2,402. Leaving an Employee With Wine

Maachalos Assuros 12:16

Let’s say that a non-Jew is moving barrels of wine from one place to another with a Jew, and the Jew walks behind the barrels to watch them. They remain permitted even if he is separated from the non-Jew by the distance of a mil (roughly half a mile). This is because the non-Jew knows that the Jew might appear at any moment so he won’t mishandle the wine. If a Jew tells non-Jews to go on ahead and he’ll follow them, then if they leave his field of vision to the extent that they can tap the barrel, re-seal it and let it dry, then all of the wine is prohibited. If they’re out of sight for a shorter time than this, the wine remains permitted.

Maachalos Assuros 12:17

Similarly, if a Jew leaves a non-Jew in his (i.e., the Jew’s) shop and he comes and goes the whole day, the wine remains permitted; if he tells the non-Jew that he’s leaving for a lengthy period, if he’s gone long enough for the non-Jew to open a barrel, re-seal it and let it dry, it is prohibited to drink the wine. Similarly, if one left his wine with a non-Jew on a wagon or a ship and he enters a city to go about his business, the wine remains permitted; if he tells the non-Jew that he’s leaving for a significant length of time, then if he’s gone long enough for the non-Jew to open a barrel, re-seal it and let it dry, it is prohibited to drink the wine. All of these are the case with sealed barrels; if the barrels have already been opened, then the wine is prohibited even if he wasn’t delayed at all since he told him that he was going to be gone for a long time.