If he took (pieces of) wood from it, [the asheirah], benefit may not be derived from them. If he fired the oven with them — if it were new, it must be broken; if it were old, it must cool off. [For the first firing of a stove strengthens it, so that (in this instance) it benefits by what is forbidden. This Mishnah is in accordance with the view that (the result of) "this and this contributes" is forbidden. (This is not the halachah.) Therefore, both a new oven and an old oven must cool down, so that the loaf not be baked by this firing — until the oven cools off, so that benefit not be derived from forbidden wood.] If he baked a loaf in it, it is forbidden to derive benefit from it. [The Gemara qualifies this, viz.: This is so, only when the torch (of forbidden wood) is opposite him, i.e., that as long as the loaf is baking, it (the torch) burns in the mouth of the oven and bakes it, so that he derives benefit from what is forbidden while it is intact and the benefit of the wood inheres in the loaf.] If it (the asheirah loaf) became intermixed with other loaves, they are all forbidden in (derivation of) benefit. R. Eliezer says: Let him cast its benefits [i.e., the worth of the intermixed loaf] into the Dead Sea — whereupon they said to him: Idolatry cannot be redeemed. If he took from it (the asheirah, a piece of wood to use as) a weaver's shuttle, benefit may not be derived from it. If he weaved a garment with it, benefit may not be derived from it. If it (the garment) became intermixed with others, and the others with others, they are all forbidden in (derivation of) benefit. R. Eliezer says: Let him cast its benefit [i.e., the worth of the intermixed garments] into the Dead Sea — whereupon they said to him: Idolatry cannot be redeemed. [The Mishnah adduces the argument between R. Eliezer and the Rabbis in these two instances (the loaf and the shuttle). For if it adduced just the first, I might think that only in this instance (that of the loaf) did R. Eliezer say (that its benefit may be cast into the Dead Sea, etc.), for at the time that the loaf was finished (baking), its issur (the wood) was burnt; but in the instance of the shuttle, where the issur remains intact, perhaps he would concede to the Rabbis (that it may not be cast into the Dead Sea.) And if it adduced just the second, I might think that only in that instance (that of the shuttle) did the Rabbis say (that it may not be redeemed), but in the instance of the loaf, they would concede to R. Eliezer (that its benefit could be cast into the Dead Sea). Therefore, it is necessary to adduce both instances. And the halachah is in accordance with R. Eliezer. And even if a jug of forbidden wine became intermixed with jugs of permitted wine, he may cast its worth into the Dead Sea and benefit may be derived from all of the others.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Avodah Zarah
נטל הימנה – from the Asherah.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Avodah Zarah
Introduction
Mishnah nine discusses the prohibition from deriving benefit from the wood of an asherah tree.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Avodah Zarah
חדש יותץ – for the first making of the flame when they kindle the oven glazes it and strengthens it and it is improved through prohibited forms of benefit, but our Mishnah comes according to the one states that combined causes are prohibited, and this is not the Halakha. Therefore, whether it is new or old, it must be cooled down.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Avodah Zarah
If one took pieces of wood from it [the asherah tree], they are forbidden to be used. If he heated an oven with them if it was new it must be broken to pieces; if it was old, it must be allowed to cool. It is forbidden to use pieces of wood that come from an asherah tree. This mishnah teaches that the forbidden status of the tree remains in the pieces of the tree that are separated from it. If one used this wood to heat a new oven, the oven must be destroyed. Since the first heating of an oven helps shape and finish the oven, the oven itself was built through the aid of an idolatrous object, and it itself is therefore forbidden. However, if the oven was old, one merely needs to let the oven cool before using it again. In such a case the heat produced by the burning of the asherah wood is forbidden but not the oven itself.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Avodah Zarah
הפת אסורה – in the Gemara it states (Tractate Avodah Zarah 49b) that a torch is opposite him, for all the while that the bread is baking, he would kindle the torch at the mouth of the oven and bake it, for he would benefit from the prohibition a the time when the prohibition is clearly visible and there is and there is improvement to the wood with the bread.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Avodah Zarah
If he baked bread [in an oven heated with wood from an asherah], it is forbidden to be used, and if [the loaf] became mixed with other loaves, they are all prohibited. Rabbi Eliezer says: let him cast the advantage [he derives] into the Dead Sea. They said to him: there is no process of redemption for an idol. If he baked bread in an oven heated by the wood from an asherah, the bread is forbidden. Furthermore, if that loaf should be mixed in with other loaves, they are all forbidden, since each one may be the loaf which was made in the oven heated by the asherah wood. We should note that in some other cases mixtures of prohibited and permissible goods can be fixed. For instance if one pound of terumah flour should be mixed in with 100 pounds of terumah flour, one may take out one pound of terumah and give it to the kohen, even though that one pound is not the same pound that fell in. Through this process the remainder becomes permitted to anyone to eat. Our mishnah is especially stringent with idolatrous items. Rabbi Eliezer does make an attempt to remedy the situation without causing the loss of the bread. If he baked a loaf using asherah wood to heat his oven, he may throw the value of the wood into the Dead Sea, thereby nullifying any benefit he received from that wood. Afterwards the loaf may be eaten by a Jew. The Sages disagree. According to their opinion there is no way to redeem something that was made by using an idolatrous item.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Avodah Zarah
יוליך הנאה לים המלח – the cost of the loaf that was combined.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Avodah Zarah
If one took [a piece of wood] from it [to use as] a shuttle, it is forbidden to be used. If he wove a garment with it, it is forbidden to be used. If [the became mixed with others, and these with others, they are all forbidden to be used. Rabbi Eliezer says: let him cast the advantage [he derives] into the Dead Sea. They said to him: there is no process of redemption for an idol. This section teaches the same thing that was learned in the previous section, only it uses a different example. Here the wood was used to make a shuttle, a piece of wood used on a loom to weave cloth. Rabbi Eliezer and the Sages have the same dispute on this section of the mishnah as they did in the previous one.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Avodah Zarah
כרכור – there is for weavers a piece of wood made in the form of a needle of sack-makers and they pass it over the warp/longitudinal direction when it is stretched before them in the weaving. And our Mishnah teaches us the dispute between Rabbi Eliezer and the Rabbis in these two things, for had it taught only the first one, I might state that in this [only], Rabbi Eliezer stated it because at the time when the bread is completed, the prohibition is disregarded, but a whorl [of a spindle] which has a prohibition of its own, I would state that he agrees with the Rabbis. But had he only stated the other one, it would have been this one alone that the Rabbis stated, but in the first, I would say that they agree with Rabbi Eliezer. Therefore, it is necessary to teach both. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Eliezer, even with a jug of wine known or suspected to have been manipulated by an idolater, that became combined with jugs of permitted wine – they bring the costs of that jug to the Dead Sea and the remainder are permitted to derive benefit from it.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Avodah Zarah
Questions for Further Thought: • Why might the mishnah have taught both sections two and three even though they both teach the same principles?
