Commentary for Avodah Zarah 2:7
אֵלּוּ מֻתָּרִין בַּאֲכִילָה. חָלָב שֶׁחֲלָבוֹ גוֹי וְיִשְׂרָאֵל רוֹאֵהוּ. וְהַדְּבַשׁ. וְהַדַּבְדָּנִיּוֹת אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁמְּנַטְּפִין, אֵין בָּהֶם מִשּׁוּם הֶכְשֵׁר מַשְׁקֶה. וּכְבָשִׁין שֶׁאֵין דַּרְכָּן לָתֵת לְתוֹכָן יַיִן וָחֹמֶץ. וְטָרִית שֶׁאֵינָהּ טְרוּפָה. וְצִיר שֶׁיֶּשׁ בָּהּ דָּגָה. וְעָלֶה שֶׁל חִלְתִּית. וְזֵיתִים גְּלֻסְקָאוֹת הַמְגֻלְגָּלִין. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר, הַשְּׁלוּחִין, אֲסוּרִין. הַחֲגָבִים הַבָּאִים מִן הַסְּלוּלָה, אֲסוּרִין. מִן הַהַפְתֵּק, מֻתָּרִין. וְכֵן לִתְרוּמָה:
These may be eaten: milk (from an animal) milked by a gentile in sight of a Jew, [not necessarily being seen by the Jew, but being visible to the Jew if he (the Jew) stood up. The gentile would be afraid (to milk an unclean animal in the Jew's presence), thinking: If he gets up, he will see me (and will not buy from me)], and their honey, and their davdevaniyoth [(loaves of honey taken from the hive.) Even though they drip, we do not fear that he may have put libation wine into them. Another interpretation: Clusters of grapes. Even though the wine drips from them, they are not forbidden by reason of libation wine.] And they [the drippings] are not hechsher mashkeh (an agent of uncleanliness) [i.e., they do not create susceptibility (of the grapes) to uncleanliness, for they (the grapes) are meant for eating and he does not desire the liquid that drips from them.], and preserves into which we are not accustomed to place vine and vinegar, and a tarith that is not hashed. [Even though it is cut in pieces, the head and spine are intact and it is discernible as a clean fish.], and a brine in which there is dagah, and a leaf of chiltith, [which it is not customary to cut with a knife], and exotic pressed olives, [olives placed in a round vessel and warmed and pressed of themselves until they become like rounded eggs. (These may be eaten)] R. Yossi says the "cast-outs" are forbidden. [If the olives have become so soft that when he takes an olive in his hand the pit is cast out and falls of itself, they are forbidden because (we suspect that) they have been softened by wine. The halachah is not in accordance with R. Yossi.] The locusts that come from the basket [before the shopkeeper] are forbidden, [for we fear that he may have sprinkled wine upon them to soften them]. (Those that come) from the store-room are permitted, [for he does not sprinkle wine upon them before offering them for sale.] And the same applies to terumah. [If a Cohein is suspect of selling terumah as chullin, everything found in front of him is forbidden (lest it be terumah). But if he takes it from the store-room, it is permitted, for he fears that the rabbis might hear of it and rule his entire supply hefker (ownerless)].
Bartenura on Mishnah Avodah Zarah
English Explanation of Mishnah Avodah Zarah
milk which a non-Jew milked with a Jew watching him;
honey,
grape-clusters even though these secrete moisture the law which renders food susceptible to defilement by a liquid does not apply to them
preserves into which they are not accustomed to put wine or vinegar,
pickled herring which has not been minced,
brine containing fish,
a leaf of asafoetida,
and rolled olive-cakes. Rabbi Yose says: those olives having pits ready to drop out are prohibited.
Locusts which come out of [a shopkeeper’s] basket are prohibited, but if from storage they are permitted. The same rule applies to terumah.
This mishnah lists food produced by non-Jews which a Jew is allowed to eat.
1) As we explained in the previous mishnah, the concern with milk is that the non-Jew might mix milk which comes from a kosher animal with milk that comes from a non-kosher animal (such as a camel). If the Jew is watching over the non-Jew we have no such concern and the milk is therefore permitted.
2) Mixing foreign substances with honey would spoil the honey. Therefore we can assume that the non-Jew did not put anything into the honey and it is permitted.
3) Even though some grape juice may be dripping from the cluster of grapes, we are not concerned that the non-Jew used this juice in idol worship and it would be forbidden. The mishnah also notes that the liquid that comes out of grapes is not the type of liquid which makes a food susceptible to impurities. As we have learned before (Eduyoth 4:6) food cannot become impure until it is made wet by seven types of liquids. Grape juice is not one of them.
4) Preserved foods into which it is not customary to put wine or vinegar are permitted.
5) If one can see that the fish in the brine is actually herring, it is permitted, unlike the minced fish which was discussed above.
6) In the previous mishnah we learned that it was forbidden to eat pieces of the asa foetida, since the same knife used to cut this plant might have been used to cut non-kosher food. In this mishnah we learn that since they don’t cut the leaves of the as foetida with this type of knife, it is permitted.
7) Olives that have been rolled out into cakes are permitted, since no wine is used in them. According to Rabbi Yose, if the olives have become so soft that the pits fall out, wine might have been put on them to soften them. Therefore, they are forbidden.
8) Some types of locusts are kosher. When a seller sells them, he brings them from his storehouse and puts them in a small basket, onto which he mixes a little wine. Due to the addition of this wine, locusts that come from this basket are forbidden. The locusts that come from the storehouse are permitted since the wine has not yet been put upon them.
The mishnah points out that the same is true with regards to terumah. If a kohen sells locusts from the little basket, we must suspect that he has dripped wine on them, and that the wine might be terumah, which is strictly forbidden to non-priests. If, however, the locusts come from storage, we can be sure that there is no terumah-wine mixed in with them.