Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah 3:4 ירושלמי עבודה זרה ג׳:ד׳

MISHNAH: Proclos ben Ploslos¹¹⁰In the Babli פלוספוס which can be read פִלוֹסֳפוֹס “philosopher”; in the Venice edition of Alfasi פלופלוס, but in most sources, including Maimonides’s autograph Mishnah Commentary the name is written as in the Yerushalmi Mishnah. asked Rabban Gamliel in Acco when he was taking a bath in the Bath of Aphrodite¹¹¹According to Maimonides there is no problem since Aphrodite is the symbol of the planet Venus, which was exempted from the general prohibition of pagan symbols in Halakhah 3 Note 83.. He said to him, it is written in your Torah, nothing banned should stick to your hand¹¹²Deut. 13:18.: why are you bathing in the Bath of Aphrodite? He said to him, one does not answer in the bath¹¹³One may not discuss religious subjects while naked. Cf. Berakhot 2:3 Notes 116–119.. When he left he told him, I did not come into her domain, she came into my domain. One does not say, the bath was built as adornment for Aphrodite but one says, Aphrodite was made as adornment of the bath.
Another explanation. If one gave you lots of money, would you enter your temple naked, after an emission, or urinating before it? But this one stands over the sewer and everybody is urinating in its presence. It only says their gods¹¹⁴Deut. 12:30; the verse which is the basis of Mishnah 6.; what is treated as a divinity is forbidden, what is not treated as a divinity is not forbidden.

HALAKHAH: “Proclos ben Ploslos asked,” etc. Where do we hold? If he asked him about practice in the bath he should have answered; if he did not ask him about practice in the bath he should not have answered¹¹⁵Since the instruction that one does not answer in the bath, i. e., in the room where people are naked, is a religious instruction forbidden at that place.. ¹¹⁶The main source for the following is Šabbat 3:3 (6a l.51, ש), Babli Šabbat 40b. As Rebbi Jacob bar Idi said in the name of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi: One asks about practice in the bath while in the bathhouse, about practice in the toilet while in the toilet. As when Rebbi Simeon ben Eleazar went to bathe with Rebbi Meïr, he asked him, may one rinse? He told him, it is forbidden¹¹⁷As explained in Šabbat, they went to bathe in the hot springs of Tiberias on the Sabbath. It is forbidden to take a hot bath in water which was heated, but not in water which is naturally hot. But then one has to be careful not to rinse oneself outside the water flowing from the source since water spilled on the earth outside would fill in depressions in the ground, which is prohibited work.. May one dry himself with a towel? He told him, it is forbidden¹¹⁸Similarly, one may not use a bath towel on the Sabbath since squeezing out water from a towel (or a sponge) is forbidden work.. But did not Samuel ask Rav, may one say “Amen” at a dirty place? He told him, it is forbidden, and it is forbidden that I told you that it is forbidden¹¹⁹Since he was asked at a place with a bad smell. He disagrees with R. Jacob bar Idi.. It was found stated, one asks¹²⁰In Šabbat: “One does not ask.” This supports Rav and seems to be the original version. Unfortunately, ג is damaged at this passage. about practice in the bath while in the bathhouse, about practice in the toilet while in the toilet. Rebbi Yudan, the father of Rebbi Mattaniah, said, he asked him about practice in the bath but it is not done¹²¹In ג:“is not polite”. to answer in the bath. Rebbi Samuel bar Eudaimon said, he asked him about practice in the bath but the steam in the bath is bad for the teeth. The colleagues, Rebbi Ḥama bar Yose in the name of Rebbi Hoshaia, Rebbi Zeˋira in the name if Rebbi Joshua ben Levi: He answered him in an evasive answer¹²²Babli 44b., for he could have replied about Baal Peˋor whose worship only consists in exposure and defecation¹²³Mishnah Sanhedrin 7:12.. What about it¹²⁴What would be the correct answer?? What is treated as a divinity is forbidden, what is not treated as divinity is not forbidden.