Babylonian Talmud: Tractate 'Abodah Zarah

Folio 62a

CHAPTER V

MISHNAH. IF [A HEATHEN] HIRE [AN ISRAELITE] WORKMAN TO ASSIST HIM IN [THE PREPARATION OF] YEN NESEK, HIS WAGE IS PROHIBITED. IF HE HIRED HIM TO ASSIST HIM IN ANOTHER KIND OF WORK, EVEN SAYING TO HIM, 'REMOVE FOR ME A CASK OF YEN NESEK FROM THIS PLACE TO THAT,' HIS WAGE IS PERMITTED. IF HE HIRED [AN ISRAELITE'S] ASS TO CARRY YEN NESEK, ITS HIRE IS PROHIBITED; BUT IF HE HIRED IT TO SIT UPON, EVEN THOUGH THE HEATHEN RESTED HIS JAR [OF YEN NESEK] UPON IT, ITS HIRE IS PERMITTED.

GEMARA. Why is [the workman's] wage prohibited? If I answer that inasmuch as yen nesek is prohibited for use of any kind and therefore the wage which came to him from it is likewise prohibited, behold 'orlah¹  and the mixed plantings of a vineyard²  are prohibited for use of any kind and yet we have learnt: If he sold them and with the proceeds married a wife she is legally married!³  On the other hand, [should I answer that the reason is] because his money [which comes to him on account of yen nesek] is affected as though it were an idolatrous object,⁴  behold the Sabbatical year affects the money [obtained from the sale of its produce] and yet we have learnt: If one said to a workman [in the Sabbatical year], 'Here is a denar and for it gather vegetables for me to-day,' his wage is prohibited;⁵  [but if he said,] 'Gather vegetables for me to-day,' his wage is permitted!⁶  — R. Abbahu said in the name of R. Johanan: [The true explanation is] that it is a penalty which the Sages imposed upon ass-drivers and in connection with yen nesek.⁷  As for yen nesek it is as has just been stated; and what is the case of the ass-drivers? — As it has been taught: If ass-drivers work with the fruits of the Sabbatical year, their wage is [the produce of] a Sabbatical year.⁸  What means 'their wage is [produce of] a Sabbatical year'? If I say it means that they receive their wage in fruits of the Sabbatical year, consequently [the employer] discharges his obligation with fruits of the Sabbatical year and the Torah stated, [And the sabbath of the land shall be] for food⁹  — but not for trading!¹⁰  If, on the other hand, [I answer that the meaning is] that their wage is holy¹¹  like the holiness of [the produce of] the Sabbatical year, is it holy? For it has been taught: If one said to a workman [in the Sabbatical year], 'Here is a denar and gather vegetables for me to-day,' his wage is permitted; [only if he said], 'Gather vegetables for me to-day for this [denar]' is his wage prohibited! — Abaye said: It certainly means that they receive their wage in fruits of the Sabbatical year, and the difficulty you raise, viz., 'for food' but not for trading, [is met by the supposition] that he paid them in a lawful manner, as we have learnt: One may not say to his neighbour,

1. V. Glos.
2. Lev. XIX, 19.
3. V. supra, p. 277.
4. Since the wine was prepared as a libation to an idol, on the principle, 'Whatever you bring into being from a devoted thing is to be treated like it' (loc. cit.).
5. [To use it after the time of 'removal', v. supra, p. 278 n. 5,]
6. In the latter case he did not stipulate by his words that the money was given as payment for gathering the forbidden produce. But the point is, the workman may use the money he earned by performing an illegal act.
7. Although legally the wage should be permitted.
8. And is accordingly prohibited.
9. Lev. XXV, 6.
10. Consequently the employer has no right to pay wages with the produce.
11. I.e., prohibited.

The question was asked: How is it with his wage [when an Israelite is employed by a heathen] in connection with ordinary wine?⁵  Do we maintain that since its prohibition⁶  is as strict as with wine for a libation, the wage is likewise prohibited; or perhaps for the reason that its power of defilement is lighter⁷  [the attitude towards] the wage is also more lenient? — Come and hear! A certain man hired out his ship [to transport] ordinary wine [of heathens] and they paid him in wheat. He came before R. Hisda who said to him, 'Go, burn and bury it in a graveyard.' But he should have told him to scatter it!⁸  — People might come to wrong-doing through it.⁹  Then he should have told him to burn and scatter it! — People might use it as manure. Then let it be buried in its natural state, for have we not learnt: The stone with which a person was stoned, the tree upon which he was hanged, the sword with which he was decapitated, and the sheet with which he was strangled are all alike buried with him!¹⁰  — In this latter instance, since the persons were buried by the Court,¹¹  it would be generally known that they had been executed under sentence of the Court; but in the former instance the circumstances would not be generally known and a person might suppose that somebody had stolen [the wheat] and brought it to be buried there.

The scholars in the School of R. Jannai used to borrow fruits of the Sabbatical year from the poor and repay them in the eighth year.¹²  When this was reported to R. Johanan, he said to them,

1. Representing the second tithe which must be taken by the owner to Jerusalem and eaten there. It would be unlawful to discharge an obligation with the fruits.
2. M. Sh. III, 1. Similarly by a legal fiction the ass-drivers may be given a free gift from the produce of the Sabbatical year.
3. This then is the case referred to where a penalty was imposed on ass-drivers.
4. Where a workman's wage is declared to be prohibited although it is small.
5. Not made expressly for a libation to idols.
6. The wine, belonging to a heathen, is still nesek although not used for a libation.
7. V. supra, 30b, seq.
8. Why did he insist on its being burnt and buried?
9. Jews would unwittingly collect and use it.
10. Sanh. 45b. Consequently no account is taken of the possibility that people may disinter it.
11. There were special cemeteries for them.
12. This was done to assist them in a year when the harvest, after the Sabbatical year, would be meagre. Nevertheless the lenders ate what was obtained in exchange for the Sabbatical produce, and this should be prohibited.
13. Because it was not actually a case of exchange since the produce of the eighth year was non-existent at the time when the fruits of the Sabbatical year were borrowed, and the 'holiness' of the Sabbatical year did not affect what they ate in the eighth year.
14. To be devoted to the Temple, in spite of the Law of Deut. XXIII, 19.
15. At the time, but he did so later.
16. The two matters are regarded as separate and what she received is legally a gift. Similarly with the borrowing of the fruits of the Sabbatical year, what is repaid is technically a gift.