daf bit: Avodah Zarah 31

[cellio]

The mishna lists things that, if they belong to heathens, are forbidden to Jews. First on the list is wine, and the prohibition extends to deriving any benefit. (For example, even if you can't drink it, you might have been able to sell it. Nope.) The g'mara derives the prohibition from the verse "who did eat of the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink-offerings" (Deut 32:38). It then goes on to explain that boiled wine is ok because it is unfit for idolatrous offerings, but anecdotal evidence shows that not all the sages agreed with that leniency. As we reach today's daf, R' Assi says in the name of R' Yochanan that there are three kinds of wine: libation-wine (yayin nesech), from which it's forbidden to derive any benefit, ordinary heathen wine, from which it's also forbidden to derive any benefit (but the consequences are less severe if you do), and wine of an Israelite that was deposited with a heathen, which is forbidden to drink but permitted to benefit. But wait, said R' Yochanan, wine in this last category can be guarded by a seal and then it's ok. (The concern is tampering.) R' Eleazar requires a double seal. (29b-31a)

We're really particular about wine, because wine is used for sanctification (Shabbat, holidays, weddings...). It's not just a matter of what's kosher to drink. That said, I do sometimes balk a bit at the stringencies today; if, for example, the bottle of wine has been in my sight since I opened it, I can be confident that the non-Jewish guest didn't pour out a libation-offering from it. But eh, most readily-available kosher wine is mevushal (boiled) anyway, so I can follow halacha and avoid embarrassing guests at the same time. And learning about all this (many years ago) did make me re-evaluate accepting wine offered in the SCA, because some SCA people actually are neo-pagans.

Comments

[magid]

When I'm describing the general outlines of kashrut to someone unfamiliar with the system, I talk about the things people are likely to have heard of (mixing meat/milk, shellfish, etc), then say that there are also stringencies on wine, due to a separate system involving libations and worship. It sometimes gets me odd looks, but it seems to work.