Avodah Zarah Daf 59 עבודה זרח דַף 59

Rav Kahana was asked: עובד כוכבים מהו שיוליך ענבים לגת – may an idolator bring grapes to the winepress? [Tosafos explains that after bringing the grapes to the winepress, the transporter empties the grapes into the treading basin, which contains flowing wine]. He replied: אסור – it is forbidden, משום לך לך אמרין נזירא – because of the principle we tell the nazir: “Go away! Go away! סחור סחור לכרמא לא תקרב – Go around! Go around! Do not approach the vineyard!” Rav Yeimar challenged him from a Baraisa which teaches that if an עכו"ם transported grapes to the winepress in baskets or small casks, אף על פי שהיין מזלף עליהן מותר – even though the wine is oozing over them, it is permitted!? Rav Kahana replied that he agrees that הביא – where [the עכו"ם] already brought the grapes, they are not prohibited after the fact. He was only ruling that לכתחלה – initially, one should not allow an עכו"ם to transport them.

Rav Ashi ruled that if an עכו"ם pours a Jew’s wine as a libation (prohibiting it in any benefit), although he cannot sell it to another idolator, שרי ליה למישקל דמיה מההוא עובד כוכבים – it is permitted to collect its value from that עכו"ם who prohibited it. He explained: מיקלא קלייה – [the עכו"ם] essentially burned [the wine]. Thus, he is not selling him יין נסך, but collecting payment for (permitted) wine that the עכו"ם destroyed. Rav Ashi presented a source for his ruling: Rebbe Yehudah ben Bava and Rebbe Yehudah ben Besaira said that if an עכו"ם made an apparent libation not in the presence of an idol, it is permitted (in benefit) for two reasons: firstly, because an עכו"ם only performs ניסוך in front of an idol. Secondly, because the Jew can say: לא כל הימנך שתאסור ייני לאונסי – “You have no ability to prohibit my wine against my will.” Although the halachah does not follow these Tannaim, and the עכו"ם is able to prohibit the Jew’s wine through ניסוך, we agree that the Jew can say, “You have no right to prohibit my wine and escape paying for it!”

The Gemara relates an incident in which the spigot of a wine barrel fell out, and an עכו"ם jumped forward and placed his hand on the opening to stop the wine from flowing out. Rav Pappa ruled: כל דלהדי ברזא חמרא אסיר – all the wine which is by the spigot (i.e., the opening) is forbidden, ואידך שרי – and the rest of the wine in the barrel is permitted, even for drinking. This wine is not considered one unit with the wine in the opening, so the עכו"ם is not viewed as having touched the rest of the wine. In another version, Rav Pappa said that all the wine from the spigot and upwards is forbidden, and the wine below the spigot is permitted. Since all the wine above the opening would have flowed out had the עכו"ם not stopped it, this wine is considered a single unit and the עכו"ם is considered to have touched all of it. The wine under the opening, which would have remained inside regardless, is considered separate and is permitted. The Gemara notes that this ruling is the subject of a machlokes Tannaim, regarding a טבול יום who touched a hole in a barrel of wine.