Daat Emet
  • Torah, Science & Ethics
    • Pamphlets
    • Scientific Errors in Torah
    • Religion & Ethics
    • Mitzvahs
    • Religion Caught in Its Own Net
  • Torah & Talmud
    • Weekly Portion
    • Torah Text
    • Talmud Issues
    • Daily Peppers
  • Questions & Answers
  • Who We Are
    • About Daat Emet
    • Our Supporters
    • Support Us
  • English
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • Yiddish
    • Français (French)
  • Torah, Science & Ethics
    • Pamphlets
    • Scientific Errors in Torah
    • Religion & Ethics
    • Mitzvahs
    • Religion Caught in Its Own Net
  • Torah & Talmud
    • Weekly Portion
    • Torah Text
    • Talmud Issues
    • Daily Peppers
  • Questions & Answers
  • Who We Are
    • About Daat Emet
    • Our Supporters
    • Support Us
  • English
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • Yiddish
    • Français (French)
Daat Emet
  • Torah, Science & Ethics
    • Pamphlets
    • Scientific Errors in Torah
    • Religion & Ethics
    • Mitzvahs
    • Religion Caught in Its Own Net
  • Torah & Talmud
    • Weekly Portion
    • Torah Text
    • Talmud Issues
    • Daily Peppers
  • Questions & Answers
  • Who We Are
    • About Daat Emet
    • Our Supporters
    • Support Us
  • English
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • Yiddish
    • Français (French)
  • Torah, Science & Ethics
    • Pamphlets
    • Scientific Errors in Torah
    • Religion & Ethics
    • Mitzvahs
    • Religion Caught in Its Own Net
  • Torah & Talmud
    • Weekly Portion
    • Torah Text
    • Talmud Issues
    • Daily Peppers
  • Questions & Answers
  • Who We Are
    • About Daat Emet
    • Our Supporters
    • Support Us
  • English
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • Yiddish
    • Français (French)
Is one permitted to sell a white rooster to a gentile? What is the rule for a rooster with missing claws?
Home » Daily Peppers
Yaron Yadan 07/21/2009
Is one permitted to sell a white rooster to a gentile? What is the rule for a  rooster with missing claws?

The sages prohibited a Jew from selling to gentiles those items and foodstuffs which they customarily used for religious purposes (idolatry). Thus, for example, they were forbidden to sell a white rooster (sacrificed in religious rituals) to a gentile, but a black or red rooster may be sold. Similarly, one may sell a rooster which is missing a claw to a gentile. (According to the Talmud, the gentiles only use whole white roosters in their religious rituals.)

One of the sages asked: what is the rule if a gentile wants to buy a white rooster which is missing a claw? Is one permitted to sell a rooster, even whole? The very fact that the gentile asks to buy a rooster with a missing claw shows that he does not wish to use the bird for a religious ritual. On the other hand, perhaps he is trying to trick the Jew. Since he knows that Jews will not sell him a whole bird, he fools them with his request, hoping to actually buy a whole bird for idolatrous purposes. On that same topic another question was asked: a gentile requested a white rooster, but when he was offered a red one agreed to purchase it. He was then offered a black rooster and again he consented to purchase it. Is one now permitted to sell him a white rooster? The fact that he agreed to buy a red rooster and a black one shows that he is not buying for idolatrous purposes, but he might be tricking the Jewish seller, and then one is certainly forbidden to sell the white rooster to him.
(These questions were not settled in the Talmud.)
(Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Avodah Zarah 14b)

About the Author

ירון ידען View all posts by Yaron Yadan

ירון ידען (נולד בטבריה ב-8 בדצמבר 1961) הוא פעיל חברתי ומייסד ארגון "דעת אמת" העומד בראש מפלגת אור.

Additional Peppers
Five lambs on one side of the Jordan and five lambs on the other

Five lambs on one side of the Jordan and five lambs on the other

A High Priest must marry a virgin girl under the age of twelve and a half

A High Priest must marry a virgin girl under the age of twelve and a half

Is a cohen permitted to take war captives?

Is a cohen permitted to take war captives?

One who has sexual relations with her own brother is considered a harlot

One who has sexual relations with her own brother is considered a harlot

How to check if a miscarried fetus is male or female

How to check if a miscarried fetus is male or female

One who bows to spring waters — may that water be poured upon the altar?

One who bows to spring waters — may that water be poured upon the altar?

A woman is wed through sexual relations and another, in the middle of that intercourse, weds her through other means

A woman is wed through sexual relations and another, in the middle of that intercourse, weds her through other means

© 2016 כל הזכויות שמורות לדעת אמת.
Skip to content
Open toolbar Accessibility Tools

Accessibility Tools

  • Increase TextIncrease Text
  • Decrease TextDecrease Text
  • GrayscaleGrayscale
  • High ContrastHigh Contrast
  • Negative ContrastNegative Contrast
  • Light BackgroundLight Background
  • Links UnderlineLinks Underline
  • Readable FontReadable Font
  • Reset Reset