Avodah Zarah, Daf Ayin, Part 2
Introduction
More stories in which Rava rules under what conditions wine left in the presence of non-Jews is permitted.
ההוא אושפיזא דהוה יתיב ביה חמרא דישראל. אישתכח עובד כוכבים דהוה יתיב בי דני
אמר רבא אם נתפס עליו כגנב שרי ואי לא אסיר
There was an inn in which Jewish wine was being stored, and a non-Jew was discovered among the jars. Rava said: If he was caught like a thief, the wine is permitted, otherwise it is prohibited.
If the non-Jew is startled when the Jew comes in and acts as if he was caught like a thief, then we can assume that the non-Jew was afraid of being caught and would not have drank the wine.
ההוא ביתא דהוה יתיב ביה חמרא אישתכח עובד כוכבים דהוה קאים בי דני
אמר רבא אי אית ליה לאישתמוטי חמרא אסיר ואי לא חמרא שרי
There was a house in which Jewish wine was stored and a non-Jew was discovered among the jars. Rava said: If he can offer an excuse the wine is prohibited, otherwise it is permitted.
If the non-Jew has a ready excuse for why he is in the house, we must suspect that he snuck in prepared to drink the wine and offer an excuse for why he is caught. But if he has no excuse, then he will be frightened when the Jew comes in and he will not come to touch the wine.
מיתיבי ננעל הפונדק או שאמר לו שמור אסור מאי לאו אע"ג דלית ליה לאישתמוטי לא בדאית ליה לאישתמוטי
They raised a difficulty against this: If the inn was locked or [the Jew] said to him, Keep watch, it is prohibited. Is it not that [the wine is prohibited] even when the non-Jew has no excuse? No, [this applies] only when he has an excuse.
The baraita seems to say that if the inn was locked or the Jew told him to watch, then the non-Jew would feel safe around the wine and the wine would be prohibited if the non-Jew was found among the barrels, even if he did not have an excuse. But the Talmud resolves the difficulty by saying that the case was only where he did offer an excuse for why he was in the house. If he offers no excuse, the wine is permitted.
ההוא ישראל ועובד כוכבים דהוו יתיבי וקא שתו חמרא שמע ישראל קל צלויי בי כנישתא קם ואזל אמר רבא חמרא שרי מימר אמר השתא מדכר ליה לחמריה והדר אתי
A Jew and a non-Jew were sitting and drinking wine together. The Jew heard the sound of prayer in a synagogue; so he got and went there. Rava said: The wine is permitted on the ground that [the non] must have thought, He will remember the wine at any moment and return.
When heading off to synagogue, Jews won t want to leave their wine behind for long. I must say that this is another one of those lines in these passages that strike me as still true.