Question: How does R. Yosi understand the pasuk in Amos?

Answer: It refers to the kingdom of Yaravam - when Yaravam began his reign over Yisrael, he began to seduce them into sinning. He said to them - come, let's serve the idol; it's easy going!

This is the understanding of the pasuk that states (Yishayahu 7:6), "Let us go up against Yehuda and provoke it, and annex it to us; and let us crown a king in its midst, one who is ('Tava'el') good for us"...

(R. Aba): We have studied the entire Tanach and there is no place by the name of Tava'el. Rather, it means Tav-el - it is a god that is good to its servants.

(The Gemara now shows several ways in which idolatry is more lenient ('easy-going') than the Torah.) The Torah said (Shmuel 1:2:28), "Hash-m chose (the tribe of Levi) to serve Him from all of the tribes of Israel". And about the idolaters (Yeravam) it says (Melachim 1:12:31), "and he appointed priests from the Ketzos of the nation"

(R. Ila): 'Ketzos' means "from the thorns of the nation" - meaning from the inferior of the nation.

The Torah said (Shemos 23:18), "and the fat of My festive sacrifice shall not stay overnight until morning"; whereas the about the idols it says, "and bring your sacrifices in the morning" (as stated above).

The Torah said - on the day of your sacrifice it shall be eaten and the following day (as Kodshim Kalim - 'offerings of lesser sanctity' may be eaten for two days with the night time in between them). And the idolaters say (Amos 4:4), "every three days your tithes (of animals)". This tithe is Kodshim Kalim but they would allow it to be eaten for three days. (This answers the question above (a) as to how R. Yosi uses this verse.)

The Torah said (Vayikra 2:11), "For you shall not cause to (go up in) smoke any leavening or any honey, (as) a fire offering to Hash-m". And the idolaters say (Amos 4:5), "Burn thanksgiving offerings of leaven".

The Torah said (Devarim 23:22), "When you shall make a vow to Hash-m, your God, you shall not delay in paying it. And the idolaters say (Amos 4:5), "And proclaim and publicize voluntary offerings" (irrelevant of when you bring them).

(R. Yudan, father of R. Matanya): (Disagrees over the understanding of the pesukim in Amos) The verses are coming to mention the disgrace of Yisrael that they sinned in these things and they should go to Beis El to do them, because they should not be done with real Kodshim.

The pasuk states (Hoshea 7:5), "The day of our king, the officers became 'ill' from the heat of the wine; he withdrew his hand with the scoffers." The day on which Yeravam became king over Yisrael, they all came to him in the evening and said to him, "Arise and make for us an idol".

(Yeravam to the people): It is the evening and I am a bit drunk and all of you also drank. So if you want to serve an idol, go now to your homes and return in the morning"; as the pasuk states (pasuk 6), "For they have made ready their heart like an oven with their ambush; all night their baker sleeps" - meaning that all night they had thoughts about serving idols and they did not sleep.

In the morning, they came to Yeravam and he said to them, "Now I know that you wish to serve idols with all of your hearts, but I am afraid that your Sanhedrin will kill me if I command you to do it."

(They said to Yeravam): If they try to do this, we will kill them. This is as the pasuk states (pasuk 7), "They are all heated like an oven and they devour their judges".

(R. Levi): They actually killed the Sanhedrin, as the earlier pasuk states (Hoshea 7:5), "The day of our king, the officers 'Hechelu' - which is the same verb as used in the pasuk about finding a corpse murdered between two cities, where it says (Devarim 21:1), "If a corpse (Chalal) will be found".

(R. Ila): They were demoted from their positions (on the Sanhedrin), understanding the pasuk "the officers hechelu" as, 'it was the day on which the officers became ordinary".

What was the cause of this all? The next phrase (in Hoshea 7:5) answers it - "from the heat of the wine" - because they were driven after wine and other physical pleasures, which caused them to follow idolatry so that they could fulfil them.

The last part of the pasuk says, "he withdrew his hand with the scoffers". Yeravam made a wine feast. When he saw an upstanding person who would not agree to serve idols, Yeravam sat him in between two scoffers and they asked him, "Which was the most cherished generation ever?" He answered them, "The generation of the desert".

They responded - "Didn't they commit idolatry?" He answered, "Yes, but because they were so cherished by Hash-m, they were not punished."

They said, "Be silent! The king wants to commit idolatry and woe is to anyone that stands in his way. And furthermore, the kings wants to add onto the generation of the desert, as they only served one calf and the king has made two", as the pasuk states (Melachim 1:12:29), "And he put one in Beis El and one he put in Dan".