Avodah Zarah (
Hebrew: "foreign worship," meaning "
idolatry" or "strange worship") is the name of a tractate in the
Talmud, located in
Nezikin, the fourth Order of the Talmud dealing with
damages. The main topic of the tractate is laws pertaining to Jews living amongst
Gentiles, including regulations about the interaction between Jews and "idolaters" (who represented most of the Gentile population during the time of the Talmud), both for distancing Jews from the act of idolatry in every shape as well as distancing Jews from the threat of cultural
assimilation.