A legal dilemma arose before Rav Nahman, Ulla, Avimi bar Pappi and Rabbi Hiyya bar Ami:
The proceeds from idol worship in the possession of a gentile: What is the law? Does it transfer to the money in the possession of a gentile or not?
If a Jew sells an idol, the funds they receive are forbidden since a Jew cannot benefit from idol worship. The assembled gaggle of rabbis are wondering if it is also true that a Jew is forbidden to make use of money that a non-Jew received when selling an idol. Essentially, the question is whether the forbidden status of the idol transfers to the money. If it does, then if the non-Jew later uses the money to buy something from a Jew, the Jew would be prohibited from using it.
Rav Nahman deduces an answer from the following source:
A certain gentile who came before Rabba bar Avuh to convert. Rabba bar Avuh said to them: Go sell everything that you have and then come back to convert.
The fact that Rabba bar Avuh instructs the potential convert to sell everything they own — including, presumably, all their idols — suggests that the funds are permitted. If they weren’t, it would have made more sense to advise the prospective convert to toss the idols into the sea. What sense would it make to suggest the sale of the idols if the proceeds would be off limits after they convert? And so, Rav Nahman concludes that a Jew would be permitted to take possession of money that a gentile received from selling an idol.
The Gemara is not fully convinced. If a person is in the process of conversion, wouldn’t they have revoked the idolatrous status of their items? If so, any idols they still have in their possession would have been decommissioned, and so there would be no reason to prohibit the funds to anybody — Jewish or not. So the Gemara suggests a different source for an answer.
A Jew who was a creditor to a gentile for 100 dinars, and the gentile sold an object of idol worship and brought him (the payment of the debt), or sold wine used for a libation and brought him (the payment of the debt), it is permitted.
But if (the gentile) said to him: Wait for me until I sell an object of idol worship and I will bring you (the payment of the debt), or wine used for a libation and I will bring you (the payment of the debt), it is forbidden.
If a gentile sells idolatrous items and then uses the proceeds to repay a debt to a Jew, there’s no problem with the Jew using the money. Only if the gentile stipulates that they will be selling an idolatrous item precisely in order to settle a debt are the funds forbidden to the Jewish creditor. Given this ruling, it’s clear that when a non-Jew sells an idol, its idolatrous status does not automatically transfer to the money they were paid and, should those funds fall into the hands of a Jew, they are permitted.
This resolution makes commerce possible for Jews who live in towns with a significant population of non-Jews. Had the rabbis forbidden the use of coins that were part of a sale of idolatrous items, they would have effectively shut Jews out of the local economy, given that there is no clear way to tell if an individual coin was ever involved in such a transaction or not. Such a ruling would have created an additional barrier between Jews and idolatry, but the economic impact would have been severe.
Read all of Avodah Zarah 64 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on August 21, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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