[Avodah] Yayin Nesech - Definition

[Prof. L. Levine]

>From https://outorah.org/p/147683,  the OU Kosher Halacha Yomis.


QUESTION: What is “yayin nesech”? Do the rules of bitul (nullification) apply to it?


ANSWER: Yayin nesech is wine that was poured as a libation in the service of idolatry. It is forbidden to drink or derive any benefit from this wine, and it must be destroyed (e.g., poured down a drain or flushed down a toilet).


Since yayin nesech was used for idol worship, the rules for bitul (nullification) are stricter than for most other non-kosher foods. Generally, non-kosher food is batel (nullified) if diluted in sixty parts. However, the Mishnah (Avoda Zara 5:8<https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Avodah_Zarah.5.8?lang=he-en&utm_source=outorah.org&utm_medium=sefaria_linker>) states that yayin nesech is not batel in kosher wine, even if it is a small percentage of the mixture. Thus, if a single drop of yayin nesech fell into a large vat of kosher wine, the entire mixture becomes forbidden. Similarly, Shulchan Aruch (YD 140:1<https://www.sefaria.org/Shulchan_Arukh,_Yoreh_De'ah.140.1?lang=he-en&utm_source=outorah.org&utm_medium=sefaria_linker>) writes that if a statuette that was worshipped became mixed with 1000 (or more) identical statuettes and there is no way to identify the idol, all the statuettes would be forbidden.


The above is true when yayin nesech is mixed with kosher wine. However, yayin nesech which is mixed into water or other foods is batel if the taste of wine is no longer discernible.

Professor Yitzchok Levine

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