וששאלת על שכר שבמקומך שלשם אין יין לפעמים אם יקרא חמר מדינה הא לא קאמר חמר עיר אלא חמר מדינה היינו שאין יין באותו מלכות אבל כל המלכות סביבך (צ"ל יש) יין גם בעירך יש רוב יין כל השנה ואם בסוף השנה נחסר להם הרי כל סביבותיך יין והלא ידעת כמה דבר גדול מקידושי יין ורב שכרו והלא בלגין אחד שנקנה בי"ב פ"ש היה לך די זמן מרובה:
Q. When, on occasion, the stocks of wine in our locality are completely exhausted, are we justified in assuming that our beer is "the wine of the country" and thus may be used as wine for all religious purposes? A. The term "wine of the country" is applied to a drink when no real wine is available throughout an entire country. Thus no wine is available in Westphalia. But, there is an abundance of wine throughout your country. Moreover, even in your locality wine is available in large quantities most of the year. If toward the end of the year a shortage develops, you have no right to call your beer "the wine of the country". Knowing how superior wine is, and how much it is preferred to other drinks for kiddush and other religious uses, you should provide yourself with enough wine to last throughout the year. A bottle,*Tashbetz reads: “two full lugin.” of wine, which costs twelve pennies, should last you a long time. SOURCES: L. 146; Tashbetz 301.
וששאלת על שכר שבמקומך שלשם אין יין לפעמים אם יקרא חמר מדינה הא לא קאמר חמר עיר אלא חמר מדינה היינו שאין יין באותו מלכות אבל כל המלכות סביבך (צ"ל יש) יין גם בעירך יש רוב יין כל השנה ואם בסוף השנה נחסר להם הרי כל סביבותיך יין והלא ידעת כמה דבר גדול מקידושי יין ורב שכרו והלא בלגין אחד שנקנה בי"ב פ"ש היה לך די זמן מרובה:
Q. When, on occasion, the stocks of wine in our locality are completely exhausted, are we justified in assuming that our beer is "the wine of the country" and thus may be used as wine for all religious purposes?
A. The term "wine of the country" is applied to a drink when no real wine is available throughout an entire country. Thus no wine is available in Westphalia. But, there is an abundance of wine throughout your country. Moreover, even in your locality wine is available in large quantities most of the year. If toward the end of the year a shortage develops, you have no right to call your beer "the wine of the country". Knowing how superior wine is, and how much it is preferred to other drinks for kiddush and other religious uses, you should provide yourself with enough wine to last throughout the year. A bottle,*Tashbetz reads: “two full lugin.” of wine, which costs twelve pennies, should last you a long time.
SOURCES: L. 146; Tashbetz 301.