- ו' שבהעלוך
When the Jews were worshipping the עגל, they said, “These are your gods, Yisroel, אשר העלוך מארץ מצרים – who brought you up from Mitzrayim.” Rebbe Yochanan said: אלמלא וי"ו שבהעלוך – were it not for the "ו" in the phrase “who brought you up,” which made it plural, נתחייבו רשעיהם של ישראל כלייה – the “wicked among Yisroel” would have been liable to destruction. Their usage of the plural indicated that they did not deny Hashem as a divine Power, but “joined” Him together with their worship of the עגל. This follows the opinion of "אחרים" (i.e., Rebbe Meir) in a Baraisa, but Rebbe Shimon ben Yochai said to him: והלא כל המשתף שם שמים ודבר אחר נעקר מן העולם – but whoever joins the Name of Hashem in Heaven with something else in worship is uprooted from the world, as the passuk says: בלתי לה' לבדו – only to Hashem alone! Thus, the plural of "העלוך" would not explain why they were not destroyed.
Instead, he explains why העלוך is written in the plural: שאיוו אלוהות הרבה – because they desired and accepted many gods.
- Mentioning or causing mention of names of עבודה זרה
The Mishnah on Daf 60b taught that one who vows or swears in an idol’s name transgresses a לאו. This לאו is sourced in a Baraisa: "ושם אלהים אחרים לא תזכירו" – the name of foreign gods you should not mention, teaches that one may not tell his friend: שמור לי בצד עבודה זרה פלונית – “Wait for me next to the idol of so-and-so.” The next phrase, "לא ישמע על פיך" – nor shall it be heard through you, teaches: שלא ידור בשמו ולא יקיים בשמו – that one should not vow in its name, nor swear in its name, ולא יגרום לאחרים שידרו בשמו ויקיימו בשמו – nor cause others (i.e., idolators) to vow or swear in its name. This supports Shmuel’s father, who said it is forbidden to partner with an idolator, because the idolator may become obligated to swear to him and will swear by his idol. Alternatively, this is the אזהרה for a מדיח – one who leads a city astray to serve avodah zarah. Ulla once told Rava he had stayed overnight in קלנבו, a city named for its idol. Rava asked how he could mention its name, and he replied that Rebbe Yochanan taught that any avodah zarah written in the Torah is permitted to mention.
- Jews only worshipped idols to permit עריות to themselves, but later became attached to it
Rav said: יודעין היו ישראל בעבודה זרה שאין בה ממש – the Jews knew there was no substance in idolatry, ולא עבדו עבודה זרה אלא להתיר להם עריות בפרהסיא – and they only served idolatry to permit public immorality to themselves, which they did desire (reasoning they would not be rebuked for עריות if they rejected the entire yoke of Torah). Rav Mesharshiya challenged Rav from the passuk: כזכר בניהם מזבחותם וגו' – their altars are like the remembering of their sons, etc., which Rebbe Elazar explained: agכאדם שיש לו געגועין על בנו – like a person who longs for his son, proving they did desire idolatry!? The Gemara answers: בתר דאביקו ביה – that was after they became attached to [idolatry], and it became dear to them. The Gemara asks from a story in which אליהו הצדיק, who was searching Yerushalayim for people suffering from hunger, found a child who was bloated from hunger, and was the last living member of his family. Eliyahu told him that if he would say daily, "שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד", he would live, but the child told him not to mention Hashem’s Name, which his parents had not taught him, and he took out his statue and hugged and kissed it until he died. The Gemara answers that this, too, was after they became attached to idolatry.