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#1681607

“Anyone who drinks wine served by a non Jewish waiter is relying on a heter.”

Because some readers “pasken” based on the gedolim of the CR, a quick review of hilchos stam yainom:

The “heter” (or issur) is Yoreh Deah 124 which rules that if a non-Jew merely touched the bottle of wine, the wine is permissible. However, if the non-Jew touched the wine itself, with his hands or even his feet, all of the wine is prohibited.

If the non-Jew “shook” (shichshuch) the wine, in the times of the Talmud, ‘shichshuch’ was considered to be an act of pagan worship. Therefore, even if the non-Jew does not lift the bottle, if he shakes it, the wine is prohibited. Similarly, if he pours the wine into a decanter, or spins the bottle with a stick, that is also considered to be a form of shichshuch and the wine is prohibited.

The non-Jew gently moves the wine to put something else in its place. He rules, based upon the Beit Yosef, that if this happens in front of a Jew, this is considered to be “nianua kezat” and the wine is permissible.

When a non-Jew actually pours the wine. If he pours the wine into a cup, he may not drink or even derive benefit from the wine. Also, even the wine which remains in the bottle is prohibited, due to the concept of “nizok.” According to this rule, an uninterrupted flow of wine (nizok) from the cup to the bottle prohibits the wine left in the bottle.

The same would apply to wine which was poured by a Jewish person who publically violates the Shabbat, many poskim prohibit wine which was poured by a mechalel Shabbas b’farhesia.

These are serious and complex halachos – one cannot pasken based on “Sevoras HaBeten” (his own gut instinct) or “Regesh HaLev”.