Part II: Yoreh De'ah

Chapter 10b - NON-JEWS' WINE

It is forbidden to drink wine (made from grapes; see 123:8) that was touched by a non-Jew, and it is sometimes even forbidden to derive benefit from such wine because it may have been used for libation to an idol (123:1-2; see Ch.11). The prohibition of deriving benefit applies primarily when the non-Jew is an idolator (124:24;132:1,2; 134:2); on other classes of persons see 124:1-9. These prohibitions apply to mixtures that taste like wine or from which wine can be extracted, to distilled liquors made from wine (123:24), and to water in which raisins or lees have been washed, but not to wine that has been boiled or has congealed or has entirely turned into vinegar or has been mixed with other substances so that it no longer tastes like wine (123:3-16). They apply as soon as the wine begins to separate from the grapes (123:17-21). The touching must be intentional (see 124:10,24,27; 125:1,4,7,11) and a result of a direct action (see 124:17-18; 125:1-4), and must involve direct contact with or agitation of the wine in a manner that could be used for libation (124:25; 126:4). See the examples in 123:22,124:11-27 and 125:1-11; general principles on this subject cannot be formulated (124:19).

If it is forbidden to derive benefit from wine and any amount of permitted wine is added to it, all the permitted wine (if the flow is continuous: even the part that has not yet been poured in; see 126:1-3,5 and 134:2) becomes forbidden, but if it is added to permitted wine a little at a time the mixture is permitted as long as the forbidden wine is less than 1/60 of it (134:1). In any case, if it is not certain that the wine was used for libation it is forbidden to derive benefit only from the forbidden portion of the mixture (134:2). If the wine is forbidden only for drinking but deriving benefit from it is permitted, a mixture of it with other wine is permitted if the forbidden wine is less than 1/60 of the total (134:2). If forbidden wine is mixed with a permitted liquid other than wine the mixture is permitted if the wine cannot be tasted or gives the mixture a bad taste (134:3,6-7,13; see 126:6-7). If the liquid is water we assume that the wine cannot be tasted if it is less than 1/7 of the mixture (134:5; 137:1,3); thus if forbidden wine is mixed with wine in which six times as much water is also mixed (either previously or afterwards) the mixture is permitted (134:4). If a large container of wine from which it is forbidden to derive benefit becomes mixed with other containers it is forbidden to derive benefit from the value of that container, but if the containers are small or if one of them is lost the (remaining) containers are all permitted (134:2).

If forbidden wine comes into contact with food (even grapes) but is not absorbed in it the food may be washed off and is then permitted. If it is absorbed the food is forbidden unless the wine cannot be tasted or gives the food a bad taste (134:8-12).

Vessels made of skin, wood, glass or stone that are not coated with pitch, and in which forbidden wine was not stored for long periods even if it was used in them frequently, may be used for permissible purposes after they are rinsed out three times (135:1-3,11). Pottery vessels, or vessels that are coated with pitch, or vessels in which forbidden wine was stored for long periods (except for glass vessels), must be filled to overflowing with water for 24 hours on three separate days, or with strong salt water for 24 hours, or with boiling water, or the pitch must be scraped off them, or their surfaces must be scraped off, or (in the case of pottery) they must be heated white hot; otherwise they may be used after a year (135:1, 4,7-10,12-16). Alum vessels that were used for forbidden wine must never be used (135:5,6). On cleaning a winepress and its associated utensils after they were used for forbidden wine see 137:2;138. If permitted wine was put in such a vessel before cleaning it (see 137:5) it is forbidden to drink it but permitted to derive benefit from it, but if forbidden wine was not stored in the vessel for long periods the permitted wine remains permitted unless it remains in it for 24 hours (137:1), and it is permissible to use it for other liquids or for salting after it is rinsed out (137:4).

Even when it is forbidden to derive benefit from wine because it was touched by a non-Jew it is permitted to collect its value from that non-Jew; see 132:1. When a Jew sells wine to a non-Jew whose touch will forbid deriving benefit from the wine the sale must be finalized before the non-Jew touches the wine; see 132:2. On other transactions involving wine from which it is forbidden to derive benefit see 132:3-7 and 133:1-7.

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