Symbols that were associated with Roman power and its limitations relative to God's power
This passage from the Jerusalem Talmud expounds on a line from Mishnah, Avodah Zarah 3:1 that discusses images that Jews found or
Symbols that were associated with Roman power and its limitations relative to God's power
This passage from the Jerusalem Talmud expounds on a line from Mishnah, Avodah Zarah 3:1 that discusses images that Jews found or received, and whose status was unclear. The permissibility for Jews to derive benefit from these articles – whether for their own use or if sold – was dependent on whether they had ever been objects of worship and if they were considered idolatrous (following Exodus 20:4-5; 23:24; 34:12-16; Deuteronomy 7:1-5; 25-26; 12:1-3):
כל הצלמים אסורין מפני שהם נעבדים אחת בשנה. דברי ר' מאיר. וחכמ' אומ'. אינו אסור אלא כל שיש לו מקל או ציפור או כדור. ר' שמעון בן גמליא' או'. כל שיש בידו כל דבר.
“‘All images (tzelamim) are prohibited because they are worshipped once a year.’ – [these are] the words of Rabbi Meir. But the sages say: ‘It is only prohibited if it has a staff or a bird or a globe.’ Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: ‘Any [image] that has something in its hand.’”
The sugya (talmudic unit) discussed here expands on the sages’ view, that the prohibition of an image be determined by the presence of certain symbols. Scholars have understood the opinion presented in this mishnah in various ways. The three dominant readings assert that the sages: 1) rejected the imperial cult, as signaled by their mention of “a staff or a bird or a globe”; 2) objected to engagement with symbols of Roman power; or, 3) identified these articles as signs of deities (not specifically related to the imperial cult or Roman power). The Jerusalem Talmud’s discussion of this section of the Mishnah focuses on these items as symbols of imperial power.
Sections A+D are in Hebrew and mainly comprised of tannaitic mater