משנה: גֵּר וְגוֹי שֶׁיָּֽרְשׁוּ אֶת אֲבִיהֶן גּוֹי יָכוֹל הוּא לוֹמַר לוֹ טוּל אַתָּה עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה וַאֲנִי אֶטּוֹל אֶת הַמָּעוֹת אַתָּה יַיִן נֶסֶךְ וַאֲנִי פֵירוֹת. אִם מִשֶּׁבָּאוּ לִרְשׁוּת הַגֵּר אָסוּר. הַמּוֹכֵר פֵּירוֹת בְּסוּרִיָּא וְאָמַר מִשֶּׁל אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל הֵן חַייָב לְעַשֵּׂר. מְעוּשָּׂרִין הֵן נֶאֱמָן שֶׁהַפֶּה שֶׁאָסַר הוּא הַפֶּה שֶׁהִתִּיר. מִשֶּׁלִּי הֵן חַייָב לְעַשֵּׂר. מְעוּשָּׂרִין הֵן נֶאֱמָן שֶׁהַפֶּה שֶׁאָסַר הוּא הַפֶּה שֶׁהִתִּיר. אִם יָדוּעַ הוּא שֶׁיֵּשׁ לוֹ שָׂדֶה בְסוּרִיָּא חַייָב לְעַשֵּׂר. MISHNAH: If a proselyte and a Gentile inherited from their Gentile father, the proselyte may say, take the idols and I shall take money, take the wine for libations and I shall take produce164Idols and wine that might be used for libations to the gods are forbidden for any and all usufruct; if they come into the hands of a Jew they must be destroyed. In Jewish view, the proselyte becomes a new person by converting; he has no legal family relationship with his prior kin. The part he inherits under Gentile law is not his until it is delivered into his hands. Therefore, he is permitted to try to get things that are useful to him. But the moment anything idolatrous came into his legal possession, he is bound to destroy it. The Yerushalmi treats this as reasonable legal construction. The Babli (Avodah zarah64a) treats it as a special leniency, rather than a general law.. After they came into the proselyte’s possession, this is forbidden.
He who sells produce in Syria and says: ‘They are from the Land of Israel,’ must tithe them. ‘They are tithed,’ one believes him because the mouth that forbade is the mouth that permits171A a general principle, a person who gives detrimental information about which no other source of information is available has the right to testify to circumstances that would remove the detrimental interpretation.. ‘They are from my field172A field in Syria is subject to tithes only if it is the property of a Jew.,’ he must tithe them. ‘They are tithed,’ one believes him because the mouth that forbade is the mouth that permits. If it is known that he has a field in Syria, he must tithe173In that case, it is not his mouth which tells that he must tithe..
הלכה: יִשְׂרָאֵל וְגוֹי שֶׁקָּנוּ בֵיתוֹ שֶׁל גּוֹי וְהָיָה שָׁם יַיִן נֶסֶךְ וַעֲבוֹדָה זָרָה וּמָעוֹת לֹא יֹאמַר לוֹ טוּל אַתְּ יַיִן נֶסֶךְ וַעֲבוֹדָה זָרָה וַאֲנִי מָעוֹת. אָמַר רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן לֹא סוֹף דָּבָר יַיִן נֶסֶךְ וַעֲבוֹדָה זָרָה וּמָעוֹת אֶלָּא אֲפִילוּ הָיוּ לוֹ שָׁם שְׁנֵי צְלָמִין אֶחָד עָשׂוּי כְּמִין דֶּלְופִקֵי וְאֶחָד שֶׁאֵינוֹ עָשׂוּי כְּמִין דֶּלְופִקֵי לֹא יֹאמַר לוֹ טוּל אַתָּה אֶת שֶׁאֵינוֹ עָשׂוּי כְּמִין דֶּלְופִקֵי וַאֲנִי נוֹטֵל הֶעָשׂוּי כְּמִין דֶּלְופִקֵי. אָמַר רִבִּי זְעִירָא וְיֵאוּת אִילּוּ חָבֵר וְעַם הָאָרֶץ שֶׁיָּֽרְשׁוּ אֶת אֲבִיהֶן עַם הָאָרֶץ וְהָיוּ שָׁם פֵּירוֹת מוּכְשָׁרִין וּפֵירוֹת שֶׁאֵינָן מוּכְשָׁרִין שֶׁמָּא אוֹמֵר לוֹ טוּל אַתָּה אֶת הַמּוּכְשָׁרִין וַאֲנִי נוֹטֵל אֶת שֶׁאֵינָן מוּכְשָׁרִין. וְהָא מַתְנִיתִין פְּלִיגָא טוּל אַתָּה עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה וַאֲנִי מָעוֹת אַתָּה יַיִן נֶסֶךְ וַאֲנִי פֵירוֹת. אֱמֹר סוֹפָא וְלֵית הִיא פְלִיגָא אִם מִשֶּׁבָּאוּ לִרְשׁוּת הַגֵּר אָסוּר וְהָכָא מִכֵּיוַן שֶׁקָּנָה כְּמִי שֶׁנִּכְנַס לִרְשׁוּתוֹ. HALAKHAH: 165In the Venice print, Halakhah 11. a Jew and a Gentile bought a Gentile’s house and found there idols, libation wine, and coins, he should not tell him, take the idols and libation wine, and I shall take the coins.” Rebbi Joḥanan said, not only idols, libation wine, and coins, but even if there were two idols, one shaped as a tripod166Greek δέλφιξ “tripod” [e. g. “three-legged pot”, which might be dedicated to a temple.] and one not shaped as a tripod, he should not tell him, take the one that is not shaped as a tripod and I shall take the one shaped like a tripod167Both in the Tosephta and the statement of R. Joḥanan, the exchange would bring an illicit monetary gain through articles from which any usufruct is forbidden.. Rebbi Zeïra said, that is correct, since even in the case of a ḥaver and an am haäreẓ who inherited from their am haäreẓ father and found there produce which might become impure and produce which might not, may he say to him, you take the produce which might become impure and I shall take that which might not168The produce that might become impure since it was in the hands of an am haäreẓ, must be assumed to be impure and unfit for consumption by a ḥaver. According to Rashi (Babli Ḥagigah 25b), the ḥaver would be guilty of transgressing the prohibition to put an obstacle before a blind person if he steered his brother the am haäreẓ to produce which, by the ḥaver’ s rules, should not be eaten by a Jew.? But our Mishnah disagrees: “Take the idols and I shall take money, take the wine for libations and I shall take produce.” But the end shows that there is no disagreement: “After they came into the possession of the proselyte, this is forbidden;” here, from the moment he acquired it it is as if it entered into his possession169In practical Jewish law, paying for real estate does not convey the title but only permits acquisition of the title. For actual possession, entering the property or some substitute symbolic action is required. However, since this real estate is acquired under Gentile law, concluding the contract has the force of conveying the title; hence, from the moment the title is transferred in Gentile law, the Jew can no longer try to give the unwanted articles to his Gentile partner. The implication is that a stipulation, contained in a transaction giving the idols to the Gentile and executed before the contract for sale of the real estate was drawn up, would be valid by the Yerushalmi’s standards. This inference seems to be denied in the Babli, Avodah zarah 64a..
עַקִּילַס הָגֵּר חִילֵּק עִם אֶחָיו וְהֶחֱמִיר עַל עַצְמוֹ וְהוֹלִיךְ הֲנָייָה לְיַם הַמֶּלַח. תְּלָתָא אֲמוֹרִין חַד אָמַר דְּמֵי עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה הוֹלִיךְ לְיַם הַמֶּלַח. וְחָרָנָה אָמַר דְּמֵי חֶלְקוֹ שֶׁל עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה הוֹלִיךְ לְיַם הַמֶּלַח. וְחָרָנָא אָמַר עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה עַצְמָהּ הוֹלִיךְ לְיַם הַמֶּלַח. אֶלָּא בִּשְׁבִיל לַעֲקוֹר עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה מִבֵּית אַבָּא. “Aquila the Proselyte170Tosephta Demay 6:13. Aquila was a student of Rebbis Eliezer and Joshua and the author of a very literal translation of the Bible. He did not avail himself of the permission given in the Mishnah but took his share of the idols (or their price) and threw them into the Dead Sea, which was the ultimate way of making sure that nobody would derive any benefit from them. split with his brothers; he restricted himself and brought his gain to the Dead Sea.” Three Amoraïm; one said that he brought the price of the idols to the Dead Sea, another said that he brought the price of his part in the idols to the Dead Sea, and another said that he brought the idols themselves to the Dead Sea, in order to remove them from his father’s house.