Was Avlet an Idolator?

In the daf the other day, Avodah Zarah 30, we saw Shmuel interact with his friend Avelet, who was considerate for the laws of yayin nesech. This, we might add, even though one might imagine he could take offense at the law.

שְׁמוּאֵל וְאַבְלֵט הֲווֹ יָתְבִי, אַיְיתוֹ לְקַמַּיְיהוּ חַמְרָא מְבַשְּׁלָא, מַשְׁכֵיהּ לִידֵיהּ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ שְׁמוּאֵל: הֲרֵי אָמְרוּ יַיִן מְבוּשָּׁל אֵין בּוֹ מִשּׁוּם יֵין נֶסֶךְ.

The Gemara relates another incident: Shmuel and Ablet, a gentile scholar, were sitting together, and others brought cooked wine before them. Ablet withdrew his hand to avoid rendering the wine prohibited to Shmuel. Seeing this, Shmuel said to Ablet that the Sages said: Cooked wine is not subject to the prohibition of wine used for a libation, and therefore you need not withdraw your hand on my account.

Avlet also appears in Yerushalmi Beitza and in Bavli Shabbat.

Here is an example, which shows Avlet’s knowledge of astrology, which was astronomy back then. In Shabbat 156b:

וּמִדִּשְׁמוּאֵל נָמֵי אֵין מַזָּל לְיִשְׂרָאֵל. דִּשְׁמוּאֵל וְאַבְלֵט הֲווֹ יָתְבִי, וַהֲווֹ קָאָזְלִי הָנָךְ אִינָשֵׁי לְאַגְמָא. אֲמַר לֵיהּ אַבְלֵט לִשְׁמוּאֵל: הַאי גַּבְרָא אָזֵיל וְלָא אָתֵי, טָרֵיק לֵיהּ חִיוְיָא וּמָיֵית. אֲמַר לֵיהּ שְׁמוּאֵל: אִי בַּר יִשְׂרָאֵל הוּא, אָזֵיל וְאָתֵי. אַדְּיָתְבִי אֲזַל וַאֲתָא.

And from that which transpired to Shmuel, one can also conclude that there is no constellation for the Jewish people. The Gemara relates that Shmuel and the gentile sage Ablet were sitting, and they saw these people were going to the lake. Ablet said to Shmuel: This person will go and he will not return, because a snake will bite him and he will die. Shmuel said to him: If he is a Jew, he will go and come back. As they were sitting for a while, the person they discussed went away and then returned.

Shmuel was also well versed in astronomy.

In another sugya, Shabbat 129a, again having to do with astronomy, it seems that the two are on good terms — but the Talmudic Narrator adds a bit of distance between the Jewish and gentile scholar:

אַבְלֵט אַשְׁכְּחֵיהּ לִשְׁמוּאֵל דְּגָנֵי בְּשִׁמְשָׁא. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: חַכִּימָא דִיהוּדָאֵי, בִּישָׁא מִי הָוֵי טָבָא?! אֲמַר לֵיהּ: יוֹמָא דְהַקָּזָה הוּא.

The Gemara relates: The gentile scholar, Ablat, found Shmuel lying in the sun. Ablat said to Shmuel: Wise man of the Jews, a matter that is evil, can it become good? Are there any circumstances in which the heat of the sun, which is harmful, can be beneficial? Shmuel said to him: It happens on a day of bloodletting, for which the heat of the sun is beneficial.

וְלָא הִיא, אֶלָּא אִיכָּא יוֹמָא דִּמְעַלֵּי בֵּהּ שִׁמְשָׁא בְּכוּלַּהּ שַׁתָּא — יוֹמָא דְּנָפְלָה בֵּיהּ תְּקוּפַת תַּמּוּז. וְסָבַר: לָא אֱיגַלֵּי לֵיהּ.

The Gemara comments: And actually, that is not what occurred. Rather, there is a day on which the sun is beneficial more than the entire year, and that is the day on which the Tammuz solstice, the longest day of the year, occurs. And Shmuel thought: I will not reveal this remedy to him.

Now, it may be that Avlet was actually an idolater, and maybe even one who worshiped the stars and constellations, kochavim umazalot, a literal Aku”m. Or it may be that he was more scientifically minded than that, but still worshiped other idols. Still, it would be surprising for Shmuel to be on such friendly terms with Avlet if he is an idolater. Or maybe the background assumption is that non-Jews in those days, in following their religion, worshiped idols. But, that was not something that was explicitly stated about any particular gentile, just an assumption about a stam non-Jewish person. So maybe it applied to Avlet or maybe not, but it was not relevant in the context to mention.

Meanwhile, the concern is purportedly yayin nesech, which in its most literal / original interpretation stems from a concern that the some of the wine was poured off as a libation to an idol. If Avlet is not a literal idolater, that it still applied is something interesting to know. After all, Shmuel gave a particular reason here about the wine being mevushal, boiled, not that Avlet in general was not within bounds.

The reason I mention this is that in the daf chabura, we were discussing Avlet’s background. Someone mentioned that he was an idolator, as Artscoll mentioned. And even though Artscroll regularly renders גוי / gentile as עכו”ם — as I discuss in this earlier post,

we can perhaps support Artscroll by saying that they are getting it from Rashi, who says that he was an עכו”ם!

However, Rashi does not actually say this. He writes גוי, as we can see in Venice printing:

Just, Vilna censored Rashi just as it censored the central column of Talmud. Again, that’s one reason its important to look to other girsaot, or to access the Venice printing on Sefaria — with instructions in the aforementioned linked post.