Julian Ungar-Sargon

  • Home
  • Theological Essays
  • Healing Essays
  • Podcast
  • Poetry
  • Daf Ditty
  • Deep Dive Ditty
  • Videos
  • Publications
  • Military Service
  • Dominican University
  • Home
  • Theological Essays
  • Healing Essays
  • Podcast
  • Poetry
  • Daf Ditty
  • Deep Dive Ditty
  • Videos
  • Publications
  • Military Service
  • Dominican University
Julian Ungar-Sargon copy 3.jpg

Daf Ditty

A wide-ranging commentary on the daily page of Talmud.

Avodah Zarah 72: הַנִּצּוֹק וְהַקָּטַפְרֵס וּמַשְׁקֶה

jyungar August 29, 2025

For the source text click/tap here: Avodah Zarah 72

To download, click/tap here: PDF

The Mishna on our daf is concerned whether when wine is poured into a barrel containing forbidden wine, perhaps the connection between the liquids will cause the permitted wine to become prohibited, as well. This theme leads to a number of warnings made to Jews who dealt with wine, as described by the Gemara.

Steinsaltz remarks "We find many pictures from the ancient world that show groups of people drinking from a single vessel by means of tubes and siphons. Some suggest that the words used in the Gemara to describe this – gishta and bat gishta – are related to the Persian word “to suckle” although the philological evidence is not clear.”

we explore the concepts of nitsok (stream), katafres (descending water), and mashkeh tofe’ach (moistening liquid)—and compares these ancient understandings with modern scientific knowledge of fluid dynamics, microbiology, and contamination theory.

Tags66th
  • Daf Ditty
  • Older
  • Newer

Julian Ungar-Sargon

This is Julian Ungar-Sargon's personal website. It contains poems, essays, and podcasts for the spiritual seeker and interdisciplinary aficionado.​