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Avodah Zarah 2:7-3:1

Avodah Zara 2:7

The following things are permitted to be eaten: milk that a non-Jew milked with a Jew observing, honey, clusters of grapes – even though they are dripping juice, they do not render food susceptible to ritual impurity – pickled foods to which wine and vinegar are not generally added, herring that is not minced, brine that contains fish, asafetida leaves, and loaves of olives. Rabbi Yosi says that if the olives are very soft, then they are prohibited (because we are concerned that wine may have been added). Locusts are prohibited when they come from the small baskets (i.e., in a store’s customer area, because the non-Jewish proprietor sprinkles them with wine) but they are permitted when they come from the storeroom; the same parameters apply to a kohein who is suspected of selling his terumah as non-sanctified food (i.e., we are only concerned about the stock in his showroom).

Avodah Zara 3:1

Rabbi Meir says that all graven images are prohibited to derive benefit from because they are worshipped annually but the Sages say that only statues that are holding a staff, a bird or an orb are prohibited (because these were made to be worshipped). Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says that if a statue is holding anything, then it is prohibited.

Author: Rabbi Jack Abramowitz