INTERPRETING THE EXEMPTIONS
The contrast between the stricter Mishnaic approach and the material col-
lected in the Toseftaand the two Talmuds has been noted by scholars, who
categorize the later allowances as an attempt to relieve some of the stric-
tures in the area of Jewish-pagan relations. Ephraim E. Urbach, for exam-
ple, notes that relationships between Jews and their neighbours relaxed and
became more lenient over the years, claiming that all kinds of goods were
permitted because of economic necessity (1959, 189–205). The presence of
zodiac mosaic floors (with sun-gods and other human images) in syna-
gogues would reflect this relaxed approach to paganism. Saul Lieberman
also thinks that economic necessity drove Jews to trade with pagans, even
though some regulations were still maintained in order to “deter Jews
from falling victims to it [idolatry] under duress or for lucrative reasons”
(1950, 121). Safrai concurs with Urbach and Lieberman but introduces a
more sophisticated approach, suggesting that it was only in the Ushan
period (135–180 CE), following the Bar Kochba revolt (when, Safrai claims,
the term yaridfirst appears in this literature), that the more relaxed approach
to trade was announced. Safrai feels that it was only after substantial losses
that the Jews accepted Roman rule, and reduced their criticism of fairs.
After Bar Kochba, Roman rule had more direct and dramatic effects on
the land of Israel. For instance, the Romans introduced practices of pagan-
ism on the Temple site, and introduced or reintroduced many more fairs.
Safrai notes that Rabbi Yohanan, in particular, abrogated prohibitions in the
Mishnah(ca. 240 CE). There is also some textual evidence to suggest that
Jews attended fairs, with the Jerusalem Talmud requiring, for instance,
that purchased items must be destroyed (Avodah Zarah 1:4), and the Tosefta
(1:8; see also Jerusalem Talmud 1:4) introducing a justification for the pur-
chase of slaves: “[An Israelite] buys houses, fields, and vineyards, animals,
slaves, handmaids from [pagans] because [his action is] considered as if he
redeems [the property] from their hands. And he writes down [the bind-
ing documents] and deposits them in their courts.” The Babylonian Talmud
(Avodah Zarah 13a) is aware of this Palestinian explanation and, recording
it, introduces another explanation: one is permitted to purchase these items
from a regular householder because he (unlike a merchant) does not con-
tribute tax to the fair.
R. Yohanan is said to have omitted other restrictions as well, so that it
became possible to purchase items from an innkeeper (at fair time), par-
ticularly staple goods. Only certain fairs were still prohibited, like the well
known one at Botna, also known as Bet-Elonim, which hosted a fair already
during the Second Temple period. Herod fortified the town, which was