Commentary for Avodah Zarah 1:10

לפני אידיהם של גוים – [the word אידיהם is] a byname of reproach for their holy days and festivals.

On the three days preceding the festivals of idolaters, it is forbidden to conduct business with them, to lend articles to them or borrow from them, to lend or borrow any money from them, to repay a debt, or receive repayment from them. Rabbi Judah says: we should receive repayment from them, as this can only depress them; But they [the Rabbis] said to him: even though it is depressing at the time, they are glad of it subsequently. Exodus 23:13 states, “Make no mention of the names of other gods; they shall not be heard on your lips.” From the last part of this verse, “they shall not be heard on your lips” the Rabbis created a midrash that a Jew should avoid giving a non-Jew a reason to bring a sacrifice or libation to his foreign god. Therefore, during the three days preceding pagan holidays, Jews should avoid any business transactions with non-Jews, lest the non-Jew thank his god for this transaction. According to the first opinion in the mishnah, this prohibition works in both directions. It is forbidden for Jews to sell, lend or repay non-Jews and likewise it is forbidden to buy, borrow or receive repayment from them. According to this opinion, all of these transactions may potentially cause the non-Jew to celebrate and therefore should be avoided. Rabbi Judah dissents with regards to receiving repayment from non-Jews. Since repaying a debt causes sorrow to a person, it is permitted to receive repayment during this time, since the non-Jew will not thank his god after having done so. The Rabbis respond to Rabbi Judah that repaying a debt can indeed be a cause of celebration, even if the immediate parting with the money is depressing. Therefore it too is prohibited three days preceding a holiday. We should note that although this mishnah seems to be of a restrictive nature, it does indeed allow business transactions at any time that is not three days before their festivals. In other words, by forbidding the conduct of business on certain days the mishnah tacitly permits conducting business with non-Jews on other days. This was of course an economic necessity; even before the modern “global economy” no people could survive without conducting business with other peoples.

לשאת ולתת – to sell and to purchase. Because they go and praise idolatry on the day of their holidays.

להשאילן – cattle and utensils, things that return as they are.

להלוותם – [to lend them] money but it was not an adornment to the eye, for a loan is given [merely] for the expenditure.

לפורען – when they are collected, they go and give praise to idolatry on the day of their holidays.

מפני שהוא מיצר – on his money which they do not restore to him, and he does not go and give praise [to idolatry].

שמח הוא לאחר זמן – on the morrow [after] his holiday, he goes and gives praise [to idolatry]. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda, and specifically a loan [written in a] document is prohibited to collect from them, but an oral loan is permissible, because he is like saves it from their hands.

לאחר אידיהן מותר – And such is the Halakha. But in the Diaspora, where we are unable to contain ourselves from engaging in business with them, since the principal part of our sustenance is from them, and furthermore, because of fear, it is not prohibited [to do business with them] other than only on the day of their holy days alone. But nowadays, there is the general practice of permission [to engage in business interaction with them] even on the actual day of their festivals, because the Rabbis established regarding them that they do not go and praise [their deities]. [But those things that are forbidden in this Tractate speaks about idolatrous worship and actual idolatry].

Introduction Today’s mishnah is a continuation of the mishnah we learned yesterday, which stated that it is forbidden to conduct transactions with non-Jews three days before their festivals, lest they offer sacrifices or libations to their gods for their transactions with Jews.

Rabbi Ishmael says on the three preceding days and the three following days it is forbidden; But the Sages say: before their festivities it is forbidden, but after their festivities it is permitted. Rabbi Ishmael states that not only is it forbidden to make transactions with non-Jews during the three days before a pagan holiday but it is also forbidden during the three days following the holiday. In the Palestinian Talmud two potential reasons are given for Rabbi Ishmael’s statement. The first is that non-Jews continue to celebrate for three days after their holidays are over and therefore these three days are also forbidden. The second is that if the non-Jew knows that he will not be able to conduct business with the Jew after his holiday, he will be depressed during his holiday and he will engage in less idol worship. The Sages, who are the same Sages who expressed their opinion in the previous mishnah, prohibit only the three days preceding the holiday and not the three days following.

Questions for Further Thought:
• What is the qualitative difference between the two reasons given for prohibiting the conduct of business during the three days following the pagan holiday?

קלנדיא – eight days after the winter solstice [begins].

Introduction Mishnah three delineates which idolatrous holidays are referred to in the previous two mishnayoth.

סטרנורא – eight days prior to the solstice; since the first man (i.e., Adam) saw that the [length of the] day was gradually getting shorter. He said: Woe is me, lest because I sinned, the world is returning to become “null and void.” He stood and sat for eight days in fasting (and in prayer), since from the time that the solstice occurred, and he (i.e., Adam) saw that the days are gradually lengthening, he said: it is the nature of the world. He stood and made an eight-day festival. In the following year, they made both of them holy days and he established them [in honor of] the heavens, and they were established for idolatrous worship.

These are the festivities of the idolaters: Kalenda, Saturnalia, Kratesis, the anniversary of accession to the throne and birthdays and anniversaries of deaths, according to Rabbi Meir. Kalenda, from which the English word calendar derives, refers to the first day of the month, and especially to the first day of the year. Saturnalia was a popular Roman holiday on the 17th of December, dedicated to the god, Saturn. Kratesis, which was on the first of August, commemorated the day that Augustus conquered Alexandria in Egypt. Note that I have used the names of these holidays as Albeck states that they should be read. Medieval scribes often did not know what these holidays were or what their names were and different forms of the words can be found in other versions of the mishnah. The anniversary of the accession of the king to the throne is also considered to be a day of celebration full of idolatrous practices. The final two days of idolatrous celebration are personal: one’s birthday and the anniversary of the death of a close relative. On these days non-Jews would make idolatrous celebrations. Interestingly, Jews did not traditionally celebrate birthdays because it was seen to be a non-Jewish custom.

קרטסים – the day of taking hold of the kingship, and they established it as a holiday.

But the Sages say: a death at which burning [of articles of the dead] takes place is attended by idolatry, but where there is not such burning there is no idolatry. The opinion in the previous section was that of Rabbi Meir, who held that pagans commemorate the anniversaries of all deaths. The Rabbis disagree with Rabbi Meir and hold that only deaths where the body and clothes were burned on a funeral pyre are celebrated by idolatrous acts. If the body was not burned on the pyre then the day is not accompanied by idolatry and it is therefore permitted to conduct business with the non-Jew three days before.

גינוסיא – the day when they appoint the king.

But the day of shaving ones beard and lock of hair, or the day of landing after a sea voyage, or the day of release from prison, or if an idolater holds a banquet for his son the prohibition only applies to that day and that particular person. As was previously stated it is forbidden to conduct business with non-Jews during the three days before the personal holidays mentioned in section two. In section three the mishnah lists pagan holidays that Jews can conduct business during the three days before and are only forbidden from doing so on the holiday itself. These include the day that the non-Jew shaves his beard and lock of hair, which refers to a lock of hair grown at the back of one’s head and is shaved once a year; the day of return from a long trip by sea; the day that one is released from prison and the day in which one marries off one’s son and makes him a celebratory feast.

יום הלידה – the day on which the king is born

Questions for Further Thought:
• What is the difference between the personal holidays mentioned in section two of this mishnah and those mentioned in section three? Why is it forbidden to conduct business for the three days preceding some of them but not others?

שריפה – where they burn the utensils in the manner that they burn them for kings.

יש בה ע"ז – that is to say, that selfsame day they have a idolatrous holiday, and from year to year all the days of his son, and all these we consider until now, they value and it is forbidden [for us to interact with them] three days before [their festivals].

אבל יום תגלחת זקנו – which is not a set time for the group, but each person, when he shaves makes that day a festival.

ובלוריתו – that he places his locks behind him all year long but does not sheer them other than on an annual basis, the day of his sheering he makes a holiday.

ויום שעלה מן הים – And he offers sacrifices to idolatry on account that he was saved. In all of these, it is not prohibited other than on that day and not beforehand, and they do not consider it all that much.

עיר שיש בה ע"ז – that the day of their festival the people of the city have a day for idolatrous worship who are in the city.

Introduction This mishnah provides some exceptions to the prohibition of conducting business with non-Jews during their festivals.

חוצה לה – and even very near the city, it is permissible to engage in business with those who dwell outside the city, for they are not drawn after that idolatry, and such is their practice. The day of their festival [of those in the city] Is not like the day of the festival [of those outside the city].

When an idolatrous [festival] takes place within a city it is permitted [to conduct business with non-Jews] outside it. If the idolatrous [festival] takes place outside it, [business] is permitted within it. The prohibition of conducting business with non-Jews during their holidays is limited to the city that is actually celebrating the holiday. Outside of the city it is permitted to conduct business with them. The type of holiday referred to in this mishnah is probably a local holiday and not one that would have been observed throughout the land.

מהו לילך שם – in the same city on the day of their idolatrous worship.

Is it permitted to go there? If the road leads solely to that place, it is forbidden; But if one can go by it to any other place, it is permitted. This section begins with a question, a literary form that is not typical for mishnah. The question is: can one go to this city on the day of the celebration? If the answer to this question were to be categorically affirmative, stating that Jews are not allowed to even travel on the road to that city, it would create another fence to prevent Jews from aiding non-Jews in their celebrations. However, the answer is not categorical. Rather, a Jew may travel on the road to this city as long as the road leads to other places as well. If it only leads to this place then it is forbidden. After all, if the Jew was travelling to this place on the holiday and the road only travels to that city, he is obviously going to transgress the prohibition, or perhaps even worse, to actually celebrate with them.

בזמן שהדרך מיוחדת לאותה העיר – that the paved road from here to that city, is unique to that city alone, it is forbidden to go there, because it appears as one who is going there for idolatrous worship, and if there was a course of the road also goes to another city, it is permitted, for one who sees it states, “he is going to another place.”

A city in which an idolatrous festival is taking place, some of its shops being decorated and some not decorated this was the case with Beth-Shean, and the Sages said: in the decorated stores it is forbidden [to buy] but in the undecorated ones it is permitted. This section is addressed to the Jew who is already located in the non-Jewish city on the day of their celebration. We might have thought that he is not to distinguish at all between non-Jews and that it is forbidden to conduct business with any of them. In this section we learn that the prohibition is limited to those actually demonstrating that they are celebrating the holiday. A storekeeper who does not decorate his store is evidently not celebrating, and therefore it is permitted to conduct business with him. We should note that in this case the Rabbis are lenient even though it is not totally clear that this non-Jew will not celebrate later on. In other words, although there is a chance that later the non-Jew will offer sacrifices to his god for the transaction with the Jew, since this is unlikely it is permitted. It is interesting to note the direction of this mishnah: the first section is directed at those found outside of the city, the second at those outside of the city who are coming into the city and the third at those who are inside the city.

היו בה חנויות מעוטרות – and the sign for them is that those stores are idolatrous, to collect taxes from them.

Questions for Further Thought:
• Section two: Is a Jew permitted to travel to the city if the road leads to other cities? If so, why?
• This mishnah might remind us of the modern holiday celebrations surrounding Christmas. How does the situation here compare and contrast with the modern situation?

ושאינן מעוטרות מותרות – and those which are not wreathed, they don’t take taxes from him for idolatry, and they don’t bring to the idolatry any benefit from them, and to purchase from them something of value, is permissible on the day of their festival, for generally one who sells is sad [when he sells something he values] and does not go and praise [idolatry].

אצטרובלין – fruit of the cedar.

Introduction This mishnah begins a somewhat new topic: things which are forbidden to sell to idolaters at all times of the year and not just during their holidays, lest these things be used in idol worship. Again, it is not only forbidden to worship idols, but it is forbidden to aid non-Jews in idolatry.

בנות שוח – it is prohibited for an Israelite to sell a kind of the species of the large white figs to an idolater.

The following things are forbidden to be sold to idolaters: iztroblin, bnoth-shuah with their stems, frankincense, and a white rooster. Iztroblin are the pines of a cedar tree. Bnoth-shuah are types of figs. All of these things listed in this section are used by the idolaters for idol worship. Therefore it is forbidden to sell them to non-Jews since that would be abetting idolatry.

ופטוטרות – with their stems (Talmud Avodah Zarah 13b) it is stated, meaning to say, with their stalks/peduncles by which they are suspended, for undefined, the idolater wants to offer them as a [sacrificial] offering to idolatry.

Rabbi Judah says: it is permitted to sell a white rooster to an idolater among other roosters; but if it be by itself, one should clip its spur and then sell it to him, because a defective [animal] is not sacrificed to an idol. As for other things, if they are not specified their sale is permitted, but if specified it is forbidden. Rabbi Judah presents some exceptions to the prohibition of selling a white rooster to an idolater. A Jew may sell a white rooster to an idolater if it is sold with other regular roosters. In this case the Jew is merely selling roosters and happens to sell one that is white. The non-Jew may also not be purchasing the rooster for idolatrous purposes since he bought a lot of other roosters. Furthermore, when he sells the white rooster it doesn’t look to others as if he is selling something specifically for idol worship, since the other roosters he is selling will not typically be used in idol worship. Rabbi Judah also creates a way for Jews to sell white roosters alone to idolaters. As long as the Jew cuts off the spur the sale is permitted since the idolater will not sacrifice a blemished animal. With regards to the other forbidden items, it is forbidden to sell them to idolaters only if the sale is specifically for idol worship. If not, it is permitted to sell the item, because it may be used for other, non-idolatrous purposes.

תרנגול לבן בין תרנגולין – an idolater bought from an Israelite many chickens, it is permitted to sell amongst them a white chicken and since another person took them, It was not for idolatry that he wanted them.

Rabbi Meir says: also a “good-palm”, hazab and niklivas are forbidden to be sold to idolaters. Rabbi Meir adds several other things which are forbidden for a Jew to sell to idolaters. All three of these are varieties of date-palms.

ופירושן אסור – if he explained/specified that it was for idolatry that he needed them, it is prohibited. And it was necessary for our Mishnah [to specify this] for you might think that I would say that this person wanted them not for idolatrous purposes, and when he said this, he holds that just as that this person clings to it (for idolatrous purposes), everyone also clings to it, and I would say this for [just as] he would give it to me, it to teach us [that the reverse is to be taught].

דקל טב – [fruits] of a superior date which are regularly used for sacrificial purposes to idolatry.

נקב – reeds that they make from them sugar.

ונקליהם – a kind of very superior herb/grass, and the Halakha is according to Rabbi Meir.

אין מוכרין בהמה גסה – for we decree that selling is on account of renting and borrowing, for it is the animal of an Israelite and the idolater will do work with it on the Sabbath and through a middleman, for they cannot exchange it through renting it, for the middleman does not lease it, but he is permitted to sell it.

Introduction This mishnah discusses the prohibition of a Jew from selling animals to non-Jews, lest the non-Jews use them for work on the Sabbath.

שלמים ושבורים – for even the injured/maimed are appropriate for work for they grind/mill with them.

In a place where it is the custom to sell small domesticated animals to non-Jews, such sale is permitted; but where the custom is not to sell, such sale is not permitted. In no place however is it permitted to sell large animals, calves or foals, whether whole or maimed. Rabbi Judah permits in the case of a maimed one. And Ben Bateira permits in the case of a horse. The Torah teaches on several occasions that an animal must rest on the Sabbath (see for instance Exodus 20:9). Our mishnah extends this prohibition and prohibits a Jew from selling an animal to a non-Jew, lest the non-Jew use the animal for work on the Sabbath. This is similar yet somewhat different from the issue which the mishnah discussed previously, selling potentially idolatrous objects to the non-Jew. In both cases it is forbidden to sell something to a non-Jew. However, in this case, Jews are not enjoined to prevent non-Jews from working on the Sabbath. Rather Jews are prohibited from putting Sabbath observant animals into the position where they will have to break the Sabbath. In other words this prohibition concerns the animal and not the non-Jew himself. Not all animals are used for work. Small animals, such as sheep and goats are not used for work. Therefore in a place where it is customary to sell them to non-Jews it is permitted to do so. In other places it was customary not to sell even small animals to non-Jews, lest the Jew become confused and sell them large animals, which is prohibited in all places. [We have not encountered many of these types of mishnahs, which permit something in a place where it is customary to do so, and forbid it in places where it is not customary. For other examples which we have learned see Bava Metzia 7:1 or 9:1.] It is forbidden in all places to sell large animals, such as oxen and horses, to non-Jews since they will be used to perform work on the Sabbath. This prohibition includes calves and foals, even though they do not usually perform work. Rabbi Judah allows one to sell injured animals to non-Jews since they are clearly being purchased for their meat and not in order to do work. Ben Bateira allows the sale of a horse since horses are used for riding, which is not considered by the Rabbis to be work. Pulling plows, a work performed by oxen is considered work.

רבי יהודה מתיר בשבורה – but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

Questions for Further Thought:
Why is it forbidden in all places to sell calves and foals to non-Jews and yet there are some places that do sell small animals? Since both don’t perform work why is one always prohibited and one sometimes permitted?

בו בתירה מתיר בסוס – and even the horse that the hunters/fowlers bring upon them the birds that they hunt, for he holds that the living carries himself. But the Rabbis hold that that especially human beings carry themselves. Therefore, if it (i.e., the horse) did not have a special [purpose] other than to ride upon it, it is permissible, but to bring upon it a living creature other than a human being, it is prohibited. But the Halakha is not according to Ben Beteyra.

כל דבר שיש [בו] נזק לרבים – as, for example, military utensils, swords and spears.

Introduction This mishnah teaches that one is forbidden to assist a non-Jew in any way that may injure the public.

בסילקי – a tall palace/villa where they sit to judge people and they cast them from there and they die (see Talmud Avodah Zarah 16b).

One should not sell them bears, lions or anything which may injure the public. A Jew is not allowed to sell bears or lions to non-Jews, lest the non-Jew not take proper care of the animal and the animal cause damage to the public. This section may also be understood as referring to the gladiator exhibitions which often involved lions and bears. The Rabbis were opposed to these violent exhibitions and to the culture that encouraged the enjoyment of bloodshed. A Jew should certainly not attend such events nor sell animals to non-Jews that might be used in these events.

גרדום – one building and it is made to judge capital cases.

One should not join them in building a basilica, a scaffold, a stadium, or a platform. A Jew may not join non-Jews in building any of the structures listed in this section. The basilica served as a courtroom. The scaffold was used for executions. The platform was used for judges to make speeches. We can see from this mishnah that the Jews had a deep distrust for the non-Jewish law system. This law system is considered damaging to the public and therefore a Jew should not aid in building this system.

איצטדיא – a place of sport that they bring a goring ox and they kill a man.

But one may join them in building public or private bathhouses. When however he reaches the cupola in which the idol is placed he must not build. A Jew is allowed to join non-Jews in building bathhouses, since bathhouses are for the public good. Indeed in other Talmudic sources the Romans are praised for building bathhouses, marketplaces, roads and bridges. From other stories in the Talmud and a famous story that will appear in our tractate, it is clear that Jews and non-Jews shared public bathhouses. [Note: the version of the mishnah upon which my interpretation is based is “dimasaot” and not “bimasaot”, as recommended by Albeck.] A Jew may not aid in building the cupola of the bathhouse since that is the place where the idol is placed. As we have learned already in the previous mishnayoth, a Jew may not perform any action which would aid in idolatrous practice.

בימה – a kind of short or tall tower made in order to push a person down from them and he dies.

דימוסיאות – buildings that are not for the needs of idolatry, nor to kill people.

כיפה – in the foreign language “Arkayultav;” it is the manner of idolaters to place idolatry in their bathhouses.

אבל מוכר הוא משיקוץ – that he should not sell it to him when it is attached [to the ground] but rather after it is cut away. But not all the while that it is attached. And the Torah stated (Deuteronomy 7:2): “And give them no quarter,” nor give them no chance of acquiring property (sell them no trees in the ground – see Talmud Avodah Zarah 20a).

Introduction This mishnah continues to discuss things that should not be sold to non-Jews. The first section lists things that shouldn’t be sold lest they be used for idolatrous purposes. The remainder of the mishnah discusses land and things attached to the land. These should not be sold to non-Jews lest they begin to dispossess the Jews of the land of Israel.

אין משכירין להם בתים – it is a decree because of selling which is a prohibition from the Torah.

One should not make jewelry for an idol [such as] necklaces, ear-rings, or finger-rings. Rabbi Eliezer says, for payment it is permitted. One should not make jewelry for idolaters lest they use them to decorate their idols. Rabbi Eliezer says that one may sell jewelry to them but not give it for free. This opinion is perplexing because usually if we are concerned that the actions of the Jew might encourage idolatry, the fact that he profits does not make it more permissible. There are some versions of the mishnah that do not include this line.

ואצ"ל שדות – for there are two levels of prohibition: acquiring property and exempting them from tithes.

One should not sell to idolaters a thing which is attached to the soil, but when cut down it may be sold. R. Judah says, one may sell it on condition that it be cut down. The mishnah now begins to discuss selling them land and things attached to the land. One should not sell them things attached to the land, such as trees, since this might give them a stake in the land as well. Once the item has been cut down, it is permitted. Rabbi Judah is more lenient and allows something to be sold while it is attached, as long as it is stipulated that it will be cut down.

ובסוריא – Aram Sobah which [King] David conquered and is not holy like the holiness of the Land [of Israel].

One should not let houses to them in the land of Israel; and it is not necessary to mention fields. In Syria houses may be let to them, but not fields. Outside of the land of Israel, houses may be sold and fields let to them, these are the words of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yose says: in the land of Israel, one may let to them houses but not fields; In Syria, we may sell them houses and let fields; Outside of the land of Israel, both may be sold. The first half of this section is Rabbi Meir’s opinion. He holds that one should not even rent houses to non-Jews in the land of Israel, lest he come to sell them as well. This is true of houses and even more true of fields, for with fields there is the added problem of tithes. Once a Jew sells his field to a non-Jew the field’s produce is not liable for tithing. In this way, the sale reduces the holiness of the field. In Syria, which is adjacent to Israel and was conquered by David but is not considered fully a part of Israel, we can be slightly more lenient. Houses may be rented to non-Jews, but fields still may not, because the produce grown in Syria is still subject to tithes. Outside of the land, a Jew may sell houses, but he still may not sell fields, lest by habit he come to sell fields in the land of Israel as well. On all of these cases, Rabbi Yose is slightly more lenient. Inside of Israel he allows the renting of houses, but not fields. In Syria he allows the sale of houses and the renting of fields and outside of the land, both may be sold. Note that he is still consistent in that the rules are more strict with fields than with houses. The major difference is that he does not rule more strictly in cases that should be permitted (such as selling fields outside of the land) but were forbidden by Rabbi Meir lest one come to sell something that really should not be sold.

משכירין להם בתיים – and we don’t make the decree on account of selling and for alternatively, it would come to selling but he did not violate the Torah for just as it is written to not give them the chance to acquire property in the land of Israel, it is written, but however, ab initio not selling in the land of Israel because of selling of the land of Israel.

אבל לא שדות – because there are two levels of prohibition.

וח"ל – because of the distance, one cannot make a decree regarding selling for from there it does not lead to sale of the land of Israel.

מוכרין בתים ומשכירין שדות – but not the sale of fields because there are two [levels of prohibition].

רבי יוסי אומר כו'' -And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yosi as long as one does not lease to three idolaters together so that they will not make a neighborhood of idolaters.

אף במקום שאמרו להשכיר – for Rabbi Meir in Syria especially, but not in the land of Israel and for Rabbi yosi even in the land of Israel.

Introduction This mishnah is a continuation of the previous mishnah, which discussed selling and letting houses to idolaters.

לא לבית דירה אמרו – but rather to bring into there straw and wood and things like it.

Even in such a place where the letting of a house has been permitted, they did not say [that this was permitted if it was] for the purpose of a residence, since the idolater will bring idols into it; for it says, “you shall not bring an abomination into your house” (Deut. 7:26). Although in the previous mishnah we learned that in certain places it is permitted to let a house to an idolater (in Syria according to Rabbi Meir, and in the land of Israel according to Rabbi Yose), this permission is not granted if the idolater is renting the house as a residence. Since the idolater will bring his idols into the house, this would violate the prohibition of allowing idols into one’s home. The idolater may only rent the house from the Jew to use for storage or other non-residential usage. [The Jerusalem Talmud rules that outside of the land of Israel it is permitted to sell or let houses to idolaters even for the purpose of residence. Although in this case too the idolater will bring idols into the house and seemingly thereby cause the Jew to violate the commandment in Deut. 7:26, the essential meaning of the verse is that it is forbidden for a Jew to bring idols into his own house. The halacha is more strict inside the land of Israel and in bordering areas because it is incumbent upon Jews to cleanse the land of idol worship.]

מפני שהיא נקראת על שמו – because the idolater because he warms himself up on the Sabbath and they (i.e., people) will say “this is the bathhouse of so-and-so the Israelite where they wash in it on Shabbat” but it is not similar to a field of an Israelite where the tenant farmer is an idolater who does work on it on the Sabbath, for the field is worked for his tenancy and the idolater is a personal tenant farmer who is doing his own labor ( and not as the Israelite’s employee -see Talmud Avodah Zarah 21b). But a bathhouse is not for working as a tenant, and not everyone knows that he the Israelite leased it to an idolater and therefore, it is prohibited. But at the present time when it is manner to lower the tenant to the bathhouse for a year, for half, or a third or a fourth of the earnings, in the same manner that they bringing him down into the fields, they permitted to lease a bathhouse to an idolater, and even though [the idolater] does work in it on the Sabbath, people [surely] know that the idolater is a tenant there, for he he is doing his own tenancy while using it.

In no place may one let a bath-house to an idolater, as it is called by the name of the owner. In no place, even outside the land of Israel, may one let a bath-house to an idolater. Since the bath-house will continue to be called by the name of the Jewish owner, and the idolater will surely bring idols into the warehouse, this is forbidden.

Questions for Further Thought:
• How is the topic of this mishnah different from the topic of the previous mishnah?
• What is different about a bath-house and why is it more prohibited than other types of rentals or sales?