Avodah Zarah, Daf Nun Het, Part 5
Introduction
In Talmudic times people drank their wine mixed with water, both in order to lower costs and in order to prevent drunkenness. So the question is asked, ff wine is mixed by a non-Jew, can a Jew drink the wine?
בעא מיניה ר’ אסי מר’ יוחנן יין שמסכו עובד כוכבים מהו?
א"ל ואימא מזגו
א"ל אנא כדכתיב קאמינא (משלי ט, ב) טבחה טבחה מסכה יינה א"ל לשון תורה לעצמה לשון חכמים לעצמו מאי.
א"ל אסור משום לך לך אמרין נזירא סחור סחור לכרמא לא תקרב
R. Asi asked R. Yohanan: Wine mixed (mesakho) by a non-Jew, what is its status?
He said to him: Say mezago!
[R. Asi] replied: I say it as it is written, She has slaughtered her meat, she has mixed [mesakhah] her wine (Proverbs 9:2).
He said to him: The language of the Torah is distinct and the language of the sages is distinct.
In any case, what is the rule?
[R. Yohanan] answered: It is prohibited because of the principle, Go, go, we say to the Nazirite, go around the vineyard. Do not draw near.
R. Asi asks whether wine mixed with water by an idolater is prohibited. The idolater has not touched the wine, he has only poured it in order to mix it.
R. Yohanan responds by criticizing R. Asi for his choice of verbs. Mesakho is the biblical verb, whereas the rabbis use the word mezago with the zayin replacing the samekh. There are many cases in which the language the rabbis use is not identical to the biblical language. Hebrew had after all been developing for thousands of years. These two roots are actually quite close, clearly related one to the other.
In any case, R. Yohanan answers that while such wine is not strictly prohibited, it is advisable that Jews avoid this situation. This is like a nazirite going into a vineyard. There is no prohibition but it is better that he avoid it lest he come to eat the grapes.
רבי ירמיה איקלע לסבתא חזא חמרא דמזגי עובד כוכבים ואישתי ישראל מיניה ואסר להו משום לך לך אמרין נזירא סחור סחור לכרמא לא תקרב
אתמר נמי א"ר יוחנן ואמרי לה א"ר אסי א"ר יוחנן יין שמזגו עובד כוכבים אסור משום לך לך אמרין נזירא סחור סחור לכרמא לא תקרב
R. Jeremiah once came to Savata. He saw non-Jews mixing the wine and Israelites drinking it. He prohibited it to them on the principle, Go, go, we say to the Nazirite, go around the vineyard. Do not draw near.
It has likewise been stated: R. Yohanan said, and some say R. Asi said in the name of R. Yohanan: Wine mixed by a non-Jew is prohibited on the principle, Go, go, we say to the Nazirite, go around the vineyard. Do not draw near.
In these two pieces we can see that rabbis prohibited Jews from drinking wine mixed by non-Jews. Although the principle Go, go, we say to the Nazirite is sometimes understood merely as good advice, here it is understood as creating an actual prohibition.