Avodah Zarah 56

ואין בוצרין עם ישראל שעושה פירותיו בטומאה וכל שכן שאין דורכין אבל בוצרין עם הנכרי בגת שמותר לגרום טומאה לחולין שבארץ ישראל

And one may not harvest grapes together with a Jew who produces wine from his fruit in a state of ritual impurity, as he is thereby causing the produce to be rendered impure. And all the more so may one not tread on the grapes with him, as he is assisting the Jew who is rendering the wine impure by treading on the grapes. But one may harvest grapes into the winepress together with the gentile, as it is permitted to impart impurity to non-sacred produce that is in Eretz Yisrael.

ואינו עושה יין נסך עד שירד לבור והתניא יין משיקפה

§ The mishna teaches: And the gentile’s touch does not render the juice of the grapes into wine used for a libation until it descends into the collection vat, because until then it does not have the status of wine. The Gemara asks: But isn’t it taught in a mishna (Ma’asrot 1:7) with regard to the stage when the work of producing the wine is considered complete and one is obligated to separate tithes from the wine: With regard to wine, one is obligated to separate tithes from the time that the solid residue floats [misheyikpe] on top of the wine.

אמר רבא לא קשיא הא רבי עקיבא הא רבנן דתנן יין משירד לבור רבי עקיבא אומר משיקפה

Rava said: It is not difficult. That mishna is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Akiva, whereas this mishna is in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis. This is as we learned in a baraita: With regard to wine, one is obligated to separate tithes from the time that the wine descends into the collection vat. Rabbi Akiva says: One is obligated to separate tithes only from the time that the solid residue floats on top of the wine.

איבעיא להו קיפוי דבור או קיפוי דחבית

A dilemma was raised before the Sages: Is Rabbi Akiva referring to the floating of the seeds on top of the wine in the collection vat or to the floating of the yeast on top of the wine in the barrel?

תא שמע דתניא יין משיקפה אף על פי שקפה קולט מן הגת העליונה ומן הצינור ושותה שמע מינה קיפוי דבור קאמרינן שמע מינה

The Gemara suggests: Come and hear a resolution of this issue, as it is taught in that mishna: With regard to wine, one is obligated to separate tithes from the time that the solid residue floats on top of the wine. Subsequently, even though the residue has floated, one may collect wine from the upper winepress and from the pipe that connects the upper winepress to the vat, and one may drink it without separating tithes. Conclude from the mishna that we are speaking about the floating of the seeds on top of the wine in the collection vat. The Gemara affirms: Conclude from it that it is so.

והתני רב זביד בדבי רבי אושעיא יין משירד לבור ויקפה רבי עקיבא אומר משישלה בחביות תרצה נמי להך קמייתא הכי יין משירד לבור ויקפה רבי עקיבא אומר משישלה בחביות

The Gemara asks: But didn’t Rav Zevid teach a different version of the aforementioned dispute in a baraita of the school of Rabbi Oshaya: With regard to wine, one is obligated to separate tithes from the time that the wine descends into the collection vat and the seeds float on top. Rabbi Akiva says: One is obligated to separate tithes only from the time that one siphons the wine from the vat into barrels. The Gemara replies that one can resolve the contradiction: Explain that first baraita in this manner as well: With regard to wine, one is obligated to separate tithes from the time that the wine descends into the collection vat and the seeds float on top. Rabbi Akiva says: One is obligated to separate tithes only from the time that one siphons the wine from the vat into barrels.

ואלא מתניתין דקתני אינו עושה יין נסך עד שירד לבור לימא תלתא תנאי היא לא שאני יין נסך דאחמירו ביה רבנן

The Gemara asks: But whose opinion is expressed in the mishna that teaches: The gentile does not render the juice of the grapes into wine used for a libation until it descends into the collection vat? Shall we say that the stage when the work of producing the wine is considered complete is subject to a dispute between three tanna’im? The Gemara replies: No, the prohibition of wine used for a libation is different, as the Sages were stringent concerning it and render the wine forbidden even before the seeds float. By contrast, with regard to tithes, the tanna of this mishna holds in accordance with the opinion of either Rabbi Akiva or the Rabbis.

ולרבא דלא שאני ליה מוקים ליה כתלתא תנאי

The Gemara comments: And according to Rava, who explains that the mishna with regard to wine used for libations is in accordance with one opinion whereas the mishna with regard to tithes is in accordance with another opinion, and he does not hold that the case of wine used for a libation is different, he interprets it as a dispute between three tanna’im.

מה שבבור אסור והשאר מותר אמר רב הונא לא שנו אלא שלא החזיר גרגותני לגת אבל החזיר גרגותני לגת אסור

§ The mishna teaches: Once the wine descends into the collection vat, that which is in the collection vat is prohibited, and the rest, which did not yet descend into the collection vat, is permitted. Rav Huna says: The mishna taught that the rest of the wine is permitted only in a case where he did not return the wicker basket [gargutni], which is used to strain the wine on the way to the vat, to the winepress. But if he returned the wicker basket to the winepress, even the wine remaining in the winepress is prohibited, as the wine in the basket renders the wine in the winepress forbidden.

גרגותני גופה במאי קא מיתסרא בנצוק שמע מינה נצוק חיבור כדתני רבי חייא שפחסתו צלוחיתו הכא נמי שפחסתו בורו

The Gemara asks: With regard to the wine in the wicker basket itself, in what manner is it rendered forbidden? Apparently, it is rendered forbidden by the stream of liquid that flows from the basket into the vat below, thereby connecting the wine in the basket to the forbidden wine in the vat. If so, conclude from Rav Huna’s statement that an uninterrupted stream of liquid is considered a connection. The Gemara rejects the inference: The reason for Rav Huna’s statement could be different, as Rabbi Ḥiyya teaches that if one fills a gentile’s flask through a funnel, the wine in the funnel is rendered forbidden in a case where the level of the wine in his flask rose and reached the funnel. Here too, Rav Huna is referring to a case where the level of the wine in his collection vat rose and reached the basket.

ההוא ינוקא דתנא עבודה זרה בשית שני בעו מיניה מהו לדרוך עם הנכרי בגת אמר להו דורכין עם הנכרי בגת והא קא מנסך בידיה דציירנא להו לידיה והא קא מנסך ברגל ניסוך דרגל לא שמיה ניסוך

§ The Gemara relates: There was a certain outstanding child who learned the tractate of Avoda Zara when he was six years old. People raised a dilemma to him: What is the halakha? Is it permitted to tread on grapes in the winepress together with the gentile? The child said to them: One may tread on grapes in the winepress together with the gentile, in accordance with the ruling of the mishna. They asked the child: But doesn’t the gentile render the wine a libation by touching it with his hands, rendering it forbidden? If so, how may a Jew derive benefit from the wine by receiving payment for his work? The child replied: It is permitted in a case where we tie his hands so that he cannot pour the wine as a libation. The child was then asked: But doesn’t the gentile render the wine a libation by touching it with his foot? The child replied: Rendering wine a libation by touching it with one’s foot is not considered rendering it a libation.

ההוא עובדא דהוה בנהרדעא דדשו ישראל וגוי לההוא חמרא ושהייה שמואל תלתא ריגלי מאי טעמא אילימא משום דקסבר

The Gemara relates: There was a certain incident in Neharde’a in which a Jew and a gentile trod on grapes and produced a certain wine together, and Shmuel delayed ruling on the matter for three Festivals, as the Sages gathered during the Festivals and presented Shmuel with the opportunity to clarify the matter with them. The Gemara asks: What is the reason that Shmuel delayed his ruling? If we say that Shmuel delayed ruling on the matter because he thought to himself: