Avodah Zarah, Daf Lamed Aleph, Part 4
Today’s sugya discusses wine handled by Samaritans. The Samaritans were considered to be Jews that did not keep rabbinic Judaism. Rather, they kept their own version of the Torah. They do not libate their wine to idolatry, but how do we know that they keep non-Jews, who do libate wine, away from theirs?
ת"ר בראשונה היו אומרים יין של עין כושי אסור מפני בירת סריקא ושל ברקתא אסור מפני כפר פרשאי ושל זגדור אסור מפני כפר שלים חזרו לומר חביות פתוחות אסורות סתומות מותרות
Our rabbis taught: Formerly the ruling was that wine of En-Kushi is forbidden because of Birat-Sirika, that of Borkata is forbidden on account of Kefar-Parshai, and that of Zagdar is forbidden because of Kefar-Shalem; subsequently they said: Open casks are forbidden, but closed ones are permitted.
En-Kushi, Borkata and Zagdar are Samaritan cities while Birat-Sirika, Kefar-Parshai and Kefar Shalem are non-Jewish cities. Originally they prohibited the wine in the Samaritan cities due to their proximity to non-Jewish cities. But then they relaxed this law and allowed Jews to drink Samaritan wine if the cask had been closed up.
מעיקרא מאי סבור ולבסוף מאי סבור? מעיקרא סבור אין כותי מקפיד על מגע עובד כוכבים לא שנא פתוחות ולא שנא סתומות ולבסוף סבור כי לא קפיד אפתוחות אסתומות מקפיד קפיד
What did they hold at first and what did they hold at the end? At first they held that a Samaritan does not care if a non-Jew has contact [with the wine] whether the casks are open or closed; but subsequently they held that only in the case of open ones they are not particular, but in the case of closed casks they are very particular.
The change happened when the rabbis realized (or simply decided) that Samaritans did generally ensure that non-Jews should not come into contact with their closed casks of wine. They just were not so strict, and thus if a cask was opened, Jews could not be sure that non-Jews had not touched it.
וסתומות מותרות ורמינהי השולח חבית של יין ביד כותי ושל ציר ושל מורייס ביד עובד כוכבים אם מכיר חותמו וסתמו מותר אם לאו אסור
Is it then permitted in the case of open barrels? But the following contradicts it: One who sends a cask of wine by the hand of a Samaritan, or of brine or murias by the hand of a non-Jew, if he can identify his seal and the [spot and manner of] his closing up, it is permitted, but if not it is forbidden!
This source describes a Jew who sends a substance with either a Samaritan or a non-Jew. Rashi explains that with brine the fear is that the non-Jew may switch it with his own brine that has non-kosher fish in it. Murias is also made of fish, but Rashi explains that it might have wine in it. In any case, if the Jew can tell that the wine, brine or murias has not been opened then he may drink it. But simply closing the cask is not sufficient.
אמר רבי זירא לא קשיא כאן בעיר כאן בדרך
R. Zera said: There is no contradiction: The one refers to the town, the other to the open road.
R. Zera solved the contraction by positing that in the town the Samaritan (or non-Jew) will not open his wine because the Jew might pop in at any moment. But on the open road, he would have time and therefore simply closing the cask is not sufficient. The Jew must be able to tell that it is has not been opened.
מתקיף לה רבי ירמיה מידי הנך דעיר לא בדרך אתו
אלא אמר רבי ירמיה בין הגיתות שנינו כיון דכולי עלמא אפכי מירתת אמר השתא אי חזי לי מפסדו לי
R. Yirmiyah raised a difficulty on this: But did not those in the town come by the road? Rather R. Yirmiyah said: They taught this in reference to [casks found in] the vicinity of the wine presses; since all the people are milling around there, he would be afraid [to let a non-Jew touch it] saying, “if they see this, I will lose money.”
R. Yirmiyah notes that those in the town surely got there by the road—after all they were sent on their way from one place to another by the Jew. So how can we really be lenient with wine in the town?
Therefore, R. Yirmiyah offers an entirely different solution. The leniency that a simple closed cask is sufficient applies only to casks found near the wine presses. Since there are many people there, the Samaritan would be afraid to let the non-Jew touch the wine, lest the Jews see and refuse to buy from him. But elsewhere, where not that many people are around, Jews cannot drink Samaritan wine. Not because Samaritans libate, but because Samaritans do not observe the rabbinic stringencies surrounding the prohibition of non-Jews coming into contact with Jewish wine.