2,398. A Broken Barrel, One Who Drowned in the Wine and Other Scenarios

Maachalos Assuros 12:8

Let’s say that a barrel splits lengthwise. A non-Jew comes along and embraces the barrel in order to prevent the two halves from separating. In such a case, one is permitted to benefit from the wine. However, if the barrel split crosswise and he grabbed the top half to keep it from falling, it remains permitted to drink the wine because it remains unaffected by the non-Jew’s power.

Maachalos Assuros 12:9

If a non-Jew fell into a cistern of wine and was pulled up dead, if he measured the cistern of wine with a reed, if he shooed a fly or a hornet away from the wine with a reed, if he patted a boiling bottle of wine to make the boiling subside or if he threw a barrel into the cistern out of anger – in all of these cases, one is only permitted to benefit from the wine. If he was pulled from the cistern alive, then it’s prohibited to benefit from the wine.