📚 Daf Yomi Summary – Menachot 87: Wine for the Altar

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Menachot 87 (87a–87b)

Wine for the Altar

Menachot 87 shifts to wine used for libations (nesachim).

 

  1. Where Wine May Be Taken From

The Mishnah rules:

  • Not from the top of the barrel (scum/mold)
  • Not from the bottom (sediment)
  • Only from the middle

A Temple official monitored the flow to ensure purity.

 

  1. Disqualified Wines

Invalid wines include:

  • Moldy wine
  • Sweet wine
  • Smoked wine
  • Cooked wine

Some wines are invalid ab initio, while others are invalid even after the fact, depending on whether the flaw is intrinsic or incidental.

 

  1. Old Wine

A dispute:

  • Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi: old wine may not be brought
  • Sages: permit it

Rabbi’s concern:

  • Wine must retain redness and vitality
  • Based on verses likening wine to youthful lambs

 

  1. Vineyard Standards

Vines must be:

  • Carefully cultivated
  • Dug around twice yearly

Quality wine reflects human effort combined with natural excellence.

Theme: Just as oil varies by extraction, wine varies by care, aging, and handling.

About The Author

Rabbi Yaakov Goldstein is a 6th generation descendent of the famous Chief Rabbi of Izhmir, Rav Yehoshua Avraham Krispin, who authored a number of Sefarim, and was a colleague of Rav Chaim Falagi, and father in-law of the Pesach Hadvir. He currently lives with his wife Shayna, and twelve children K”H, in Tzfas, Israel. Rabbi Goldstein received Semicha from Rabbi Schneur Zalman Labkowski of the Tomchei Temimim headquarters in 2005 and served as a chaplain in the Lotar/Kalatz and K9 unit of the IDF from years 2005-2008. He is also a certified Shochet, and has performed Hashgacha work in slaughterhouses. Rabbi Goldstein is the director of Shulchanaruchharav.com, the world’s leading web-based Halacha database, and is the director of the Home Study Semicha Program, a self-study web-based Semicha program. He is a prolific author of over 50 Sefarim studied by a wide range of readers throughout the world, which is used regularly in Semicha programs around the globe. He is a world renowned Posek, answering questions to a web-based market, and serves as a local Posek, Rav, and Lecturer, in the Tzemach Tzedek community Shul in Tzefas, Israel. His many classes can be heard both from his website, Vimeo and YouTube channel. Students can join live to classes given in the Tzemach Tzedek Shul, through the “בית חבד צפת Chabad Tsfat” YouTube channel.