From the ruling of the Mehaber and the Rama, through the arbitration of the Taz,
the Shach and the Pitchei Teshuva, down to the employee left alone in the cellar
Subject:
שולחן ערוך יורה דעה סימן קכ״ט (כ׳ סעיפים)
עם נושאי הכלים: ט״ז, ש״ך, פתחי תשובה, רמב״ם
⚠ Level notice:
This level is not “Daat HaRav”: the Shulchan Aruch HaRav
(the Alter Rebbe) does not cover Yoreh De'ah, and therefore not Siman 129.
It 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 text of the Shulchan Aruch and its nossei kelim (Taz, Shach, Pitchei Teshuva), or in a named and checkable posek (Rambam, Gemara Avodah Zarah, Tur, Beit Yosef). On Yoreh De'ah there is no Mishnah Berurah (which comments only on Orach Chaim) and no Shulchan Aruch HaRav / Daat HaRav (the Alter Rebbe did not write Yoreh De'ah). The Aruch HaShulchan is not cited here: his text on this siman is not accessible to us, and one does not quote what one cannot verify — which says nothing about his printed work, which does cover this siman. Siman 129 is the longest of the yayin nesekh block — twenty seifim — and the most everyday: it is the siman of wine one leaves, for an hour or for a month, in a place someone else can enter. Where the question outgrows the siman — and the camera, the alarm and the electronic seal do outgrow it — this level says so and stops: halakha lema'asse goes through your Rav.
דין המניח יין ביד עובד כוכבים וישראל יוצא ונכנס (וכה״ג). ובו כ׳ סעיפים:
המניח עובד כוכבים בחנותו ויצא או שהיה לו יין בספינה או בקרון והניחו עם העובד כוכבי׳ והלך לו לבית (הכנסת) או לבית המרחץ או שהיה עובד כוכבים מעביר לו חבית יין ממקום למקום והניחו לבדו עם היין ויצא מותר … אפילו שהה זמן רב מפני שהוא ירא בכל שעה עתה יבא ויראני והוא שלא נודע שסגר העובד כוכבים החנות או שהרחיק הקרון והספינה בענין שאין יכולים לראותו …
The founding case. A non-Jew is left alone with wine: in the shop, on the boat, on the wagon, or carrying the barrel himself from place to place. The owner steps out — to the bathhouse, to the synagogue — and comes back. The Mehaber permits, even after a long absence, and the reason he gives is neither a lock nor a witness: « מפני שהוא ירא בכל שעה עתה יבא ויראני » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א). The permission rests not on what was seen, but on what the other man feared.
And at once, the two conditions. It must not be known that he closed the shop, nor that he moved the wagon or the boat out of sight. The whole siman — twenty seifim — is nothing but the list of what extinguishes that fear: one word too many, a closed door, a second employee, an announced departure.
— Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 129:1 · Sefaria YD 129:1
« אֵין הַשּׁוֹמֵר צָרִיךְ לִהְיוֹת יוֹשֵׁב וּמְשַׁמֵּר אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהוּא יוֹצֵא וְנִכְנָס מוּתָּר » — משנה (עבודה זרה ס״א ע״א)
— Mishnah, Avodah Zarah 61a
And the mishnah of our own siman, a few dapim later, applies the same measure to the shop: « המניח נכרי בחנות אף על פי שיצא ונכנס מותר » (עבודה זרה ס״ט ע״א). The Rambam restates it in the Mishneh Torah, stressing the duration.
« וְכֵן הַמֵּנִיחַ עַכּוּ״ם בַּחֲנוּתוֹ אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהוּא יוֹצֵא וְנִכְנַס כָּל הַיּוֹם כֻּלּוֹ הַיַּיִן מֻתָּר » — רמב״ם הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק י״ב הלכה י״ז
— Rambam, Ma'akhalot Assurot 12:17
The Shach, in his very first ס״ק, cites the Perisha and gives the mechanism in one sentence: « כיון שהעובד כוכבים ידע שהישראל יודע שהוא שם אצל היין מירתת » (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק א). Three elements, and all three are needed: the non-Jew knows that he is known to be there beside the wine; he cannot predict the moment of return; and he has something to lose if he is seen. Remove any one of the three, and the siman moves from one seif to another.
| Seif | What it deals with | The decisive word |
|---|---|---|
| א׳ | The founding case: shop, boat, wagon, carrier. The conditions (he did not close up, he did not move out of sight), the דרך עקלתון, the four phrases that break everything, and the measure of time for a sealed barrel. Rama: a crack is enough; one seal according to Rabbenu Tam בהפסד מרובה. | מירתת |
| ב׳ | Two non-Jews or more: one keeps watch, the other touches. | שנים או יותר |
| ג׳ | The one carrying the barrel is not like the one left in the shop: he has an excuse ready. | לאשתמוטי |
| ד׳ | A stoppered barrel and a season of heavy traffic (בין הגתות): he fears the passers-by, even non-Jewish ones. | עוברי דרכים |
| ה׳ | Handing over the key: one entrusts only the keeping of the key. And if he went in anyway? Rama: נתפס כגנב, the crack, the inner bolt, and the ruler's men who fear nothing. | שמירת המפתח |
| ו׳ | The Friday-evening shofar: he leaves the boat, even beyond two thousand amot. | שומרי שבת |
| ז׳ | The call to prayer: what is on the table, within arm's reach, out of reach — and “help yourself”. | פישוט ידיו |
| ח׳ | The bolt drawn, the key forgotten, an absence of days, and the non-Jew who comes to say so. | לא ידע שמפליג |
| ט׳ | They rushed out to see a bridegroom or a eulogy; he came back first and shut the door. | בהלה |
| י׳ | The lion's roar: he hides among the barrels and shuts the door behind him. | שמא ישראל אחר נחבא |
| י״א | Thieves in the cellar: the majority of the town's thieves, a Jewish quarter, hidden money. Rama: and where there is no anomaly, there is nothing to ask. | ריעותא |
| י״ב | A troop entering the town: peacetime and wartime, open and sealed. | אין פנאי לנסך |
| י״ג | Found standing by the winepress: טופח על מנת להטפיח, rinsing and drying. | הדחה וניגוב |
| י״ד | The harlot, in both directions. | יצרא דיין נסך |
| ט״ו | The window left open, and the wine found exactly as it had been left. | כמו שהניחו |
| ט״ז | A shared courtyard and roofs divided by stakes: even within arm's reach. | ראשי יתידות |
| י״ז | The barrel floating down the river: majorities, manifest proximity, and whose the vessel is. | רוב וקרוב |
| י״ח | The barrel found in a vineyard: the majority prevails even against proximity. | אזלינן בתר רובא |
| י״ט | Wineskins thrown on the road: large, small, and both together. | גדולים וקטנים |
| כ׳ | The storeroom found open and the non-Jew who explains himself. Rama: the maidservant, the taps closed again, the circumstantial evidence — and the last sentence of the siman, about our own time. | בזמן הזה |
The Mehaber first sets out what must not have happened: that it be known he closed the shop, or moved the wagon and the boat away in such a way that he can no longer be seen. The Rama immediately adds the qualification that applies today to all our doors.
« ואפי׳ סגר החנות כל זמן שיש שם סדק או חור שיכולים לראות בתוכו חשוב כפתוח » — הגה (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א)
— Rama, YD 129:1 (Mordekhi, Smag)
The criterion, then, is not the door but the line of sight: a closed door with a gap in it remains, halakhically, an open door. The Shach adds a limit of plain sense that is often forgotten: « ודוקא ביום אבל בלילה לא מהני סדק » (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק י״ח) — at night a crack shows nothing, and therefore reassures no one.
Then comes the most debated condition in the siman: « בד״א שיש דרך עקלתון שיכול לבא עליו פתאום שלא יראנו » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א).
A roundabout way, by which one can return suddenly and without being seen coming. That is the halakhic definition of what we would call unpredictable passage. The Mehaber immediately draws the consequence for the bathhouse: one must have gone there by a roundabout way, so that the non-Jew does not know where one has gone; for if he saw him go into the bathhouse, he knows he will not be quick to return.
Is a דרך עקלתון required in every case? The Shach cites the Ran: the requirement holds only when the non-Jew is holding the barrel — « והר״ן כתב הא דבעינן דרך עקלתון דוקא כשהעובד כוכבים אוחז החבית בידו או על כתפו » (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק ח) ; but the one left in the shop, with a Jew coming and going, does not need it.
« דכל שעה מתירא ממנו דילמא השתא אתי ישראל ויראהו מתקרב לחבית » (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק ח).
The Bach objects: without a roundabout way, the non-Jew in the shop leaves the door open, watches from afar, and fears nothing any more. The Shach defends the Ran and shows that the disagreement is narrower than it looks — the Ran himself speaks only of the case where the non-Jew cannot see the Jew coming; and when he holds the barrel in his hand a roundabout way is still needed, since otherwise he will see him approach and withdraw his hand at once, which he cannot do if he must move away from the barrel. The Taz (ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק ב) reports the same exchange.
« אבל אם הם שנים או יותר אסור שאפשר לאחד מהם לשמור הדרך עקלתון והאחר יגע » — (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ב)
— Shulchan Aruch, YD 129:2
The Shach, in the name of the Bach, closes off any attempt to distinguish by number: « אבל הכא עצה אחת להם ולא מירתתי מהדדי » (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק י״ב) — even ten, even more: they are of one counsel and do not fear one another. This seif alone decides half of the modern situations: a single employee and a team of two do not fall under the same seif.
At ס״ק י״ג the Shach cites the Massat Binyamin and draws a general rule from it: « דבעיר לא סמיך העובד כוכבים אשומר משום דאפשר שיבא פתאום ולא יראו אותו מרחוק אבל בשדה סמיך שפיר על השומר » (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק י״ג).
And the Shach adds that this is not a matter of town or field: wherever he can see one coming from afar and one will not arrive unexpectedly, the prohibition stands, even in the middle of a city. This is the most directly transposable principle in the siman: what counts is not the place but the field of vision available to the one who stays behind.
| What was done or said | Why the fear falls away |
|---|---|
| He saw him go into the bathhouse | He knows he will not be back quickly — יודע שלא ימהר לבא (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א) |
| “Watch it for me” (שמור לי) | « וכן אם אמר לעובד כוכבים שהניח בחנות שמור לי יודע שנסתלק משמירתו » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א) |
| “Go ahead, I'll follow” (לך ואני אבא אחריך) | He controls the interval: he will see the other coming (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א) |
| He told him he was going away (הודיעו שהוא מפליג) | The absence is bounded and known — the one place in the siman where time is counted (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א) |
Once the fear has fallen away, the Mehaber distinguishes according to the state of the barrel. If it is open, there is nothing to calculate: « אם החביות פתוחות כיון שנעלמו מעיניו אסורות » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א). If it is sealed, the time is measured.
« ואם הם סתומות אם יש בהפלגתו שיעור כדי שיוכל להסיר מגופות החבית כולה » — (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א)
— Shulchan Aruch, YD 129:1
— and one adds the time to put it back and let it dry, whether the stopper is of clay or of lime. This is the siman's only measure of time, and it comes from the mishnah in Avodah Zarah (עבודה זרה ס״ט ע״א): כדי שישתום ויסתום ויגוב.
Must the announcement be explicit? The Taz puts the question squarely: the Raavad and the Rashba hold that he must have been told expressly that the owner is away for the duration of the prohibition, while the Rosh forbids even on a vague announcement. And the Taz rules: « ויש להקל בזה כדעת הראב״ד והרשב״א דהם רבים לגבי הרא״ש » (ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק ד).
The Shach, at ס״ק ך׳, reaches a similar practical result by another road: he follows the Tur against the Rashba, holding that the reason עתה יזכור יינו ויבא applies even to an errand that cannot be done on the spot. He then cites the Ra'ah in the Bedek HaBayit, and draws from it the real dividing line: « אבל כל שהוא פורש משם בלא טירדא אלא ביישוב דעתו אסור » (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק ך׳). A hurried departure — the shofar, the call to prayer — leaves room to expect an abrupt return; a deliberate, premeditated one does not.
The siman reasons throughout in three states, and confusing them is the commonest error in reading it.
| State | In Hebrew | What it is worth |
|---|---|---|
| Open | פתוחה | Nothing protects it; the only question is the fear |
| Closed with a wooden stopper | פקוקה | Counts as open in seif 12 — a wooden stopper is put back out of habit, not out of fear (ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק כ״ב); yet it suffices in seif 4 where there is traffic |
| Sealed with a מגופה of clay or lime | סתומה | The seal speaks: one needs time to remove it, replace it and let it dry |
Seif 3 is among the subtlest in the siman. For the shop or the boat, even a wholly open barrel may still be permitted: the non-Jew has no right to touch it, and to touch it is to give himself away. But the man carrying it has an excuse ready.
« דחיישינן דילמא נגע ולא יירא כלל שיכול להשמט ולומר להחזיק בה כוונתי שלא תפול » — (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ג)
— Shulchan Aruch, YD 129:3
summary: a man who can explain his gesture fears nothing, and it is the existence of the excuse — the אשתמוטי of the Gemara — that forbids, not the gesture. Exactly the same mechanism will return in seif 5, about the man who went into the shop.
« והוא בזמן שיש הרבה עוברי דרכים כגון בין הגתות מותר שהוא מתירא מעוברי דרכים אפילו הם עובדי כוכבים » — (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ד)
— Shulchan Aruch, YD 129:4
A crucial detail: the fear need not come from a Jew. A crowd suffices. The Taz, at ס״ק ט׳, cites Tosafot in the name of the Rashbam, who are lenient where there is traffic — but with a reservation that practice must retain: this holds for a narrow opening, not for a vat or a wide-mouthed cup, where touching is easy and happens absent-mindedly.
« וי״א דאם הם סתומות שרי בכל ענין דיין סגי ליה חותם א׳ » — הגה (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א)
— Rama, YD 129:1 (the view of Rabbenu Tam)
And the Rama adds: ויש לסמוך על זה בהפסד מרובה, referring to סימן ק״ל · 130. The Shach explains why the restriction to a great loss, and where it does not apply.
« היינו משום דיש פוסקים דסתימת מגופה לא הוי כחותם אבל בחותם אחד ממש סגי בדיעבד אפילו בלא הפסד מרובה »
— ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק י״א
Seif 5 is the seif of the key, and it comes from an episode in the Talmud: an innkeeper had handed her key to a non-Jewish woman, and the beit midrash ruled לא מסרה לה אלא שמירת מפתח בלבד (עבודה זרה ע׳ ע״ב). The Rambam formulates it thus.
« שֶׁלֹּא מָסַר לוֹ שְׁמִירַת הַבַּיִת אֶלָּא שְׁמִירַת הַמַּפְתֵּחַ » — רמב״ם הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק י״ג הלכה ב
— Rambam, Ma'akhalot Assurot 13:2
From this the Mehaber draws a remarkably broad permission.
« המוסר מפתח חנותו לעובד כוכבים היין שבו מותר אפילו לא נשאר שום יהודי בעיר … שלא מסר לו אלא שמירת המפתח והוא ירא ליכנס בו » — (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ה)
— Shulchan Aruch, YD 129:5
Must it have been said? The Taz notes that the Rambam's wording suggests one must expressly state that only the key is entrusted, whereas the other poskim, according to the Beit Yosef, hold that even handed over without a word, a key is only a key (ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק י׳).
The Shach concludes the same way: « דאפי׳ מסר לו מפתח סתם אמרינן לא מסר אלא שמירת המפתח » (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק ט״ו).
The Mehaber reports two views, and the Rama rules like the first — that of Rabbenu Chananel, the Rivash and the Terumat HaDeshen — and then lays out the grid still in use.
| The situation | The ruling | Source |
|---|---|---|
| He went in and he is held as a thief | Permitted | הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:ה |
| He is not held as a thief and has an excuse to give | Forbidden | הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:ה |
| « ודוקא אם סגר הדלת במנעול מבפנים ואין סדק בחדר שיכולים לראות משם » (הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:ה) | This is the condition of everything above | הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:ה |
| The door is open, or there is merely a crack | Permitted — even if he told him to go in, as long as he did not tell him he was going away | הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:ה |
| « ואם העובד כוכבים אינו מירתת כגון עבדי המושל שתפסו היהודי » (הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:ה) | Everything is forbidden unless a mark remains that they did not touch it | הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:ה |
The Shach explains the logic of this grid: the prohibition in the case of “he went in” holds even when he is not held as a thief for the entry — « כלומר הא דבעבר ונכנס אסור אפי׳ אם אינו נתפס כגנב על הכניסה » (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק י״ז) — but only where he cannot be seen; for if he can be seen, « מכל מקום כיון דנתפס כגנב על הנגיעה מירתת וסבר השתא אתי ישראל וחזי ליה » (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק י״ז).
Two talmudic scenes, two permissions. On the boat, the Jew hears the Friday-evening shofar and goes up into the town; the Mehaber permits, even beyond two thousand amot, and gives a reason that never ceases to surprise.
« שאין אנו בעיניהם בחזקת שומרי שבת כראוי » — (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ו)
— Shulchan Aruch, YD 129:6
summary: the non-Jew's fear rests not on what the Jew will do, but on what the non-Jew believes he will do — and he does not credit him with being so scrupulous that he would not turn back for his wine. The Gemara puts it in Rava's words: השתא מדכר ליה לחמריה והדר אתי (עבודה זרה ע׳ ע״א).
Seif 7 adds the scene at the table, and it is the one that applies to every meal: « ואת שחוץ לשלחן את שתוך פישוט ידיו אסור ושחוץ לפישוט ידיו מותר » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ז). And if one said “pour and drink” — הוי מוזג ושותה — every open bottle in the house is concerned, sealed ones are not, unless the absence lasted the time of the seal.
A Jew rents a room in a non-Jew's courtyard, puts wine in it, closes the door, slides the bolt into the ring, forgets to turn the key, and leaves. Days later the non-Jew notices and comes to tell him. The Mehaber permits; the Rama adds an explanatory parenthesis: « הואיל ולא ידע העובד כוכבים שמפליג הישראל מירתת ולא נגע » (הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:ח), referring to the responsum of the Rosh.
Because it bears on the commonest case of all: premises closed but badly closed, left for a long absence that everyone knows about. On the Rama's parenthesis, the permission rests on the absence not being known. On the Taz and the Shach reading the Rosh, it rests on something else: the non-Jew cannot know whether the Jew, recalling his oversight, will not come straight back — and that uncertainty alone suffices. The difference is decisive for everything that follows, and it is open among the poskim. Do not settle it yourself: a question for your Rav.
Two neighbours run out to see a bridegroom or a eulogy; the non-Jew comes back first and shuts the door behind him. The open wine remains permitted, « שלא סגר העובד כוכבים אלא על דעת שכבר נכנס הישראל לביתו » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ט). The Rama restricts it: ודוקא שיצאו בבהלה וחזרו. And the Taz gives the reason for the restriction: « דאם לאו דרך בהלה יש לחוש שמא ראה את הישראל בשוק והניחו שם ובא לבית לנסך » (ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק ט״ו).
Finally seif 10, the most elegant in the siman: a non-Jew hears a lion roar, hides among the open barrels and shuts the door upon himself — and the wine remains permitted, « מפני שהוא אומר שמא ישראל אחר נחבא כאן ויראה אותי כשאגע » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י). The fear does not even need a real Jew: it is enough that he can imagine one.
The Mehaber piles up criteria: the majority of the town's thieves; a Jewish quarter that non-Jewish traffic does not cut through; the custom of hiding money in barrels. Two lines deserve to be kept as they stand.
« ואם רובן ישמעאלים אסור בשתיה ומותר בהנאה » — (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״א)
— Shulchan Aruch, YD 129:11
« ואם יש ליהודים שכונה לבדם שאין דרך העובדי כוכבים מפסיקתה הולכים אחר רוב בני השכונה » — (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״א)
— Shulchan Aruch, YD 129:11
On the first, the Shach notes that the Ishmaelites are not idolaters — « וה״ה לשאר עובדי כוכבים בזמן הזה » (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק כ״ה) — which extends the rule well beyond its letter.
« אבל אם היו סתומות ונמצאו סתומות או שהיו כולם פתוחות ולא נמצא בהם ריעותא הכל שרי » (הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:י״א), and the reason: דסתם גנב אינו לוקח יין.
The Rama adds that if the anomaly affects only part, the rest remains permitted: « ואם היה במקצתן ריעותא ונפתחו האחרים שאין אנו רואים בהן ריעותא הכל שרי » (הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:י״א). In other words: without a visible ריעותא, there is no question to ask. That is the first thing to check, before anything else.
The mishnah in Avodah Zarah distinguishes peacetime from wartime: « בולשת שנכנסה לעיר בשעת שלום חביות פתוחות אסורות סתומות מותרות » (עבודה זרה ע׳ ע״ב), and in wartime ובשעת מלחמה אלו ואלו מותרות, for lack of leisure.
The Mehaber at once shuts the door on excess: « ודוקא בפתוחות מתחלתן אבל סתומות שנפתחו חיישינן להו » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״ב). And the Taz refuses to derive from it any leniency for the soldiers of his own day: « ואין ללמוד מזה קולא לבעלי מלחמה דהאידנא שבאים לשלול ממון » (ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק כ״ב), since they come to drink as well. It is a reminder of method: a permission of the mishnah does not transport itself into another world.
The last seif is also the closest to our own habits. A storeroom locked with a key is found open, and a non-Jew admits that he opened it to draw water from the cistern in order to build his house.
« ועובד כוכבים אחד מודה שהוא פתחו לשאוב מים מבור שבאוצר כדי לבנות ביתו מותר » — (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:כ)
— Shulchan Aruch, YD 129:20
The Taz gives the reason, and it is precious: « כיון שהיה סגור תחילה במפתח לא היה לו לזייף לפתוח המנעול של הישראל בלי ידיעתו ונתפס כגנב ומרתת » (ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק כ״ט). It is the forced lock that makes him a thief, and it is being a thief that makes him afraid.
The Rama then adds three cases of a maidservant, and they draw a clear line. She says she took the wine from the cellar? « דאין העובדת כוכבי׳ נאמנת ואימר במקום אחר לקחה » (הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:כ) — the cellar stays permitted, what is on the table does not.
But if thieves left the taps open, they are later found closed, and she says she closed them: « כיון שנתייחדה העובדת כוכבים עם היין ואינה נתפסת כגנב ואיכא רגלים לדבר שהיא סתמתן היין אסור » (הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:כ).
A non-Jew is found standing by the vat. The criterion is not his presence but the moisture: אם יש בה טופח על מנת להטפיח — enough to wet a hand that will in turn wet another — and then « צריך הדחה וניגוב ואי לא בהדחה סגי » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״ג).
The Shach explains why one is concerned here where elsewhere one is not: « דחיישינן שמא נגע בו דלא מירתת למיגע שהוא סבור שאינו מפסידו כיון שאין בו יין עוד » (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק ל״ד). He does not think he is spoiling anything — so he is not afraid.
The Rambam, as the Taz notes, closes this law with וזו הרחקה יתרה (רמב״ם הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק י״ב הלכה כ״ז).
The Mehaber transmits the Gemara: « זונה עובדת כוכבי׳ במסיבת ישראל היין מותר שאינם מניחים אותה לנסך » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״ד), and the reverse is forbidden. The Taz refuses to make a rule of it for his own time.
« אבל עכשיו אין אנו מרוחקים כ״כ שהרי מותר בהנאה »
— ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק כ״ד
summary: the Gemara's reasoning presupposed complete distance from סתם יינם; where the prohibition has become light in people's eyes, says the Taz, those suspected of one thing are suspected of the other. This is the only place in the siman where a nossé kelim tightens the Mehaber in the name of the present time — and it is worth noting, precisely because everything else runs the other way.
A shared courtyard divided by stakes: « אף על פי שחביות פתוחות עומדות סמוך לחלקו של עובד כוכבים תוך פישוט ידיו מותרות » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ט״ז). The Rambam states it as a general principle.
« אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁיַּד הָעַכּוּ״ם מַגַּעַת לְחֵלֶק יִשְׂרָאֵל אֵינוֹ חוֹשֵׁשׁ מִשּׁוּם יֵין נֶסֶךְ » — רמב״ם הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק י״ג הלכה ז
— Rambam, Ma'akhalot Assurot 13:7
The Gemara gives the reason in passing, in a discussion of טהרות: a man who has an explanation to give is not afraid — אית ליה לאשתמוטי (עבודה זרה ע׳ ע״ב). Even a symbolic partition changes the standing of the man who reaches across: it turns his gesture into a trespass.
| Case | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A barrel floating opposite a town with a Jewish majority, with obstacles upstream | Permitted — it can only be ascribed to that town | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״ז |
| Without obstacles | Forbidden — it is ascribed to the majority of the surroundings | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״ז |
| A floating barrel found: is it open? | « ודוקא שהיא סתומה בפקק אבל פתוחה לגמרי היין אסור דחיישינן שמא נגעו בו » (הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:י״ז) | הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:י״ז |
| Found in a Jewish vineyard surrounded by non-Jewish ones | Forbidden — the majority prevails even over manifest proximity | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״ח |
| Wineskins thrown on the road, large and small together | « ואם היו גדולים וקטנים מותרים כולם שהגדולים מוכיחים על הקטנים » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״ט) | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״ט |
The Shach, on seif 17, refers for the vessel itself to חושן משפט סימן רנ״ט (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק ל״ט): the question of ownership is not the question of prohibition, and the two are treated separately.
| Modern case | Tool of the siman | Orientation (to be confirmed with your Rav) |
|---|---|---|
| A non-Jewish employee stays alone in the shop while one steps out | Seif 1 · ש״ך ס״ק א | This is the siman's leading case, and it is permitted — provided the return can be unpredictable and nothing has been said or done that teaches him otherwise. |
| One says on leaving: “keep a good watch” | Seif 1 | This is precisely the Mehaber's שמור לי: the sentence teaches him that one has withdrawn from watching, and it forbids what silence would have permitted. |
| One announces the hour of return, or he sees one leaving for a distance | Seif 1 · ט״ז ס״ק ד | This is הודיעו שהוא מפליג. The Taz is lenient in requiring an explicit announcement of the duration; the Shach, at ס״ק ך׳, distinguishes rather between a hurried and a premeditated departure. |
| Two employees, or a team, stay together | Seif 2 · ש״ך ס״ק י״ב | The siman changes seif: one can keep watch while the other touches, and they do not fear one another. Do not reason as for a single employee. |
| A cellar whose entrance is visible from afar, with no way of arriving unseen | ש״ך ס״ק י״ג | The Shach says it explicitly: neither town nor field decides, but the ability to see someone coming. Where one cannot appear suddenly, the leniency of seif 1 does not apply. |
| Closed premises, but with a window or an opening one can see through | הגה סעיף א׳ · ש״ך ס״ק י״ח | The Rama: a gap one can see through counts as an open door. The Shach adds that this holds only by day — at night an opening shows nothing. |
| Delivery: a non-Jewish driver takes the cases alone | Seifim 1 and 3 · ט״ז ס״ק ח | The carrier is not the keeper of the shop: he has the ready excuse of having steadied the case. The siman is stricter here, and the state of the package — open, stoppered, sealed — becomes decisive again. |
| Moving house: the van leaves ahead of us | Seif 1 (לך ואני אבא אחריך) | This is the Mehaber's case by name. Following is not enough: from the moment he knows we are behind him, he controls the interval. |
| A storage unit or lock-up held by a third party | Seif 5 · ט״ז ס״ק כ״ט | The siman reasons on the key and on the lock: forcing a bolt makes the one who enters a thief, and that is what protects. A key merely handed over entrusts nothing but the keeping of the key. |
| A hotel: staff hold the key to the room where a bottle was left | Seif 5 · הגה סעיף ה׳ | The Rama distinguishes according to whether entry is authorised. If the staff have a reason to enter, the excuse exists, and the siman's mechanism weakens. A seal, or an unopened bottle, changes the question. |
| The shared cellar of an apartment building | Seif 16 · רמב״ם פרק י״ג | A partition, even a rough one, suffices to make an outstretched hand a trespass — that is the law of ראשי יתידות. But there must be a partition, and not merely a common space. |
| A non-Jewish sommelier opens or pours at the restaurant | Seif 7 · simanim 124-125 | Siman 129 deals with absence, not presence: what happens in front of us is a matter of contact, hence simanim 124 and 125. What seif 7 contributes is the geometry of the table — on the table, within arm's reach, out of reach. |
| The bottle stays on the table while one steps away for a moment | Seif 7 | What is on the table is concerned; what is off the table depends on the reach of the arm. And a “help yourself” said before going out extends the question to every open bottle in the place. |
| One comes back and finds everything exactly as it was left | הגה סעיף י״א · סעיף ט״ו | This is the first reflex: without an observed anomaly, the Rama permits, and seif 15 says so for a house someone entered and from which the wine emerged untouched. |
| A break-in: the cellar was forced | Seif 11 · פת״ש ס״ק ד | Majorities come into play, but the prior question remains the anomaly: sealed barrels found sealed, nothing to ask. The Pitchei Teshuva cites the Shvut Yaakov on an almost identical case — a cellar rented from a non-Jew, forced at night, the casks found intact — and he permits. |
| An employee later says he touched or re-closed something | Seif 20 · siman 127 | Seif 20 refuses the maidservant's word to permit, but accepts the weight of circumstance to forbid. The credibility of a single witness is the proper subject of siman קכ״ז · 127; that is where to go. |
| An electronic seal, an alarm, a camera | — outside the siman | The siman knows only two devices: the seal, which leaves a mark when broken, and the fear of being seen at that very moment. A camera resembles both without being either: it shows nothing at the time, and leaves a trace only afterwards. The siman does not decide this case, and this level will not decide it in its place. A question for your Rav — and these are the terms in which to bring it to him. |
| The wine is cooked or pasteurised | siman 123 | This whole discussion does not concern it. That is the first question to ask, and it has its own siman: סימן קכ״ג · 123. |
Lema'asse. Before asking, gather what the siman requires, in this order: which wine (cooked or not, open, stoppered, sealed); who stayed (one, or several); what he knew (was anything said, did he see where one was going, did he know how long); what he could see coming (the place, the hour of the day, the crack, the field of vision); by what right he was there (a reason to enter, or a trespass); how long; and what was found on return (an anomaly, or nothing). With these seven elements the question becomes askable. Without them no table can answer — and with them, it is your Rav who answers.
| Question | Measure (in practice) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A non-Jew left in the shop, the Jew coming and going | Permitted, even after a long absence | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א ; עבודה זרה ס״ט ע״א |
| The reason for the permission | The fear of an unpredictable return | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א ; ש״ך ס״ק א |
| Lekhatchila | One does not leave wine or vinegar alone with him; בדיעבד permitted | הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:א (מרדכי בשם ראב״ן) |
| He closed the shop, but a gap remains | Counts as open | הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:א |
| The gap, at night | Of no use | ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק י״ח |
| The roundabout way | Condition: to be able to return suddenly without being seen coming | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א |
| Is a roundabout way needed even in the shop? | The Ran is lenient; the Bach requires it; the Shach defends the Ran | ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק ח ; ט״ז ס״ק ב |
| He saw him go into the bathhouse | Forbidden — he knows he will not be back quickly | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א |
| “Watch it for me” | Forbidden — he knows the owner has withdrawn from watching | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א |
| “Go ahead, I'll come after you” | Forbidden | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א |
| He told him he was going away — open barrels | Forbidden once they left his sight | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א |
| He told him he was going away — sealed barrels | Forbidden if there was time to remove the מגופה, replace it and let it dry | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:א ; עבודה זרה ס״ט ע״א |
| Must the announcement be explicit? | The Taz is lenient like the Raavad and the Rashba | ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק ד |
| Hurried departure versus premeditated departure | The deliberate departure is graver — the Ra'ah cited by the Shach | ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק ך׳ |
| Sealed barrels, according to Rabbenu Tam | One seal suffices; one relies on this בהפסד מרובה | הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:א ; ש״ך ס״ק י״א |
| A genuine single seal, בדיעבד | Suffices even without a great loss | ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק י״א |
| Two non-Jews or more | Forbidden — one keeps watch, the other touches | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ב ; ש״ך ס״ק י״ב |
| A place from which one is seen coming from afar | Forbidden, even in a town | ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק י״ג |
| The man carrying the barrel himself | Stricter: he has the excuse of having steadied it | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ג |
| A stoppered barrel, in a season of heavy traffic | Permitted — he fears the passers-by, even non-Jewish ones | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ד |
| Handing over the key | One entrusts only the keeping of the key | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ה ; עבודה זרה ע׳ ע״ב ; רמב״ם הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק י״ג הלכה ב |
| Must it have been stated expressly? | No, even handed over without a word | ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק ט״ו ; ט״ז ס״ק י׳ |
| He went in nonetheless | Permitted if he is held as a thief; forbidden if he has an excuse | הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:ה |
| But if he could be seen | Permitted, since he is held as a thief for touching | ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק י״ז |
| Those who fear nothing — the ruler's men | Everything is forbidden without a mark that they did not touch | הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:ה |
| The Friday-evening shofar, on the boat | Permitted, even beyond two thousand amot | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ו ; עבודה זרה ע׳ ע״א |
| On the table, within arm's reach, out of reach | Three distinct statuses | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ז |
| “Pour and drink” | Every open bottle in the house; sealed ones not | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ז |
| The bolt drawn, the key forgotten, a long absence | Permitted | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ח (תשובת הרא״ש כלל י״ט) |
| The reason the Rama gives on this seif | Contested by the Taz and the Shach, who read the responsum otherwise | ט״ז ס״ק י״ד ; ש״ך ס״ק כ״א |
| They rushed out and the non-Jew shut the door first | Permitted — only when they rushed | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ט ; הגה שם ; ט״ז ס״ק ט״ו |
| Hidden among the barrels for fear of the lion | Permitted, even open ones | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י |
| Thieves in the cellar | By the majority of the town's thieves; of the quarter if it is set apart | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״א |
| No anomaly observed | All permitted — an ordinary thief does not take wine | הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:י״א |
| An anomaly on part only | The rest remains permitted | הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:י״א |
| A troop in the town: peace / war | Open forbidden, sealed permitted / both permitted | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״ב ; עבודה זרה ע׳ ע״ב |
| The soldiers of today | The Taz refuses to draw a leniency from it | ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ט ס״ק כ״ב |
| By the winepress: טופח על מנת להטפיח | Rinsing and drying; otherwise rinsing alone | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״ג ; ש״ך ס״ק ל״ד |
| The gathering, and the Taz | The Mehaber permits; the Taz tightens for his own time | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״ד ; ט״ז ס״ק כ״ד |
| A courtyard or roofs divided by stakes | Permitted, even within arm's reach | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:ט״ז ; רמב״ם הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק י״ג הלכה ז |
| What is found without a known origin | Majorities, manifest proximity, and the state of the vessel | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״ז ; שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״ח ; שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:י״ט |
| The storeroom found open, with an explanation | Permitted — he had to force it, so he is a thief, so he is afraid | שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ט:כ ; ט״ז ס״ק כ״ט |
| The maidservant who says she took the wine from the cellar | Not believed: the cellar stays permitted, the table does not | הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:כ |
| She says she closed the taps, and the circumstances support her | Forbidden — apart from the Rama's closing leniency | הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:כ |
| The last sentence of the siman | Our own time, in which no libation is made | הגה יו״ד קכ״ט:כ ; ועיין סימן קכ״ג וסימן קכ״ד |
| Posek | Decisive contribution (anchored in the corpus) |
|---|---|
| Mehaber (כ׳ סעיפים) | s.1: the rule of יוצא ונכנס, its two conditions, the דרך עקלתון, the four phrases that forbid, and the measure of the seal; s.2: two non-Jews; s.3: the carrier and his excuse; s.4: passers-by as a guarantee; s.5: the key, and the dissenting view; s.6-7: the shofar and the table; s.8-10: the forgotten lock, the rush, the lion; s.11-12: the thieves and the troop; s.13-16: the winepress, the gathering, the window, the courtyard; s.17-19: what is found; s.20: the storeroom. |
| Rama (הגה on s.1, 5, 8, 9, 11, 17, 20) | s.1: lekhatchila one leaves nothing alone with him; a gap counts as an open door; Rabbenu Tam's view on a single seal, בהפסד מרובה. s.5: rule like the first view; נתפס כגנב; the inner bolt; those who do not fear. s.8: the reason — contested by the Taz and the Shach. s.9: only if they went out in haste. s.11: the rule of the anomaly, which governs practice. s.17: only if the vessel is stoppered. s.20: the maidservant, the taps, and the closing leniency about our own time. |
| Taz (טורי זהב, ל״ב ס״ק) | ס״ק א: the Gemara's צריכותא on the three cases; ס״ק ב: the debate over the דרך עקלתון; ס״ק ד: to be lenient like the Raavad and the Rashba on the announcement; ס״ק ו: the clay seal must be dry; ס״ק ח: the wooden stopper and the carrier; ס״ק ט: Tosafot, the Rashbam, and the reservation about a wide mouth; ס״ק י׳: a key handed over without a word; ס״ק י״ג: to be lenient also where the absence was long; ס״ק י״ד: the Rama's parenthesis against the Rosh's responsum; ס״ק ט״ו: why haste is needed; ס״ק כ״ב: not to transport the mishnah's permission to the soldiers of today; ס״ק כ״ד: to be stringent about the gathering; ס״ק כ״ט: the forced lock makes the thief. |
| Shach (שפתי כהן, מ״א ס״ק) | ס״ק א: the mechanism of מירתת according to the Perisha; ס״ק ד: those under one's authority are presumed honest, and yet lekhatchila one does not do it; ס״ק ה: שייכות and אשתמוטי; ס״ק ח: the Ran, the Bach, and the defence of the Ran; ס״ק י׳: nowadays contact is feared only where there is a benefit — drinking or substitution; ס״ק י״א: seal and מגופה; ס״ק י״ב: ten or more, one single counsel; ס״ק י״ג: what decides is being able to see someone coming; ס״ק י״ד: the great remark on what the Mehaber writes מצד הדין and on our own time; ס״ק ט״ו: a key handed over without a word; ס״ק י״ז: held as a thief for touching; ס״ק י״ח: the gap, by day only; ס״ק ך׳: the Ra'ah, and the hurried departure against the deliberate one; ס״ק כ״א: the Rosh's responsum, and צ״ע on the Rama; ס״ק כ״ה: the non-idolaters of our time; ס״ק כ״ו–כ״ח: the quarter, the majorities, the double doubt about thieves; ס״ק ל״ד: why one is concerned by the vat; ס״ק ל״ט: the vessel found belongs to חושן משפט. |
| Pitchei Teshuva (ו׳ ס״ק) | ס״ק א: the Panim Meïrot — casks sealed with two seals that were spoiled, and a non-Jew who comes to say so: he forbids, since one who has already sealed no longer fears a visit; ס״ק ב: a reference to the dispute of the Taz and the Shach over the Rama's parenthesis; ס״ק ג: the Beit Yaakov on money hidden in the barrels; ס״ק ד: the Shvut Yaakov — a cellar rented in a non-Jew's house, forced at night, the casks found whole and sealed: permitted; ס״ק ה: the Beit Yaakov, disagreeing with the Rama about the known Jewish thief; ס״ק ו: the Tzemach Tzedek on the troop that entered the town. |
| Rambam (הלכות מאכלות אסורות, פרקים י״ב–י״ג) | פרק י״ב הלכות ט״ז–י״ז: the carrier and the shop, and the measure of the seal; הלכה י״ט: the reason for leaving for prayer; הלכה כ׳: the rush; הלכה כ״ב: the lion; הלכה כ״ג: נתפס כגנב, and the child found among the barrels; הלכה כ״ד: the troop; הלכה כ״ז: the winepress; פרק י״ג הלכה ב: the key; הלכה ז: the courtyard and the roofs. |
| Gemara (עבודה זרה ס״א · ס״ט–ע׳) | ס״א ע״א: the watchman need not sit; ס״ט ע״א: the mishnayot of the carrier, the wagon and the shop, and the measure ישתום ויסתום ויגוב; ס״ט ע״ב–ע׳ ע״א: the צריכותא, the upstairs house, the inn, the lion, the thieves of Pumbedita; ע׳ ע״ב: the girl among the casks, the innkeeper and her key, and the shared courtyards and roofs. |
| Tur and Beit Yosef | טור יו״ד סימן קכ״ט: the opening formula — whatever is בחזקת משתמר, where one can say he did not touch it, is permitted even without a seal; ובית יוסף שם: the sources in the Rashba, the Ran and the Rosh on which every ס״ק of this siman lives. |
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