Avodah Zarah, Daf Ayin Daled, Part 4
Introduction
In talmudic times wine presses were sealed with pitch. A little bit of wine was put into the pitch in order to prevent the smell of the pitch from ruining the taste of the wine made in the wine press. The mishnah that begins this section discusses a Jew who buys a wine press from a non-Jew. Since the non-Jew used wine, which is yen nesekh, in the pitch in the wine press, the mishnah must teach Jews how to make the wine press kosher . Note that these laws are still relevant to Jews who observe kashrut and need to make kosher various vessels or even an entire kitchen.
מתני׳ גת של אבן שזפתה עובד כוכבים מנגבה והיא טהורה ושל עץ רבי אומר ינגב וחכ"א יקלוף את הזפת ושל חרס אע"פ שקלף את הזפת הרי זו אסורה:
If one covered a stone wine press with pitch it may be scoured and is then clean;
But if it was of wood, Rabbi says that it may be scoured and the Sages say that he must peel off the pitch.
If it was of earthenware, even though he peeled off the pitch it is prohibited.
There are three types of wine presses mentioned by the mishnah: stone, wood and earthenware. Stone is the least absorbent of these materials. Furthermore, stone wine presses do not require much pitch to seal them. Therefore, all the Jew must do is scour the wine press to rid it of any traces of the previous owner s wine. If the wine press was made of wood, Rabbi [Judah Hanasi] holds that it also may be scoured. However, the Sages hold that he must also peel off all of the pitch. Since wood is more absorbent than stone, and since wood wine presses require more pitch, he must be even more diligent in cleaning before it becomes usable. If the wine press is of earthenware, the Jew may never use it. Since earthenware is very absorbent, there is no way to rid it of the yen nesekh.
גמ׳ אמר רבא דוקא זפתה אבל דרך בה לא
פשיטא זפתה תנן מהו דתימא הוא הדין אפילו דרך בה והאי דקתני זפתה אורחא דמלתא קתני קמ"ל
GEMARA. Rava said: [Scouring is necessary] only when he covered it with pitch, but if he [only] tread [his grapes] in it [and didn t cover it with pitch] it is not necessary.
This is obvious since the Mishnah taught: covered with pitch!
What might you have said? The same is true even if he [only] tread grapes in it, and the reason why it teaches covered with pitch is because he mentioned the customary practice. Therefore, [Rava] teaches [only when he covered it with pitch].
Rava emphasizes that scouring is necessary only when the non-Jew covered the winepress with pitch. If he tread grapes without lining the winepress with pitch, the winepress does not need to be scoured. We might have thought that it is always necessary, therefore Rava had to recite his teaching.
איכא דאמרי אמר רבא דוקא זפתה אבל דרך בה לא סגי לה בניגוב פשיטא זפתה תנן מהו דתימא ה"ה דאפילו דרך בה והאי דקתני זפתה אורחא דמלתא קתני קמ"ל דוקא זפתה אבל דרך בה לא סגי לה בניגוב
There are those who say: Rava said: [Scouring is necessary] only when he covered it with pitch, but if he tread [his grapes in it after he covered it with pitch] scouring is insufficient.
This is obvious, since the Mishnah stated: covered with pitch !
What might you have said? The same law is true even when he tread in it, and the reason why he taught covered with pitch is because he mentioned the customary practice. Therefore, [Rava] teaches [only when he covered with pitch] but when he [also] tread in it, scouring is not sufficient.
According to this version of Rava s statement, Rava is teaching that scouring is sufficient only if the non-Jew did not also tread his grapes in the pitch-lined winepress. If he also tread grapes in it, the wine is more absorbed and scouring is not sufficient. This is a more stringent version of the teaching.
כי ההוא דאתא לקמיה דרבי חייא א"ל הב לי גברא דדכי לי מעצרתאי א"ל לרב זיל בהדיה וחזי דלא מצוחת עלי בי מדרשא
אזל חזייה דהוה שיעא טפי אמר הא ודאי בניגוב סגי לה
בהדי דקא אזיל ואתי חזא פילא מתותיה וחזא דהוה מלא חמרא אמר הא לא סגי לה בניגוב אלא בקילוף והיינו דא"ל חביבי חזי דלא מצוחת עלי בי מדרשא
Like the man who came before R. Hiyya. He said to him, Give me a man to purify my winepress. [R. Hiyya] said to Rav, Go with him and see that there is no ground for complaint against me in the Bet Midrash. He went and saw that [the sides of the press] were very smooth; so he said, Here scouring will surely be sufficient. But as he proceeded [with his examination] he saw a crack at the bottom and saw that it was full of wine. He said, Here scouring will not be sufficient, but it will have to be scraped. That is what My Beloved [uncle] said to me, See that there is no ground for complaint against me in the Bet Midrash.
This is a fascinating story for what it tells us about the role of the rabbi in the Jewish community. A man comes to R. Hiyya and wants to essentially kasher a winepress that he probably bought from a non-Jew. R. Hiyya sends out his nephew to makes sure the kashering process is done well, for otherwise people will complain about R. Hiyya in the Bet Midrash. Rav says that smooth parts of the winepress can be koshered by scouring for they absorbed less of the wine that had fermented in there earlier. But the part that had a crack must be treated more stringently. The outer layer of the press must be scraped down. This is still a principle in koshering things like pots, pans, knives, etc. If the surface is smooth, it is less likely to have absorbed taste.