Avodah Zarah, Daf Ayin Heh, Part 1

 

Introduction

This sugya discusses kashering the various parts of a winepress.

 

בעו מיניה מרבי אבהו הני גורגי דארמאי מאי

א"ל רבי אבהו תניתוה הרי שהיו גתיו ובית בדיו טמאין ובקש לעשותן בטהרה הדפין והעדשין והלולבין מדיחן והעקלין של נצרין ושל בצבוץ מנגבן ושל שיפה ושל גמי מישנן י"ב חדש

רשב"ג אומר מניחן מגת לגת ומבד לבד

 

They asked of R. Abahu: What is the rule with regard to the wicker-nets used by non-Jews? R. Abahu answered: You have taught this: If his winepress and oil-press were impure and he wished to prepare [wine or oil] in them in a state of purity, the boards [on the sides], the troughs and supporting-beams must be rinsed, and as for the wicker-baskets: if made of willows and hemp, he must scour them, but if of bulrush or reeds, he must let them remain unused for twelve months.

R. Shimon b. Gamaliel says: He leaves them from one period of wine-pressing to another and from one period of oil-pressing to another.

 

R. Abahu is asked how to kasher wicker net baskets used by non-Jews in wine processing. R. Abahu answers with a baraita that discusses how to kasher the various parts of the wine press. Kashering the wicker baskets depends on what they are made of. If they are made of willows and hemp he can scour them. If of bulrush or reeds, he must let them sit unused for twelve months.

 

היינו תנא קמא איכא בינייהו חורפי ואפלי

 

But that agrees with the statement of the first Tanna!

The difference between them is the matter of the early and late ripening [of the grapes].

 

R. Shimon b. Gamaliel seems to state the same opinion at the previous one, the tanna kamma. Both require waiting from one season to the next, which seems to be 12 months.

The Talmud explains that R. Shimon b. Gamaliel is more lenient he does not always require waiting a full twelve months. The time could be less, for instance the time between one year s pressing of late ripening grapes and the next year s pressing of early ripening grapes. The time between one year s pressing and another could also be longer than 12 months.

 

ר’ יוסי אומר הרוצה לטהרן מיד מגעילן ברותחין או חולטן במי זיתים רשב"ג משום ר’ יוסי אומר מניחן תחת צינור שמימיו מקלחין או במעין שמימיו רודפין

וכמה עונה

 

R. Yose says: One who desires to purify them at once, he should pour over them boiling water or scald them with olive-water.

R. Shimon b. Gamaliel says in the name of R. Yose: He may leave them beneath a pipe through which there is a continuous stream of water or in a spring with rapid waters.

For how long? An onah.

 

If one wants to purify them quickly without waiting twelve months or a similar length of time there are two opinions as to what to do. One is that one can pour boiling water (or olive-water) over them. Alternatively, he can put them in a rapidly moving stream of water.

The Talmud says he puts them in the water for an onah. In tomorrow s section we will learn how long an onah is.

 

כדרך שאמרו ביין נסך כך אמרו בטהרות

כלפי לייא בטהרות קיימינן אלא כדרך שאמרו בטהרות כך אמרו ביין נסך

 

Just as they said with regard to yayin nesekh so too they said with regard to purifying things.

Isn t it the opposite? We are dealing here with purification!

Rather [say] just as they said with regard to purifying things so too they said with regard to yayin nesekh.

 

The baraita deals with the laws of purity, not with the laws of yayin nesekh. So the Talmud has to emend the baraita such that it ends by saying that the same ways of purifying the winepress can be used to kasher it from yayin nesekh.