Avodah Zarah, Daf Nun Vav, Part 4

 

 

מה שבבור אסור והשאר מותר: אמר רב הונא לא שנו אלא שלא החזיר גרגותני לגת אבל החזיר גרגותני לגת אסור

 

What is in the vat is prohibited but the remainder is permitted.

R. Huna said: They only taught this in the case where he did not return the wicker basket to the press, but if he did return the wicker basket to the press it is all prohibited.

 

A wicker basket separates the liquid in the upper press from that in the lower vat. The basket serves to strain out the skins and seeds. According to R. Huna, when the mishnah taught that the liquid in the upper press is permitted it is referring to a case where he did not put back that wicker basket. But if he did put the wicker basket back in, all of the wine, even that in the press, becomes prohibited. This is because the wicker basket contains some prohibited wine which then mixes in with the permitted wine in the press, causing it all to become prohibited.

 

גרגותני גופה במאי קא מיתסרא? בנצוק. ש"מ נצוק חיבור

 

But as to the wicker basket, how did its contents become prohibited?

Through a poured stream of liquid.

Deduce from this that a poured stream of liquid serves as a connective!

 

The question is asked how the contents of the wicker basket became prohibited. The answer is through a concept called nitzok which I have translated as a poured stream. This means that when there is an upper vessel flowing into a lower vessel, although in reality liquid only flows downward, we consider the contents of the upper vessel to have the same status as the contents of the lower one. The contents of the lower vat flow upward to the wicker basket and make this liquid prohibited as well. Then this liquid contaminates that in the wine press, if he puts the basket back.

Note that the contents are not considered as contaminating the liquid in the wine press. The commentators explain that this is because this is two stages removed, and while some might say that the status goes up one stage, to the wicker basket, all agree that it does not go up to the press.

The Talmud notes that if we read R. Huna this way, then we have decided that a poured stream serves as a connective. This is a debated issue that appears later on in the next chapter and the Talmud does not think that R. Huna necessarily holds that it is.

כדתני ר’ חייא שפחסתו צלוחיתו ה"נ שפחסתו בורו

 

[No,] as R. Hiyya taught: The level of his flagon overflowed; and here too the [contents of the] vat overflowed.

 

The Talmud rejects the implication R. Huna rules that poured streams always serve as a connective. Rather, this may be a case where the wine in the vat actually overflowed and physically went up into the wicker basket. This is not an issue of nitzok. Rather, the wicker basket has wine from the vat in it and this wine then mixes back with the liquid in the press and causes it to become prohibited.