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If non-Mevushal wine was poured by someone who should not have poured it, what should one do? Does it make a difference if:

  1. the wine was poured, but not for you (ie., you just have to contend with the remaining wine in the bottle)?
  2. there is no other wine available (or no other non-Mevushal, un-poured wine) and it is needed for a mitzvah (קידוש, ד' כוסות, ברית מילה, ז' ברכות)?
  3. the pourer will almost certainly be offended if you don't partake? (Setting aside social reasons not to pressure someone to drink; let's suppose there had been a conversation moments prior about how excited one is to try the wine because of its uniqueness, or something like that.)
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    What if you realized that they bought the meat they were serving you for Simchat Yom Tov at McDonalds?
    – Double AA ♦
    May 4, 2014 at 4:45
  • You mean, what if the meat was specially prepared for your son's Bris by your chef garde manger brother-in-law, who is also in Kollel, and he suddenly cannot recall if he salted both sides of the meat? Yeah, that'd be an interesting question, too. And more closely parallel to this one.
    – Seth J
    May 4, 2014 at 13:07
  • If you think that is more parallel you should edit your question to indicate how. Right now it reads more like mine.
    – Double AA ♦
    May 4, 2014 at 13:57

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  1. This depends on how exactly you hold that wine becomes yayin akum. Under the opinion that I personally follow, which I don't actually know the source of but was told by my LOR, the akum just looking at it is enough to make it "treyf vi chazzer" (non-kosher like pork). I've heard that this is actually a stringency, and that it just needs to be served to the non-Jew. I've also heard that only a non-Jew actually pouring the wine (transferring it to a different vessel) can make it yayin akum. CYLOR!

  2. Assuming that the wine has actually been made into yayin akum, it is unfit for consumption and you are in a case of oneis (force majeure). In most cases, some other "beverage of honor" can be substituted. I was told in the name of R' Dovid Fink shlita that tea can substitute as a "beverage of honor" in a pinch, although it is preferable to use an alcoholic beverage if possible. My LOR told me that the four cups on Passover actually have to be wine, although, again, you would be in a situation of force majeure and would be released from your obligation, assuming you can't get any other wine.

  3. In this case, because you are under a real rabbinic restriction and not under the pressure of a chumra or minhag, the obligation to refrain from the wine stands. You may wish to invent an excuse that you suddenly remembered that you have a medical test tomorrow and should refrain from alcoholic beverages.

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  • ("treyf vi chazzer" means "non-kosher and pork") So you would be willing to sell it and benefit from the proceeds?
    – Double AA ♦
    May 4, 2014 at 13:55
  • @DoubleAA in Yiddish vi can be used as "like".
    – Ish Ploni ViKohen
    May 4, 2014 at 14:46
  • @DoubleAA "vi" is akin to Standard German "wie" ('as'). It's a pretty common expression that means "as [finally] non-kosher as pork" as opposed to something like cholov nochri, which is debatably non-kosher.
    – Tatpurusha
    May 4, 2014 at 16:56
  • What debate is there about cholov nochri????
    – Double AA ♦
    May 4, 2014 at 16:59
  • @DoubleAA Some authorities (especially in America) hold that the lenient certification of milk (sometimes called "cholov stam") is acceptable, but others hold that a stricter certification ("cholov yisroel") is necessary. In Israel the rabbinate marks the imported lenient-certification packages as "l'ochelei cholov nochri."
    – Tatpurusha
    May 4, 2014 at 17:04

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