Avodah Zarah, Daf Kaf Tet, Part 6

 

Introduction

Today s learning discusses the status of vinegar and cooked wine that belong to a non-Jew.

 

והחומץ של עובדי כוכבים שהיה מתחלתו יין: פשיטא משום דאחמיץ פקע ליה איסוריה!

אמר רב אשי הא אתא לאשמועינן חומץ שלנו ביד עובד כוכבים אין צריך חותם בתוך חותם אי משום אינסוכי לא מנסכי ואי משום איחלופי כיון דאיכא חותם לא טרח ומזייף

 

Or the wine of a non-Jew that was originally wine.

This is obvious! Just because it turned sour its prohibition is removed?

R. Ashi said: This comes to teach that vinegar belonging to us being held by a non-Jew does not require double sealing. If we are concerned lest he libate it, [vinegar] is generally not libated. And if we are concerned that he might exchange it for his own since there is one seal, he would not take the trouble to falsify it.

 

The Talmud finds the mishnah s prohibition of gentile wine to be obvious just because the wine goes bad does not mean that it becomes permitted.

Rav Ashi answers that there is one point of leniency with regard to vinegar. Most of the time, if a non-Jew handles Jewish wine, it must be doubly sealed. This is a halakhah we will deal with at greater length later in the tractate. But Jewish vinegar being held by a non-Jew does not need to be doubly sealed. First of all, non-Jews don t generally libate vinegar (although they might, for the line between wine and vinegar is not so hard). Second, he won t trouble himself to exchange this wine for his own because it does have at least one seal, making it harder to open.

 

אמר רבי אילעא שנינו יין מבושל של עובדי כוכבים שהיה מתחלתו יין אסור פשיטא משום דאיבשיל פקע ליה איסורא אמר רב אשי הא אתא לאשמועינן יין מבושל שלנו ביד עובדי כוכבים אין צריך חותם בתוך חותם אי משום אינסוכי לא מנסכי ואי משום איחלופי כיון דאיכא חותם אחד לא טרח ומזייף

 

R. Elai said: We have taught: Boiled wine belonging to a non-Jew, which was formerly wine is forbidden. This is obvious! Just because it was cooked, its prohibition is removed?

R. Ashi said: This comes to teach that vinegar belonging to us being held by a non-Jew does not require double sealing. If we are concerned lest he libate it, [cooked wine] is generally not libated. And if we are concerned that he might exchange it for his own since there is one seal, he would not take the trouble to falsify it.

 

This is the same passage as above but about cooked wine. Cooked wine does not need two seals (today cooked wine can be handled by a non-Jew because we are more lenient today about wine because non-Jews do not libate. But in the Talmud they were still strict).