Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah 5:14 ירושלמי עבודה זרה ה׳:י״ד

MISHNAH: A wine press of stone which a Gentile had pitched one has to wipe dry¹⁸⁴If the wine press is hewn into the local limestone, the walls of the vat under the press into which the pressed juice flows have to be made impermeable. If this is done by sealing with pitch, something has to be done that the pitch does not spoil the wine. The usual way of neutralizing the pitch was to wash it down with wine. The Yerushalmi does not specify how the wiping dry has to be done, probably because it was generally known, but the Halakhah implies that first everything has to be washed down with water for an extended period. The Babli specifies that in washing down an abrasive powder has to be used. and it is pure. But one of wood, Rebbi said he shall wipe it dry but the Sages say he must remove the pitch¹⁸⁵Since wood is more absorbent than stone, a new insulation has to be applied.. And one of pottery, even if he removed the pitch, remains forbidden¹⁸⁶Pottery absorbs the wine; the walls of the vat become forbidden and cannot be repaired (except by standing empty for 12 months, by which time all organic material will have decomposed.).

HALAKHAH: “A wine press of stone which a Gentile had pitched,” etc. Our Mishnah is Rebbi’s. “One of wood, Rebbi said he shall wipe it dry but the Sages say he must remove the pitch.” For pottery it is not following Rebbi, as it was stated¹⁸⁷Babli 74b. A comparison with the text of the Babli shows that the text here is elliptic. It must read: The Mishnah follows Rebbi for stone and wood vessels, but does not follow Rebbi for pottery.: A Gentile’s wine-press, bucket, and funnel, Rebbi permits but the Sa (say)¹⁸⁸It is obvious that for אוֹמְרִים “say” one has to read אוֹסְרִים “forbid”. What Rebbi permits and the Sages forbid is cleansing the earthenware vessels by wiping them dry.. Rebbi agrees that pitchers are forbidden. Why are these forbidden and those permitted? These one fills with it, the others one does not fill with it¹⁸⁹The text of the Babli is more explicit: In pitchers wine is stored, in other vessels it is filled only temporarily.. Rebbi Yose in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: practice follows Rebbi¹⁹⁰The Babli does not discuss which opinion to follow but, since at other places it states the rule that practice follows Rebbi only if his opinion is opposed by a single dissenter, not against a majority opinion, the codifiers of Talmudic law follow the Sages in this matter.. If a Gentile pitched a papyrus vessel¹⁹¹Not paper cups but wicker work made with papyrus rope or stems; cf. Kilaim 6:3 Note 38. The discussion is interrupted by the next sentence; it continues with “is the disagreement …”. Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun in the name of Samuel, practice follows Rebbi¹⁹²There is Babylonian authority for following Rebbi; cf. Note 190.. It is the disagreement of Rebbi and the Sages, as we have stated¹⁹³Tosephta 8:3, Babli 75a.: “If somebody’s wine-press was impure¹⁹⁴Nothing connected to the ground can be impure except a leprous house. One speaks here of the movable parts and the implements belonging to a wine-press which in a standard sale contract would be sold with the building. and he wants to purify it, the brooms, the planks, and the lentil¹⁹⁵Any ovaloid implement is called “lentil”; this may be a vessel (a hot water bottle, Tosephta Šabbat 3:7) or a roller. one rubs dry and they are pure. The wicker-work of wood splinters, or of hemp, or of wood, or of bark, of threads, of bast, one lets age a full twelve months; Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel said, from one olive pressing to the next, from one wine pressing to the next¹⁹⁶If one has to wait a full 12 months one loses the use of the press for one full harvest.. Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel said¹⁹⁷In the Babylonian sources, Babli and Tosephta: Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel in the name of R. Yose., if he wants to purify it immediately, he puts it for a period in a pipe where water streams, or in a brook whose water flows. Just as one wipes dry for purity¹⁹⁸Even though one uses the expression “to make the wine in purity” as equivalent to “making kosher wine” (Halakhah 4:12), here one speaks of purity in the exact biblical meaning. so one wipes dry for libation wine.” How much is a period? Rebbi Yose in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan, half a day or half a night. Rebbi Ḥiyya stated, either a day or a night. Do they disagree? But one when day and night are equal, the other when day and night are unequal¹⁹⁹Babli 75a, Pesaḥim 113b, Yebamot 62b, Ševuot 18b, Niddah 63b. Either day or night at the equinox or half a day during the summer solstice, half a night during the winter solstice..