✦ ❖ ✦

DAAT · LEVEL 4 — HALAKHA LEMA'ASSE / PSAK

שולחן ערוך · יורה דעה

Siman 136 — Sealing wine vessels entrusted to a non-Jew — Psika lema'asse

סימן קל״ו · הלכה למעשה

שהשולח כלי יין ביד עובד כוכבים צריך לחתמו

פסק המחבר והרמ״א · הכרעת נושאי הכלים · הסקת ההלכה למקרים בני זמננו

⚖️ פסק הלכה ולמעשה ⚖️

✦ ❖ ✦

Halakha lema'asse — the practical ruling

From the psak of the Mechaber and the Rama, through the arbitration of the Shach,
the Taz and the Ba’er Hetev, to the vat sent out for repair

Subject:
שולחן ערוך יורה דעה סימן קל״ו (סעיף אחד)
עם נושאי הכלים: ש״ך, ט״ז, באר היטב, בית יוסף, טור

⚠ Level notice:
This level is not “Daat HaRav”: the Shulchan Arukh HaRav
(the Alter Rebbe) does not cover Yoreh De'ah, hence not Siman 136.
It is a level of practical psika: what is done, and whom to ask.

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 Arukh and its nossei kelim, or in a named and verifiable posek (Tur, Beit Yosef, Gemara Avodah Zarah). On Yoreh De'ah there is no Mishnah Berurah (which comments only on Orach Chaim) and no Shulchan Arukh HaRav (the Alter Rebbe did not write Yoreh De'ah). The Pitchei Teshuva does not comment on this siman — there is therefore nothing to report in his name, and nothing is attributed to him. 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. What remains, and it suffices: the Shach (5 ס״ק), the Taz (2 ס״ק) and the Ba’er Hetev (3 ס״ק). Where the question exceeds the siman, this level says so and stops: halakha lema'asse goes through your Rav.

📑 תוכן העניינים

שורש הפסק — החותם סימן, ושיעורו כשיעור הריווח
פסק המחבר והרמ״א — מפת הסעיף
כמה חותמות — לכתחילה ובדיעבד
שיעור הזמן — אפילו לפי שעה
נשלח בלא חותם — ההכשר, ואיזה
כבר נשתמש בו — הרמ״א והט״ז
חביות גדולות — אצל האומן
מקרים בני זמננו
סיכום מעשי — טבלה, קישורים, ולמעשה שאל את רבך

📜 The text of the Shulchan Arukh — the single seif

השולח ביד עובד כוכבים כלים המיוחדים ליין צריך להחתימם בחותם אחד כדי שיהא ניכר אם הכניס בהם העובד כוכבים יין ויש מי שמצריך חותם בתוך חותם

The founding case. Vessels set aside for wine are shipped by the hand of a non-Jew — and they are empty. The Mechaber does not require that one refrain from sending them: he requires that they be sealed, and he gives the reason in the same sentence — כדי שיהא ניכר, so that the use be visible.

And he at once reports a second view. One seal, or two? The Mechaber rules for one and notes the requirement of a חותם בתוך חותם; that is the whole ma’hloket of the siman, and level 2 shows its root in the reading of a practice of Rava.

1. שורש הפסק — the seal is a sign, and its measure is the gain

This siman does not protect wine: it protects an empty container. The whole practice follows from that. The question to ask before a cask that is leaving is not “is there wine in it?” — there is none — but “would anyone have an interest in using it on the way?”. If so, a seal is needed; and the number of seals is set by the size of that interest.

כלל הפסק של הסימן :
אין החותם מחיצה אלא סימן, וכוחו נמדד כנגד השבחא שיפיק המזייף. ולפיכך : משום שבחא פורתא לא טרח ומזייף — ודי בחותם אחד ; ובמקום תשמיש מרובה — טרח ומזייף, ולכתחילה חותם בתוך חותם. וכיוון שגזרו על הכלי אפילו לפי שעה, אין שהות מתרת, שכן בכלי היין לא שייך נ״ט לפגם.

What this changes for you. Before a cask, a vat or a tanker entrusted to a non-Jewish third party, the first question is never “for how long?” but “can this container serve someone, and for how much?”. A very large vat: no, and the siman says so. An ordinary cask: yes, even for one hour.

2. פסק המחבר והרמ״א — the map of the seif

Siman 136 has a single seif — that is the count announced by the heading (ובו סעיף אחד) and the real count of the text. It reads as three clauses of the Mechaber with a gloss of the Rama inserted between the last two.

3. כמה חותמות — a priori and after the fact

Clause	Who	Psak (anchored in the text)
1	Mechaber	One who ships vessels set aside for wine by a non-Jew must seal them with one seal, so that use be visible. Second view: a seal within a seal is required.
2	Rama	Sent without a seal: the vessel must be kashered, according to the mode that would apply had it belonged to a non-Jew. But if it has already been used without that: one does not forbid after the fact — and the Taz refuses this last point.
3	Mechaber	Large casks may remain a day or two with a non-Jewish craftsman to be repaired, for a container of that size is not used for a short while.

One seal according to the Mechaber, two according to the second view

The Mechaber writes בחותם אחד and then reports ויש מי שמצריך חותם בתוך חותם. The safest practice is therefore the double seal; but the Bach, reported by the Shach, decides the after-the-fact case.

Lema'asse. A priori — seal twice: a closure, then a second mark over it (for instance a numbered seal on the valve and a sealed film over the hatch). It is neither costly nor complicated, and it satisfies both views. After the fact, where a single seal was applied and is intact, there is something to rely on — the Bach says so, the Shach reports him, the Ba’er Hetev repeats it.

4. שיעור הזמן — even for a short while

👈 The escape that is not one

The Bach suggested leaving the vessel to stand twenty-four hours, so that the taste should become spoiling. The Shach refuses, and his reason is not juridical but material: a wine cask does not deteriorate as it ages.

5. נשלח בלא חותם — kashering, and which one

What “as though it had belonged to a non-Jew” means — and does not mean

The Taz refuses to have the gloss read as though it equated the cask with a utensil bought at a non-Jewish market. It aims at the case where the vessel really had belonged to a non-Jew, and it leaves earthenware to its own regime.

6. כבר נשתמש בו — the Rama and the Taz

Case	What is required	Source
A Jew’s vessel, shipped without a seal	Kashering according to siman 135 seif 4	ט״ז קל״ו ס״ק א
A vessel that was a non-Jew’s and was bought	The regime of a vessel acquired from a non-Jew	רמ״א קל״ו · ט״ז ס״ק א
Earthenware, first used by a non-Jew	צריך עירוי	ט״ז קל״ו ס״ק א
The detail of the kashering modes	Full cross-reference to siman 135	ש״ך קל״ו ס״ק ד

Lema'asse. Always separate the two questions. (1) The vessel: it must be kashered — no one disputes it, and it is not used until that is done. (2) What has already been poured into it: the Rama does not condemn it, the Taz does, and the Ba’er Hetev records both. This is exactly the kind of question a Rav decides in view of the case — the value at stake, the nature of the vessel, and what is known of the journey.

7. חביות גדולות — at the craftsman’s

Lema'asse. The Mechaber permits, but the Shach and the Ba’er Hetev, in the name of the Acharonim, expressly recommend guarding oneself as far as one can. In practice: seal even large casks where feasible, and invoke the permission only where sealing is genuinely impossible — for instance because the repair itself requires opening.

8. מקרים בני זמננו

👈 Case 2 — The tanker or shipping container

A container set aside for wine travelling alone: that is the very case of the siman. Two seals a priori, one suffices after the fact if intact (ש״ך ס״ק א; באר היטב ס״ק א).

👈 Case 4 — The cask that comes back without its seal

Kashering owed, according to siman 135 (ש״ך ס״ק ד); the fate of what has already been poured into it: the Rama permits, the Taz forbids (ט״ז ס״ק ב; באר היטב ס״ק ב). To be put to a Rav.

The point this level will not decide. The kashrut of an actual wine also depends on what that wine is, who handled it, and supervision conventions that have no source in this siman. This level says what siman 136 requires of the vessel; it does not say whether this batch is kosher. That belongs to the certifying body and to your Rav.

9. סיכום מעשי — table, links, and למעשה שאל את רבך

Situation	Practical verdict	Source
Shipping a wine vessel by a non-Jew	Seal it — two seals a priori	שו״ע קל״ו:א
A single seal applied, intact	There is something to rely on after the fact	ש״ך ס״ק א · באר היטב ס״ק א
A brief stop in non-Jewish hands	Changes nothing: kashering is still owed	ש״ך ס״ק ג
Waiting 24 h to avoid kashering	Ineffective on a wine vessel	ש״ך ס״ק ג
Sent without a seal	Kashering according to siman 135	רמ״א קל״ו · ש״ך ס״ק ד
Earthenware, first used by a non-Jew	צריך עירוי	ט״ז ס״ק א
Already used without kashering	Rama: not condemned · Taz: forbidden	רמ״א קל״ו · ט״ז ס״ק ב
Large casks at a craftsman’s, a day or two	Permitted, but one guards oneself as far as one can	שו״ע קל״ו:א · ש״ך ס״ק ה

And finally, the one rule that holds lema'asse. This level sets out the ruling of the sources; it does not replace a decision. A container, a carrier, a delay and a seal make up a concrete case, and a concrete case is decided with a Rav — which is what the Shach and the Taz themselves do, distinguishing each time the a priori from the accomplished fact.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
DAAT · הרב יוסף חיים סממה
תלמיד חכם · מעביר שיעורים בהלכה ובחסידות
סימן קל״ו · Level 4 — Halakha lema'asse · שהשולח כלי יין ביד עובד כוכבים צריך לחתמו
daattorah.com