The wine leaves with nobody to follow it. What replaces the Jewish eye is an object: the seal. One seal or two, according to what is dreaded; what counts as a seal and what does not; the vessel that empties a seal of meaning; a seal found undone; and in the last two seifim the wine that no longer travels, where place takes over from seal
Structured review, psak tables, rapid memorisation
The Mehaber opens with the permission and with its price: « מותר להפקיד ולשלוח יין ביד עובד כוכבים אם הוא חתום בחותם בתוך חותם או מפתח וחותם » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:א).
Two distinct fears stand behind that number, and telling them apart governs the whole tariff.
| The fear | What it dreads | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| ניסוך / נגיעה — that he touch the wine | Ordinary wine, which a non-Jew's touch forbids | Two seals: חותם בתוך חותם or מפתח וחותם |
| איחלופי — that he swap in his own | Anything worth having, that touching does not forbid | One seal is enough |
The ש״ך sets out that division in a single line, commenting on the single seal allowed for cooked wine: « דאי משום איסוכי לא מנסכי ליה אי משום איחלופי כיון דאיכא חותם אחד לא טרח ומזייף » (ש״ך יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק ז).
The ט״ז says the same thing on the same seif: « דבזה אין שייך ניסוך רק שמא יחליף עם יין שלו וכיון שיש חותם אחד לא טרח ומזייף » (ט״ז יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק ו).
Basis: seifim 1, 2 and 3, with the ש״ך and the ט״ז. Cases are sorted by what was handed over and by what was actually done, never by how trustworthy the carrier looks.
| The case | The wording | Ruling | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinary wine deposited or shipped by a non-Jew's hand | « מותר להפקיד ולשלוח יין ביד עובד כוכבים אם הוא חתום בחותם בתוך חותם או מפתח וחותם » | Permitted with two seals | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:א |
| One seal only, as a matter of fact | « אם הפקיד ביד עובד כוכבים בחותם א׳ אסור בשתיה ומותר בהנאה והוא שייחד לו קרן זוית » | Forbidden to drink, permitted for benefit | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ב |
| Why benefit stays permitted | « דאז הוה כחצרו של ישראל משום הכי מותר בהנאה » | The reserved corner makes the spot a Jewish courtyard | ט״ז יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק ד |
| Once the thing is done — בדיעבד | « ויש שכתבו דבדיעבד יש להתיר אפילו בחותם אחד » | There is ground to permit | רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:ב |
| But a real seal, not a mere bung | « דוקא בחותם אבל סתומות במגופה לא הוי בדיעבד כחותם אחד אלא במקום הפסד מרובה » | A bung is no seal, save where loss is great | ש״ך יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק ד |
| Must one recognise one's own seal? | « ואין צריך להכיר חותמו אלא אם כן רואה שחותמו מקולקל אז אסור » | No — unless it is visibly damaged | רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:ב |
| And the custom? | « אבל אין צריך לבדוק אחר זה וכן נוהגין להקל ועיין לעיל סימן קי״ח » | One does not investigate, and custom is lenient | רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:ב |
| Cooked wine, mixed wine, vinegar | « יין מבושל שלנו וכן יין שלנו שעירבו עם דברים אחרים כגון דבש ושמן וכן חומץ שלנו מותר להפקיד ביד עובד כוכבים בחותם אחד » | One seal | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ג |
Seifim 4 to 7 are the technical heart of the siman: they no longer say how many seals are needed, but what one is. Seif 4 lays down the definition, and seifim 5, 6 and 7 draw three applications from it.
| The device | The Mehaber's wording | How many seals | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| A cover that is not tight, closed as anyone closes, plus clay | « כיצד הוא חותם בתוך חותם סתם החבי׳ בכלי שאינו מהודק כדרך שסותמין כל אדם וטח בטיט הרי זה חותם א׳ » | One | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ד |
| A tight cover, with clay smeared over it | « היה כלי מהודק וטח עליו מלמעלה הרי זה חותם בתוך חותם » | Two | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ד |
| The skin tied at its mouth; then its mouth turned inward and tied | « וכן אם צר פי הנאד הרי זה חותם אחד הפך פי הנאד לתוכו וצר עליו הרי זה חותם בתוך חותם » | One, then two | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ד |
| The general rule: whatever departs from custom | « וכן כל שינוי שמשנה מדברים שאין דרך כל אדם הרי הם כחותם א׳ והטיחה או הקשירה חותם שני » | One — the daubing or the tying makes the second | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ד |
| Two unusual knots | « שני קשרים משונים הוי כשני חותמות » | Two | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ה |
| Two letters written | « שתי אותיות הוי כשני חותמות » | Two | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ו |
| A stamped die, however many letters it bears | « והדפוסים אף על פי שיש בהם כמה אותיות לא חשיבי אלא כחותם אחד כיון שקובעין אותם בבת אחת » | One only — it goes on in a single stroke | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ו |
| Where writing is no longer rare | « ובמקום שמצויים מומרים ועובדי כוכבים שיודעים לכתוב אין כתב סימן אלא למי שמכיר הכתב » | Writing is a mark only for one who knows the hand | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ו |
| A key and a seal | « מפתח וחותם אחד הוי כשני חותמות » | Two | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ז |
The ש״ך reports, in the name of the משאת בנימין, a haulage question that has stayed exemplary: wagon covers are lashed with so intricate a knot that none could be more unusual — and it is still not a seal. The reason: summary: what we rely on in an unusual knot or a seal is that he does not take the trouble to forge, or else that he is afraid; whereas here the carrier is bound to untie the lashings and open the wagons every day in order to take out his own food (ש״ך יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק ח).
A device that gets opened anyway in the normal course of the journey is no seal, however intricate. That is the test of the siman, applied to the letter.
Seif 1 does not merely fix the number: it adds that the number holds only for certain containers. A seal closes a mouth; it does not close a wall that can be pierced.
« והני מילי בחבית של חרס אבל לא בחבית של עץ מפני שיכולין להוציא יין מבין הנסרים ולא ירגישו » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:א).
« וכל שכן בנודות שבקל יכולים להוציא יין מבין התפירות » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:א).
And the Mehaber sees only one remedy: « ואין להם תקנה אלא שיכניס כל החבית של עץ או כל הנאד בשק שאין בו תפירה מבחוץ ויחתום פי השק » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:א).
The Rama's stratagem is worth pausing over: « ויכתוב אותיות חציין על העור וחציין על הברזות שאם יגביה העובד כוכבים העור לא ידע לחזור ולכוון העור כבתחילה » (רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:א).
Both report, in the name of the ב״ח, a custom well beyond the text: « עכשיו נוהגים שלא להתיר לשלוח יין כלל בחבית של עץ מעיר לעיר אם לא ע״י נאמן ישראל שומר ביום ובלילה » (ש״ך יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק א).
The ground is empirical: casks get bored with a small drill or a knife between the boards, and the theft goes unnoticed. The ש״ך at once notes that this custom holds לכתחלה, and that after the fact one permits as the Rama does.
The ט״ז draws a consequence worth recording: « ומשמע מכאן דאם היה ברור שהוציא יין מבין הנסרים דאסור » (ט״ז יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק א). The Rama's permission bears on the suspicion, never on an established fact.
And should a knife be found stuck in the barrel, the Rama does not settle it here: he refers to Siman 124.
Seif 8 is the seif of the arrival: the wine is here, one looks at the seal, and what one sees decides.
« חתמו בשני חותמות וחזר עליו ולא הכירו או שמצאו סתור אסור » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ח).
| What is found on arrival | The wording | Ruling | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seals unrecognisable, or found undone | « חתמו בשני חותמות וחזר עליו ולא הכירו או שמצאו סתור אסור » | Forbidden | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ח |
| Undone by accident — of itself, by an animal, by a child | « ודוקא אם רואים שנסתר בכוונה ע״י אדם אבל במקום שיכולים לתלות שנסתר ונתקלקל מעצמו או ע״י בהמה או תינוקת שלא בכוונה מותר בדיעבד » | Permitted after the fact | רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:ח |
| Undone deliberately, but a Jew kept going in and out | « ואפילו אם נתקלקל בכוונה יש להתיר אם ישראל יוצא ונכנס תמיד » | There is ground to permit | רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:ח |
| Is one even obliged to go and check? | « אבל אינו צריך לחזור עליו אלא אם כן הודיע לישראל שנשתלח לו שהוא חתום בשני חותמות » | No, unless he had announced it | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ח |
| The Mehaber's advice nonetheless | « ומכל מקום נכון הדבר להודיעו צורת החותם כדי שיחזור אחריו » | It is right to describe the seal to the recipient | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ח |
| Unless letters were written on it | « מיהו אם כתב עליו אותיות אין צריך להודיעו דסתם עובד כוכבים אינו בקי לכתוב אותיות » | No need to give notice | רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:ח |
| The non-Jew admits touching the wine while tightening the barrel | « ואם העובד כוכבים אומר שהחבית היה מטפטף והוא הדקו ונגע ביין אינו נאמן לאסרו » | He is not believed to forbid it | רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:ח |
The same demand already appears at seif 2, where the ש״ך sets aside a seal damaged unintentionally: « ודוקא כשנראה שנסתר בכוונה ע״י אדם » (ש״ך יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק ה).
From seif 9 on, the wine no longer travels: it is at somebody's place. And the siman switches grids. The seal no longer decides; the non-Jew's tie to the place does.
« ישראל ששכר או קנה בית בחצרו של עובד כוכבים ומילאו יין אם ישראל דר שם ואף על פי שהניח היין בחצר ואין עליו לא חותם ולא מפתח מותר » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ט).
| The situation | Ruling | The reason | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Jew lives in the rented house — with no seal or key, and even if the non-Jew lives in that same courtyard | Permitted | His presence takes the place of any device | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ט |
| What the ש״ך adds on this case | The wine counts as guarded | « ואין לעובד כוכבים שייכות ביין אע״פ שיש לו שייכות בבית בחזקת משתמר הוא » | ש״ך יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק י |
| The Jew does not live there, but holds key and seal | Permitted | « אם היה ביד ישראל המפתח וחותם מותר וא״צ לומר שני חותמות » | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ט |
| What we ourselves practise | One seal alone is enough after the fact | « ולדידן בחותם לבד מותר בדיעבד » | ש״ך יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק י״א |
| Neither living there, nor key, nor seal — and the non-Jew lives in the courtyard | Forbidden | The place is his, and nothing holds him back | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ט |
| The non-Jew does not live in the courtyard | Permitted | « ואם אינו דר בחצר מותר אא״כ נמצא עומד בצד היין » | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ט |
| But he is found standing beside the wine | Forbidden here — unlike Siman 128 | « הטעם שאין נתפס כגנב שאדם עשוי לראות מה ששכר או מכר ואין השוכר או הלוקח מקפיד עליו » | ט״ז יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק ט |
Seif 10 opens with a במה דברים אמורים that restricts the whole of seif 9: what came before holds only for a house taken from a non-Jew.
« אבל בחצרו של ישראל ממש שלא לקחו ולא שכרו מעובד כוכבים אפי׳ היה עובד כוכבים דר באותו חצר ואין ישראל דר בו מותר » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:י).
And the ground is remarkably strong: « לפי שאין לו בה שום שייכות ואפילו נמצא עומד בצד היין שהרי מכ״מ נתפס עליו כגנב » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:י).
In a courtyard that is truly the Jew's, a non-Jew who comes near the wine has no title to be there at all: he would be seized as a thief. That is enough — with no key, no seal, and even when found standing beside the wine. The ש״ך refers here to Siman 128: summary: and it is permitted, as was stated above in siman 128 seif 4 (ש״ך יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק ט״ו).
But the Mehaber closes it again at once: « וה״מ ביום אבל בלילה אסור » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:י). By night nobody will walk in, and the dread of being caught falls away.
The Rama then circumscribes that nocturnal stringency with a precision worth reading slowly: « אבל בשאר מקומות דאמרינן לעיל סימן קכ״ח וקכ״ט דהעובד כוכבים מרתת אין חילוק בין יום ללילה » (רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:י).
And he gives the ground proper to our seif: « הואיל והעובד כוכבים יש לו שייכות בחצר ומסתמא נועלו בלילה הואיל ואין ישראל דר שם ואינו מרתת כולי האי » (רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:י).
| Situation in the Jewish courtyard | By day | By night | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| The courtyard is not locked | Permitted | Forbidden | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:י |
| Locked, with no hole or crack through which the wine can be seen | Forbidden | Forbidden | רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:י |
| Locked, but a hole or crack lets one see | Permitted | Forbidden | רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:י |
| The door standing wide open | Permitted | Permitted — he dreads someone coming | ט״ז יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק י |
The Rama's wording on the two middle rows: « ולכן אפילו ביום אם נעל ואין חור או סדק שיכולין לראות היין אסור אבל ע״י חור וסדק מותר ביום אפילו נעלו בודאי » (רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:י).
The ט״ז rescues the night in one case: « אבל בפתוח הדלת לגמרי מותר אפילו בלילה דמרתת דילמא השתא מדכיר ליה לחמרא ויבוא » (ט״ז יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק י).
One word runs through all three simanim, and it explains why they do not resemble one another. The non-Jew holds back because he dreads being caught. The whole question is what, in any given setting, produces that dread.
| The siman | What holds the non-Jew back | What abolishes it |
|---|---|---|
| 128 — a non-Jew left alone where there is wine | The Jew may walk in at any moment | Being told of a long absence |
| 129 — wine left in his hands, and the Jew who comes and goes | Unpredictable comings and goings | Those comings and goings ceasing to be unpredictable |
| 130 — sealed wine, seifim 1 to 8 | No longer dread but trouble: remaking the seal costs too much | A device he has to open anyway |
| 130 — wine left standing, seifim 9 and 10 | Title over the place: he would be taken for a thief | Night, and the key he holds himself |
The ש״ך names both springs side by side, and this is the line to carry away from the whole siman: « דמאי דסמכינן אקשר משונה או חותם היינו משום דלא טרח ומזייף א״נ מרתת » (ש״ך יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק ח).
The Rama ends seif 2 with a pointer that should not be dropped — « ועיין לעיל סימן קי״ח » — and the ש״ך says of seif 3 as a whole that it was already set out at the opening of that siman: summary: the entire seif was explained above at the beginning of siman 118 (ש״ך יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק ו).
Siman 118 is indeed the general siman of the sealed deposit, and ours is only its application to wine. It lays down the list: « יין ובשר וחתיכת דג שאין בו סימן שהפקיד או שלח ביד עובד כוכבים צריך שני חותמות » (שו״ע יו״ד קי״ח:א).
And at once the opposite list: « אבל יין מבושל ושכר או יין שעירבו בו דברים אחרים כגון דבש וכן החומץ וחלב ומורייס ופת וגבינה וכל שאיסורו מדברי סופרים שהפקידו ביד עובד כוכבים מותר בחותם אחד » (שו״ע יו״ד קי״ח:א).
| What Siman 118 supplies | What Siman 130 makes of it |
|---|---|
| The list of foods needing two seals — wine, meat, a piece of fish with no distinguishing mark | Seif 1 applies the rule to wine, and adds the question of the vessel |
| The list of foods needing one seal — cooked wine, beer, mixed wine, vinegar, milk, bread, cheese, and every rabbinic prohibition | Seif 3 takes up the half that bears on wine: cooked, mixed, vinegar |
| « כיון שהחתימו כראוי שני חותמות בדברים שצריך שנים ואחד בדברים שדי באחד אין צריך לחזור אחריו לראותו » (שו״ע יו״ד קי״ח:ב) | Seif 8 is that very teaching, and Siman 118 says so itself in a note |
| The difference between מפקיד and שולח — one who will see his seal again, and one who will not | It accounts for the Rama's leniency at seif 2 about a single seal |
The questions below arise today in exactly the terms of the siman. The table states what the siman supplies for working them through — it does not settle them.
| The question | What the siman supplies | Seif |
|---|---|---|
| A pallet of kosher wine carried by a non-Jewish driver, with nobody accompanying it | This is the central case of seif 1: two seals, and the question of the container. The ש״ך and the ט״ז further report the strict custom of shipping wine from town to town only with a Jewish guard by day and by night | 1 |
| Do a printed capsule or a factory foil amount to one seal, or two? | Seif 6 treats precisely the object applied in a single motion, however many letters it bears — and counts it as one seal only | 6 |
| A tamper seal that has to be broken at every stage of the haul anyway | The ש״ך, in the name of the משאת בנימין, rules out a fastening one is bound to undo daily: it is no seal | 4 |
| מבושל wine — cooked or pasteurised — left with a non-Jewish warehouseman | Seif 3 places it among what settles for a single seal, and points implicitly to Siman 118 for the general rule | 3 |
| On delivery the tamper seal is broken and the carrier says the pallet fell over | The Rama permits after the fact whatever came undone unintentionally; the פתחי תשובה confines that leniency to a case where the non-Jew did not notice | 8 |
| A cellar rented in a building whose non-Jewish owner keeps a spare set of keys | Seif 9 handles premises taken from a non-Jew: key and seal in Jewish hands, living on the spot, and the case of his being found beside the wine | 9 |
| Premises belonging to the Jew himself, into which a non-Jewish workman or courier comes | Seif 10: he has no שייכות over the place and would be taken for a thief — but the ש״ך assumes the Jew goes in and out | 10 |
| Seif | Subject | The essentials |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Depositing and shipping wine | It is permitted to deposit or ship wine by the hand of a non-Jew if it is sealed with a seal within a seal, or with a key and a seal. And that in an earthenware barrel, not in a wooden one, since wine can be drawn between the boards unnoticed — and all the more so in skins, where it is easily drawn between the stitches. Their only remedy is to put the whole wooden barrel or the whole skin into a sack with no outer stitching and seal the mouth of the sack. Rama: some permit even a wooden barrel, without fearing that he will draw wine between the boards, and such is the custom — provided one takes care that the bung is properly closed and that there be no tap: let him cut off all the taps, put leather over the bung, and write letters half on the leather and half on the wood, so that if he lifts the leather he will not know how to set it back. And if a knife was found in the barrel, see Siman 124. |
| 2 | The single seal | If he deposited it with a non-Jew under one seal: forbidden to drink, permitted for benefit — and that provided a corner was set aside for it. Rama: some have written that after the fact one permits even with a single seal; and one need not recognise one's seal unless one sees that it is damaged, in which case it is forbidden; but one need not investigate the matter, and the custom is lenient — and see above, Siman 118. |
| 3 | What settles for one seal | Our cooked wine, likewise our wine mixed with other things such as honey and oil, and likewise our vinegar: it is permitted to deposit them with a non-Jew under a single seal. |
| 4 | What a seal within a seal is | Stopping the barrel with a vessel that is not tight, as everyone stops it, and daubing clay: that is one seal. If the vessel was tight and he daubed over it from above: that is a seal within a seal. Likewise if he tied the mouth of the skin: one seal; if he turned the mouth of the skin inward and tied over it: a seal within a seal. And likewise any change departing from what everyone does counts as one seal — and the daubing or the tying is the second. |
| 5 | Knots | Two unusual knots count as two seals. |
| 6 | Writing and the stamped die | Two letters count as two seals. And stamped dies, though they bear several letters, count as one seal only, since they are set on all at once. And where apostates and non-Jews who know how to write are common, writing is a mark only for one who knows the hand. |
| 7 | The key | A key and one seal count as two seals. |
| 8 | The seal on return | He sealed it with two seals, then went back over it and did not recognise them, or found them undone: forbidden. Rama: and that only if we see they were undone deliberately by a person; but where one can put it down to their having come apart of themselves, or through an animal or a child unintentionally — it is permitted after the fact; and even if they were undone deliberately there is ground to permit if a Jew was constantly going in and out. But he need not go back and check unless he had told the Jew to whom it was sent that it was sealed with two seals — and even without describing their form, once the second Jew found it sealed with two seals it is permitted; still, it is right to describe the form of the seal so that he can check it. Rama: however, if he wrote letters on it, no notice is needed, since an ordinary non-Jew is not skilled at writing letters. And if the non-Jew says the barrel was dripping, that he tightened it and touched the wine, he is not believed to forbid it, even if some wine is still visible outside and his words carry some indications. |
| 9 | A house taken from a non-Jew | A Jew who rented or bought a house in a non-Jew's courtyard and filled it with wine: if the Jew lives there — even though he left the wine in the courtyard with neither seal nor key upon it — it is permitted, even if the non-Jew also lives in that courtyard. But if the Jew does not live there: if he holds the key and the seal, it is permitted, and there is no need to speak of two seals; if not, although the wine is in the very house he rented or bought, it is forbidden if the non-Jew lives in the courtyard; and if he does not live in the courtyard — it is permitted, unless he is found standing beside the wine. |
| 10 | The Jew's courtyard, day and night | That applies to one who rents or buys a house in a non-Jew's courtyard; but in a Jew's own courtyard, which he neither bought nor rented from a non-Jew, even if a non-Jew lives in that courtyard and no Jew lives in it, it is permitted, although the Jew holds neither key nor seal, since he has no title in it whatsoever; and even if he is found standing beside the wine, for he would in any case be seized as a thief. And that is by day; by night it is forbidden. Rama: and only in such a case is it forbidden by night, whereas in the other settings where we said above at simanim 128 and 129 that the non-Jew is afraid, there is no difference between day and night; here it is otherwise, since the non-Jew holds a title in the courtyard and presumably locks it at night, no Jew living there, and he is not so much afraid. Therefore even by day, if he locked up and there is no hole or crack through which the wine can be seen, it is forbidden; but through a hole or a crack it is permitted by day, even if he certainly locked up; and by night it is forbidden in such a case even where nothing is known — and that is the difference between day and night. |
| Question | Reflex answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| How many seals for ordinary wine given to a non-Jew? | Two — a seal within a seal, or a key and a seal | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:א |
| And for cooked wine, mixed wine, vinegar? | One | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ג |
| One seal on ordinary wine? | Forbidden to drink, permitted for benefit; and the Rama permits after the fact | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ב ; רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:ב |
| Does a plain bung count for that single seal? | No — save where loss is great | ש״ך יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק ד |
| A wooden barrel, a skin? | The Mehaber rules them out; the Rama permits and custom follows — bung closed, taps cut off | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:א ; רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:א |
| Does a knot make a seal? | Only if it is unusual; two unusual knots count as two seals | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ה ; ט״ז יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק ח |
| A stamped die covered in letters? | One seal — it goes on all at once | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ו |
| A key plus a seal? | Two seals | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ז |
| The seal is found undone on arrival? | Forbidden if undone deliberately by a person; permitted after the fact if it came apart accidentally | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ח ; רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:ח |
| And if the non-Jew knew the seal had come apart? | The leniency falls away | פתחי תשובה יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק ב |
| The non-Jew claims he touched the wine while stopping a leak? | He is not believed to forbid it | רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:ח |
| A house rented from a non-Jew, the Jew living in it? | Permitted, with no seal and no key | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ט |
| He does not live there, but holds key and seal? | Permitted — and for us one seal alone is enough after the fact | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:ט ; ש״ך יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק י״א |
| A courtyard genuinely the Jew's, a non-Jew living in it? | Permitted by day, even found standing beside the wine — he would be taken for a thief | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:י |
| And by night? | Forbidden — the one spot in the whole block where day and night part company | שו״ע יו״ד ק״ל:י ; רמ״א יו״ד ק״ל:י |
| The door standing wide open, at night? | Permitted — he dreads that somebody may walk in | ט״ז יו״ד ק״ל ס״ק י |
| Level | Content | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 🌱 Level 1 — Base | The text of all 10 seifim, translation, step-by-step explanation | Overall understanding |
| ⚡ Level 2 — Lamdan | The definition of חותם — לא טרח ומזייף or מרתת, the meaning of שינוי, and how sealing relates to שייכות over a place | In-depth study |
| ✨ Level 3 — Synthesis | Two master grids, the regime of place, מרתת, practical cases, golden rules, mnemonic, pitfalls and a recap of the seifim | Practical mastery and review |
| 📜 Level 4 — Halacha le-ma'aseh | The practical ruling according to the ש״ך, the ט״ז, the פתחי תשובה and the poskim | Contemporary application |
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