Wreaths were commonly worn in the ancient world as symbols of royalty, honor or celebration. The Hebrew word for wreath is atarah and it is the same word used for the embellishment on the border of a tallit. Hanging a wreath in a non-Jewish home or store could also symbolize the worship of a particular idol. Therefore, a mishnah on the bottom of yesterday’s daf admonishes Jews not to patronize shops decorated with wreaths during pagan festivals. On today’s daf, the particulars of this law are discussed.
Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says: They taught that buying is prohibited only in the case of stores that are adorned with roses and myrtle, as one derives benefit from their smell. But with regard to stores that are adorned with fruit, it is permitted to buy from them. What is the reason that they are permitted? As the verse states: And there shall cleave nothing dedicated to your hand. (Deuteronomy 13:18) From here it is derived that it is prohibited to derive benefit from idol worship, but it is permitted to cause benefit.
And Rabbi Yohanan says: Even if the stores are adorned only with fruit, one is also prohibited from buying from them. This is derived by kal va’homer: If it is prohibited to derive benefit from idol worship, is it not all the more so prohibited to cause benefit to idol worship?
Reish Lakish’s view is that while deriving benefit from a wreath (or any of the accoutrements of idol worship) is forbidden, causing benefit for the idolater is permitted. For this reason, he forbids stopping to smell the roses on a wreath, since the shopper would derive enjoyment — a benefit — from doing so. But if the decorations are made of fruit, which does not have a strong smell, she can shop there, since Reish Lakish doesn’t view spending money in the store as a benefit.
Rabbi Yohanan disagrees, employing the talmudic principle of kal va’homer, inferring from a less stringent issue to a more stringent one, noting that if it’s forbidden for a Jew to derive benefit from idol worship, one should certainly be prohibited from causing the idolator himself to benefit.Sometimes, it is difficult to know how to avoid deriving and causing benefit, as the following beraita makes clear:
Rabbi Natan says: On the day in which a tax reduction is made in honor of idol worship, they announce and say: “Anyone who takes a wreath of roses and places it on his head and on the head of his donkey in honor of the object of idol worship, his tax will be reduced.” If one does not place a wreath on one’s head, his tax will not be reduced. What should a Jew who is present there do? If he places the wreath on his head and on the head of his donkey, he will be found to derive benefit from idol worship. And if he does not place the wreath on his head, he will be found to cause benefit to idol worship, through the tax that he pays.
What a dilemma! If a Jew finds herself in a town where there’s a tax rebate for people who don wreaths in honor of pagan festivals, is it better for her to refrain from such adornments so that she doesn’t benefit from the tax break, or to wear the rose crown so that she doesn’t benefit the idolaters by paying full taxes? It’s a no-win situation that the Gemara doesn’t resolve. Rather, they are forced to acknowledge that it is impossible to conduct business in a gentile market without either deriving or causing benefit. Therefore, this beraita concludes:
Any animal he bought there should be destroyed, any produce, clothing or vessels should be left to decompose, and with regard to any money or metal vessels, one should take them and cast them into the Dead Sea.
This is a hard line: It is permissible to shop at a gentile fair, but all the purchases must be destroyed. Why would anyone shop at all? It would have been nearly impossible for Jews to survive in the ancient world without trading with their non-Jewish neighbors. Trade with idolaters was, therefore, probably a necessity. On today’s daf, we also read:
One may go to a fair of gentiles and buy from animals, and slaves, and maidservants, houses, fields, and vineyards.
There is no easy resolution to this tension. On the one hand, avoiding all commerce with idolaters is clearly the best way to avoid deriving benefit from idolatry, and also the best way to avoid aiding and abetting it. On the other hand, practically, the rabbis know that people will, and perhaps must, conduct this business.
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