Introduction:
Avodah Zarah (strange worship) is the term that is commonly used to describe idolatrous practice. The tractate is based on the laws in the Torah that proscribe and forbid association and participation in idol or pagan worship. The phrase is interchangeable with avodat kokavim which translates as those who worship stars. It doesn't appear to be very relevant to the issues and concerns of today until one considers the way some of our right wing brethren relate to non-Jews in Israel, or when one thinks about certain standards of Kashrut that are being imposed upon the larger Jewish community. I know that makes you wonder, “what is he referring to?” Trust me, I have selected relevant mishnayot to illustrate my point.

When studying Mishnah one continuously needs to remind themselves that they are examing an oral tradition that was committed to writing. It is a tradition that reflects the period from the second century B.C.E. to the second century C.E.. From the time of Macabees to the height of the Roman empire and it has undergone a number of redactions.

The Mishnah of Avodah Zarah sheds light to some extent on how our ancestors understood early Christianity, Gnosticism and other oriental forms of worship.All of the people quoted in this tractate of Mishnah lived after the Bar Kokba rebellion in 135 C.E. This should help us to understand the world at the time of its writing.

The Babylonian Talmud (14b) informs us that there originally were four hundred chapters devoted to Avodah Zarah and only five have survived to be studied. This indicates that at the time of the writing our ancestors readily admitted they knew very little about the religious world that preceded them.

Finally; we will not study all of this tracate in sequence or in its entirety. So bear with me. The tractate is composed of five chapters.

• Chapter one is concerned with when and how business may be conducted with idolaters.
• Chapter two is concerned with their possessions and to what extant can they be used.
• Chapter three is concerned with the use of their images or parts of them, including their places of worship.
• Chapter four is concerned with the use of an idol, destroying an idol, buying an idolater's wine press; helping an idolater in vintage and wine preparation.
• Chapter five is concerned with wine, and Jewish labourers, employing non-Jewish workers, Jews and idolaters sitting at a table with wine and the prohibitions surrounding idolatrous objects.

We begin with the Mishnah from Chapter 4:7 which poses a very interesting question.

Avodah Zarah
Chapter 4:7

Some Romans asked the elders (the rabbis) while they were in Rome, “ If God doesn't desire idol worship, why does he not destroy it?”
The elders replied, “If they worshipped a thing for which the world has no need, He would do away with it; but, behold, they worship the sun and the moon and the stars and the planets. Should God make an end of the world because they are fools?”
They responded to the rabbis, “If this were so, let God put an end to what the world doesn't need and leave what the world does need.”
The rabbis responded, That would only strengthen the contention of those that worship them, since they would say, “Know that these are true deities, for, lo they have not been destroyed.”

Comment: It isn't often that one finds a theological discussion in the Mishnah, however, this one cuts to the chase. This Mishnah implies that polytheists can't distinguish between what is essential worship, a true god, and what is not. If the rabbis acceded to their argument and acknowledged the sun, moon, stars and planets were indespensbile, according to the reasoning of the polythiests, they would be worthy of worship. By saying people can worship things that aren't worthy of worship the rabbis changed the rules.

Could this discussion have taken place on a diplomatic mission to Rome? Perhaps but more likely, it reflected an understanding that people of the time were devoted to astrology, divination and believed that the Gods dwelt in the sky as stars and planets and it offered a suggested response to those who worked with non-jews should the question arise.

This week's Mishnah lesson was written by
Rabbi Charles Simon,
Executive Director of the FJMC and author of
"Building A Successful Volunteer Culture: Finding Meaning in Service in the Jewish" Jewish Lights Publishing.

The opinions expressed in this Unraveller are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the FJMC.

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