Avodah Zarah, Daf Nun Tet, Part 6

 

Introduction

Another story of a non-Jew who touches wine without any intention of libating it or even of drinking it.

 

ההיא חביתא דחמרא דאישתקיל לברזא אתא עובד כוכבים אידרי אנח ידיה עילויה אמר רב פפא כל דלהדי ברזא חמרא אסיר ואידך שרי

 

It once happened that the stopper fell out of a cask of wine, and a non-Jew sprang forward and placed his hand over it: R. Papa said: All the wine that is on the level with the spout is prohibited and the remainder is permitted.

 

According to this version of the story, R. Papa prohibited only the wine that was on the same level as the spout. The rest of the barrel, what was above it and below it, was permitted. We don t consider all of the wine to be connected.

ואיכא דאמרי אמר רב פפא עד הברזא חמרא אסיר ואידך שרי

 

There are those who say: R. Papa said: The wine above the stopper is prohibited and the remainder is permitted.

 

According to this version, R. Papa prohibited all of the wine above the stopper, not just the wine adjacent to it. This is because all of this wine rests on the non-Jew s finger.

אמר רב יימר כתנאי חבית שנקבה בין מפיה בין משוליה ובין מצידיה ונגע בו טבול יום טמאה רבי יהודה אומר מפיה ומשוליה טמאה מצידיה טהורה מכאן ומכאן

 

R. Yemar said: [This is] like the [dispute of the] following tannaim: If a jug was pierced whether on top, the bottom or its sides, and a tevul yom touched it, it is defiled. R. Judah says: [If it was pierced] on top or bottom it is impure, but if on its sides it is pure on this side and that.

 

A tevul yom is one who has gone to the mikveh to purify himself but the sun has not yet set. According to the first opinion, if the tevul yom touches the wine anywhere, the whole jug is impure. But according to the second opinion, only if he touches it on the top or bottom is the whole jug impure. On top, the bottom is all a base for what is on top and thus it is all impure. If he touches the bottom, all the wine from the top would flow through it and become impure. But if he touches it on the side it is pure. Only that which he actually touched would be impure. This is like the first version of R. Papa.

The sages in this baraita do not agree at all with R. Papa. This leads Rashi to conclude that the halakhah does not follow R. Papa.