Closed Bottle of Non-Mevushal Wine

Is there any problem with an aino Yehudi handling a closed bottle of non-Mevushal wine? Does the non-Mevushal wine always have to remain covered in an aino Yehudi’s presence, so that he doesn’t even look at it and render it prohibited?

(A subscriber’s question)

Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 124:17) writes that if an aino Yehudi shakes an open bottle of wine, even though he did not directly touch the wine, it becomes forbidden. However, if the bottle is closed, even if it is not sealed, it may be moved or even shaken by an aino Yehudi (Yoreh De’ah 124:25) because ain derech nisuch b’kach (this is not a method for serving idolatry.) However, if the bottle is not sealed, an aino Yehudi should not be left alone with the bottle of wine. There is a concern that the bottle might be opened and poured.

Some have a custom (based on the Shelah Hakadosh) not to use wine for Kiddush if an aino Yehudi looked at it. In some communities this custom is widely followed while in others it is not observed.

The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt”l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.