You must not bring an abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be proscribed like it; you must reject it as abominable and abhorrent, for it is proscribed.
שקץ תשקצנו. מכאן לעבודת כוכבים שמטמאה כשרץ ר"ל שאינה מטמאה רק במגע ולא במשא וכמו שרץ, וטעם הדבר משום דטומאת עבודת כוכבים מדרבנן ואקילו בה.
[שם מ"ז ב']
English: “You shall utterly detest it” — from here, that idolatry defiles like a sheretz: only by touch, not by carrying. The impurity of idolatry is rabbinic, and they were lenient in its scope.
On the daf / in context: Avodah Zarah 47b.
Type of Learning
Custom (impurity of avodah zarah)
What Is Learned
Idol-impurity is limited like that of a sheretz (contact only), reflecting its rabbinic origin and a deliberate leniency.