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Avodah Zarah 61b

עבודה זרה ס״א ע״ב

Learn Avodah Zarah 61b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Avodah Zarah 61b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

When a גוי's kosher-made wine stays permitted: supervision, key and seal, the worry that one גוי covers for another (גומלין), and fear of being caught.

Overview

This amud finishes a ברייתא about wine that a Jew made kosher for a גוי. The question is when that wine stays permitted. It depends on where the wine is kept, where a Jew lives, and whether he holds the key or seal. רבי יוחנן corrects the ברייתא: if a Jew lives in the same courtyard, the wine is permitted even without key or seal. The גמרא then works out which case the חכמים are arguing on. It is the case where the Jew lives in a different courtyard: the תנא קמא says key and seal are enough, while the חכמים require real watching. The גמרא also fixes their wording, so the checker must come at unpredictable times. Next, the גמרא asks whether רבי שמעון בן אלעזר's rule that 'all domains of גוים are one' is lenient or strict, and a ברייתא shows it is strict, because of cheaters. רבא then rules on two real cases that turn on fear: a sharecropper who fears his powerful master will cover for him, and a גוי who would be caught as a thief will not touch the wine. The amud ends with the closing line of פרק רבי ישמעאל.

Opening lines

בְּחָצֵר אַחֶרֶת — מוּתָּר,

If he lives in another courtyard, it is permitted,

וְהוּא שֶׁמַּפְתֵּחַ וְחוֹתָם בְּיָדוֹ.

provided that the key and seal are in his hand.

הַמְטַהֵר יֵינוֹ שֶׁל גּוֹי בִּרְשׁוּתוֹ,

One who makes a gentile's wine pure, in his domain,

וְיִשְׂרָאֵל דָּר בְּאוֹתָהּ חָצֵר — מוּתָּר,

and a Jew lives in that same courtyard: it is permitted,

The steps (23)

  1. StatementDifferent courtyard: permitted only with key or seal
  2. StatementWine in the non-Jew's domain with a Jew in the same courtyard
  3. Statementרבי יוחנן corrects the wording: no key or seal needed
  4. Statementרבי מאיר: different courtyard is forbidden even with key and seal
  5. StatementThe חכמים require a guard or an appointed checker
  6. QuestionWhich clause are the חכמים arguing on?
  7. RejectionNot the last clause: the תנא קמא already forbids there
  8. RejectionNot the first part of the last clause: רבי יוחנן permits there
  9. ResponseThe חכמים argue on the different-courtyard case in the first clause
  10. ChallengeA watcher on a fixed schedule is a weakness
  11. ResolutionFix the wording: a watcher who does not come at set times
  12. Statementרבי שמעון בן אלעזר: all gentile domains are one
  13. QuestionLenient or strict?
  14. ResponseTwo reports from זעירי: lenient or strict
  15. Responseרב יהודה's reading: the תנא קמא forbids even in another gentile's domain
  16. Responseרב יהודה's reading: רבי שמעון בן אלעזר permits in another gentile's domain
  17. Responseרב נחמן's reading: the תנא קמא permits in another gentile's domain
  18. Responseרב נחמן's reading: רבי שמעון בן אלעזר forbids in all gentile domains
  19. ProofA ברייתא supports רב נחמן: 'because of the tricksters'
  20. StatementThe vizier's wine and the רבנן's first thought
  21. Rejectionרבא: fear makes the cover-up even more likely
  22. StatementA גוי found among a Jew's wine barrels
  23. ConclusionHadran — Closing the chapter רבי ישמעאל