Si une maison contiguë à l'idolâtrie [c.-à-d. Si l'un de ses murs faisait (partie de) une maison d'idolâtrie, et que la maison elle-même était adorée], et qu'elle (ce mur) tombait, il est interdit de la reconstruire, [car il construit une maison d'idolâtrie. ] Que peut-il faire? Il déplace (le mur) de quatre coudées [dans sa propriété, et il construit. Et il ne le laisse pas (l'espace intermédiaire) vide; car il profiterait ainsi à l'idolâtrie (en agrandissant son espace.) Mais il remplit l'espace d'épines et en fait un lavabo pour les jeunes.] Si [l'espace de l'épaisseur du mur] était [la moitié] à lui et [ la moitié] de l'idolâtrie, on l'estime moitié-moitié. [c'est-à-dire que l'espace d'idolâtrie n'entre pas dans quatre coudées (de sa propriété); mais seul son espace le fait. De sorte que si l'espace du mur était de deux coudées, il compte une coudée de la sienne (du mur) et la déplace de trois coudées dans sa propriété]. Les pierres, le bois et le sable de ce mur (commun) provoquent la tumah comme le fait un sheretz (une chose rampante), [même la partie du juif, car il n'y a pas de distinction (entre les deux parties). Il provoque la tumah par contact (maga) et non par transport (massa), car la tumah de l'idolâtrie, étant ordonné rabbiniquement, ils (les rabbins) y étaient indulgents. Et il ne provoque pas de tumah (par contact) avec la taille d'une lentille, comme le fait un sheretz, mais seulement avec la taille d'une olive, comme le fait un cadavre.], Cela étant écrit (de l'idolâtrie) (Deutéronome 7: 26): "Shaketz (comme" sheretz ") teshaktzenu"—"Malgré vous le mépriserez." R. Akiva dit: (Cela provoque la tumah) comme le fait une niddah, il est écrit (Esaïe 30:22): "Vous les rejetterez (vos idoles), comme une niddah. Partez! Direz-vous (idolâtrie) . " Tout comme un niddah cause tumah par massa, l'idolâtrie fait de même. [La halakha n'est pas conforme à R. Akiva, même avec l'idolâtrie elle-même— combien plus encore, avec ses dépendances.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Avodah Zarah
סמוך לע"ז – that one of his walls is a house for idolatry and the hose itself is worshipped.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Avodah Zarah
Introduction
Mishnah six deals with two subjects: 1) a person who lives adjacent to an idolatrous shrine; 2) the ritual impurity of idolatrous objects.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Avodah Zarah
אסור לבנותו – for he is building a house for idolatry.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Avodah Zarah
If [a Jew] has a house next to an idolatrous shrine and it collapsed, he is forbidden to rebuild it. What should he do? He withdraws a distance of four cubits into his own ground and build there. If one shared a wall with an idolatrous shrine, meaning his house was next to this shrine, he need not tear down his house and move somewhere else. Since he lived there before the shrine was built he does not need to move. However, if the house should fall down he may not rebuild the wall that will be shared with the shrine. What he may do is withdraw four cubits and build his own wall, one which will not be shared with the shrine.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Avodah Zarah
כונס לתוך קרקע שלו ד' אמות – and he does not leave it empty as it is found benefitting idolatry as it extends its boundary, but he fills the place with thorns and makes there a toilet for young children.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Avodah Zarah
[If the wall] belonged both to him and the shrine, it is judged as being half and half. The wall that is shared by the Jewish homeowner and the idolatrous shrine is considered to be jointly owned. The half that is next to the shrine is forbidden for Jews to use and the half that is next to the Jewish house is permitted.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Avodah Zarah
היה שלו ושל ע"ז – for the place of the beams of the walls, half of it is his.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Avodah Zarah
Its stones, timber and rubbish defile like a creeping thing, as it says, “you shall utterly detest it” (Deut. 7:26). ] Rabbi Akiba says: [it defiles] like a menstruous woman, as it says, “[and you will treat as unclean the silver overlay of your images and the golden plating of your idols]. You will cast them away like a menstruous woman. Out, you will call to them” (Isaiah 30:22), just as a menstruous woman impurifies [an object] by carrying it, so also an idolatrous object defiles by its being carried. According to Deut. 7:26 a Jew must abhor idolatrous objects. The word for “abhor” is “sheketz”, which is the same word used for an impure creeping thing in Leviticus 11:31. From here the mishnah learns that just as creeping things transmit impurity, so too do idolatrous objects. The type of impurity that a creeping thing imparts is contact impurity. It does not impart impurity to one who carries it (without touching it). Contact impurity is a lesser type of impurity than carrying impurity. Rabbi Akiva learns the impurity of idolatrous objects from Isaiah 30:22, which explicitly compares idolatrous objects to menstruating women, both being impure and imparting impurity to others. A menstruating woman imparts impurity both through contact and through carrying. So too, according to Rabbi Akiva, do idolatrous objects. In other words Rabbi Akiva holds that the impurity of idolatrous objects is more serious than that of the creeping thing.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Avodah Zarah
נדון מחצה על מחצה – that portion of idolatry does not count in the bringing it inside [within his own property] four cubits but his part counts, for if its beams are two cubits, he counts one cubit of his own and brings it [an additional] three cubits within his own.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Avodah Zarah
Questions for Further Thought: • What is the problem with living next to an idolatrous shrine? • Why doesn’t the opinion in the first part of the last section learn about the impurity of idolatrous objects from the verse in Isaiah, which seemingly explicitly compares idolatrous objects to a menstruating woman?
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Bartenura on Mishnah Avodah Zarah
אבניו עציו ועפריו – of that wall
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Bartenura on Mishnah Avodah Zarah
מטמאין כשרץ – which defiles like an unclean reptile, and even the section of the Israelite since there is no choice.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Avodah Zarah
כשרץ – that ritually defiles through contact because the defilement of idolatry is Rabbinic, they were lenient concerning it, and it does not defile like a lentil like an unclean reptile, but rather in an olive’s bulk like [contact] with the dead.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Avodah Zarah
רבי עקיבא אומר כנדה – But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Akiva even with idolatry itself, and all the more so, with those who use it.
