Wine a non-Jew sets moving without ever touching it: the ladder כחו · כח כחו · כח כח כחו and the קורת הגת, the two conditions of seif 1, force mingled with a Jew's, מסייע שאין בו ממש, נצוק and the Shach's question, the stone thrown and the object pushed, water poured into wine, and the נוד and the open vessel carried on the road (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 125 — 11 seifim)
נטל עובד כוכבים כלי של יין והגביהו ויצא היין אף על פי שלא שכשך נאסר בשתייה שהרי היין בא מכחו
A non-Jew took a vessel of wine, lifted it and the wine came out: even though he did not stir it, the wine is forbidden to drink — because the wine came from his force. And yet he touched nothing at all.
Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 125:1LEVEL 01
The Hebrew text of the 11 seifim with a fluent English translation. Force without contact, the ladder of כחות, missing intent, mingled force and the cases on the road — explained step by step with concrete examples.
📖 StudyLEVEL 02
In-depth pilpul: the definition of כח — force in its own right or extended contact, the condition of lifting and the Taz's objection from Siman 123, the Shach's question on נצוק in wine permitted for benefit, מסייע שאין בו ממש, and the two explanations of the Rosh on a pushed object.
📖 StudyLEVEL 03
Three master grids (the ladder of forces, what breaks the כח, the two degrees of prohibition), golden rules, the mnemonic « כחו », classic pitfalls and a line-by-line recap of the 11 seifim.
📖 StudyLEVEL 04
The practical halacha according to the ש״ך, the ט״ז and the פתחי תשובה, and then the poskim. Note: the Admur HaZaken wrote no Shulchan Aruch on Yoreh De'ah — this is a level of psak, not “Daat HaRav”.
📖 StudySiman 124 judges contact: the non-Jew's hand on the wine or on the barrel. Siman 125 judges force, where there is no contact whatever: he lifts a vessel, and the wine flows out by itself. That is the opening clause of seif 1 — « נטל עובד כוכבים כלי של יין והגביהו ויצא היין אף על פי שלא שכשך נאסר בשתייה שהרי היין בא מכחו » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:א). The difference is not only mechanical but one of degree: contact forbids the wine even for benefit, whereas force, whose prohibition is rabbinic, forbids drinking alone. For halacha le-ma'aseh, ask your Rav.
What is counted is the number of intervening parts between his hand and the wine. One — כחו — forbids; two — כח כחו — likewise, since the Mehaber rules at the head of seif 2 that the force of his force is like his force. It is at the third degree that the chain breaks, and the Mehaber gives the example: « כגון קורת הגת שגלגלה עובד כוכבים שיש שם ג׳ כחות הדפין והגלגל והקורה » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:ב) — the boards, the wheel and the beam. And even then the seif permits only בדיעבד, the Shach noting that beforehand it is forbidden even at ten removes of force (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ד). For halacha le-ma'aseh, ask your Rav.
No. Seif 1 concludes that if he acted unintentionally, not knowing it was wine — or, according to the Rama in the name of the Beit Yosef, if he did not lift the vessel — everything is permitted, drinking included. Seif 11 says the same of a man carrying a barrel whose wine spills as he walks: « ובלכתו יצא מהיין לחוץ שלא בכוונה מותר בשתייה אפילו מה שיצא לחוץ דכחו שלא בכוונה לא גזרו » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:י״א). The Rama adds in seif 4 the non-Jew unloading a barrel: he is busy at his work, hence unintentional. The Taz warns, though, that the smell of an old wine may be enough to tell him (ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ה). For halacha le-ma'aseh, ask your Rav.
The Mehaber forbids what remains in the vessel as well, משום נצוק: the stream joining the wine above to the wine below makes the two one body. The Rama at once brings the opposing view — « וי״א דלא אסרינן נצוק בכח עובד כוכבים » (רמ״א יו״ד קכ״ה:א) — and then tempers it: one should be strict, except where the loss is great, as in Siman 126. The Shach, for his part, opens the siman with an objection of principle: נצוק operates only on wine forbidden for benefit, whereas here the wine that flowed out is forbidden only to drink; he ends in צ״ע (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק א), and the Taz finds the Rama's wording imprecise (ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ד). For halacha le-ma'aseh, ask your Rav.
The last four seifim leave the cellar. If he pours from his vessel into a Jew's, what flows out is forbidden to drink; if the Jew pours, everything is permitted; and if he shook the vessel, the wine is forbidden (seif 8). A skin carried by its mouth is permitted, full or not — « העביר העובד כוכבים נוד של יין ממקום למקום והוא אוחז פי הנאד בידו בין שהיה הנוד מלא או חסר מותר » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:ט). An open vessel, on the other hand, is forbidden even for benefit when it is full and the Jew walks behind — unless he walks beside him and keeps watch, or the vessel is carried by two on a pole (seif 10). For halacha le-ma'aseh, ask your Rav.