Commentary for Avodah Zarah 127:6
אי רבנן מאי איריא עוקרין אפי' קיומי נמי שפיר דמי הכא במאי עסקינן כגון דקא עביד בחנם ור' יהודה היא דאמר ליתן להם מתנת חנם אסור
If it is the opinion of the rabbis, why specify “We may uproot them,” since according to them it would even be allowed to preserve them. What are we dealing with here? For instance when he worked for free, and it is in accord with the teaching of R. Judah who said: It is forbidden to give them a free gift.
Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah
The Talmud resolves this by saying that in this case he was working for free, and this opinion follows R. Judah who holds that one may not aid a non-Jew for free. Therefore, uprooting would be permitted but preserving would be prohibited. But if he was getting paid, even preserving would be permitted.
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