Avodah Zarah Daf 38 עבודה זרח דַף 38

The Mishnah on Daf 35b taught that שלקות – cooked foods of idolators are forbidden to be eaten. The Gemara on the previous Daf suggested sources in the Torah for this prohibition but challenges them, and concludes that the pesukim are an אסמכתא, and this prohibition is מדרבנן (either so he will not come to feed him non-kosher food, or to avoid חתנות – intermarriage). Rav says: כל הנאכל כמות שהוא חי – any food which is eaten raw (e.g. fruit) אין בו משום בישולי עובדי כוכבים – is not subject to the prohibition against [foods] cooked by idolators, even if he did cook it. This is how Rav’s ruling was taught in Sura, but in Pumbedisa they taught the following version: כל שאינו נאכל על שולחן מלכים ללפת בו את הפת – any food which is not eaten at a king’s table to accompany bread (i.e., it is not a dignified food) is not subject to the prohibition against בישול עכו"ם. The differences between these two versions are small fish, mushrooms, and porridge, which are not eaten raw, but are not eaten at a royal table. Rav said that small salted fish are not subject to בישול עכו"ם if he cooks them afterwards, because the salting rendered them edible beforehand.

Rebbe Yochanan said: האי עובד כוכבים דחריך רישא – if this idolator singed the head of a shechted animal, שרי למיכל מיניה אפילו מריש אוניה – it is permitted to eat from it, even from the tip of its ears (which become edible through singeing). Although he actually cooked it, we say לעבורי שער קמיכוין – he intended only to remove [its] hair, not to cook it, so the prohibition does not apply. Similarly, if an עכו"ם burned down a meadow, all the kosher grasshoppers which were inadvertently roasted in the fire are permitted, because we say לגלויי אגמא קא מיכוין – he intended only to expose the ground of the meadow, not to cook. Based on this leniency, Ravina ruled that if an עכו"ם throws a peg into an oven and lights the oven to dry out the peg, and a Yisroel had buried a gourd in the oven beforehand and it became cooked, it is permitted in consumption. We do not view his purpose as intent to “cook” the peg, which would prohibit the gourd as a product of the עכו"ם’s “cooking;” rather, we say לשרורי מנא קא מיכוין – he intended to strengthen the utensil by drying it out.

A Baraisa teaches that a Jew may place meat on top of coals and allow an עכו"ם to come turn it until he returns from the בית הכנסת or בית המדרש, and there is no concern of בישול עכו"ם. Although the עכו"ם’s actions hastened the cooking process, it is still permitted, since it would have eventually cooked on its own without the עכו"ם’s involvement. The Gemara asks about the reverse case, where the עכו"ם placed meat onto coals, and the Yisroel turned it, and Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak permits it based on a kal vachomer: גמרו ביד עובד כוכבים מותר – if when its completion is through an idolator it is permitted, גמרו ביד ישראל לא כ"ש – then when its completion is through a Yisroel, is it not certainly permitted? Rebbe Yochanan also said that if a Yisroel does either the placing or the turning, the food is permitted, ואינו אסור עד שתהא תחלתו וגמרו ביד עובד כוכבים – and it is not forbidden unless the beginning and end [of the cooking] were through an idolator. Regarding bread, Ravina said that if an עכו"ם lit the oven and a Yisroel baked the bread, or the reverse, or even if the עכו"ם did both, but the Yisroel came and stirred the coals, it is permitted.