QUESTION: How many seals are required for non-mevushal wine?

ANSWER: The Gemara (Avoda Zara 39a) states that skinless fish, meat, wine (non-mevushal) and t’cheilis (tzitzis strings dyed blue) require two seals to prevent from being tampered with. Bread and cheese only require one seal. Shulchan Aruch (YD 118:1) explains that whenever there is a possible Torah prohibition as a result of tampering, as is the case with meat and fish, we require two seals. Whenever the concern is Rabbinic, such as with the bread or cheese, which might have been switched with pas akum or gevinas akum which are only Rabbinic prohibitions, Chazal only required one seal.

Although the concern with non-mevushal wine is that it might be switched with stam yaynam (wine of unknown kashrus status) or touched by a nochri in a way that will make it forbidden to drink which are only Rabbinic prohibitions, nonetheless the Rashba explains that Chazal required two seals (as though it were a Torah prohibition), because in the days of the Talmud, there was such a strong desire to pour wine for avoda zara. Chazal viewed one seal, which requires only a minimal effort to forge, as inadequate. The Aruch Hashulchan (YD 118:13) writes that many poskim (including Taz, Minchas Yaakov, and others) maintain that today, since there is no longer a strong desire to pour wine for avoda zara, even one seal is sufficient for non-mevushal wine. Although the custom is to require two seals, one can be more lenient regarding the second seal, since today according to the letter of the law only one seal is required.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.