By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times

Although the halacha allows for both cooked wines and non-cooked wines for the recitation of Kiddush (See Ramah SA OC 272:8), some people are stringent and try to use wine that is not cooked at all (see Mishna Brura 272:23 and Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 77:6). However, there is a downside to this stringency. The downside is that non-cooked wines are more susceptible to become prohibited under the concept of Stam Yainam.

WHAT IS STAM YEINAM?

What is Stam Yainam and why are these wines prohibited? Also, what are the details of these laws? What may be done with wine and what may not be done? In order to better understand the concept, a brief excursion might be instructive.

The Odyssey is an ancient Greek tale by Homer that is studied in high schools across the country. It is about a man named “Odysseus” who fights in the Trojan War. Because of this battle, he is away from home for twenty years.

While Odysseus is away, evil strangers or wooers, attempt to marry his beautiful wife, Penelope. The wooers abuse a certain stranger who visits. However, Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, boldly stands up for the stranger.

The wooers reluctantly agree that Telemachus spoke properly. They leave him alone, saying, “To misuse a stranger in the house of Odysseus is a shame. Now let us pour out a libation of wine to the gods, and then let each man go to his home.”

The passage is of interest to us because of this last quote of the wooers – “Let us pour out a libation of wine to the gods..” Clearly, it was the norm in ancient times to pour libations of wine to gods and deities that were commonly worshipped. Homer’s casual insertion of the line is tantamount to ordering a beer in today’s society.

WHY THE INTENSITY?

All this, of course, is quite foreign to Judaism and to the Torah way of life. To Judaism, the so-called “gods” and anything offered to them – particularly these libations were an affront to the very purpose of creation. The Torah and the Rabbis, as seen in the laws of Yayin nesach and Stam Yainam, showed a passionate indignation toward these offerings. Why? Why the intensity?

NATURE OF HASHEM

The answer of course lies in the Jewish conception of G-d. Not only is G-d the Creator of the world, but He is the source of all that is good (See Ohr HaTzafun Siman 1) He is also desirous of the ultimate good of mankind – all of mankind – and rewards good and punishes evil.

Idol-worship and all its accouterments form the anti-thesis of G-d’s purpose in the world. Wine libations that are offered to the gods serve to cement man’s allegiance to the negation of the Divine purpose and message in the world. And this lies in stark contrast to Torah and the ultimate mission of the Jewish people.

But it is more than this. It is the casualness of it all too. The message and mission of the Divine plan should be all-consuming. The casual disregard for G-d and for the purposes for His creating us, as is typically manifest in the example of the Odyssey, highlights all that is wrong with what mankind is doing. It is not just evil, but the very banality of evil which gives rise to that passionate indignation of Judaism.

IDOL WORSHIP DENIES THE DIVINE AND ALL OF THE PROPHETIC MESSAGES

Just as the observance of the Sabbath affirms and attests to the Hand of G-d in the Creation of the world – the wine libations to “gods” attempt to deny G-d, His purpose in creation, and His system of reward and punishment. It denies the Divine and prophetic messages of Chessed, love, acts of lovingkindness, universal brotherhood, and Divine service.

On Rosh HaShana we pray for that ultimate time when all the nations in the world will unite under one banner to perform the Divine Will with one united and complete heart. And just as a banner or a flag represents the hopes, ideals, and aspirations of a nation, so too does an “anti-flag.” Wine libations to gods are the physical embodiment of this “anti-flag” negating the Divine message and purpose in the world.

Jewish philosophy has always posited that the existence of the One G-d is intuitive by reason. Any thinking person can see G-d’s existence by reason alone. The lack of this knowledge, the eclipsing of G-d is brought about only by dint of desire. The gods and the wine gifts to them are a clever ruse of the Yetzer HaRah to deflect mankind from his true role and purpose in the world.

LIGHT UNTO NATIONS

And the Jewish role is precisely the opposite. We see from many passages and psukim in Tanach (e.g. G-d’s concern for Pharoah, Amos 9:7, Sefer Yonah) that, far from being unconcerned with the fate of the gentiles around us, the Jewish role is to be a light unto the nations to ultimately bring the nations of the world back to the belief in ethical monotheism.

WE MUST BE UP TO THE TASK

Our purpose eventually is to cause man to reflect upon his true role and purpose in the world. Our first concern is to make sure that we are up that task, however. That each member of the Jewish nation develops Dveikus Bashem – that close bond with the G-d – which lies within us. The role of or la’amim is the fulfillment of the true destiny of the Jewish people – one we were Divinely chosen to fulfill as we recite in the Kiddush, “Ki vanu vacharta mikol ha-amim.”

The fulfillment of this role involves the development of a focused purpose in what and who we are and what we should be doing. The issue of wine is so severe in the eyes of the guardians of the Torah tradition that they even forbade the use of wine if it was handled by anyone who is not fully committed to the message of Torah and Judaism.

These laws are as follows: If an oved kochavim grabbed hold of an open bottle of wine and swirled it, even if he or she did not lift the bottle nor touch the wine – the wine is forbidden. (SA YD 124:17) According to the Ramah, however, because of various mitigating factors – if there is a significant loss involved, one may be lenient – even if the wine bottled was lifted and shaken or stirred.

If the oved kochavim held a closed bottle whether it was either full or partially full, the bottle is permitted. The reason is that this is not the manner of pouring a libation. If the oved kochavim held an open bottle and lifted it but did not swirl the contents around, the wine is still permitted. If the oved kochavim merely touched the open bottle this is certainly permitted.
The prohibition extends even to leaving an unsealed bottle of wine with a gentile.

It is important to bear all this in mind when putting away the wine for the Seder and there is a concern that an oved kochavim will make use or pour the wine. As we have seen from the laws, not all wine that is left out has become unkosher. It is important to reflect upon the message that lies within this prohibition – especially during this holiday where we celebrate the formation of Klal Yisroel as a nation. A Chag Kasher VeSameach!

The author can be reached at [email protected]