Avodah Zara 36: Oil, Jewish/Gentile Intermingling

A brief summary of today's daf:

• Gentile's oil may be forbidden because it is held in ritually impure vessels
• Oil may absorb the impure tastes from ritually impure vessels
• Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi (Rebbi) permitted this oil
• How could one beit din overrule another?
• Perhaps the ruling was meant to apply only to himself in one circumstance
• Perhaps this argument of which Gentile products were permitted/forbidden was among the great arguments of Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai
• Torah law forbids seclusion with Gentile women of the seven Gentile nations; they are considered ritually impure at all ages
• David's Beit Din forbade seclusion with unmarried Gentile women
• Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai forbade seclusion with any Gentile woman
• Decrees regarding seclusion followed Amnon's rape of Tamar
• Gentile boys are considered to be ritually impure as well and thus Jewish boys should not play with them
• The text hints that Jewish boys could be turned toward homosexuality if they spend time with Gentile boys who are ritually impure; zavim
• Gentile boys might be ritually impure from birth, from age 3 or from age 9
• Seduction might be possible at age 3 and intercourse could be possible from age 9
• Some rabbis note that girls would have to be much older than three years old to be seductive
• Regardless of when children might become capable of seductive behaviour or having sexual relations, decrees against Jewish and Gentile children intermingling were thought to be stringent and wise
• How could one Beit Din overrule another?
• A ruling that cannot be met by the majority of a community should not be carried out