The stream of wine running from one vessel into another: the condition האסור בהנאה of seif 1, the קיטוף that breaks the flow, נצוק בר נצוק, the threshold of הפסד מרובה and the Rama's measure, wine poured onto refuse and the non-Jew who touches the stream, the unrinsed vessel and the line of משקה טופח, the קיתון of water and the גת of seif 7 (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 126 — 7 seifim)
שהרי העמוד הנצוק מחבר בין היין שבכלי העליון ובין היין שבכלי התחתון
For the poured column joins the wine in the upper vessel and the wine in the lower vessel. Nobody has touched anything: it is the continuity of the stream that makes the two wines a single body.
Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 126:1LEVEL 01
The Hebrew text of the 7 seifim with a fluent English translation. The stream that connects, the act that cuts it, the threshold of loss, the unrinsed vessel and nullification in sixty — explained step by step with concrete examples.
📖 StudyLEVEL 02
In-depth pilpul: the definition of nitzok — a chain of contact or the law of a mixture, the dispute of Rashi, the Rif and Rabbenu Tam as reported by the Tur, the Taz's reading of the Beit Yosef's objections, and the Shach's twofold question on the סלק את מינו of seif 7.
📖 StudyLEVEL 03
Two master tables (when nitzok connects, and the four acts that cut it), golden rules, the mnemonic « נצוק », classic traps and a line-by-line recap of the 7 seifim.
📖 StudyLEVEL 04
Practical halacha according to the ש״ך, the ט״ז and the פתחי תשובה, then the poskim. Note: the Admur HaZaken did not write a Shulchan Aruch on Yoreh De'ah — this is a level of psak, not “Daat HaRav”.
📖 StudyWhen wine is poured from one vessel into another, the falling column of liquid touches the wine above and the wine below at once. The Shulchan Aruch treats it as a bridge: « המערה יין לתוך כלי שיש בו יין עובד כוכבים האסור בהנאה נאסר כל היין שבכלי העליון » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ו:א). The forbidden wine below is then regarded as mixed into the permitted wine above, and the entire upper vessel becomes forbidden. Nobody touched anything: it is a pure question of continuity. For halacha le-ma'aseh, ask your Rav.
No, and that is the key to the siman. Seif 1 requires the wine below to be אסור בהנאה, forbidden even for benefit. The Shach flags it in his very first ס״ק and makes it the reason for the leniency of seif 5: « שלא אמרו נצוק חבור אלא המערה לתוך יי״נ האסור בהנאה » (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ו ס״ק ט). Wine forbidden only for drinking therefore creates no nitzok — which is why one who pours into a non-Jew's merely unrinsed vessel keeps the wine above permitted even for drinking. For halacha le-ma'aseh, ask your Rav.
In two ways, plus two escapes. The first is physical: interrupt the flow before it reaches the forbidden wine — « ואם עירה וקיטף שקודם שנגע בשל האיסור הפסיק קלוח היורד מהיין של היתר מותר » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ו:א). This is the remedy the gemara already gave the wine sellers, and which the Rambam set down as law. The second is conceptual: the link is not passed down a rung — נצוק בר נצוק אינו חבור (seif 3). To these are added substantial loss (seif 2) and wine poured onto a filthy place (seif 4). For halacha le-ma'aseh, ask your Rav.
Seif 2 suspends nitzok once there is הפסד מרובה, and gives the example of what was drawn from a barrel. The Rama fixes the measure, and it is a narrow one: « וכל מה שהוא בקנקן או בכוס מקרי הפסד מועט » (רמ״א יו״ד קכ״ו:ב). The quantity left in the barrel is irrelevant, and the loss still counts as substantial even if the wine can still be sold to a non-Jew. The Rama stresses that this leniency belongs to yayin nesekh: for other prohibitions, the possibility of resale means the loss is not substantial. For halacha le-ma'aseh, ask your Rav.
A mixture, and that decides the last three seifim. The Taz establishes it in the Rashba's name: « ומ״מ לכ״ע הנצוק אינו כמגע עובד כוכבים אלא כתערובות יין » (ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ו ס״ק ו). Hence the measures of the siman: the Rama at seif 5 says nitzok forbids no more than a mixture and that stam yeinam is nullified in sixty; seif 6 requires sixty of water against the wine in the צלוחית; and seif 7 permits the גת if the pips, skins and grapes amount to sixty against the stream that was touched. For halacha le-ma'aseh, ask your Rav.