Avodah Zarah, Daf Nun Tet, Part 4

 

Introduction

The brief story in this section is one of the strangest of the stories in Avodah Zarah.

 

ההוא אתרוגא דנפל לחביתא דחמרא אידרי עובד כוכבים ושקליה אמר להו רב אשי נקטוה לידיה כי היכי דלא לשכשיך ביה וברצוה עד דשייפא

An etrog once fell into a cask of wine, and a non-Jew sprang forward to pull it out.

R. Ashi said to them: Hold his hand so that he does not stir it, and tilt [the cask] until it is emptied.

 

R. Ashi seems to think that merely by touching the wine the gentile has not yet prohibited it. The problem will come about if he stirs the wine meaning moves his hand about. R. Ashi seems to think that we need to be concerned lest he libate the wine. So R. Ashi instructs his students to hold the non-Jew s hand in place. Then the Jews should pour the contents of the cask out, thereby maintaining them as permitted.