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Babylonian Talmud: Tractate ‘Abodah Zarah

Folio 61a

[R. Ashi replied:] There [it refers to the circumstance where the cask] was being roiled by him [the whole distance into the vat].1

MISHNAH. IF [AN ISRAELITE] PREPARES A HEATHEN'S WINE IN A STATE OF RITUAL PURITY2  AND LEAVES IT IN [THE LATTER'S] DOMAIN, IN A HOUSE WHICH OPENS ON TO THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, SHOULD IT BE IN A CITY WHERE HEATHENS AND ISRAELITES RESIDE, IT IS PERMITTED;3  BUT SHOULD IT BE IN A CITY WHERE ONLY HEATHENS RESIDE IT IS PROHIBITED UNLESS [AN ISRAELITE] SITS AND WATCHES.4  THERE IS NO NEED FOR THE SUPERVISOR TO SIT AND WATCH [THE WHOLE TIME]; EVEN IF HE KEEPS GOING OUT AND COMING IN IT IS PERMITTED. R. SIMEON B. ELEAZAR SAYS: IT IS ALL ONE WITH THE DOMAIN OF A HEATHEN.5  IF [AN ISRAELITE] PREPARES A HEATHEN'S WINE IN A STATE OF RITUAL PURITY AND LEAVES IT IN [THE LATTER'S] DOMAIN WHO WRITES FOR HIM 'I HAVE RECEIVED THE MONEY FROM YOU,' THEN [THE WINE] IS PERMITTED. IF, HOWEVER, THE ISRAELITE WISHED TO REMOVE IT AND [THE HEATHEN] REFUSES TO LET IT GO UNTIL HE PAID HIM — THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN BETH-SHAN AND [THE RABBIS] PROHIBITED IT.6

GEMARA. In a city where only heathens reside it should also [be permitted without a supervisor] since there are [Israelite] spice-sellers7  going about the cities! — Samuel said: [The Mishnah refers] to a city which has doors and bolts.8  R. Joseph said: If there is a window9  it is the equivalent [of the house being in] a public domain; or if there is a rubbish-heap10  it is the equivalent [of the house being in] a public domain; and similarly a date-palm makes it the equivalent of a public domain.11  If the top [of the date-palm] had been cut off,12  R. Aha and Rabina differ, one forbidding [the wine] and the other permitting it. He who forbids it [does so for the reason that the heathen thinks that the owner of the tree] has no cause to climb it; and he who permits it [does so for the reason that] an occasion may occur that [the Israelite's] cattle will stray and he will climb it to look for them.13

Our Rabbis taught: 'Whether [an Israelite] purchases or rents an apartment in the court of a heathen and fills it with [casks of] wine, and an Israelite resides in that court, it is permitted even though the key and seal be not in his [the Israelite's] possession.

Original footnotes renumbered. See Structure of the Talmud Files
  1. Vis., acting in anger, he gave the cask a violent push and it rolled of itself into the vat; consequently he did not handle the cask and for that reason the wine is fit. If, on the other hand, he did not act in anger, he must have rolled the cask the whole distance to the vat, likely touched the wine, and so the wine is disqualified. Hence the parallel of the zab and the heathen holds good.
  2. [For the purpose of selling it to Jews. Wine prepared by heathens was alike forbidden and levitically unclean. V. supra 30b.]
  3. It is assumed that the heathen would be afraid to tamper with the wine because he might be seen by a Jewish inhabitant, and be unable to dispose of his wine among Jews.
  4. [V.l. 'he appoints a supervisor'.]
  5. Whether it be private or public, a supervisor is necessary.
  6. The second half of the Mishnah was quoted on p. 297. V. the notes there.
  7. General term for pedlars.
  8. So that nobody could enter without the fact becoming known, and he could therefore, even if the wine is placed in a house opening on to the public domain, disqualify the wine without the fear of being seen.
  9. In the heathen's house looking on to the public domain. Rashi prefers the explanation that the window of a Jew's house faces the entrance of the heathen's house.
  10. On which a person could stand and see what was done in the house.
  11. In all these circumstances there is the possibility of being overlooked, so the heathen would be afraid to tamper with the wine.
  12. The tree belonging to a Jew; and since the top is cut off, he would have no occasion to climb it to gather the fruit. There would then be less fear of being overlooked.
  13. And the possibility of being watched would act as a deterrent.

‘Abodah Zarah 61b

 If, however, [he resides] in another court, it is permitted only when the key and seal are in his possession. If [an Israelite] prepares the wine of a heathen in a state of ritual purity in the latter's domain and an Israelite resides in that court, it is permitted should the key and seal be in his possession.' R. Johanan said to the tanna:1  Read [as follows]: Even though the key and seal be not in his possession it is permitted. '[Should he reside] in another court, it is prohibited even if the key and seal are in his possession. Such is the statement of R. Meir; but the Sages prohibit it unless a supervisor sits and watches or until somebody is appointed to go there for stated periods.' To which [of the four circumstances just enumerated] do the Sages refer? If I say it is to the last,2  the first Tanna3  also prohibits it. Perhaps it is to the third!4  But R. Johanan informed the tanna: 'Read [as follows]: Even though the key and seal be not in his possession [the wine is permitted]'!5  — Rather must it be to the second, for the first Tanna declared, 'If, however, [he resides] in another court, it is permitted only when the key and seal are in his possession.' Whereas the Sages hold that it is always prohibited 'unless a supervisor sits and watches or until somebody is appointed to go there for stated periods.' But his going there for stated periods is a disadvantage!6  — Rather [must the statement be amended to]: Until somebody is appointed to go there not for stated periods.

R. SIMEON B. ELEAZAR SAYS: IT IS ALL ONE WITH THE DOMAIN OF A HEATHEN, The question was asked: Is the purpose of R. Simeon b. Eleazar to make the law lenient or strict? — Rab Judah said in the name of Ze'iri: To make it lenient; but R. Nahman said in the name of Ze'iri: To make it strict. Rab Judah said in the name of Ze'iri that it is to make the law lenient, and the statement of the first Tanna must be understood thus: Just as [the wine] is prohibited in the domain of [that heathen] it is similarly prohibited in the domain of any other heathen and we take into account [the possibility of heathens] being partial one to another;7  but R. Simeon b. Eleazar says: That only applies to his own domain, but when it is in the domain of another heathen it is permitted because we do not take into account the fear of partiality.8  R. Nahman said in the name of Ze'iri that it is to make the law strict, and the statement of the first Tanna must be understood thus: This only applies to his own domain, but when it is in the domain of another heathen it is permitted and we do not take into account the fear of partiality; but R. Simeon b. Eleazar says: It is all one with the domain of a heathen. There is a teaching in accord with what R. Nahman said in the name of Ze'iri, i.e., the purpose is to make the law strict, viz.: R. Simeon b. Eleazar said: It is all one with the domain of a heathen because of the fraudulent.

[Israelites once bought grapes from] the house of Parzak, the king's field-marshal,9  [and having made wine from them] left it in charge of his tenant-labourers. The Rabbis in the presence of Raba thought to declare [it permitted] on the ground that we only take into account the fear of partiality where there might be mutual agreement;10  but in this instance since it could not be the custom of the tenant-labourers to enter into an agreement with Parzak, the king's field-marshal, we take no account of the fear of partiality, Raba, however, said to them: On the contrary, even according to him who maintains that we take no account of the fear of partiality, that only applies where there is no possibility of terrorisation; but in this instance since [the tenants] are afraid of him, they would conceal any action on his part [to interfere with the wine] to shield him.

In a certain town where there was wine belonging to an Israelite, a heathen was found standing among the jars. Raba said: If he would be arrested on that account as a thief,11  the wine is permitted,12  otherwise it is prohibited.13

Original footnotes renumbered. See Structure of the Talmud Files
  1. Who quoted this teaching to the students.
  2. The Jew resides in a different court.
  3. I.e., R. Meir.
  4. Lit., 'the first (part) of the last (clause).' The Jew resides in the court where the wine is stored.
  5. [Which shows that R. Johanan did not consider it possible for anyone to forbid the wine in such a case even though the key and seal are not in the Israelite's possession.]
  6. The heathen knows when he will be there and can interfere with the wine during his absence.
  7. Lit., 'paying favours'. They would not give one another away and for that reason cannot be trusted.
  8. [The heathen householder in whose domain the wine is placed would not permit the other heathen to tamper with it, R. Simeon's statement must accordingly be understood as a rhetorical question: 'Is it all one with the domain of a heathen?']
  9. [Cf. Lat. Rufulus. v, Funk, op. cit., I, 33, v. p. 163, n. 7.]
  10. I.e., one heathen tells a lie for another, or does not expose his wrong-doing, on condition that the latter will act similarly towards him.
  11. Should he be found touching the jars.
  12. He would be afraid to touch the jars because he would be suspected of wanting to steal them.
  13. It must then be assumed that he touched the wine and disqualified it.