Avodah Zarah 70

On today’s daf, we read about a Jew and a non-Jew who were sitting together and drinking wine. From a distance, the Jew hears the sound or prayer emanating from the synagogue and gets up to join the service, leaving their wine unattended in the presence of the non-Jew. The question arises: Wwhen the Jew returns, is the wine now forbidden due to a concern that the non-Jew may have taken the opportunity to use it for a libation?

Rava said: The wine is permitted, (because the gentile presumably) said to himself: Any moment now they will remember their wine and come back.

According to Rava, the non-Jew assumes the Jew could return at any moment and therefore is unlikely to make use of the wine for idolatrous purposes for fear of being caught. Assuming that this incident occurred in the afternoon or evening (more typical times for drinking wine), the prayer service which the Jew attended would only keep them from the table for a short while. It’s possible the non-Jew knows this and acts accordingly. A half-full glass left on the table is a good indication the Jew is coming back soon. 

But what if that weren’t so obviously the case? The Gemara relates another scenario:

A certain Jew and a certain gentile who were sitting on a ship. The Jew heard the sound of the shofar of twilight (indicating the beginning of Shabbat). He disembarked and went. Rava said: The wine is permitted, (because the gentile presumably) said to himself: Any moment now he will remember his wine and come back.

Here too, the non-Jew assumes the Jew will return quickly for their wine and so, according to Rava, it remains permitted. But this case is different from the first one as the pair are sitting on a ship and the Jew appears to have left for Shabbat, a much longer absence than a short prayer service. And not only that, a Jew is normally forbidden from boarding a ship on Shabbat lest it embark on a journey and cause the Jew to travel beyond the Shabbat limits. If the non-Jew is aware of this, shouldn’t the wine be forbidden as the non-Jew has ample time to pour a libation from the wine without being caught?

Rava explains:

Issur the convert told me: When we were gentiles we used to say: Jews do not observe Shabbat, as, if they observe Shabbat, how many wallets would be found in the marketplace? And I did not know that we maintain in accordance with Rabbi Yitzhak, as Rabbi Yitzhak says: One who finds a wallet on Shabbat may carry it less than four cubits.

Remembering the days before he converted, Issur informs Rava that non-Jews believe that most Jews do not actually keep Shabbat laws strictly. He knows this because there is no uptick in wallets found on Shabbat, which must mean that Jews continue to pick them up on Shabbat at the same rate as they do the rest of the week. Otherwise, there would be an increase in the number of wallets found by non-Jews on Shabbat. So in the case of the boat, the non-Jew reasonably expects the Jew to return to their wine soon, even though the laws of Shabbat forbid them from doing so. As a result, the wine should be permitted to the Jew on their return. 

Rava’s ruling here is based on his own assumption about what the non-Jew assumes about how quickly the Jew will return. This assumption is further based upon the non-Jew’s assumption about Jewish observance of Shabbat. Issur is quick to point out that now that he has converted, he is aware of the rule that allows a Jew to move an object in the public domain a distance of less than four cubits. This explains why there is no uptick in found wallets — Jews are moving them to the side and returning to get them after Shabbat. It also suggests that the assumption that non-Jews make about Sabbath observance is erroneous.

Issur’s explanation accounts for the reduced number of found wallets in the marketplace and maintains that rabbinic Judaism is the norm. But one has to wonder: Is his analysis accurate or naive? While the rabbis of the Talmud are off keeping Shabbat, is everyone else doing the same? Or perhaps some Jews are returning to the markets — and to the ships where a glass of wine is waiting for them.

Read all of Avodah Zarah 70 on Sefaria.

This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on August 27, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.