Responsa for Bava Batra 47:2
אמר אביי אף אנן נמי תנינא דם שנמצא בפרוזדור ספיקו טמא שחזקתו מן המקור ואע"ג דאיכא עלייה דמקרבא
Abaye said: We too know R. Hanina's rule<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That 'majority' is the decisive factor. ');"><sup>2</sup></span> from the Mishnah. which says: 'If blood<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The reference is to a woman who finds on her body blood which may be either the blood of childbirth, and therefore clean, or the blood of an issue and therefore unclean. V. Lev. XV. 25. ');"><sup>3</sup></span>
Teshuvot Maharam
Q. Thieves broke into A's cellar and inserted a tap into a cask of wine. Subsequently it was discovered that a great deal of wine was missing from the cask. Rabbi Jedidyah, however, permitted the use of the wine that was left in the cask.
A. Though the majority of thieves are Gentiles, and the talmudic dictum regarding Pumbeditha (A.Z. 70a) does not apply to other places, the use of this wine is permitted nevertheless, for there is no evidence that thieves broke into the cellar. Thus the cellar was found locked, while thieves do not trouble themselves to lock a door after their work is done. Therefore we assume that a member of the household inserted the tap, a common enough occurrence. Each member of the household, though he knows that he himself did not tamper with the cask, is nevertheless permitted to drink the wine, for he may assume that one of the other members of the household inserted the tap.
SOURCES: B. p. 295, no. 389. Cf. Asher, Responsa 19, 1.
A. Though the majority of thieves are Gentiles, and the talmudic dictum regarding Pumbeditha (A.Z. 70a) does not apply to other places, the use of this wine is permitted nevertheless, for there is no evidence that thieves broke into the cellar. Thus the cellar was found locked, while thieves do not trouble themselves to lock a door after their work is done. Therefore we assume that a member of the household inserted the tap, a common enough occurrence. Each member of the household, though he knows that he himself did not tamper with the cask, is nevertheless permitted to drink the wine, for he may assume that one of the other members of the household inserted the tap.
SOURCES: B. p. 295, no. 389. Cf. Asher, Responsa 19, 1.
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