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DAAT · LEVEL 4 — HALAKHA LE-MA'ASSE / PSAK

שולחן ערוך · יורה דעה

Siman 125 — Wine moved by a non-Jew's force: koaḥ and koaḥ koḥo — what an indirect act forbids, and what it does not — practical psika
סימן קכ״ה · הלכה למעשה
דין יין הבא מכח עובד כוכבים וכח כחו
פסק המחבר והרמ״א · הכרעת נושאי הכלים · הסקת ההלכה למקרים בני זמננו
⚖️ פסק הלכה ולמעשה ⚖️
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Halakha le-ma'asse — the practical psika

From the ruling of the Mehaber and the Rama, through the arbitration of the Taz, the Shach,
the Pitchei Teshuva and the Rambam, down to the bottle standing on our table

Subject:
שולחן ערוך יורה דעה סימן קכ״ה (י״א סעיפים)
עם נושאי הכלים: ט״ז, ש״ך, פתחי תשובה, רמב״ם

⚠ Level warning:
This level is not “Daat HaRav”: the Shulchan Arukh HaRav
(the Alter Rebbe) does not cover Yoreh De'ah, and therefore not Siman 125.
This is a level of practical psika: what one does, and whom one asks.

Written and studied by:
הרב יוסף חיים סממה · DAAT

How to read this level. Every statement here is anchored either in the language of the Shulchan Arukh and its nossei kelim (Taz, Shach, Pitchei Teshuva), or in a named and checkable posek (Rambam, Gemara Avodah Zarah). In Yoreh De'ah there is no Mishna Berura (which comments only on Orach Chaim) and no Shulchan Arukh HaRav / Daat HaRav (the Alter Rebbe did not write Yoreh De'ah). The Arukh HaShulchan is not cited here: his text on this siman is not accessible to us, and one does not quote what one cannot verify. Siman 125 is short — eleven seifim — yet it governs very concrete situations, and above all mechanical ones: a tap, a pump, a dosing device, a moving arm. Where the question runs past the siman, this level says so and stops: halakha le-ma'asse goes through your Rav.

📑 תוכן העניינים

  1. שורש הסימן — מגע, כחו, כח כחו (עבודה זרה ס׳ ע״א)
  2. פסק המחבר והרמ״א — מפת הסימן בי״א סעיפים
  3. כחו של עובד כוכבים — הגבהה, הטייה, פתיחת ברז (סעיף א׳)
  4. נצוק בכח — מה שנשאר בכלי (סעיף א׳ וההגה)
  5. כח כחו וכח כח כחו — סף שלוש הכחות (סעיף ב׳)
  6. כח מעורב ומסייע שאין בו ממש — שניים שעירו (סעיפים ג׳–ד׳)
  7. שלא בכוונה ובמלאכתו הוא עוסק — (סעיפים א׳, ד׳, י״א)
  8. זריקה, ענבים ומזיגת מים — (סעיפים ה׳–ז׳)
  9. עירוי, נשיאה ושמירה — (סעיפים ח׳–י״א)
  10. יין מבושל וסתם יינם בזמן הזה — שני מפתחות מעשיים
  11. מקרים מודרניים — בקבוק, ברז, משאבה, מלצר
  12. סיכום מעשי — טבלאות, קישורים, ולמעשה שאל את רבך

📜 The text of the Shulchan Arukh — Seif Alef

דין יין הבא מכח עובד כוכבים וכח כחו. ובו י״א סעיפים:
נטל עובד כוכבים כלי של יין והגביהו ויצא היין אף על פי שלא שכשך נאסר בשתייה שהרי היין בא מכחו ומה שנשאר בכלי אסור גם כן משום נצוק. (וי״א דלא אסרינן נצוק בכח עובד כוכבים) (טור והרא״ש ומרדכי ור״ן בשם רש״י ותוספות וראב״ן ותשובת מיי׳ המ״א סימן י״א) (ומכל מקום יש להחמיר אם לא בהפסד מרובה כדלקמן סימן קכ״ו) ואם הוא שלא בכוונה שלא ידע שהוא יין (או שלא הגביה הכלי) (בית יוסף סימן קכ״ד) הכל מותר אפי׳ בשתייה:

The founding case. A non-Jew took a vessel of wine, lifted it, and the wine came out. He did not stir the wine and he did not touch it — and nevertheless the wine is forbidden to drink, because it came from his force (מכחו). What remains in the vessel is forbidden as well, on account of nitzok, the stream that links what pours out to what stays behind.

The two glosses of the Rama. First a disagreement: some hold that there is no nitzok for the mere force of a non-Jew — and yet one should be strict, except where the loss would be great (see siman 126). Then a limit: if the act was unintentional — he did not know it was wine, or he did not lift the vessel — everything is permitted, even to drink.

— Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De'ah 125:1 · Sefaria YD 125:1

1. שורש הסימן — touch, koaḥ, koaḥ koḥo

Three degrees, not two. Siman 124 dealt with touch (מגע): the non-Jew touches the wine and stirs it. Our siman deals with the next degree, where he touches nothing at all: the wine moves because of his act. The Gemara sets out both storeys in a single line — « בכחו כולי עלמא לא פליגי דאסיר כי פליגי בכח כחו » (עבודה זרה ס׳ ע״א): as to his force, all forbid; the debate concerns only the force of his force.
The case in the Gemara is already ours. Rav Papa states the standard situation: « גוי אדנא וישראל אכובא חמרא אסיר מאי טעמא כי קאתי מכח גוי קאתי » (עבודה זרה ס׳ ע״א) — the non-Jew holds the barrel and the Jew holds the tub: the wine is forbidden, because as it comes it comes from the force of the non-Jew. Conversely, if the Jew holds the barrel and the non-Jew the tub, the wine is permitted; but the Gemara at once adds ואי מצדד צדודי אסיר — if he tilts the tub toward the stream, it is forbidden again. Our seif 8 is an exact restatement of these two lines.

The ḥakira of the siman: what is koaḥ?

Two readings run through the nossei kelim. (a) Koaḥ would be a kind of mediate touch: he touched the wine through the vessel. That is the reading the Bach offers for the case of the spigot, and the Shach rejects it with three arguments (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ג). (b) Koaḥ would be a prohibition of its own, a rabbinic safeguard — לך לך אמרינן נזירא — independent of any touching; that is how the Taz reads Rashi on our daf (ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק א). The decisive nafka mina: is lifting required for koaḥ? On reading (a) presumably yes; on reading (b) certainly not — and that is the view the Taz and the Shach impose on seif 1, against the gloss of the Rama.

כלל הפסק של הסימן:
כל שהיין בא מכחו של עובד כוכבים — נאסר בשתייה, אף שלא נגע ולא שכשך. כח כחו ככחו דמי, וכח כח כחו מותר בדיעבד. שלושה דברים מוציאים מכלל כחו: כשהיה שלא בכוונה, כשהוא מסייע שאין בו ממש — שהיין היה מקלח בלאו הכי — וכשכח ישראל מעורב עמו בדיעבד. ולכתחלה אסור בכל אלו.

2. פסק המחבר והרמ״א — the map of the eleven seifim

Siman 125 has eleven seifim — that is the count announced by the heading (ובו י״א סעיפים) and it is the actual count of the text. The Mehaber carries the whole siman; the Rama glosses twice only, at seif 1 and at seif 4, plus one short addition at seif 10. Here is the overall map, as it emerges from the text itself.

SeifSubjectRuling (anchored in the text)
1the founding caseHe lifts a vessel and the wine comes out, without stirring or touching: forbidden to drink, since it came from his force; what remains is forbidden משום נצוק. Rama: some do not apply nitzok to the mere force of a non-Jew — yet one should be strict, except where the loss is great (siman 126). And if it was unintentional — he did not know it was wine, or he did not lift the vessel — everything is permitted, even to drink.
2כח כחוThe force of his force is like his force. But the force of the force of his force — for instance the beam of the winepress that he set turning, where three forces are at work: the boards, the wheel and the beam — is permitted bediavad, even to drink.
3mixed forceThe force of the Jew and the force of the non-Jew mixed together — both poured at once: permitted bediavad, and even if the non-Jew could have poured alone without the Jew's help. Provided the Jew who helps is an adult; a young child does not count, since he is a מסייע שאין בו ממש.
4the wine already flowingThe wine already streams from the barrel into the tub and the non-Jew lifts the cart so that the stream runs better: permitted. Rama: but if it would not have flowed without that lifting — forbidden; likewise if a Jew is decanting and a non-Jew jogs his hand: was it flowing anyway? permitted; if not, forbidden. And a non-Jew unloading a barrel who causes wine to come out from his force: permitted, since it is unintentional — במלאכתו הוא עוסק.
5a thrown objectHe threw a stone or an object into the wine: permitted even to drink. But if the object rolls and he pushes it until it falls into the wine: forbidden even for benefit. And if he did so in anger: permitted even to drink.
6grapes thrown into the pressHe brings grapes in baskets and in small vats and throws them into a press that holds trodden wine: permitted bediavad, even though there is in the vats wine that seeped from the grapes. And if a Jew helps him throw them in: permitted even lekhatchila.
7water poured into wineHe threw water into the wine: permitted even to drink, provided he does not aim to dilute it (מזיגה) — for instance he threw water into large barrels, or into a cup without knowing it was wine. But if he aims at mezigah: forbidden to drink. If his intent is unknown: permitted.
8decantingThe non-Jew pours from a vessel in his hand into one held by a Jew: what comes out is forbidden to drink. The Jew pours from his vessel into one held by a non-Jew: permitted even to drink — but if the non-Jew shook the vessel, the wine is forbidden.
9a skin carriedHe carried a skin of wine from place to place, holding its mouth closed in his hand: full or partly empty, permitted — even though the wine sloshes, since אין דרך ניסוך בכך.
10an open vessel carriedHe carries an open vessel with a Jew walking behind him: partly empty and unshaken — permitted to drink (וי״א even if shaken, וכן עיקר); full — forbidden for benefit, lest he touched it. If the Jew walks at his side and watches him, even full — permitted. Carried by two on a pole, or a bucket carried by its ring — permitted even when full. Rama: provided the Jew helped pass the pole through the ring, or saw it done.
11a barrel carriedA non-Jew carrying a barrel, even on his shoulder, and while walking wine comes out unintentionally: permitted to drink, including what came out — for on כחו שלא בכוונה the Sages issued no decree.

3. כחו של עובד כוכבים — lifting, tilting, opening a tap

נטל עובד כוכבים כלי של יין והגביהו ויצא היין אף על פי שלא שכשך נאסר בשתייה שהרי היין בא מכחו

— שולחן ערוך יו״ד קכ״ה:א
The source of the seif is the Rambam. The Mehaber copies the Rambam here almost word for word — « נָטַל כְּלִי שֶׁל יַיִן וְהִגְבִּיהוֹ וְיָצַק הַיַּיִן אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁלֹּא שִׁכְשֵׁךְ נֶאֱסַר שֶׁהֲרֵי בָּא הַיַּיִן מִכֹּחוֹ » (רמב״ם הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק י״ב הלכה ב). The Rambam adds the counterpart, which is decisive in practice: הִגְבִּיהַּ וְלֹא שִׁכְשֵׁךְ וְלֹא נָגַע מֻתָּר — if he lifted it without anything coming out, without stirring and without touching, it is permitted. Lifting a bottle is not in itself forbidden; what is forbidden is the wine that comes out of that act.

Must he have lifted it? The Rama on one side, the Taz and the Shach on the other

At seif 1 the Rama adds a parenthesis drawn from the Beit Yosef: if the non-Jew did not lift the vessel — he only tilted it — everything is permitted. Both nossei kelim of the siman reject that gloss, and they do so at length. The Shach opens with צ״ע בדין זה and proves from the Ramban, from Tosafot and from the Mordechai that tilting is enough (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ג). The Taz closes his first note, the longest in the siman, leaving no way out:

« ואין להקל כלל כאן בכח עובד כוכבים אפי׳ בלא הגבהה דמ״מ כח עובד כוכבים יש כאן »
— ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק א
The spigot — and therefore the tap. The proof that koaḥ needs no lifting stands one siman earlier: he who pulls the spigot out of a barrel, lifting nothing at all, brings the wine out by his force — אבל אם אינה עוברת כל עובי השולים בענין שאי אפשר לו לשכשך כשמוציא הוי כמו כחו (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ד:י״ד), and that seif itself refers explicitly to ours (ועיין לקמן סי׳ קכ״ה). The Shach and the Taz both use it against the Rama. Direct consequence: opening a tap, pulling a bung, releasing a spout — all of these are the case of the ברזא, koaḥ without the slightest lifting.

What seif 1 settles, and what it does not

  1. Koaḥ forbids drinking, not benefit. The seif says נאסר בשתייה, and no more: wine that came from the mere force of a non-Jew is not forbidden for benefit. That is a real gap from the intentional touch of siman 124.
  2. Lifting with nothing coming out does nothing. As long as no wine comes out and nothing is stirred, the Rambam says so expressly.
  3. “He only tilted it” is no heter. The Rama writes it; the Taz and the Shach reject it; in practice one does not rely on that parenthesis to permit.
  4. An unintentional act leaves the siman altogether. That is the end of seif 1, and it is the subject of section 7 below.

Le-ma'asse (the act upon the bottle). Three reflexes. (1) A non-Jew who moves a sealed bottle raises no question at all: that is seif 9 and רמב״ם הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק י״ב הלכה ד, below. (2) A non-Jew who pours, who opens a tap, or who tilts a bottle so that the wine runs, brings wine out by his force. (3) “He did not lift it, he only tipped it” is not an answer, the Taz and the Shach having set it aside. Even so the practical conclusion turns on two further facts — is the wine mevushal, and was the act intentional? — treated in sections 7 and 10. For the application to your situation, ask your Rav.

4. נצוק בכח — what stays in the vessel

ומה שנשאר בכלי אסור גם כן משום נצוק. (וי״א דלא אסרינן נצוק בכח עובד כוכבים) (טור והרא״ש ומרדכי ור״ן בשם רש״י ותוספות וראב״ן ותשובת מיי׳ המ״א סימן י״א) (ומכל מקום יש להחמיר אם לא בהפסד מרובה כדלקמן סימן קכ״ו)

— שולחן ערוך יו״ד קכ״ה:א (המחבר וההגה)
What nitzok is. When a liquid runs from an upper vessel into a lower one, the continuous column links the two: what is below forbids what is above. The Mehaber applies that rule here to koaḥ — since the wine that came out is forbidden, so is what remains in the bottle. Siman 126 is the proper place of nitzok; our seif says only one word about it, but that word governs the most practical question in the siman: is the whole bottle lost, or only the glass that was served?
The Shach's difficulty — three contradictions at once. The Shach opens his first note on this word and shows that the Shulchan Arukh contradicts itself three times: at siman 124 seif 14 he permitted what remained inside; at seif 8 of our siman he copies the language of the Tur, which forbids only what came out; and above all — nitzok applies only to wine forbidden for benefit (siman 126 seif 5), whereas here what came out is forbidden only to drink. He concludes וכן קשה על הרב וצ״ע (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק א).
Both nossei kelim are lenient, each in his own way. The Taz first notes that the wording of the Rama is imprecise:
« דבהפסד מרובה אפי׳ בניצוק גמור דהיינו ליין הנאסר במגע עובד כוכבים אנו מקילין »
— ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ד
« ולדידן הכל שרי במקום הפסד »
— ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק א

👈 In practice, on the nitzok of koaḥ

  1. The Mehaber, as written, forbids what remains in the bottle as well.
  2. The Rama brings the opposing view — Tur, Rosh, Mordechai, Ran in the name of Rashi and Tosafot — and then asks for stringency except where the loss is great.
  3. The Taz observes that where the loss is great we are lenient even with a full nitzok; the Shach goes further and writes that for us everything is permitted where there is loss.
  4. The proper place of the question remains siman 126, to which the Rama himself refers here.

Le-ma'asse (the opened bottle). What the siman establishes clearly is that the question of the glass poured and the question of the bottle left are two distinct questions, and that the second is lighter than the first. What it does not establish is the threshold of a “great loss”, nor the law of an expensive bottle, a cask, a whole vat. That is exactly the kind of question that goes to a Rav, not to a table.

5. כח כחו וכח כח כחו — the threshold of three forces

כח כחו ככחו דמי ואם הוא כח כח כחו כגון קורת הגת שגלגלה עובד כוכבים שיש שם ג׳ כחות הדפין והגלגל והקורה בדיעבד מותר אפילו בשתייה:

— שולחן ערוך יו״ד קכ״ה:ב
How forces are counted. The seif gives no definition; it gives a measurable example: the beam of the winepress. The non-Jew turns the wheel; the wheel drives the beam; the beam presses the boards; the wine runs. Three links between his hand and the wine — הדפין והגלגל והקורה — and the wine is permitted bediavad, even to drink. At two links, כח כחו, we are still within koaḥ: כח כחו ככחו דמי. The threshold is therefore not “direct versus indirect”, but a count.
And lekhatchila? The Shach shuts the door in a single line: the heter of the three forces is a heter after the fact, and it does not grow more permitted by multiplying links.
« אבל לכתחלה אסור אפילו בעשרה כחות ויותר »
— ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ד

🔍 The question the siman opens and does not close: the machine

A beam press is a mechanism, and the siman treats it as one: it counts its organs. The temptation is strong to apply the same count to a pump, a dispenser, an electric doser, an electronically controlled tap. But the count in the seif assumes that the links are visible and countable, and that the initial force is a man's own. In a modern appliance the force that moves the wine is not his at all: it comes from the motor, and his act is only a trigger. The siman says nothing about that case — neither to forbid nor to permit — and the neighbouring categories one would have to summon (גרמא, כח שני, indirect action) are not present here. This level stops here: that is a question for a posek, not a deduction.

Le-ma'asse (mechanisms, pumps, automatic taps). Take from the siman what it actually gives: lekhatchila one does not arrange the thing — the Shach writes it for ten forces as for three; and bediavad, the number of links is a recognised criterion, but its application to a motor, a solenoid valve or a racking system is written nowhere in this siman. A winery installation, a bar dispenser, the tap of a cask operated by a non-Jewish employee: these are questions to be asked as they stand, with an exact description of the mechanism. Ask your Rav.

6. כח מעורב ומסייע שאין בו ממש — pouring together, and wine already flowing

אם כח ישראל וכח עובד כוכבים מעורבים יחד כגון ששניהם עירו ביחד מותר בדיעבד ואפילו אם היה העובד כוכבים יכול לבדו לערות בלא סיוע ישראל והוא שיהא הישראל המסייע גדול אבל אם היה נער קטן אסור משום דהוי מסייע שאין בו ממש:

— שולחן ערוך יו״ד קכ״ה:ג
Two hands on the same act. When the force of the Jew and that of the non-Jew are mixed, the wine no longer came from the force of the non-Jew alone: permitted bediavad. The seif carries the heter far — even if the non-Jew could have poured by himself. It sets only one condition, and it is a condition of fact: that the Jew who helps be an adult. The help of a young child weighs nothing — מסייע שאין בו ממש — and the wine comes once more from the force of the non-Jew alone.

How far the heter reaches, and where it stops

The Shach extends the heter one step: even if the Jew alone could not have done it, it is permitted bediavad — so the Rashba in Torat HaBayit and so the Ran; and the Darkhei Moshe distinguishes it from the case of the child, where it is evident that the non-Jew does the essential part (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ו). The Taz explains the logic: even though the non-Jew has the greater strength, once the Jew also bears part of the load, who will tell us that within the force needed the non-Jew's share is the larger? (ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ו). Yet both bound the heter in the very same way:

« אבל לכתחלה אסור אפילו הישראל יכול והעובד כוכבים אינו יכול »
— ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ה
« וכל זה דוקא בדיעבד אבל לכתחלה אסור »
— ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ו

Wine that was already flowing — seif 4

אם היין מקלח מהחבית שבעגלה לתוך הכובא והעובד כוכבים מגביה העגלה כדי שיקלח היין יותר יפה מותר: הגה אבל אם לא היה מקלח בלא הגבהת עובד כוכבים אסור והוא הדין אם ישראל מריק מכלי אל כלי ובא עובד כוכבים ומנענע ידו של הישראל אם היה היין מקלח בלאו הכי שרי (סברת הרב לחלק במה שכתב המרדכי בשם ר׳ פרץ) ואם לאו אסור.

— שולחן ערוך יו״ד קכ״ה:ד (המחבר וההגה)
The criterion of seif 4 is clear, and it is a criterion of fact. Was the wine already flowing without the non-Jew's act? If so, his act produced nothing: he merely improved a flow that already existed — mesayea she'ein bo mamash. If not, his act is what made it flow, and that is plain koaḥ. The Shach gives the reason in so many words:
« כיון דבלא״ה היה נמי היין מקלח ולא הועיל מעשה העובד כוכבים אלא שעי״כ מקלח יותר יפה א״כ מותר דהוי מסייע שאין בו ממש »
— ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ז

👈 הלכה למעשה — the two questions to ask

  1. Was a Jew holding as well? If the Jew pours and the non-Jew helps him — two hands on the bottle, a hand upon his hand — the wine is permitted bediavad, provided the Jew is an adult. Lekhatchila, no.
  2. Was the wine already flowing? If it would have flowed in any case, the act of the non-Jew does not forbid it; if it flowed only because of him, that is koaḥ. The Rama applies the same criterion where the non-Jew jogs the hand of the Jew while he pours.
  3. In both cases this is a heter of bediavad. One does not arrange a service in which a non-Jew pours “together with” a Jew.

7. שלא בכוונה ובמלאכתו הוא עוסק — intent, and what our era changed

עובד כוכבים שנושא חבית אפילו על כתיפו ובלכתו יצא מהיין לחוץ שלא בכוונה מותר בשתייה אפילו מה שיצא לחוץ דכחו שלא בכוונה לא גזרו:

— שולחן ערוך יו״ד קכ״ה:י״א
The rule of the siman, in one formula. The last seif states the principle that runs through the whole siman: כחו שלא בכוונה לא גזרו. The decree upon the force of a non-Jew bears upon an intentional act; where he did not know, or did not aim at the wine, there is no decree at all — and what came out is permitted along with the rest. Seif 1 had already said as much from its own side: ואם הוא שלא בכוונה שלא ידע שהוא יין — everything is permitted, even to drink. And the Rambam frames it as a general rule, not as a particular case: « בָּא הַיַּיִן מִכֹּחוֹ שֶׁל עַכּוּ״ם בְּלֹא כַּוָּנָה הוֹאִיל וְלֹא נָגַע בַּיַּיִן הֲרֵי זֶה מֻתָּר בִּשְׁתִיָּה » (רמב״ם הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק י״ב הלכה ו).
The worker busy at his work. Seif 4 adds the reason that makes this category very wide in practice: a non-Jew who came to unload a barrel and causes wine to come out from his force — שרי דהוי שלא בכוונה דבמלאכתו הוא עוסק. One who is busy at his task does not aim at the wine: carrying, unloading, hauling, stacking. It is the same reasoning the Rama applies at siman 124, and it governs most situations of handling, delivery and service.

The gloss that changes everything — and its exact reach

ובזמן הזה דהאומות לאו עובדי עבודת כוכבים הם כל מגען מיקרי שלא בכוונה

— רמ״א יו״ד קכ״ד:כ״ד
The Shach leans on it three times in our siman. On nitzok — ולדידן הכל שרי במקום הפסד (ס״ק א); on the Rama's stringency at seif 1 — « אבל לדידן שרי כאן אפי׳ שלא במקום הפסד מרובה » (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ב); and on the dripping barrel, in the last note of the siman — « ולדידן פשוט דשרי » (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק כ״ב). The Taz uses it likewise on seif 8: « ולכל הפירושים אין בזה איסור לדידן דאנו מתירין מגע עובד כוכבים ע״י ד״א » (ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק י״ב).

Three limits that the texts themselves set

  1. This gloss belongs to the Rama, not to the Mehaber. The Shulchan Arukh did not write it, and the Rama gives it at siman 124 while adding ואין לפרסם הדבר בפני עם הארץ. That is a genuine dividing line between Sephardic psika, which follows the Mehaber, and Ashkenazi psika.
  2. It is conditional. Its wording is דהאומות לאו עובדי עבודת כוכבים הם: it holds where the condition holds. The Shach himself writes that the Rama spoke only מן הדין, and that there is a nafka mina where it is known that they are idolaters (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ב).
  3. It operates only after the fact. Nothing in the siman permits one to arrange for a non-Jew to touch or to pour. All the leniencies of this siman are written בדיעבד, and the Shach and the Taz repeat אבל לכתחלה אסור.

Le-ma'asse (intent). Three situations are clearly distinct. (1) He did not know it was wine: seif 1 permits, even for drinking. (2) He was busy at his task — a courier, a porter, an employee stacking crates: seif 4 permits. (3) He knowingly poured wine: that is the full case of the siman, and there the gloss of the Rama and the position of the Mehaber part ways. Knowing which situation you are in, and which psika you follow, is not a matter of text but of community and circumstance. Ask your Rav.

8. זריקה, ענבים ומזיגת מים — the thrown object, the grapes, the water

a) An object thrown into the wine (seif 5)

זרק אבן או חפץ לתוך היין מותר אפי׳ בשתייה אבל אם החפץ מתגלגל והוא דוחהו עד שנופל לתוך היין אסור אפילו בהנאה ואם עשה כן בחמתו מותר אפי׳ בשתיה:

— שולחן ערוך יו״ד קכ״ה:ה
Three cases in one line. Throwing an object into the wine: the wine did not come from his force and he moved nothing — permitted even to drink. Pushing a rolling object until it falls into the wine: forbidden even for benefit, which is stricter than ordinary koaḥ — a sign that the siman sees something here other than force. And doing so in anger: permitted even to drink, since an angry man makes no libation. The third case comes from the Mishna: נָטַל אֶת הֶחָבִית וּזְרָקָהּ בַּחֲמָתוֹ לַבּוֹר, זֶה הָיָה מַעֲשֶׂה וְהִכְשִׁירוּ (עבודה זרה ס׳ ע״ב).

Why is the pushed object so severe? The Taz decides

The Taz brings from the Beit Yosef two readings of the Rosh. On the first, the reason is lest he touched: we fear he touched the wine with his hand. On the second, this is an intentional touch by means of an object, forbidden even for benefit. The nafka mina bears on us directly, says the Taz: since we are lenient about touch by means of an object (siman 124), on the second reading nothing would be forbidden today, whereas on the first the prohibition stands. His conclusion is an explicit stringency, valid even in our era:

« ועל כן נראה דיש לחוש לפירוש הראשון ולאסור אף לדידן בזורק שלא בחמתו והחפץ מתגלגל ודוחהו עד היין כל שלא ברור שלא נגע ביד »
— ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ז

b) Grapes thrown into the winepress (seif 6)

עובד כוכבים שהביא ענבים בסלים ובדרדורי׳ (פי׳ רש״י גיגיות קטנות) וזרקן לגת שיש בו יין דרוך מותר בדיעבד אף על פי שיש בדרדורים יין שזב מהענבים שבהם ואם ישראל מסייע לעובד כוכבים בזריקתו לגת מותר אפילו לכתחלה:

— שולחן ערוך יו״ד קכ״ה:ו
Why it is permitted, and why only bediavad. The juice that seeped from the grapes into the small vats does not yet have the status of wine — it has not been drawn into the press. The Shach says so and gives the reason for the restriction lekhatchila: we fear it will be assimilated to the pouring of real wine.
« ולכתחלה אסור אטו שפיכת יין גמור »
— ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ט
The end of the seif is an inverted mesayea. If a Jew helps the non-Jew throw the grapes, it is permitted even lekhatchila: the concern of lekhatchila falls away once the act is no longer that of the non-Jew alone. It is the same mechanism as seif 3, running the other way — and it is, in the whole siman, the only heter written אפילו לכתחלה.

c) Water added to the wine (seif 7)

עובד כוכבים שזרק מים לתוך היין מותר אפילו בשתיה והוא שאינו מכוין למוזגו כגון שזרק מים לחביות גדולות או לכוס ולא ידע שהוא יין אבל אם מכוין למזוג אסור בשתייה ואם אינו ידוע אם כוון למזיגה אם לאו מותר:

— שולחן ערוך יו״ד קכ״ה:ז
Two reasons to permit, and one reason to forbid. Pouring water into wine is not a touch — he did not touch the wine — and nitzok does not apply either, since it links only wine to wine and not water to wine: the Shach derives this from the Tur, the Rosh and the Rashba, and concludes that even if he touched the water it is permitted (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק י). What forbids, then, is not the act but the intent to dilute — mezigah, which is a way of dealing with the wine itself.

The Shach's remark — and it bears on our own usage

The Ran forbade in a cup even for a little water, because habits of mezigah vary from man to man. The Shach bounds that stringency by a statement of fact about his country and his time:

« ונראה דבארצות האלו שאין דרך למזוג בכוס שרי אא״כ ידוע שכוונתו היתה למזיגה »
— ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק י״א

Le-ma'asse (water, ice, a carafe). The siman gives the criterion — does he aim to dilute the wine? — and doubt leans toward leniency (ואם אינו ידוע אם כוון למזיגה אם לאו מותר). The Shach adds that where diluting wine is not the custom, the act is permitted unless the intent is known. Even so, “adding water”, “adding ice”, “filling a carafe” and “lengthening a drink” are not necessarily one and the same act. Ask your Rav.

9. עירוי, נשיאה ושמירה — pouring, carrying, watching

a) Who holds what (seif 8)

עובד כוכבים שמערה מכלי שבידו לכלי שביד ישראל היוצא אסור בשתייה וישראל שמערה מכלי שבידו לכלי שביד עובד כוכבים מותר אפילו בשתייה ואם נדנד העובד כוכבים הכלי נאסר היין:

— שולחן ערוך יו״ד קכ״ה:ח
This is the Gemara, word for word. The seif takes up the two limbs of Rav Papa (עבודה זרה ס׳ ע״א): whoever holds the vessel from which the wine departs gives the wine his force; whoever holds the vessel into which it arrives does nothing — unless he moves his vessel. The Shach notes that according to the Rama (siman 124 seif 18) one must understand here that he lifted the vessel and shook it, for otherwise there is no stirring (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ט״ז).

Bringing the glass toward the stream: the three readings of the Taz

The Taz devotes his twelfth note to one who brings his vessel toward the stream — the מצדד אצדודי, as he reads the Gemara — and sets out three positions: the Rambam, for whom stirring forbids even without lifting; the Rosh, who requires lifting, save here where the act shows his intent — דמוכח שעושה כדי שהיין יתקבל מכח; and the Rashba with the Raavad, for whom this is a touch by way of the wall of the vessel. He concludes that for us, who are lenient about mediate touch, none of the three forbids — and the Pitchei Teshuva adds at once that according to the Noda BiYehuda (תניינא יו״ד סימן ע׳) this conclusion of the Taz does not hold against every opinion (פתחי תשובה יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק א).

b) Carrying a sealed vessel (seif 9)

העביר העובד כוכבים נוד של יין ממקום למקום והוא אוחז פי הנאד בידו בין שהיה הנוד מלא או חסר מותר ואע״פ שהיין מתנדנד שאין דרך ניסוך בכך:

— שולחן ערוך יו״ד קכ״ה:ט
The most useful seif in the siman, in practice. A sealed vessel carried by a non-Jew raises no question, even though the wine sloshes: אין דרך ניסוך בכך. The Rambam turns this into a general rule — « כְּלִי סָתוּם מֻתָּר לְטַלְטְלוֹ הָעַכּוּ״ם מִמָּקוֹם לְמָקוֹם וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהַיַּיִן מִתְנַדְנֵד שֶׁאֵין זֶה דֶּרֶךְ הַנִּסּוּךְ » (רמב״ם הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק י״ב הלכה ד). The Shach states the condition of the ruling: והיינו שהוא סתום דאל״כ אסור משום שכשוך (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק י״ז) — and he adds that we do not suspect touching either, since the mouth of a skin is narrow (ס״ק י״ח). The Taz gives the underlying reason: דכיון דנושא דרך הילוכו לא מקרי דרך ניסוך בכך (ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק י״ג).

c) Carrying an open vessel (seif 10)

היה נושא כלי פתוח ובו יין וישראל הולך אחריו אם הוא חסר ולא שכשכו מותר בשתייה (וי״א דאפילו שכשכו בכלי שרי כאן) (רשב״א והראב״ד והרא״ש ור״ן) (וכן עיקר) ואם הוא מלא אסור בהנאה שמא נגע בו ואם הישראל הולך בצדו ונטר ליה אפילו מלא מותר שא״א לו ליגע שלא יראנו ואם היה נושא הכלי במוט בשנים אפילו מלא והישראל הולך אחריו מותר וה״ה לנושא דלי דרך טבעתו (תוספות וסה״ת וסמ״ק): הגה ובלבד שהישראל סייעו כשהכניס המוט בטבעת הכלי (מרדכי בשם ראבי״ה) או שראה כשהכניסו העובד כוכבים שלא נגע:

— שולחן ערוך יו״ד קכ״ה:י (המחבר וההגה)
The open vessel: the fear changes its nature. Here we no longer fear force but the hand. Hence the logic of the seif: full — forbidden for benefit, since he could have dipped his hand in; partly empty — permitted, since he cannot reach the wine. The Shach resolves the apparent contradiction with siman 124: a wide vessel is not readily shaken, lest it spill, and that is why the Rama rules here וכן עיקר that even shaken it is permitted, whereas siman 124 was speaking of a narrow vessel (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק י״ט).

👈 The three outcomes of seif 10

  1. The Jew walks beside him and watchesונטר ליה: permitted even when full, since he cannot touch without being seen. This is the simplest and the most transferable solution.
  2. Two bearers on a pole — permitted even when full, even with the Jew walking behind: the Shach gives the reason, שהיא רחוקה ממנו ואינו יכול ליגע בה (ס״ק כ׳). The same holds for a bucket carried by its ring.
  3. The Rama's condition — provided the Jew helped pass the pole through the ring, or saw it done without any touching. The Shach adds that if, through the tilting, wine spurted onto the non-Jew and fell back into the wine, it is permitted, דאין דרך ניסוך בכך (ס״ק כ״א).

Le-ma'asse (delivery, service, transport). The division of the siman is sharp and it transfers well: sealed, closed, corked — no question (seif 9); open and carried — the question is that of the hand, and the answer is watching (seif 10); poured — that is the question of koaḥ (seif 8). What the siman does not say: the law of a screw cap reopened, of a crown cap, of a seal broken and put back, of wine in a bag-in-box or in a pressurised cask. Ask your Rav.

10. יין מבושל וסתם יינם בזמן הזה — the two practical keys

Before applying siman 125, two questions come first. This whole siman presumes wine that can become forbidden. Two data from the block of yayin nesekh decide whether one enters the siman at all: is the wine mevushal (siman 123), and what reach does one give the gloss of the Rama about our era (siman 124)? Neither is written in siman 125 — and both govern almost every real case.

a) Mevushal wine

יין מבושל שלנו שנגע בו העובד כוכבים מותר ומאימתי נקרא מבושל משהרתיח על גבי האש

— שולחן ערוך יו״ד קכ״ג:ג
What that changes. The seif of siman 123 permits the direct touch of a non-Jew upon our cooked wine. Now the whole of siman 125 deals with a degree below touch — force without contact. If touching itself does not forbid, force forbids no more: this is an a fortiori argument, not a seif that could be quoted. Siman 123 also gives the threshold — משהרתיח על גבי האש, once it has boiled upon the fire.

What the siman does not say about mevushal. The threshold of siman 123 is a threshold of boiling upon the fire. Today's industrial processes — low pasteurisation, flash pasteurisation, in-line heat treatment, a “mevushal” mention on a label — are not described in the siman, and contemporary poskim do not all treat them alike. Whether a given wine carries the status of mevushal is a question of certification and of psak, not one this level can settle.

b) The gloss of the Rama, and the dividing line

QuestionThe position, with its source
The language of the MehaberIntentional koaḥ forbids drinking (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:א); what remains is forbidden משום נצוק; unintentional koaḥ is wholly permitted (seif 11). The Mehaber does not carry the gloss of siman 124 about our era: Sephardic psika starts from this language as it stands.
The gloss of the RamaAt siman 124 seif 24: today every touch of a non-Jew is deemed unintentional — whence the repeated leniencies of the Shach and the Taz in our siman. This is the footing of Ashkenazi psika on these seifim.
The ShachThree times in the siman: note 1 (nitzok — permitted where there is loss), note 2 (the koaḥ of seif 1 — permitted for us even where the loss is not great, the Rama having spoken only מן הדין), note 22 (the dripping barrel — ולדידן פשוט דשרי).
The TazLenient at note 12 on the מצדד אצדודי, but strict at note 1 (no heter for the absence of lifting) and at note 7 (the pushed object stays forbidden even for us, so long as it is not certain that he did not touch with his hand).
The Pitchei TeshuvaA single note on the whole siman, on the ואם נדנד of seif 8: according to the Noda BiYehuda (תניינא יו״ד סימן ע׳), the lenient conclusion of the Taz does not cover every opinion (פתחי תשובה יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק א).
Lekhatchila, for all of themThe Shach (notes 4, 5, 9) and the Taz (note 6) repeat that these leniencies are of bediavad. No text in the siman permits arranging the act in advance.

A note on method. This table cites only what stands written in the texts of the siman and of its two immediate neighbours. Contemporary streams of psika — Sephardic and Ashkenazi — extend these positions, but their application to the wines, the commercial chains and the mechanisms of today is not deduced from the seifim. To be confirmed with a Rav before any application.

11. מקרים מודרניים — siman 125 at our table

The five tools of the siman. (1) Koaḥ — did the wine come out because of his act? (seif 1). (2) The count of links — כח כחו / כח כח כחו (seif 2). (3) The mesayea — was it already flowing, and was a Jewish hand holding as well? (seifim 3-4). (4) Intent — did he know, did he aim at the wine, was he busy at his task? (seifim 1, 4, 11). (5) The opening — is the vessel sealed, and was a Jew watching? (seifim 9-10). What is not in this siman: nitzok in its own right (siman 126), mevushal (siman 123), the credibility of testimony (siman 127).
Modern caseTool of the simanOrientation (to be confirmed with your Rav)
A non-Jewish waiter moves a sealed bottle on the tableSeif 9 · רמב״ם הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק י״ב הלכה דA sealed vessel being carried: nothing is done — אין דרך ניסוך בכך. The wine sloshing inside is not a stirring.
He tilts the bottle, or tips it without lifting it, and wine runs outSeif 1 · Taz note 1 · Shach note 3That is koaḥ. The Rama's parenthesis (“he did not lift it”) is set aside by both nossei kelim of the siman: one does not rely on it to permit.
He opens a tap, a bung or a spout, and the wine flowsSeif 1 · שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ד:י״דThis is exactly the case of the ברזא, which siman 124 calls koaḥ and which refers explicitly to our siman. Lifting plays no part in it.
He presses a button, a pump, a solenoid valve, a dispenserSeif 2 (the links) — and beyond itThe siman supplies the principle of counting forces, but does not deal with a force that is no longer his own (motor, pressure, automaton). The categories one would need are not present here. A question to be asked as it stands, with a description of the mechanism.
He holds the glass while a Jew poursSeif 8Permitted even to drink — unless he shakes the glass, or brings it toward the stream (the מצדד אצדודי of Taz note 12, on which the Pitchei Teshuva enters a reservation).
A Jew and a non-Jew carry or pour togetherSeif 3 · Shach notes 5-6 · Taz note 6Permitted bediavad, even if the non-Jew could have managed alone — provided the Jew is an adult. Lekhatchila, no: this is not to be arranged.
The wine was already flowing and he rights the bottle, or jogs the pourer's handSeif 4 · Shach note 7Would it have flowed in any case? Then מסייע שאין בו ממש — permitted. If not, his act is what made it flow: koaḥ.
A courier, a porter, an employee stacking cratesSeif 4 · seif 11במלאכתו הוא עוסק and כחו שלא בכוונה: the siman permits, including what spilled — that is the explicit case of seif 11.
He adds water or ice to a glass of wineSeif 7 · Shach notes 10-11Permitted even to drink so long as he does not aim to dilute; doubt leans toward leniency. The Shach adds that where diluting is not the custom, a known intent is needed to forbid.
An open carafe carried by a non-Jew, with nobody watchingSeif 10Full — forbidden for benefit (fear that he touched); partly empty and unshaken — permitted to drink, and the Rama rules וכן עיקר that it is so even when shaken. A Jew walking beside him and watching settles the question even when it is full.
The wine is mevushalשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ג:גDirect touch is already permitted; all the more so mere force. But the “mevushal” status of an industrial wine belongs to certification and psak, not to the language of the siman.
What becomes of the rest of the bottle?Seif 1 (נצוק) · siman 126The Mehaber forbids what remains as well; the Rama brings the opposing view and is lenient only where the loss is great; the Shach and the Taz are more lenient still. The proper place of the question is siman 126.

Le-ma'asse. Before asking, gather the facts the siman requires, in this order: which wine (mevushal or not); the vessel (sealed, open, full, partly empty); the exact act (moved, tilted, poured, tap opened, button pressed); the intent (did he know it was wine, was he busy at his task); who else was acting (was an adult Jew holding too, was he watching); and what is at stake (a glass, a bottle, a cellar). With those six items the question becomes askable. Without them no table can answer — and with them, your Rav is the one who answers.

12. סיכום מעשי — summary and tables

טבלה — the measures of the siman, in practice

QuestionThe measure (in practice)Source
Wine that came out by his force, intentionallyForbidden to drink (not for benefit)שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:א ; רמב״ם הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק י״ב הלכה ב
Lifting with nothing coming outPermittedרמב״ם הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק י״ב הלכה ב
Tilting without liftingThe Rama permits; the Taz and the Shach reject the heterהגה יו״ד קכ״ה:א ; ט״ז ס״ק א ; ש״ך ס״ק ג
Opening a spigot or a tapKoaḥ — no lifting requiredשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ד:י״ד
What remains in the vesselForbidden משום נצוק; opposing view in the gloss; leniency where there is lossשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:א + הגה ; ש״ך ס״ק א ; ט״ז ס״ק ד
Two links (כח כחו)Like his force — forbiddenשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:ב
Three links (כח כח כחו)Permitted bediavad, even to drinkשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:ב
Lekhatchila, whatever the number of linksForbiddenש״ך יו״ד קכ״ה ס״ק ד
Jewish force and non-Jewish force mixedPermitted bediavad if the Jew is an adult; a child does not countשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:ג ; ש״ך ס״ק ה–ו ; ט״ז ס״ק ו
The wine was already flowingמסייע שאין בו ממש — permittedשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:ד ; ש״ך ס״ק ז
It would not have flowed without himForbiddenהגה יו״ד קכ״ה:ד
Busy at his work (unloading)Permitted — במלאכתו הוא עוסקהגה יו״ד קכ״ה:ד
An object thrown into the winePermitted even to drinkשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:ה
An object pushed as far as the wineForbidden even for benefit; the Taz upholds the stringency for usשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:ה ; ט״ז ס״ק ז
Done in angerPermitted even to drinkשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:ה ; עבודה זרה ס׳ ע״ב
Grapes thrown into the pressPermitted bediavad; with a Jew helping, even lekhatchilaשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:ו ; ש״ך ס״ק ט
Water thrown into the winePermitted even to drink, save an intent of mezigah; doubt → permittedשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:ז ; ש״ך ס״ק י–י״א
He pours and a Jew receivesWhat comes out is forbidden to drinkשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:ח
A Jew pours and he holds the vesselPermitted even to drink — unless he shook itשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:ח ; ש״ך ס״ק ט״ז ; ט״ז ס״ק י״ב
A sealed vessel carriedPermitted — אין דרך ניסוך בכךשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:ט ; רמב״ם הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק י״ב הלכה ד
An open vessel, full, unwatchedForbidden for benefit — שמא נגעשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:י
An open vessel, partly emptyPermitted to drink; וכן עיקר even if shakenשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:י ; ש״ך ס״ק י״ט
A Jew walking beside him and watchingPermitted even when fullשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:י
Carried by two, or a bucket by its ringPermitted even when full — under the Rama's conditionשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:י + הגה ; ש״ך ס״ק כ׳
Wine that came out while walking, unintentionallyPermitted to drink, including what came outשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ה:י״א ; ש״ך ס״ק כ״ב
Mevushal wineEven direct touch is permittedשו״ע יו״ד קכ״ג:ג

טבלה — who says what (the nossei kelim of the siman)

PosekDecisive contribution (anchored in the corpus)
Mehaber (eleven seifim)The founding case and nitzok (s.1); the count of forces (s.2); mixed force and the child (s.3); wine already flowing (s.4); the object thrown, pushed, thrown in anger (s.5); grapes into the press (s.6); water and mezigah (s.7); who holds what while pouring (s.8); the sealed vessel (s.9); the open vessel, full or partly empty, watched or not (s.10); wine that came out while walking (s.11).
Rama (glosses on s.1, s.4, s.10)s.1: the view that there is no nitzok for koaḥ, the stringency save where the loss is great, and the parenthesis “he did not lift the vessel”; s.4: the twofold distinction — would it not have flowed without him, and the non-Jew who jogs the hand of the Jew; s.10: וכן עיקר on the shaken vessel, and the condition about the pole through the ring.
Taz (טורי זהב, thirteen notes)Note 1: the longest in the siman — koaḥ requires no lifting, against the Beit Yosef and against the gloss of the Rama; note 4: the Rama's wording about great loss is imprecise; note 6: why mixed force is lenient, and that all this is bediavad; note 7: the pushed object stays forbidden even for us; note 9: the baskets, the vats and the winepress of his day; note 12: the three readings of the מצדד אצדודי; note 13: carrying as one walks is not a manner of libation.
Shach (שפתי כהן, twenty-two notes)Note 1: the threefold contradiction on nitzok, וצ״ע, and the leniency where there is loss; note 2: the Rama spoke only מן הדין; note 3: צ״ע on the parenthesis “without lifting”, refuted from the Ramban, from Tosafot and from the Mordechai; note 4: lekhatchila forbidden even at ten forces; notes 5-6: the bounds of the heter of mixed force; note 7: the reason of מסייע שאין בו ממש; note 9: the grapes, and lekhatchila; notes 10-11: water and mezigah in these lands; notes 16-19: the shaken vessel, the closed skin, the narrow mouth, the wide vessel; notes 20-22: the pole, the wine that spurts back, and the dripping barrel.
Pitchei Teshuva (note 1)A single note on the whole siman, on the ואם נדנד of seif 8: the lenient conclusion of the Taz does not cover every opinion, according to the Noda BiYehuda (תניינא יו״ד סימן ע׳).
Rambam (הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק י״ב)Halakha 2: the source of seif 1, together with its counterpart — he lifted and nothing came out, permitted; halakha 3: the vessel held on the ground and the shaking, source of seif 8; halakha 4: the sealed vessel carried about, source of seif 9; halakha 6: unintentional koaḥ, as a general rule.
Gemara (עבודה זרה ס׳)60a: גוי אדנא וישראל אכובא, the מצדד צדודי, the skin carried, and the line that founds the siman — בכחו כולי עלמא לא פליגי דאסיר, כי פליגי בכח כחו; 60b: the Mishna of the barrel thrown in anger, זה היה מעשה והכשירו.

Sefaria links (the text and its nossei kelim)

Shulchan Arukh YD 125: 125:1 · 125:2 · 125:4 · 125:8 · 125:10
Taz (Turei Zahav): 125 s.k. 1 · 125 s.k. 7 · 125 s.k. 12
Shach (Siftei Kohen): 125 s.k. 1 · 125 s.k. 3 · 125 s.k. 7
Pitchei Teshuva: 125 s.k. 1
Rambam: מאכלות אסורות י״ב:ב · י״ב:ד · י״ב:ו
Gemara: עבודה זרה ס׳ ע״א · עבודה זרה ס׳ ע״ב
Neighbouring simanim: YD 123:3 (mevushal) · YD 124:14 (the spigot) · YD 124:24 (the gloss of the Rama)

👈 הלכה למעשה — the golden rule of this level

  1. In substance, hold on to the single line of the siman: wine that came from the force of a non-Jew is forbidden to drink, even though he neither touched nor stirred it — and that prohibition falls away once the act is unintentional.
  2. The threshold of links — two forces are still his force; three are permitted bediavad — is a criterion of the siman, not a universal key: the Shach forbids lekhatchila even at ten forces.
  3. Two acts do nothing: moving a sealed vessel, and improving a flow that already existed. Two acts do everything: pouring, and opening whatever holds the wine back.
  4. The chief practical conclusion of the siman is the Shach's: since the non-Jews of today are not idolaters, whatever is forbidden only for drinking is permitted for us, at the least במקום הפסד — he writes it in his first note and repeats it in his second, where he even adds that the Rama spoke only מן הדין. This is a conclusion of the Rama and his nossei kelim, not of the Mehaber; it stays a matter of bediavad, and it assumes the condition it states.
  5. An open vessel changes the question: we no longer fear force but the hand — and a Jew walking beside it and watching is enough to remove that fear.
  6. And for every real case — mevushal or not, a tap, a pump, a mechanism, an opened bottle, a whole cellar — halakha le-ma'asse goes through your Rav: ask your Rav.

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⚠️ This content is for study. The contemporary streams of psika cited (Sephardic and Ashkenazi) are landmarks, not a personal ruling. For any practical application (לְמַעֲשֶׂה), consult a qualified Rav.

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