Avodah Zarah, Chapter 4, Mishnah 8. Here we open an entirely new subject: yayin nesech and stam yeinam, the prohibition to derive benefit from the wine of idolaters, and even from the wine of gentiles in general. As we will see, these are two separate matters. This topic stays with us until the end of the tractate, some seventeen mishnayos, and it is like a whole new world unto itself. Tosafos asks why a new chapter does not begin here, and answers that since the previous mishnah dealt with the claims of the gentiles and idolaters against Israel, they did not want to close on that note, and so the chapter continues here.
Introduction: The Halachic Framework:
Before entering the words of the mishnah we need to lay out the general framework, so that the full picture stands before us. The halachos on this subject divide into several layers:
Yayin nesech (Torah law): The Torah forbids any liquid poured out for the sake of idolatry or as an act of service and worship to it. When the liquid is wine, it is called 'yayin nesech' - wine that was poured out as a libation. In principle this could apply to any liquid, but in practice, in the time of the Mishnah, it was specifically wine that was used for libations.
Stam yeinam (rabbinic law): The Sages forbade any wine belonging to an idolater, and in the time of the Mishnah gentiles were generally idolaters. The assumption is that he poured out part of the wine as an act of worship and acknowledgment of his idol, since it was a widespread practice in those days to spill a little from every jug, barrel or vat for the sake of the idol. 'Stam' means something with no particular identity, that is, the default case, and 'yeinam' means the wine of the gentiles. We therefore relate to all the wine of an idolater as though we knew for certain that he had poured a libation from it, and it is forbidden to derive any benefit from it at all.
An idolater's contact with a Jew's wine: The Sages extended this further and said that even a Jew's wine that an idolater stuck his finger into and touched becomes forbidden, out of concern that at the moment of contact he flicked a bit of it as a libation to his idol. Once an idolater has touched wine, we must relate to it as stam yeinam, and therefore it is forbidden to derive benefit from it, at the very least rabbinically.
Contact by a gentile who is not an idolater: If we know that the one who touched the wine is not an idolater but a monotheist, there is no room for the concern of libation. Even so, there is an additional rabbinic prohibition on any wine that was owned by a gentile or that he touched, even if it was a Jew's wine and even if he had no ability to shake it. This prohibition is because of 'the daughters of Shechem', that is, the general concern for assimilation and intermarriage with gentiles. This prohibition is not a prohibition of benefit like yayin nesech, but a prohibition of drinking alone: the wine is not fit for consumption, but it may be given as a gift or sold.
To complete the halachic picture: today there is the concept of cooked wine. Since it is not the way of a gentile to use cooked wine in the service of his idol, such wine is immune to the rabbinic law of stam yeinam, and even if a gentile who is not an idolater touched it, it does not become forbidden to drink.
The Rema writes that in his day, some five hundred years ago, and all the more so in our own day, it is not the way of gentiles to pour libations. We therefore assume that any gentile who touches wine, unless we know otherwise, does not intend a libation, and we are not dealing with a prohibition of benefit but only with a prohibition of drinking, as a general prohibition meant to prevent intermarriage with gentiles.
The Mishnah's Question: From When Does the Prohibition Take Effect?
Our mishnah, the first in the series of mishnayos before us, seeks to define the point at which the prohibition takes effect. After all, grapes do not become forbidden in this way, and neither does grape juice; only once the juice becomes wine fit for libation does it become forbidden. At exactly which point? That is the mishnah's question. Let us say at the outset that in the end the halachah does not follow this mishnah, but first we will learn the mishnah itself, and afterwards we will discuss the practical halachah.
The Structure of the Winepress and the Treading Process:
The mishnah's basic answer is that the prohibition takes effect from the moment the wine collects in the collection pit. There are two components to the wine pressing installation: a surface from which a slope descends, ending in a pipe or spout, and from the pipe the liquid pours into the receptacle, which is the pit or hollow in the ground. The surface, the slope and the pipe are called in Hebrew 'the gas' (as in Kiryat Gat), and the pit is the collection vessel.
The work proceeds in stages:
The treading: The winemaker piles the grapes on the descending slope and treads on them with his feet, and the liquid that comes out slides downward, passes through the pipe and pours into the pit.
The tapuach: After the initial treading, a mixture of grape juice with skins and pits is formed. The treader gathers this mixture with his hands and places it on the surface as a large mound, called in the mishnah 'tapuach' (apple), like a round heap. Gravity does its work, and most of the juice drains from the tapuach onto the surface, down the slope, through the pipe and into the collection pit.
The final pressing: At the end of the process they would add weights and press down on the pile of skins, in order to extract the last remnants of juice and let them too slide down into the pit.
The words of the Mishnah:
"Lokchin gas be'utah min oved kochavim" - This does not mean, literally, that one may purchase the winepress itself. It refers to the wine, or more precisely to the grape juice, that is still in the press. 'Be'utah' comes from the word for treading, that is, grapes that have been trodden upon so that the juice runs out of them. One may buy this juice and drink it, even from an idol worshipper, even though his feet came into contact with it.
"Af al pi shenotel b'yado v'nosen la'tapuach" - And more than that: even when the gentile actually places his hands into the juice, as he gathers up the mash of juice and skins and lifts it onto the pile in the center of the press, the juice may still be bought and drunk. The reason is that at this stage it is not yet considered the sort of liquid that is fit to be poured as a libation, since it is still in the middle of the production process.
"V'eino na'aseh yayin nesech ad sheyeired la'bor" - The juice does not become forbidden yayin nesech until it collects and flows down into the collection pit in the ground.
"Yarad la'bor, mah shebabor asur" - Once the juice has flowed into the pit in the ground, everything that has gathered there becomes forbidden to derive any benefit from, and one may make no use of it at all, since this is now the wine of a gentile that he has touched.
"V'hashe'ar mutar" - Whatever is not in the pit itself remains permitted, and apparently may even be drunk. There is a further novelty here: even if the juice poured out of the channel but passed over the pit and landed on the far side, it is still permitted, since it never reached the pit, even though its pressing was already complete.
The practical halachah:
The Mishnah thus establishes that the decisive moment for the prohibition of a gentile's wine is the moment it enters the pit, but the halachah does not follow this ruling. This is a 'Mishnah rishonah', the original teaching from the days of the Tannaim, whereas afterward they were more stringent and ruled that from the moment the wine is separated from the skins, even while it is still running down the sloping floor of the press, that liquid is already considered distinct juice that is yayin nesech and forbidden to derive benefit from. Moreover, even all the liquid that touches the press itself becomes forbidden as yayin nesech, at the very least on a rabbinic level.
In summary: We opened the subject of yayin nesech and stam yeinam, and clarified the layers of the prohibition: yayin nesech, a Torah prohibition, applying to wine that was actually poured as a libation; stam yeinam, a rabbinic prohibition, applying to the wine of an idol worshipper or wine he touched, from which no benefit may be derived; and a prohibition against drinking alone, applying to wine touched by a gentile who is not an idol worshipper, because of the concern for intermarriage. Our Mishnah defines the point at which the prohibition takes effect as the descent of the juice into the collection pit, while in practice the ruling is stringent: from the moment the liquid is separated from the skins, everything in the press and on the press has already become yayin nesech, forbidden to derive benefit from.