[Avodah] Shituf

Lisa Liel lisa at starways.net
Wed Jan 9 09:02:37 PST 2013


On 1/9/2013 6:11 AM, Akiva Miller wrote:
> R' Micha Berger wrote:
>> Notice though that shituf is not an alternative concept to AZ.
>> Rather, it's a type of AZ that is permissable to Benei Noach.
>> For a Jew to perform the rite to accomodate a Ben Noach would
>> be assur, because for the Jew AZ beshituf is still within the
>> issurim of AZ.

> This is an interesting chiluk, but I don't see that it necessarily
> follows from any of the sources you brought. Rather, if it is a type
> of AZ that is permissable to Benei Noach, then I see a *possibility*
> that there might be kulos for us as well, such as a possible heter to
> accommodate them. I have no idea what the halacha actually is.

Tosfot, which is often used as a support for shituf being permissible
for non-Jews, says nothing of the sort. You can look at the Gemara
on Sanhedrin 63a. The Gemara says that you can't cause a non-Jew to
take an oath to a avodah zarah. Tosfot addresses this on two levels.
One is that it's okay to cause them to take an oath by a saint, which
was common practice, because they don't consider saints to be deities.
The other is that when they say "God", even though they have in mind
an avodah zarah as well as Hashem, we can accept that as permissible.
In no way does Tosfot even suggest that actually swearing by the name of
an avodah zarah, such as Yoshke, is anything but outright avodah zarah,
even for non-Jews. And kal v'chomer worshipping it.

The Rema explains this all in Darchei Moshe Yoreh Deiah 156). Anyone who
claims that the Rema says it's permissible for non-Jews to worship an
avodah zarah provided they do it in combination with worship of Hashem
is absolutely mistaken.


On 1/9/2013 10:43 AM, Micha Berger wrote:
> The only thing on the list that didn't bother me was her "modif[ied]
> sacrament of the sick (aka last rites)." What could be wrong with getting
> a dying person to say a vidui that only refers to the Borei?

As I understand it, these rites require the person administring them to 
say things like "In Yoshke's name" or "in the name of the [trinity]".  
That is mefurash worship of avodah zarah.

Lisa




More information about the Avodah mailing list