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The Everyday Judaism Podcast (formerly Living Jewishly Podcast) is dedicated to learning and understanding the laws and basic how-to of daily Jewish living. Presented by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe in a simple and concise manner, easy for anyone to understand and connect.
This Podcast Series is Generously Underwritten by Marshall & Doreen Lerner.
00:03 - Intro (Announcement)
You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, Texas. This is the Everyday Judaism Podcast.
00:12 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right, welcome back everybody. Welcome back to the Everyday Judaism Podcast. Today, we're going to learn Simeon 38, lamed Ches. Previously, we discussed immersing utensils that were acquired from a non-Jew or manufactured by a non-Jew. Now we're going to talk about food being kosher. Food needs to be kosher. We know that we spoke about many of the dietary laws, but now we're going to talk about food that was made by a non-Jew.
00:39
Now this simen is going to be divided up into three different categories. The first is about things that were baked bread that was baked by an idolater. Then we're going to talk about things that were. That's going to be the first five simonim. Then we're going to talk about food cooked by an idolater and then we're going to talk about milk of an idolater. Okay, so, just as an introduction, art Scroll does a magnificent job summarizing and doing a great job writing these beautiful introductions, so let's begin with that. Number one.
01:12
Okay is that the dietary laws that are included in this simmon are not biblically mandated. They're not biblically mandated. Rather, the sages, recognizing the risks inherent in social interactions with idolaters, sought to place barriers between Jews and their idolatrous neighbors. Understanding that mealtimes provide unique opportunities for social relationships that might lead to intermarriage. They enacted a series of dietary laws that were designed to prevent Jews from shearing meals with idolaters. These include prohibiting a Jew from eating bread baked by an idolater or food cooked by an idolater, even if it had been ascertained that all of the ingredients were kosher. Also of concern to the sages was the milk of idolaters, due to the possibility that it might contain milk of non-kosher animals. It's a serious concern, right? The sages therefore instituted that one may not drink milk from an idolater unless a Jew supervised and observed the milking process, in which case one can be certain that the milk is only of a kosher animal. Due to a concern with regard to the cheesemaking process, which is a derivative of the milk, they also prohibited cheese of an idolater. Okay, so now we're talking about in order to know that the food that you're eating is indeed kosher, you need to make sure that it was done by a Jew and that the process was done, all the ingredients were done, that we used were kosher, etc. Etc. And this alleviates a concern. So that way, we know that the food that we're eating is kosher.
03:08
I just want to share with you a very quick story. You know, when you fly in the plane, you have food that's served and you can order kosher food. I highly recommend that you order kosher food for a practical reason aside for the halachic reason, obviously, the Torah says we should only eat kosher, so that's a great reason on its own, but also because they serve the kosher food first, okay, so you get your food first. So it's just from a pragmatic standpoint. If you didn't care about the kosher that God commands, I'm telling you that it's beneficial just because you get the food first. Okay, but there was a story.
03:42
Now I do this as well. Every time before I fly, I make sure I buy a sandwich. I buy something because there's always things that mishaps, that happen. As you know, I just traveled to israel last week. I came back two weeks ago before shabbos and then came back this week before shabbos um, just two days ago, on friday, and we went for a great celebration of the, the bris of our second grandson, and it was very, very special. And before I flew there and before I flew back, I went to the kosher deli. You go to a kosher restaurant and you buy a sandwich. Why do I buy a sandwich? Because what if the airline doesn't have kosher food? I've had that where we order it and they're like Because what if the airline doesn't have kosher food? I've had that where we order it and they say like sorry, we didn't get the order in time or whatever, for whatever reason, and then I can't eat anything the whole flight. It's a 12-hour flight. Sometimes it could be a long travel and it's a lot of time without eating. So I always make sure that I have a sandwich, I have some snack, I have some something.
04:42
Okay, the halacha says something very interesting. The halacha says that one should not allow his meat to be unsupervised. Okay, so if you have a deli sandwich, it should be with you at all times. If it loses eye contact with you, it's problematic. Okay, so this guy was once on a plane. This didn't happen to me, it happened to someone else.
05:07
This guy was once on a plane and he takes out a sandwich and he realizes, oh my gosh, this is bread. I have to go wash my hands before I eat bread. So he says okay, he takes the sandwich, puts it aside. He tells the guy you know, I'm just coming right back Goes to the bathroom, washes his hands, comes back. He's like one second, doesn't the halacha say that bread, that meat that has lost eye contact with a Jew, meaning that it hasn't been supervised, you're not supposed to eat it. So he says you know what? I'm not going to eat it. He just leaves the sandwich, folds it back up and doesn't eat his sandwich.
05:48
The guy sitting next to him is a non-Jew and he says to him I noticed that you opened up your sandwich, but you didn't eat it. What's going on? He says well, in Jewish law, if you lose contact with your meat or your deli or whatever it is, then you're not supposed to eat it. He says well, actually, I saw your sandwich and I thought maybe I should figure out what's kosher and what's not kosher. So I actually swapped my sandwich with yours.
06:24
Okay, this is a true story. I actually swapped mine with yours and I was wondering yeah, this is right. So this is an example. This is an example. This is an example of how sometimes these are things that our sages were concerned about, and the sages therefore said there's only something that you need verification that what you're eating is kosher. And there's only one way to have verification that what you're eating is kosher, and there's only one way to have that is to have the supervision. Have these certain barriers that limit exposure to things that are not kosher? That's the the agenda here. It's not to put anyone down, it's to ensure that we are at the highest standard for the food that we eat and the things that we consume.
07:01
Okay, so ephraim, number one through five, outlined the laws of bread baked by an idolater. In earlier times, the rabbinical court issued a decree prohibiting the consumption of any bread baked by idolaters. At a later point, another rabbinical court partially suspended this prohibition. Authorities differ regarding the level of prohibition that remains today. Okay, so there are those who wouldn't touch bread that has been baked by a non-Jew. There are some people today who do. For example, you can go today to a, you can go to almost any single supermarket today, and you can find Wonder Bread.
07:42
Wonder Bread has a kosher supervision. That means that all the ingredients that are being used are kosher. Was it baked by a Jew? Probably not. Okay, probably not. So I don't think they have Jews sitting in those factories and making that Wonder Bread, so probably they had a Jew turn on the fire, so it's right, but it's still.
08:08
This is something that we need to be concerned of, to ensure. Now there's something before we start getting into the actual halacha, we have to understand. Another thing is that we're talking about kosher, not that only the ingredients are kosher, but the way in which it was made was kosher. Okay, the process of getting all of those ingredients to your table was kosher. That's number one.
08:30
Number two is that we have to understand that it's very rare that a rabbinical court supersedes a previous ruling. It almost never happens. For example, just like we have in the United States, we have the Supreme Court. Once the Supreme Court makes a ruling, you can't, with a lower court, remove that ever Supreme Court ruling finished. It's done the same in a Jewish court. When a Jewish court gives a ruling, it can't be superseded by a different court unless it was not fully observed by everyone. We can get into this. I know you're going to have questions about this. I'm looking forward to them in the Ask Away segment of our Everyday Judaism podcast. So, in general, a later court may not abolish a decree enacted by an earlier court. However, in cases where the original decree was not upheld by a majority of the Jewish people even at the time when it was instituted, due to the difficulty involved in compliance, a later court may abolish the decree under certain limited circumstances, very limited circumstances, limited circumstances, very limited circumstances.
09:49
The blanket prohibition against all bread baked by an idolater was such a decree. Bread is a basic staple in life and when a Jewish baker was not available, it was found to be too difficult for most people to comply with this prohibition. Okay, so we understand this. This is very important for us to have this in the back of our mind while we're going through this study. Now there's another thing, and that is that food. When you want to connect with someone, when you go on a date, right Mark, when you go on a date and you want to court someone in marriage, so what do you do? You take them on a nice dinner. You take them. Food has a tremendous bonding experience. We have to recognize this food. You know there's. There's books and books about how to build relationships and business, and a lot of it is about taking people out for lunch and making sure that you're spending time with people, because everyone's got to eat, so you can eat alone in your office, you can eat socializing, and socializing you become closer, you build relationships, et cetera, et cetera.
10:54
We have to realize that when we eat food, we're doing more than just eating and consuming, by building that relationship. Particularly, our sages were concerned with a non-Jew. You may come to a point of intermarriage because you're like, they're really nice people, they're great. What's the problem? There's no problem, and the rabbis wanted to limit the intermarriage of Jews with non-Jews. Okay, therefore, we have these halachas and we will see them as we proceed here.
11:27
Now there are only 15 se'ifim and the first five are dealing with bread. The next seven are dealing with food cooked by an idolater, and then we're dealing with the rest of it is about milk and cheese and so on and so forth. Okay, so let's begin. The sages prohibited eating the bread of an idolater. However, there are places where the custom is to be lenient in regarding to this prohibition, in regarding to this prohibition ולאוקחן פס בנחתם עקום במוקום שאין שם נחתם ישרול.
12:06
And people do purchase bread from an idolatrous baker if there isn't a Jewish baker. So if there is no Jewish baker Today in Houston, we're very lucky that we do have facilities that are where the bread is baked by a Jew. For example, you have H sells, pasi Sro. They sell Jewish bread. They call it Jewish rye bread. It became a name also, but that doesn't mean that it was baked by a Jew. By the way, you can find non-kosher Jewish rye bread, but you have the bakery that has their stuff are produced by Jews as well, and there are other places in our community. Not every community has that. Not every community has that. They can buy fresh bread baked by a Jew.
12:53
So or they purchase from an idolatrous baker, even if there is a Jewish baker, but the Jewish baker perhaps doesn't make the bread as delicious or as good as the idolater's baker. However, regarding the idolater's homemade bread, there's nobody who's lenient about that because that's someone's own private personal. Again, think of it in the relationship building process. Someone gives you their own personal baked bread from their home is a much bigger relationship builder than buying it from the store right, store bought or manufactured through the industrial places that we have today. Okay, ach, b'shasat chak, with the exception of a pressing situation, then, even if that's the only bread you're able to buy is one which is a homemade bread, then again, we prefer you live than die.
14:02
Okay, so, mihishu, if the only thing you have is to buy bread from a non-Jew, that is fine. If there's no other option, mishu b'ader, since one should not be lenient in a non-pressing situation, therefore, with regard to one who is on a journey, someone who's traveling, if they're able to acquire acceptable Jewish baked bread, they must delay their meal and travel up to a parser, which is approximately two and a half miles, to purchase bread that was baked by a Jew, rather than eat bread that was baked by an adulterer. So, let's say, in order to get your bread that was the Jewish bread you're going to have to travel 20 miles, so you're not obligated to travel that far. And it's considered a pressing situation if the only thing you have is an idolater's bread. Okay, even bread baked at home is not considered homemade bread for the purposes of this halacha, unless he made it for the members of this halacha, unless he made it for the members of his own household. However, if this person made their homemade bread to sell, it's not considered that it's a homemade. It's not considered homemade bread, it's considered industrial. He's like a baker. Happens to be that he's making it out of his house, but because his intention was to sell it, it's considered like a baker's bread, even though baking is not his regular vocation. Similarly, if a baker made the bread for the members of his household, he is considered a homemaker with respect to that bread, there are those who say that if there is no baker found in the area, then even homemade bread is permitted and the person is not required to wait for acceptable bread to be brought to him from elsewhere. V'chein ogim, and this is the acceptable practice. So if a person is living in a place where they don't have bread, okay. So someone's living out in Corpus Christi, texas, and there's no kosher baker there and the bread that they got from Houston the last time they were here is moldy. So now they have no bread. What are they going to eat? So it's not ideal, but they're allowed to buy the bread because it is a pressing situation and they don't have an alternative for that bread.
16:38
Halacha number two In Yisroel If a Jew threw even just one piece of wood into the fire of the oven leto chatan ur behes seko into the oven while it was being heated, mutar hapas then the bread baked in that fire is permitted and the bread that's baked in that is not considered the bread of an idolater, because the Jew was involved in the process of the bread making. It's not exclusively an idolater's bread. So therefore, you'll have many of the kashrus agencies will have a Jew come and turn on the fire and that qualifies for this halacha. Like in H-E-B, a lot of the people who work there are not Jews. So how is the bread what we said earlier bread of Jews. It's called Pas Yisrael, it's made by Jews because the Jew was involved in the process of the making of the bread, ie turning on the oven, and now it's considered kosher bread. Okay, halacha number three Lo asu pas shal akum elo shel chameshes b'nei dagan.
17:44
The sages did not prohibit all bread baked by an idolater, rather only that which was made of the five species of grain. When did we talk about the five species of grain? Remember, we talked about this. We talked about this about blessings previously, a previous episode of the Everyday Judaism podcast. We also talked about it regarding Pesach chametz right. The laws of chametz are referring to the five species of grain. What are they? Wheat, barley, oat, spelt and rye. Afilopas kitnius. However, bread made from legumes such as corn is not considered bread. Eino b'chal, as corn is not considered bread. Eino b'chal pas, it's not considered bread. V'gam eino osor mishom b'shulei akom. This bread is also not prohibited under the prohibition against eating food cooked by an idolater Deho eino ola al shulchan b'lochem.
18:38
Because this type of bread is not the bread that goes on royalty on a table of royalty and therefore, because this is not the bread which is typically served, it doesn't fall into the category of bread and therefore, so far I'll give you an example Crackers. Crackers, even though they're made of flour or sometimes they're not made of flour, they're made of other types of that's not what's used for a meal. So if that's not what's used as as for a meal, so if that's the bread that you like, then even if it's made by an anju, completely it's fine, because that's not bread. All right, today they make bread out of many different things. Right, they have bread out of, not only out of, these five grains. So all of those fall into the category of being okay if they're made. Now we have to make sure that they're made with kosher ingredients. That's a different issue and it's an important one not to be overlooked. But, yes, it would not be an issue of non-Jewish bread.
19:37
Halacha number four pas shepon of tuchen beveitzim osur. Bread whose surface is coated with eggs is prohibited. Sometimes they have like a little basted or a wash of eggs. The reason they do it. It gives it a nice little shine Sometimes they put on top of that. They put different types of toppings sesame poppy, everything, whatever, pumpernickel, whatever they put on top of that. They put different types of toppings sesame poppy, everything, whatever, pumpernickel, whatever they put on top of that. So that would not be okay. Because of the eggs that are on top, because the eggs are food cooked by an adult, those wafers or pancakes that are baked on iron griddles.
20:26
יש לחוש שנמשך הברזל באיזה שמן. You have to be concerned that they put oil on the griddle and do you know if that oil or that fat that was put on was kosher? Again, it brings up a whole new basket of problems, as-surin, b'chol'inin. These are prohibited unless you know, unless it's verified, that everything that was used was kosher. M'shum b'lias isur, because the absorption of forbidden foods into the utensils, bidden foods into the utensils, so that iron griddle can have non-kosher fat that you're now preparing the food on, or preparing, whether it's the pancakes or the bread, if they have, let's say, these things that form the bread, that as well would be problematic.
21:21
And finally, the fifth halacha regarding bread and the final halacha regarding the bread is pas yisrael sha'afo'o akum, bread of a Jew that was baked by an idolater. The idolater baked a Jew's bread, so the Jew prepared it and he just baked it, or you bought him all of the ingredients. Okay, gara mi pas akum is dealt with more severely than the bread of an idolater, ve'asar Mishum Bishuli Akum, and it is prohibited under the injunction against food cooked by an idolater, im lo hichshir esatanur ba'ashloch as etz, unless the Jew made it suitable by contributing to the fire, meaning either adding a wood to the fire or adjusting the, you know, turning it on, turning on the flame. And one must be very careful about this when sending food to be baked or roasted by a baker who is an idolater, to ensure that the Jew throws a piece of wood into the oven or turns on the fire. Or the Jew should place the bread or the frying pan into the oven and that way he has an essential part of the baking process. Okay, so this concludes the first part of our simmon here dealing with the baking of the bread.
22:45
Now we're going to talk about food cooked by an idolater. Okay, Dovar she'enu nechol kemo shuhu chai. Any food that is not eaten in its raw state. Okay, anything. You don't eat eggs straight. You don't eat chicken straight, even if it's kosher chicken, kosher meat, kosher. You don't eat eggs straight, you don't eat chicken straight, even with kosher chicken, kosher meat, kosher, you don't eat it raw. Okay, so it has a process of preparing it V'gam o'lel shulcha malachim and it is also something that is brought upon the table of royalty V'lafes bo'o esapas o'le parperes as an accompaniment to bread or as an appetizer that was cooked or roasted by an adulterer, even if it was cooked or roasted in the utensils of a Jew or in the house of a Jew or in the house of a Jew.
23:47
They are prohibited due to the injunction against eating food cooked by a daughter. But anything that could be eaten in a raw state fruits, vegetables, okay, sometimes you can do grilled vegetables, you can have, right, you can have grilled vegetables, but you can eat it raw, right? Oh, davar she-en-ochash, or something which is not significant, ve-en-o-oleh al-shul-cham-al-chum, and something that is not appropriate to be placed on the table of royalty of a king, ein-bo-mishum b'sholeh akom. The rule of food cooked by an adulterer does not apply in the prohibition against eating it and in these cases, one may eat food prepared by an adulterer, even if it was prepared with his own utensils, and there is no need of concern because of the utensils that may have absorbed the taste of non-kosher food and infused the taste into the food. Destam kelem enum b'nei yomon, because most utensils are not used within a day of within the day. So what does that mean?
24:57
Let's just back up a little bit and talk about this. So when we talk about the absorption of flavor, the absorption of flavor there is the 24-hour rule. Okay, the flavor lasts for 24 hours, okay, so if you take any type of a dish and you put your hot meat on that dish, that dish will absorb the flavor of that meat for 24 hours. So what happens? So let's say, a knife, you use the knife for butter and now, by mistake, the next day, you use that knife to cut your meat. Oh my gosh, the butter, the meat, milk and meat, right? So if it's more than 24 hours, the flavor does not remain on it and therefore I mean, yes, we don't use them. We try to keep them separate. We try to have milk dishes and meat dishes and neutral dishes. We would call parav. But if someone was in a situation where this happened, typically it's not used within 24 hours. Most dishes are not used for 24 hours and therefore, someone who is in a situation where he doesn't know it does have a place to be lenient. Shivcha akum bebeis, yisrael.
26:17
Regarding an idolatrous maidservant in the house of a Jew, ha-meveshel b'shvilei Yisraelim, who cooks for the Jews who reside in that house, noa Gimel HaKel, the custom is to be lenient because it's impossible for not even a single Jewish household member not to stoke the fire or to adjust the flame. All right, someone comes in. Oh it's high, lower. You know everyone comes around in the kitchen and they see what's going on. They will raise it. So a Jew was involved with some of the process.
26:53
If this idolatrous maidservant is cooking food for herself in her own little apartment, in her own little quarters, in her own little apartment, in her own little quarters, ein rigilos sheikhat, yisrael. Because it's not common for a Jew to get in there and to adjust the heat of the fire. Ve'efsha delo mehani bezeh chitu'i. Moreover, it is possible that stoking will not be effective to make the food permitted. In this case, digora me'ilu me'ilu mevasheles b'shvil, yisrael. In this case, for this situation is worse than when she is cooking for the Jew.
27:35
Therefore, if she cooked food items that are included in the prohibition against food cooked by an idolater, which are they're eaten raw. They're not eaten raw and would be brought onto a table of royalty. Not only is the food that's cooked in it prohibited. Not only is the food that's cooked in it prohibited, but also the pot that was used becomes prohibited to cook in initially, but after the fact. If a Jew did cook in the pot after the maid cooked in it for herself, he should ask a competent halachic rabbi authority about the status of the food cooked and the pot that was used by the Jew. Okay, halacha, number nine Akum shebishel b'shabas b'shvil chole.
28:33
If an idolater cooked food for a Jew who was sick, hataf shel osabur mitzvah shabbas, the food is prohibited after shabbas Afilu la chole. Even the food is prohibited after Shabbos, even to the sick person. Why? Why do they cook for this person on Shabbos? Why are they? Because he's sick and because a Jew can't cook for him on Shabbos, but after Shabbos a Jew can cook for him. So now that food becomes invalid for the sick person and or another Jew, if it is possible to feed the sick person with other cooked food Now, if there isn't again, if there isn't other food, then after Shabbos, is also a life matter.
29:15
And, as we mentioned previously, to save a life, you're allowed to do anything. As for the utensils, to save a life, you're allowed to do anything. U'ba'kelim yesh lahater achar me'es le'es. As for the utensils, they are permitted for use after 24 hours, like we mentioned previously. After 24 hours, the flavor that would be transferred don't remain in the utensils Beitza regarding an egg, in the utensils Beitzah regarding an egg.
29:50
Even though you can swallow an egg when it's raw, nevertheless nevertheless, no-transcript. If an idolater cooked it, it is prohibited, and the same law applies to all similar situations. So an egg is not something that people just, you know. Crack an egg and drink it. No, you don't just do that, unless you know someone who's in the opera they're singing. Sometimes they use that for their voice. They use an egg. Sometimes people do it as a challenge. I don't know people who just eat eggs straight out of a shell. Right, you boil it. Yeah, there are things you can do.
30:33
Peiros, shalom nisbashlo halacha, number 11. Fruits that have not fully ripened while on the tree Shalom nisbashlo be'ilon kol tzarkon Ve'einoneh achol en chayin elo al yideh atchak. And they're not eaten raw in that state, other than in pressing situations. Sometimes professional cooks will fry it in sugar, they'll fry it right. So in such a case, if an idolatrous cook or chef did this, they are prohibited due to the prohibition against food cooked by an idolatrous cook or chef did this, they are prohibited due to the prohibition against food cooked by an idolater.
31:14
Shechar shal tevuah vishal dvash no agin bo heter l'shtoso. It is custom to permit the drinking of beer that was made from grain or honey or honey, right. So honey also Afili be'bayis sh'mochen oso ho'akum, even in the house where the idolater sell it, ve'ein bomishum b'shulei akum. And there's no prohibition of food cooked by an idolater. That vua betela b'mayim, because the grain is considered to be nullified in the water. Nevertheless, one must investigate and determine that they were fermented. They were not fermented with wine sediment. Raktzrichim lachkor im ein ma'amidin osam b'shimrei yayin u b'makam she'yisrael m'zalzim u me'kilim b'yayin shalakum.
32:04
However, in a place where the Jews are lax or lenient regarding the laws against the wine of an idolater, then a scrupulous individual should be stringent and refrain from partaking of their beer as well. So there's an interesting thing Beer in general is kosher. We know all beer is kosher all around the world, because all they do is have whatever the ingredients that they have, which are kosher ingredients put in their beer. However, today we have more and more flavored beers and the flavorings that they put in are not necessarily kosher flavorings. You need to ensure so if it's straight beer, bud Light or a Dos Equis or one of those, whatever your favorite beer is, I personally don't like beer, so you know I don't have any skin in this game. But if one enjoys a beer, you can find beer anywhere in the world and it'll be kosher. However, if there enjoys a beer, you can find beer anywhere in the world and it'll be kosher. However, if there are flavorings, then it can be problematic and it's preferable for one to look for a kosher certification on it. Now, today, with many craft beers that are being produced in people's garages and whatever, there are problems that have been coming up, and the rabbis just last week put out a notification that there's going to be new restrictions on craft beers that are not in a supervised facility because of some of the also the different methods that people are using to create beer today, particularly in in in people's own garages. They use different methods and therefore it could be a problem problematic for a jew to drink them. However, in a place. Where the jews are lax and lenient regarding the prohibitions against the wine of idolater, then a scrupulous individual should be stringent and refrain from partaking of their beer as well U'be'inyin shtiyas kafe.
34:17
Regarding drinking coffee, b'lo chalav, even without milk, the m'chalav ade aser, because if it's milk of a non-Jew it is definitely prohibited. O chokolada v'te, and same thing as hot chocolate and tea, etzelakim. Drinking them in the home or place of an idolater, shom ha'nafshi, yirchak esatzmo. One who wishes to guard his soul should distance himself from doing so. V'yesh materin lishos derech harai. But some authorities permit drinking these beverages at the home or place of an idolater, but only in a casual manner and informally. Avel derech kviyus asur. But doing so in a formal setting is prohibited.
35:03
Okay, so now I want to just explain a little bit about drinking coffee. Milk we're going to discuss in a minute about milk, but coffee is kosher. Coffee is made from a bean. It's a bean and the bean is grinded up and then it makes delicious coffee as we know it. Okay, so there's typically no problem drinking any coffee.
35:33
Now, again, you have to know what utensils is being used to prepare it. Make sure that those utensils don't have things. For example, today there's a challenge with many coffee shops serve non-kosher food in their coffee shops, right, you can go to a typical Starbucks and they'll have a bacon and cheese you know sandwich that they serve. Now, we're not suspecting they're putting bacon and cheese in your coffee. Okay, that's not the concern. But there is a different concern. So let's say, the tongs that they use to take the food in and out of the oven, or the grates that are in that oven, and you see them, you see them taking them. They take them off the shelf, put it in the oven. Okay, you know, joe Schmo, your sandwich is ready and they put it into a bag.
36:24
Okay, now that utensil, that utensil that was in direct contact with steaming hot bacon and cheese, is going to be washed. How is it going to be washed? They're going to put it in the dishwasher. Now, okay, fine. Now what happens to the coffee that was being prepared for you? So they put it. You know how they make the coffee, right, they put it into a little basin and that basin has all the coffee beans or the little grains, right? And then they put the water through it and then they take it. At the end of the day, what do they do with that same little piece of metal? They put it into the dishwasher. And now what's going on? In that dishwasher? All of the bacon and cheese from the tongue and that basin are now being mixed together. That's a problem, okay, so you understand how it could be a problem. Now it happens to be that today, most Starbucks are using a completely new system. When you come in and ask for coffee, in most busy Starbucks, they're not doing a whole brew, they just push a button and it comes right out of the machine into your cup, okay, which makes it much easier for you to have kosher coffee anywhere you go.
37:34
Now, it's not that the coffee wasn't kosher. The coffee is a bean. It grows from the ground. It is kosher 100% of the time. The flavoring if you put in vanilla flavoring, you have to be concerned about that.
37:45
Now I was traveling with my wife last week and in the airport my wife wanted her vanilla latte or whatever one of those things. So my wife said I would like to see the ingredients that you put in there. And he showed us the pump of the vanilla and showed whatever else they use, and each one had the kosher symbol. My wife said okay, that's not a problem, particularly when you're traveling, as the halacha said, where there aren't other options. So in that case it was fine anyway. But okay, so you understand that Chocolate not every chocolate is kosher.
38:25
Okay, you don't know what else they put in there in the process of making that chocolate. Chocolates many times have oils that are added to it. Those oils sometimes are not kosher, so it's not such a simple thing, for, oh, all chocolate is kosher. It's gross on the ground. Chocolate is also from a bean. Right, it would be true if they didn't add other things, but there's plenty of kosher, delicious kosher chocolate. Okay. So now, and I recommend in general, I recommend drinking coffee without milk anyway, because it just tastes better. Okay, but that's a personal thing, all right.
39:02
So again, if we remember the principle that we mentioned in the beginning of today's class, if we remember the principle that we mentioned in the beginning of today's class, we will remember that the most important factor here is that we shouldn't become assimilated with our non-Jewish neighbors. That doesn't mean we become we're not nasty people, we're very nice, we're very friendly, but the idea here is to avoid Jews marrying non-Jews. This was a very, very serious, primary concern of our sages and of ours today not to assimilate and become intermarried with the non-Jews. So we're very good to our non-Jewish neighbors, we're very caring, we're very loving, we're very friendly, we're very charitable. But the Jewish people have a different responsibility and part of that is to marry Jewish. If someone wants to convert and get married, great, that's their choice. We don't encourage or coerce or proselytize or missionize people to convert Anybody who feels out of the goodness of their heart. They want to become closer to Hashem and His Torah and they want to convert great, and if they find their mate that way, even greater. But the coffee could fall into the same problem, because coffee is today used as a social thing as well, and the same is with hot chocolate and the same is with beer and et cetera, et cetera. So these are things that a person needs to just keep in mind. These are things that are relationship builders and a person should exercise caution.
40:42
Okay, halacha number 13. We just have three more halachas and we've finished the simon and cholav shechol va'akom, milk that was milked by an adulterer. V'ein yisroel ro'ehu, where a Jew did not oversee the process. Asura is forbidden, prohibited from being drunk. Afilu la'asos, b'menu gvino, even to make it into a cheese v' a Jew must be present at the beginning of the milking and to see that the vessel that the cow is being milked into is clean from any non-kosher milk. And it is customary to be stringent, and it is proper and customary to be stringent to not milk into a vessel that an idolater used to milk into.
41:41
Regarding maidservants or workers who are idolaters, that milk the animals for their Jewish employers in a Jewish home or in the Jewish farm, the halacha is that in a place where no home of an idolater is situated between the home of the Jew and the site of the milking, we are not concerned that the maidservant or the worker put in non-kosher milk from a non-kosher animal. It is permitted, even initially, to allow them to milk. Okay, so if you have your farm right there, right at your house, and they want to go and milk the cow and bring you fresh milk, that's fine and you don't have to be concerned because they're not stopping by somebody else's house and swapping out the milk. We're not concerned per se that they're going to do this in a sneaky way. Aval im beis hakomafsuk. However, if the home of an idol going to do this in a sneaky way, however, if the home of the idolater is situated between the home of the Jew and the site of the milking, then it is necessary for a Jew to be present to oversee the milking. And even a minor, a boy or a girl of the age of nine, are sufficient to confirm that everything is done properly.
43:12
Gvinos ha'akam asura. Halacha, number 14, cheeses of an idolater are prohibited. V'im ha'yisrol ro'a chaliva, ve'asias ha'gvinos. However, if a Jew supervised the milking and also the making of the cheese, im ha'gvinos b'shas asioson. He'in shel yisrol mutaris, jew supervised the milking and also the making of the cheese. If the cheeses belonged to a Jew at the time that they were made, they are permitted. However, if, at the time that they were made, the cheeses belonged to an idolater, they are prohibited.
43:45
Finally, hachemah regarding butter. It depends on the custom of the communities. They are prohibited. Finally, hachemah regarding butter Talia b'minagam hakomos. It depends on the custom of the communities in various places. Yesh b'komos, she'en ochlon chen ha'moshalakom.
43:57
There are places that do not touch butter of an eidat, v'yesh b'komos she'ochlon osa, and there are places that do eat it. V'mi she'holach mimokom she'en ochlon osa. If someone is traveling from a place where they don't eat butter of an idolater to a place where they do, even if he intends to return to his original place, he can eat the butter with them. He can have the butter on his bread. He can have the butter on his bread, even right. And someone who goes from a place where they do eat butter from an idolater and he's traveling to a place where they are stringent and do not eat it, he may not eat it while he's there. Of late, it has been heard that they deceitfully substitute. Of late, it has been heard that they deceitfully substitute that which they sell as butter with a fat of swine. Therefore, a person should be very, very cautious and distance himself from butters whose ingredients is not known. Okay, if you know. Okay, now, this is a very important thing. I'm going to step back a little bit and talk about halav Yisrael milk that was milked by a Jew versus milk that is not by a Jew. Now, jew doesn't mean that the Jew is actually doing the milking. It means that it's being supervised by a Jew. So, generally speaking, this is a very big concern Today, according to the ruling of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, because we have something called the USDA, we have the FDA, we have many regulations in the United States and if a farm were to mix anything else but cow's milk into that milk, they would lose their license, they would lose their livelihood, they would be sued by the federal government.
45:47
They would lose their license, they would lose their livelihood, they would be sued by the federal government. So there's a fear of someone finding other milk and mixing it in. And therefore Moshe Feinstein says that in such a situation like in the United States, it would not be problematic for anyone to drink any milk in the United States. Cow milk, no problem. You can go to Walmart, to Kroger, to Belden's, to Randall's, to HEB and find milk. That's milk. There's only one ingredient in milk right, there's milk, and it's not a problem in the United States to drink that milk.
46:22
However, in other places, in other countries, where they do not have such a federal oversight, that is a problem. So, for example, if I were to go travel to Israel through Europe, I don't know what the rules are in Europe. I don't know what type of regulations they have. Who knows if they put lard, if they put something else in that milk? I have no idea what they did. They put something else in that milk. I have no idea what they did. So you cannot drink milk in those places without it being known that it's certified to be a kosher milk. Halav Yisrael, it's milk made by a Jew or supervised by a Jew. Okay, so this is an important thing for us to know Milk that is now Again in the United States.
47:06
Today, you have I mean most of the milk that you'll find. If you just go to a random supermarket and you look at that bottle of milk, you'll see a kosher symbol there. I'm talking about 9 out of 10. And it's not even required, but it's a good thing for it to now. The same thing is with butter. What is butter made of today? You know exactly. It says it right there it's only milk and that ingredient. They cannot mix anything else in there. Again, you have regulations. Therefore, most butters and this doesn't apply to cheeses most butters are fine, but someone who is scrupulous, someone who is God-fearing, wants to ensure I want to make sure I eat kosher butter that's certified, that has that kosher symbol on it.
47:55
Okay, so this basically concludes these laws. God willing, next week we're going to talk more about the proper way to conduct oneself when eating a meal. How a person is. There's a proper way for conduct oneself when eating a meal, how a person is. There's a proper way for a person to eat and to drink. This is also in our Jewish law and we're going to study that, god willing, next week in Simeon number 39. But this, my dear friends, concludes Simeon 38, and we will now turn it over to you to ask your questions in the Ask Away segments. For those of you who are not here, live in our classroom and you'd like to be part of this, like all of these magnificent listeners, you can email us to have your questions addressed in future episodes at askaway at torchweborg. Ask away at torchweborg. Now, my dear friends, we're going to turn the questions to you. I look forward to hearing your questions. Have a great week, everybody.
48:55 - Intro (Announcement)
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