daf bit: Avodah Zarah 38

[cellio]

Last week we talked about restrictions on wine when heathens are involved. This week the talmud discusses (over several pages) other articles that, if they come from heathens, are prohibited to Jews but we can benefit from them in other ways (like selling them). They include:

• Milk which a heathen milked without an Israelite being present, because we are concerned that milk from non-kosher animals could be mixed in.

• Their bread and oil (but Rabbi permitted oil). This appears to be to impede intermingling that could lead to intermarriages. (Remember that bread is a staple of meals.)

• Stewed and preserved foods that are customarily made with wine (presumably because you can't really tell).

• Pickled minced herring, because you can't clearly identify the fish as a kosher species when it's minced.

However, a Jew may consume milk milked by a heathen if an Israelite supervised, pickled herring that wasn't minced (so you can identify the fish), and even preserved foods that they don't customarily make with wine. (35b-39b)

With the exception of the bread and oil, these restrictions are all about uncertainty about ingredients. Non-Jews wouldn't have any reason to care about the restrictions of Jewish law, after all.

Comments

[siderea]

I doubt this sort of concern was as prominent then.

It's not just about personal affection. One of the points I think we can take from the historical record of kosher garum is that there have always been goyisher merchants who wanted to sell things to Jews. Presumably extra-specially true in areas of high Jewish population.

My cold medication has a hechsher on it. And it doesn't even have alcohol in it. But along with being advertised as gluten free and non-drowsy making, it's safe for Orthodox Jews, at least not during Passover (has corn syrup in).

Jewish money: the same color as everybody else's money.