Study Avodah Zarah folio 66A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
חמרא עתיקא בענבי, דברי הכל בנותן טעם. חמרא חדתא בענבי, אביי אמר: במשהו, ורבא אמר: בנותן טעם.
§ With regard to old wine used for a libation that fell onto grapes, all agree that the grapes are forbidden only in a case where the wine imparts flavor to them. With regard to new wine used for a libation, i.e., wine that had just been squeezed and has not yet fermented, that fell onto grapes, Abaye says that any amount renders the grapes forbidden, and Rava says that they are forbidden only in a case where the wine imparts flavor to them.
אביי אמר: במשהו, בתר טעמא אזלינן, אידי ואידי חד טעמא הוא, דהוה ליה מין במינו, ומין במינו במשהו.
The Talmud explains their respective opinions: Abaye says that any amount renders them forbidden because he maintains that when categorizing substances in the context of the halakhot of mixtures we follow the flavor, and this wine and those grapes are of the same flavor, which renders it a case of a substance in contact with the same type of substance. And the principle is that in a case of a substance in contact with the same type of substance, any amount of the forbidden substance renders the mixture forbidden.
And Rava says that the grapes are forbidden only in a case where the wine imparts flavor to them because he maintains that when categorizing substances in the context of the halakhot of mixtures we follow the name, and this wine has a discrete name, and those grapes have their own discrete name. And accordingly, this is a case of a substance in contact with a different type of substance. And the principle is that in a case of a substance in contact with a different type of substance, the mixture is forbidden only in a case where the forbidden item imparts flavor to it.