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DAAT · LEVEL 4 — HALAKHA LEMA'ASSE / PSAK

שולחן ערוך · יורה דעה

Siman 140 — The idolatrous object mixed with permitted objects — Practical psak

סימן ק״מ · הלכה למעשה

דין תקרובת עבודת כוכבים שנתערב

פסק המחבר · הכרעת נושאי הכלים · הסקת ההלכה למקרים בני זמננו

⚖️ פסק הלכה ולמעשה ⚖️

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Halakha lema'asse — the practical psak

From the Mechaber’s psak to the arbitration of the Shach, the Taz
and the Baer Hetev, down to the lot of objects one of which was worshipped

Subject:
שולחן ערוך יורה דעה סימן ק״מ (סעיף אחד)
עם נושאי הכלים: ש״ך, ט״ז, באר היטב, בית יוסף, טור, רמב״ם

⚠ Level notice:
This level is not “Daat HaRav”: the Shulchan Arukh HaRav
(the Alter Rebbe) does not cover Yoreh De'ah, hence not Siman 140.
It is a level of practical psak: what one does, and whom to ask.

Editing and iyun:
הרב יוסף חיים סממה · DAAT

How to read this level. Every statement is anchored either in the text of the Shulchan Arukh and its nossei kelim, or in a named and verifiable posek (Tur, Beit Yosef, Rambam, the Gemara in Zevachim). On Yoreh De'ah there is no Mishnah Berurah (which comments only on Orach Chaim) and no Shulchan Arukh HaRav (the Alter Rebbe did not write on YD). The Pitchei Teshuva does not comment on this siman, and there is no Nekudot HaKesef on it — so there is nothing to report from them. The Arukh HaShulchan is not cited: its text on this siman is not accessible to us, and one does not cite what one cannot verify. What remains suffices: the Shach (2 ס״ק), the Taz (1 ס״ק) and the Baer Hetev (1 ס״ק), with the Beit Yosef and the Rambam they invoke. Where the question goes beyond the siman, this level says so and stops: the halakha lema'asse goes through your Rav.

📑 תוכן העניינים

שורש הפסק — אינו בטל, אלא תולין
פסק המחבר — מפת הסעיף
מה בכלל האיסור — משמשיה, תקרובתה, נויה
תערובת שנייה או שלישית — המחבר והש״ך
נפל לים או נשרף — אחת או שתים
שנים שנים — הסייגים
תנאי ההיתר — מיעוט, ומותר מן התורה
מקרים בני זמננו
סיכום מעשי — טבלה, קישורים, ולמעשה שאל את רבך

📜 The text of the Shulchan Arukh — the single seif

אלילים ומשמשיה ותקרובתה אוסרים בכל שהוא שאם נתערב אחר מהם אפי׳ באלף כולן אסורו׳ ואם א׳ מהתערובו׳ הראשון נתערב בשנים אחרים ונפל מהג׳ אחד לב׳ אחרים הרי אלו האחרים מותרים וכן אם אחד מהתערובות הראשון נפל לים או נשרף בענין שנאבד מהעולם כל הנשארים מותרים ליהנות בהם שנים שנים ביחד אבל לא האחד לבדו ובלבד שלא יהנה אדם אחד מכולם ויש מי שאוסר אלא אם כן נפלו שתים לים הגדול או נשרפים

The founding case. An idolatrous object — the idol itself, one of its accessories, one of its offerings — has become mixed with permitted objects. The Mechaber does not open with a measure of nullification: he opens with its absence. אוסרים בכל שהוא — mixed among a thousand, everything is forbidden.

Then two ways, and a reservation. An object passed from mixture to mixture frees the third; an object gone from the world frees the rest — two by two, and not all to one person. And a second opinion, the Rambam’s, requires that two objects have disappeared.

1. שורש הפסק — אינו בטל, אלא תולין

This siman does not measure a nullification: it measures a doubt. All the practice follows from it. Faced with a lot into which an idolatrous object has slipped, the question is never “ how many permitted objects are there? ” — a thousand are not enough — but “ may one say that the forbidden object is no longer there? ”. Two things allow it: an object passed into other mixtures, or an object gone from the world.

What this changes for you. Never try to “ dilute ” an idolatrous object: adding permitted objects frees nothing. What frees is an event — a passage, a disappearance — that makes the forbidden object unfindable. And since it is only a presumption, it comes with its reservations: in pairs, not all to one, a minority only.

2. פסק המחבר — the map of the seif

Siman 140 has a single seif — that is the count announced by the heading (ובו סעיף אחד) and it is the real count of the text. It reads in four clauses of the Mechaber, the last reporting a second opinion. There is no gloss of the Rama.

3. מה בכלל האיסור — משמשיה, תקרובתה, נויה

Clause	Who	Psak (anchored in the text)
1	Mechaber	The idol, its accessories and its offerings forbid in any quantity: mixed among a thousand, everything is forbidden.
2	Mechaber	An object from the first mixture into two others, then one of the three into two others: the third mixture is permitted.
3	Mechaber	An object from the first mixture fallen into the sea or burnt: the rest is permitted, two by two, never one alone, and not all to one man.
4	Mechaber (second opinion)	There is one who forbids unless two fell into the sea or were burnt.

Lema'asse. The siman’s regime applies to the idol, to what serves it, to what was offered to it — and, with the Shach, to what adorns it. Knowing whether a given object is an idol, an accessory or an offering belongs to simanim 139 and 141; this siman begins after that question, and your Rav decides it before it.

4. תערובת שנייה או שלישית — המחבר והש״ך

Lema'asse. Whoever follows the Mechaber waits for the third mixture; the nossei kelim of this siman — the Shach, followed by the Baer Hetev — permit the second, and the Shach writes that this is everyone’s view, the Rambam included. The Taz does not discuss the point: he refers to siman 110. A community that follows the Mechaber will hold to the third mixture; where one follows the Shach, the second is permitted. It is for your Rav to tell you which line is yours.

5. נפל לים או נשרף — אחת או שתים

וכן אם אחד מהתערובות הראשון נפל לים או נשרף בענין שנאבד מהעולם כל הנשארים מותרים ליהנות בהם שנים שנים ביחד אבל לא האחד לבדו ובלבד שלא יהנה אדם אחד מכולם

ויש מי שאוסר אלא אם כן נפלו שתים לים הגדול או נשרפים

— שולחן ערוך יו״ד ק״מ:א

Lema'asse. The form of the seif is clear: the Tur’s reading is written as the psak (כל הנשארים מותרים), the Rambam’s as a second opinion. None of the nossei kelim of this siman decides between them — the Taz refers to siman 110, the Shach speaks only of the second mixture. When a single object has disappeared, there is therefore a written psak and a reported opinion; the weight to give the second, in a real case, is a question for your Rav. And in every case: gone from the world — sea, fire — not mislaid or sold.

6. שנים שנים — הסייגים

👈 The three reservations, in order

(1) One benefits from the remaining objects two by two, together — never from an isolated object. (2) One and the same man does not benefit from all. (3) According to the Rama’s gloss in siman 110, even two men do not take them all at once.

7. תנאי ההיתר — מיעוט, ומותר מן התורה

Lema'asse. Before invoking the way of the passage, check two things: that it was a minority of the first lot that moved (half counts as a minority), and that the first lot was forbidden only by the rule of non-nullification — not by a prohibition that would persist by Torah law in each object. If the mixed-in object was only possibly idolatrous, the case is lighter, and it is siman 141 that says what “ possibly ” is.

8. מקרים בני זמננו

👈 Case 1 — The lot of art objects

A lot bought as a block contains a figure that was worshipped, and after unpacking no one knows which. The whole lot is forbidden for benefit, whatever its size: אוסרים בכל שהוא. The prior question — is this figure an idol in the halakhic sense? — belongs to siman 141.

👈 Case 2 — The redistributed lot

An object from that lot passed into a second lot, then one from the second into a third. The third is permitted according to the Mechaber; the second already according to the Shach and the Baer Hetev (ש״ך ס״ק ב · באר היטב ס״ק א). Provided it was a minority that moved.

👈 Case 3 — The destroyed object

An object of the lot burnt in a fire. The rest is permitted, two by two, distributed among several people; the Rambam would require two lost objects, and the seif reports him as a second opinion. To be put to a Rav.

The point this level will not decide. This siman begins after an object has been recognized as an idol, an accessory or an offering. What counts as such today — a museum statue, a disused cult object, a decorative figure — is the matter of simanim 139, 141 and 145, and of your Rav. This level says what siman 140 does with a mixture; it does not say what enters the mixture.

9. סיכום מעשי — table, links, and למעשה שאל את רבך

Situation	Practical verdict	Source
Idol, accessory, offering — or ornament — mixed with permitted objects	Everything is forbidden, even among a thousand	שו״ע ק״מ:א · ש״ך ס״ק א
An object passed into a second mixture	Forbidden according to the Mechaber; permitted according to the Shach and the Baer Hetev	ש״ך ס״ק ב · באר היטב ס״ק א
Then one from the second into a third	Permitted according to all	שו״ע ק״מ:א
Majority of the first mixture passed elsewhere	No double doubt: everything remains forbidden	בית יוסף ק״מ
An object fallen into the sea or burnt	The rest permitted, two by two, not all to one	שו״ע ק״מ:א · שו״ע ק״י:ז
An object merely lost or sold	Nothing is permitted	שו״ע ק״מ:א
A single object lost	Written psak: permitted; second opinion (Rambam): two objects	שו״ע ק״מ:א · בית יוסף ק״מ
Only a doubtful object mixed in, then passed elsewhere	Second mixture permitted	רמ״א ק״י:ח

And to finish, the only rule that holds lema'asse. This level sets out the psak of the sources; it does not replace a decision. A lot, an object, an event — passage or disappearance — form a concrete case, and a concrete case is decided with a Rav, who begins with the question this siman assumes settled: is this object an idol?