Babylonian Talmud: Tractate ‘Abodah Zarah

Folio 56a

AND [THE JUICE] DOES NOT BECOME YEN NESEK UNTIL IT DESCENDS INTO THE VAT. But we have learnt: Wine [becomes subject to the tithe] when it is skimmed!³  — Raba said: There is no contradiction, because [this latter teaching] is R. Akiba's and [that of the Mishnah] is the Rabbis'. For it has been taught: [The liquid is considered to be] wine when it descends into the vat, whereas R. Akiba says, When it is skimmed.⁴

The question was asked: Does this mean skimming [of the wine] while it is in the vat or when it is in the cask? — Come and hear! We have learnt: [It is to be considered] wine when it is skimmed; and although he has skimmed it, he may draw some off from the upper trough and from the pipe and drink it.⁵  Deduce from this that we mean the skimming while it is in the vat. Draw this conclusion. But R. Zebid learnt in the [collection of Baraithas] of the School of R. Oshaia:⁶  [It is to be considered] wine when it descends into the vat and is skimmed; whereas R. Akiba says: When it is drawn into casks!⁷  — That former [Baraitha]⁴  must be also explained in the sense just given, vis.: [It is considered to be] wine when it descends into the vat and is skimmed; whereas R. Akiba says: When it is drawn into casks. But since our Mishnah teaches: IT DOES NOT BECOME YEN NESEK UNTIL IT DESCENDS INTO THE VAT, conclude that there are three Tannaim [offering different definitions]!⁸  — No; it is different as regards yen nesek because the Rabbis take a strict view;⁹

1. [Because they would be aiding in the breach of the law, by preparing for the defilement of the priestly portion he is obliged to offer when the grapes are placed in his vat. Grapes, in common with other foodstuffs, are not susceptible to levitical impurity before they come in contact with certain kinds of liquids.]
2. [When they would be actually assisting transgressors.]
3. I.e., when the substances which are on top of the wine at the time of fermentation are skimmed off (Ma'as. I, 7). This is a later stage than that mentioned in the Mishnah.
4. B.M. 92b.
5. Without first tithing it; consequently it is not yet considered to be wine.
6. [R. Oshaia had a collection of Baraithas as supplementary to the Mishnah of Rabbi. V. Halevy, II, 253 ff, and supra, p. 27, n. 4.]
7. This contradicts the Mishnah which does not include skimming, according to the Rabbis, nor drawing into casks, according to R. Akiba.
8. Viz., (i) the Mishnah, that it is wine when it descends into the vat; (ii) the Rabbis, when it is skimmed in the vat; (iii) R. Akiba, when it is drawn into casks.
9. For the law of nesek they regard the juice as wine as soon as it descends into the vat, but for the law of tithe they are not so strict and add the condition that it must have been skimmed.

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 net-work²  to the press, but if he did return it to the press [the whole of it] is prohibited.³  Why, however, should that which is in the net-work itself be prohibited?⁴  — On account of the outflow.⁵  Deduce from this that the outflow is a connecting medium! [No,] as R. Hiyya taught: His jar⁶  forced the wine back; and similarly here the [contents of the] vat forced the wine back.⁷

There was a boy who had learnt the Tractate on Idolatry when he was six years old. He was asked, 'May [an Israelite] tread grapes together with a heathen in a press?' He replied, 'It is lawful to tread grapes together with a heathen in a press.' [To the objection] 'But he renders it yen nesek by [the touch of] his hands!'⁸  [he answered], 'We tie his hands up.' [To the further objection] 'But he renders it yen nesek by [the touch of] his feet!' [he answered], 'Wine touched by the feet is not called nesek.'

It happened in Nehardea that an Israelite and a heathen pressed out wine together. [On the question being put to him how this wine was to be considered,] Samuel delayed three Festivals⁹  [before replying]. What was his reason [for the delay]? Shall I say that he thought to himself,

1. Between the definition of wine for tithe and for nesek, since he finds a contradiction between our Mishnah and that dealing with tithes; supra 284.
2. Used as a strainer before the juice descends from the pipe into the vat.
3. [Even that which is in the upper trough.]
4. Since the heathen only touched what was in the vat.
5. This forms a connection between the liquid in the vat network and lower vat and is the conductor of the prohibited wine from one to the other.
6. V. infra p. 347. The jar was filled to the brim through a pipe and so forced some of the liquor back into the cask.
7. The vat was so full that the surface of the wine touched the net-work, which forced the wine back again. In this way it caused contamination, and not because the outflow is considered a connecting medium.
8. Which is contrary to the ruling of the later Mishnah, v. supra 55b.
9. On these Festivals discourses were given in public on the laws of the holy days.