Part I. Managing Interactions with "Avodah Zarah" and Gentiles
(1) During the three days preceding the festivals of the non-Jews, it is forbidden to do business with them, to lend them something or to borrow something from them, to lend [money] to them or to borrow [money] from them, to resolve your debt to them or to have them resolve their debt to you. Rabbi Yehuda says: One can have them resolve their debt since it causes him distress. They [the Sages] said to him: even though he might be in distress at the outset, eventually he will be joyful.
(4) Proklos son of Plosfos asked Rabban Gamliel [a question] in Akko, while he was bathing in the bathhouse of Aphrodite. He said to him: "It is written in your Torah (Deuteronomy 13:18): 'And let none of the condemned cling to your hand;' why then are you bathing in the bathhouse of Aphrodite? He said to him: one does not respond [to halakhic questions] in the bathhouse. When he left, he said to him: "I did not come into her territory; she came into my territory. They did not say [when they built this bathhouse]: 'Let us make a beautiful bathhouse for Aphrodite.' Rather, they said: 'Let us make Aphrodite for the beauty of the bathhouse.' Another reason: [even] if they gave you a lot of money, you would not enter before your idolatry naked and defiled and urinating in front of it. Yet she stands on the sewer pipe and the entire nation urinates in front of her. The verse (Deuteronomy 12:3) only applies to "their gods;" that which he treats like a god is prohibited, and that which he does not treat like a god is permitted."
Part II: Jewish Lineage
(1) Ten pedigrees emigrated from Babylonia [to Israel]: Priestly, Levitical, [Ordinary] Jewish, Invalidated Priestly, Converted, Freed, Mamzeric, Nathinitic, Silent Ones and Foundlings. Priestly, Levitical and [Ordinary] Jewish are permitted to mingle with each other [in marriage]; Levitical, [Ordinary] Jewish, Invalidated Priestly, Converted and Freed are permitted to mingle with each other; Converted, Freed, Mamzeric, Nathinitic, Silent Ones and Foundlings are permitted to mingle with each other. (2) These are the Silent Ones: any who knows his mother, but does not know his father. [These are the] Foundlings: any who was gathered in from the market, and does not know either his father or his mother. Abba Shaul would call the Silent Ones "Checked Ones."
Kehati on Above (excerpts):
Ten lineages ascended from Babylon: priestly, Levite, Israelite, halali, convert, haruri, mamzeri, netini, shetuki, and asufi. Priestly, Levite, and Israelite are permitted to marry each other. Levite, Israelite, halali, convert, and haruri are permitted to marry each other. Convert, and haruri, mamzeri, and netini, shetuki and asufi are all permitted to marry each other.
And which are shetuki? Whoever knows his mother and does not know his father. Asufi? Whoever was gathered from the marketplace and knows neither his father nor his mother. Abba Shaul would call a shetuki a bedukei.
Part III: Varieties of Jew
(ב) המקבל עליו ארבעה דברים מקבלין אותו להיות חבר שלא ליתן תרומות ומעשרות לעם הארץ ושלא יעשה טהרות אצל עם הארץ ושיהא אוכל חולין בטהרה. (ג) המקבל עליו להיות נאמן מעשר את שהוא אוכל ואת שהוא מוכר ואת שהוא לוקח ואין מתארח אצל עם הארץ דברי רבי מאיר וחכמים אומרים המתארח אצל עם הארץ נאמן אמר להם ר' מאיר על עצמו אינו נאמן יהא נאמן על [אלו] מימיהן של בעלי בתים לא נמנעו מלהיות אוכלין זה אצל זה ואעפ"כ פירותיהן שבתוך בתיהן מתוקנין.
One who accepts upon himself to be “faithful” a “ne-eman” - should tithe that which he eats, and that which he sells, and that which he purchaes. And he should not be a guest at the home of an am ha-aretz.
One who accepts upon himself to be a haver should not sell dry goods together with wet goods with an am-ha’aretz, and he should not purchase anything wet from an am ha-aretz. And he shold not be a guest of an am-ha’aretz and he should not host one in his own bed. Rabbi Yehudah says: He should not raise small animals, nor be incontinent in his vows or inlaughter. And he should not become impure through contact with the dead. And he should serve in the beit midrash. They said to him, this later requirements are not part of the general rule.
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(יב)...בנו של חבר שהיה למוד אצל עם הארץ עבדו של חבר שהיה למוד אצל עם הארץ הרי הן בחזקתן עד שיחשדו. בנו של עם הארץ שלמוד אצל חבר [עבדו של עם הארץ שהיה למוד אצל חבר] כל זמן שהן אצלו הרי הן כחבר יצאו מאצלו הרי הן כעם הארץ.
...The son of a haver who studies with an am ha’aretz, the slave of a haver who studies with an am ha’aretz - they all maintain their original status until there is cause for suspicion.
לולב דוחה את השבת בתחלתו וערבה בסופו פעם אחת חל שביעי של ערבה להיות בשבת והביאו מרביות של ערבה מערב שבת והניחום בעזרה והכירו בהן בייתוסין ונטלום וכבשום תחת אבנים למחר הכירו בהן עמי הארץ ושמטום מתחת האבנים והביאום הכהנים וזקפום בצידי המזבח לפי שאין בייתוסין מודים שחיבוט ערבה דוחה את השבת...
Lulav overrides Shabbat on the first day of Sukkot and aravah on the last day of Sukkot. One time, the seventh day of Sukkot happned to fall on Shabbat. They brought aravot to the beit ha-mikdash on erev Shabbat and left them in hte azarah. The Baithusim recognized what was happning and took the aravot and hid them under stones. The next day the amei ha-aretz realized what had happened and uncovered the aravot from under the stones and the kohanim placed them around the mizbeah. For the Baithusim did not admit that striking the aravot overrides Shabbat....
Rashi on above:
UNDER STONES: For they knew that the rabbis would not move the stones on Shabbat.
Amei Ha-Aretz: For they were not careful on the restrictions of muktzah and they supported the Perushim.
Our Rabbis taught: Let a man always sell all he has and marry the daughter of a scholar. If he does not find the daughter of a scholar, let him marry the daughter of [one of] the great men of the generation. If he does not find the daughter of [one of] the great men of the generation, let him marry the daughter of the head of synagogues. If he does not find the daughter of the head of
synagogues, let him marry the daughter of a charity treasurer. If he does not find the daughter of a charity treasurer, let him marry the daughter of an elementary school-teacher, but let him not marry the daughter of an ‘am ha-arez, because they are detestable and their wives are vermin, and of their daughters it is said, Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast.
It was taught, Rabbi said: An ‘am ha-arez may not eat the flesh of cattle, for it is said, This is the law [Torah] of the beast, and of the fowl;whoever engages in [the study of] the Torah may eat the flesh of beast and fowl, but he who does not engage in [the study of] the Torah may not eat the flesh of beast and fowl.
R. Eleazar said: An ‘am ha-arez, it is permitted to stab him [even] on the Day of Atonement which falls on the Sabbath. Said his disciples to him, Master, say to slaughter him [ritually]? He replied: This [ritual slaughter] requires a benediction, whereas that [stabbing] does not require a benediction. R. Eleazar said: One must not join company with an ‘am ha-arez on the road, because it is said, for that [the Torah] is thy life, and the length of thy days:6 [seeing that] he has no care [pity] for his own life, how much the more for the life of his companions! R. Samuel b. Nahmani said in R. Johanan's name: One may tear an ‘am haarez like a fish! Said R. Samuel b. Isaac: And [this means] along his back.
It was taught, R. Akiba said: When I was an ‘am ha-arez I said: Would that I had a scholar
[before me], and I would maul him like an ass. Said his disciples to him, Rabbi, say like a dog! The former bites and breaks the bones, while the latter bites but does not break the bones, he answered them.
It was taught, R. Meir used to say: Whoever marries his daughter to an ‘am ha-arez, is as though he bound and laid her before a lion: just as a lion tears [his prey] and devours it and has no shame, so an ‘am ha-arez strikes and cohabits and has no shame.
It was taught, R. Eliezer said: But that we are necessary to them for trade, they would kill us. R. Hiyya taught: Whoever studies the Torah in front of an ‘am ha-arez, is as though he cohabited with his betrothed in his presence, for it is said, Moses commanded us a law, an inheritance [morashah] of the congregation of Jacob: read not morashah but me'orasah [the betrothed].Greater is the hatred wherewith the ‘amme ha-arez, hate the scholar than the hatred wherewith the heathens hate Israel, and their wives [hate even] more than they. It was taught: He who has studied and then abandoned [the Torah] [hates the scholar] more than all of them. Our Rabbis taught: Six things were said of the ‘amme ha-arez’: We do not commit testimony to them; we do not accept testimony from them; we do not reveal a secret to them; we do not appoint them as guardians for orphans; we do not appoint them stewards over charity funds; and we must not join their company on the road. Some say, We do not proclaim their losses too. And the first Tanna? — Virtuous seed may sometimes issue from him, and they will enjoy it, as it is said, He will prepare it, and the just shall put it on.
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Yerushalmi, Baba Kamma 4:3:
The Roman government once sent two officers to learn Torah from Rabban Gamliel and they learned from him mikra, mishneh, talmud, halachot and aggadot. When they were finished, they said to him, "All of your Torah is pleasant and praiseworthy except for these two matters in which you maintain ... and in that which you maintain that it is prohibited to steal from a Jew but that it is permissible to steal from a non-Jew. At that very moment, R. Akiva decreed that stealing from a non-Jew would be prohibited because of hillul ha-Shem.
Rabbi Yehiel Yaakov Weinberg. Letter to Professor Samuel Atlas, September 15, 1957 (published by Marc Shapiro in Torah u-Madda Journal vol VII).
I have bitter thoughts about the very existence of the nation and its hopes for the future. The entire world hates us. We assume that this hatred is due to the wickedness of the nations, and no one stops to think that we also bear some guilt. We regard all the nations as similar to an ass. It is forbidden to save a Gentile, it is forbidden to offer him free medical treatment, it is forbidden to violate the Sabbath to save his life, his sexual intercourse does not render a woman forbidden to her husband according to R. Tam because their issue is like that of horses. Can the nations resign themselves to such a deprivation of rights? It is permitted to deceive a Gentile and cancel his debt as well as forbidden to return his lost object! What can we do? Can we uproot our Torah teaching with apologetic formulae or clever deceptions. God knows that I have written this with the blood of my heart, the blood of my soul.
Letter dated November 15, 1965
In my opinion it is fitting to put an end to the hatred of the religions for each other. More than Christianity hates Judaism, Judaism hates Christianity. There is a dispute if stealing from Gentiles is forbidden from the Torah, everyone holds that deceiving a Gentile and cancelling his debt is permitted, one is not to return a lost object to a Gentile, according to R. Tam intercourse with a Gentile does not render a woman forbidden to her husband, their issue is like the issue [of horses]. According to Maimonides, if a Jew has sex with a Gentile [woman], the Gentile is killed because the Jew stumbled into sin through her. The law of a Gentile is the same as the law of an animal. Maimonides derived this law on his own. It is not found in the Bavli or the Yerushalmi. We must solemnly and formally declare that in our day this does not apply. Meiri wrote as such, but the teachers and ramim whisper in the ears of the students that all this was written because
of the censor.