that he has received payment for the wine.

(e)In an incident in Beis She'an, the Chachamim declared the wine forbidden - when the Nochri claimed that the Yisrael had not yet paid for the wine, and refused to release it.