Study Avodah Zarah folio 41B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
But aren’t they fragments of idols, which are permitted according to Shmuel? The Talmud answers that Shmuel interpreted the Mishnah as follows: It is referring to a case where these objects that are in the figure of a hand or a foot are standing on their pedestals, which shows that they were design
§ It was stated: With regard to objects of idol worship that broke by themselves, R' Yoḥanan says: It is prohibited to derive benefit from them. R' Shimon ben Lakish says: It is permitted.
The Talmud explains the sides of the dispute. R' Yoḥanan says that it is prohibited, as its owner did not revoke its status as an object of idol worship. R' Shimon ben Lakish says that it is permitted, as the owner presumably revoked its status as an object of idol worship, having said to himself:
R' Yoḥanan raised an objection to R' Shimon ben Lakish from the passage in the book of Samuel recounting the downfall of the Philistine god Dagon: “And when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the Ark of YHWH; and the head of Dagon and both th
R' Shimon ben Lakish said to him: Is there proof from there? There, the reason people did not tread on the threshold of Dagon is that they had abandoned their worship of the Dagon and would instead worship the threshold upon which Dagon was found, as they stated this reasoning: The spirit of Dagon