What Could Be Wrong With Sending Vintage Wine and Fresh Challah for Mishloach Manos?

Question

I own a small winery in the north of Eretz Yisroel, where we produce some of the finest vintage wines on the market. Some of these wines are sold in boutique wine stores, but most of our business comes through private orders. Each year, on Purim day, I send one of our workers to deliver an exquisitely packaged mishloach manos to our regular clients. The mishloach manos contains a small bottle of our top vintage wine together with a delicious challah, baked that day.

Last year, I received a note back from one of our top clients that although he is very grateful for the gift, he is not convinced that our package fulfills the mitzvah of mishloach manos, and he directed me to speak to Rav Sternbuch about it. This has been troubling me the whole year, and when I found out that I could get an answer from the rov by writing to this column, I grabbed the opportunity. Can the rov please help me understand what could possibly be wrong with my wonderful mishloach manos, which costs so much money, time, and energy?

Rav Sternbuch 

I will try to explain to you what I think this man may have meant. The Gemara in Megillah (7a) says that Rebbi Yehuda Hanosi once sent Rav Oshiah the leg of a third-born calf and a large container of wine. Rav Oshiah sent him back a message that he had fulfilled the mitzvah of mishloach manos. The poskim struggle to understand what this Gemara is coming to teach, and the Pri Chodosh suggests that it is teaching us that wine can be considered one of the manos.

However, if you look at the commentary of Rabbeinu Chananel, it seems that he had a girsa in the Gemara that implies that in this case, the sender only fulfilled the mitzvah of matanos la’evyonim, which requires only one mana, and not mishloach manos, which requires two manos. Based on this commentary of Rabbeinu Chananel, some poskim suggest that wine is not considered a mana.

However, the Ritva comments on this sugya, which can help us see Rabbeinu Chananel’s words in a different light. One of the major differences between matanos la’evyonim and mishloach manos is that matanos la’evyonim is designated for evyonim, extremely poor people. When people are so poor, they are happy if they receive even a small amount of money or food. Mishloach manos is meant for people who are not used to poverty. In order to make them happy, one needs to give them a higher-quality gift.

The Ritva writes that Rebbi Yehuda Hanosi originally only sent Rav Oshiah smaller portions, which were not befitting his great wealth, and he sent him back a message that he had only fulfilled matanos la’evyonim and not mishloach manos. Afterwards, Rebbi Yehuda Hanosi sent him larger portions of meat and wine, and Rav Oshiah told him that now he had fulfilled mishloach manos as well. Based on these words of the Ritva, we can explain that when Rabbeinu Chananel said that one does not fulfill mishloach manos, it was not because he was sending wine. Rather, it was because he was not sending a gift that was consistent with his financial resources. When he later sent a large amount of wine, that actually augmented his gift, and with that he fulfilled the mitzvah.

We can gain a deeper perspective on this issue if we look at the Rambam, who writes (Hilchos Purim 2:16), “A person can send for mishloach manos two types of meat, two different dishes, or two types of food.” It is interesting to note that the Rambam does not mention wine among the options to send for mishloach manos. Wine is considered the “king of beverages,” and it is so important that even in the middle of a seudah, when we normally do not recite other brachos, we make a special brocha on wine. Why, then, isn’t wine considered one of the manos that can be sent for mishloach manos?

Perhaps we can suggest that even though wine is an important beverage, its real impact is only felt when one drinks a significant amount of it. Since one requires a large quantity of wine, the Rambam does not list it among the standard manos, where no specific amount is implied.

As far as halacha lemaaseh, the majority of poskim rule that one does fulfill the mitzvah of mishloach manos when sending wine as one of the manos (Terumas Hadeshen 111, Magein Avrohom 695:11). However, since there is an element of safeik in this area, it is preferable to send a choshuve wine with the mishloach manos. Since you are sending your clients a vintage wine, it is sufficient to fulfill the mitzvah of mishloach manos, especially since your clients are connoisseurs who appreciate fine wine (see Teshuvos Vehanhagos 3:236).

All of the above pertains to the wine portion of your mishloach manos. However, I have a safeik about the bread portion based on the commentary of the Manos Levi that the mitzvah of mishloach manos is to promote love and friendship. I am not sure whether bread accomplishes this. Since it is a very standard part of any meal, it might not be choshuv enough to be one of the manos for mishloach manos. Even according to the Terumas Hadeshen, who explains that the main mitzvah of mishloach manos is to augment the seudah, it may be that bread does not accomplish this, because one needs to send a mana that will elevate the Purim seudah above the standards of a normal seudah. In your case, where you are sending challah, that may be better than ordinary bread, since challah is generally only eaten at Shabbos or Yom Tov seudos. However, since at the end of the day challah is still bread, it may not be sufficient to properly fulfill the mitzvah of mishloach manos (see Teshuvos Vehanhagos 5:234).

In short, you may want to consider adding another mana to your mishloach manos. This will remove all doubt. 

In closing, do not forget that the Rambam writes that it is better to spend more money on matanos la’evyonim than on mishloach manos.