Avodah Zarah 59b (נט:) — the Talmud in English

And with dudorin,

small vessels,

even though the wine drips onto them—

it is permitted.

This is difficult for Rav Kahana, who prohibits it.

He said to him

Rav Kahana said to Rav Yeimar:

Did you say: “if he brought it”?!

The beraita from which you raised the objection is speaking after the fact, if he brought it—

I, too, prohibited it only after the fact;

I,

was speaking

about the outset. I said that one should be stringent initially, as a precautionary measure against the prohibition of wine used for idolatrous libation.

There was a certain citron—

there was an incident involving a citron

that fell into a barrel of wine,

that fell into a barrel of wine.

A gentile

hastened

and seized it,

and caught it so that it would not sink to the bottom of the barrel.

Rav Ashi was present there at the time of the incident.

Rav Ashi said to them

the people who were there:

“Seize his hand,”

hold his hand,

so that he will not agitate it,

so that he would not agitate the wine when removing the citron, for otherwise the wine would become prohibited for benefit.

And do not allow him to remove his hand from the barrel, because the gentile will agitate the wine when removing it, despite the fact that we are holding his hand.

Rather, he instructed them to pour the wine from the barrel into a vessel, up to the level at which his hand was located.

And tilt it

tilt the barrel onto its side while holding his hand,

until it is emptied,

so that the wine flows into another vessel. Only when they do this will the wine not become prohibited for benefit.

The Gemara now discusses the case of a gentile who rendered a Jew’s wine prohibited for benefit, asking whether it is permitted to collect from the gentile the value of the damage he caused to the wine.

Rav Ashi said: With regard to this gentile who poured a libation with a Jew’s wine,

who poured a libation with a Jew’s wine

intentionally,

and rendered it prohibited for benefit—

even though it is prohibited to sell it to another gentile,

to sell it to another gentile,

it is nevertheless permitted

nonetheless,

for him

it is permitted for the Jew

to collect its value

to take the value of the wine

from that gentile,

from this gentile who rendered it prohibited.

What is the reason?

Since this is not considered a sale, and he is not deriving benefit from the value of wine used for idolatrous libation; rather,

he has utterly destroyed it,

the gentile burned it. That is, the Jew says to the gentile: You spilled my wine and destroyed it for me, and I am taking its value from you before you spoiled it, when it was not yet prohibited for benefit.

Rav Ashi said: From where do I derive this?

What is the proof for the ruling that I stated?

As it is taught

in a beraita:

A gentile who poured a libation with a Jew’s wine,

even

not in the presence of an idol,

and all the more so if he poured a libation before an idol, the wine is

prohibited.

These are the words of the Sages.

But Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava and Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira—

permit

it for benefit.

For two reasons.

One:

because

one pours a libation with wine only in the presence of an idol.

And the other:

because

he says to him,

the Jew says to the gentile:

“You have no authority

you have no right

to render my wine prohibited against my will,”

against my will.

Although the halakha was not ruled in accordance with their opinion, and we rule in accordance with the Sages that the wine is prohibited for benefit and may not be sold to another gentile, nevertheless, we accept their statement at the very least to the extent that it is permitted to collect payment from that gentile. This is because the Jew says to the gentile: “You have no authority to render my wine prohibited against my will,” so pay me compensation for the damage.

Another incident concerning a gentile who touched wine in a barrel.

There was a certain barrel of wine,

there was a barrel of wine

from which the spigot had been removed,

the spigot through which the wine exits had fallen out. Consequently, a hole was made in the barrel, and the wine began to pour out and be lost.

A gentile came,

a gentile arrived,

hastened and placed his hand over it,

he quickly plugged the hole with his hands and prevented the wine from spilling.

The question was brought before Rav Pappa: What is the status of the wine remaining in the barrel? The Gemara cites two versions of Rav Pappa’s ruling.

Rav Pappa said: All the wine adjacent to the spigot,

the stream of wine close to the hole,

is prohibited

for drinking,

but it is not prohibited for benefit, since he did not agitate it, as he did not insert his hand into the narrow opening.