Study Avodah Zarah folio 26A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
to Bei Torta. Along the way, thieves encountered him, and said to him: Where are you going? Rav Menashe said to them: To Pumbedita, which was farther away than Bei Torta. When he arrived at Bei Torta, he separated from the thieves, who had planned to steal from him. They said to him: You are a s
The Talmud continues: This curse was effective, as the thieves subsequently went and carried out thefts for 22 years, but they were unsuccessful. Once they saw that their efforts were for naught, they all went and claimed their curse, i.e., they asked forgiveness and requested that the curse be lif
With regard to these two anecdotes, the Talmud comments: Come and see what the difference is between the thieves of Babylonia and the bandits of Eretz Yisrael. Although thieves are typically less violent than bandits, the thieves in Babylonia reacted to Rav Menashe’s action by denouncing Rav Yehuda
Mishnah: A Jewish woman may not deliver the child of a non-Jew woman, because in doing so she is delivering a child who will engage in idol worship. But one may allow a non-Jew woman to deliver the child of a Jewish woman. Similarly, a Jewish woman may not nurse the child of a non-Jew woman, but o
Talmud: The Talmud cites a dispute related to the ruling of the Mishnah. A baraita states: A Jewish woman may not deliver the child of a non-Jew woman because in doing so she is delivering a child who will engage in idol worship. And one may not allow a non-Jew woman to deliver the child of a Jewis