Commentary for Avodah Zarah 75:14
תניא נמי הכי מניח ישראל בשר על גבי גחלים ובא עובד כוכבים ומהפך בו עד שיבא ישראל מבית הכנסת או מבית המדרש ואינו חושש שופתת אשה קדירה על גבי כירה ובאת עובדת כוכבים
This was also taught in a baraita: An Israelite may set meat upon the coals and let a non-Jew come and turn it over pending his return from the synagogue or Bet Midrash, and he need not be concerned. And [an Israelite] woman may set a pot on a stove and let a Gentile woman come
Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah
This baraita teaches that if the cooking process was begun by the Jew, the non-Jew would be allowed to continue the cooking. The food is prohibited only if the non-Jew begins the cooking process.
Again we can see how lenient the rabbis were with regard to this prohibition. My impression is that amoraic rabbis inherited a series of prohibitions that were created during a period in which there was a real fear of assimilation. Many of these prohibitions seem likely to have been created as early as the Second Temple period, when Hellenism was at its height. By amoraic times Jewish identity had more fully coalesced and those Jews who remained within the fold were not threatened by eating food cooked by non-Jews. Thus they could be lenient with regard to these rules.
Again we can see how lenient the rabbis were with regard to this prohibition. My impression is that amoraic rabbis inherited a series of prohibitions that were created during a period in which there was a real fear of assimilation. Many of these prohibitions seem likely to have been created as early as the Second Temple period, when Hellenism was at its height. By amoraic times Jewish identity had more fully coalesced and those Jews who remained within the fold were not threatened by eating food cooked by non-Jews. Thus they could be lenient with regard to these rules.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy