Article 3                                                                                  July 28, 2009

What’s Kosher in a Kosher Wine?

By

The Vino-Maven

Even as a little kid I wondered about Kosher Wine…and Kosher Grape Juice too. Why did they need to be Kosher? All the old frum guys in the neighborhood drank beer and whiskey without any concerns. There is simply nothing un-kosher in those brews, I was told. Well what then could there be in wine but grapes? What could be un-kosher about grapes? When all the other Non-Jewish kids on the block were drinking Yummy Welch’s grape Juice from concentrate, why did us Jewish Kids have to make due with Grape flavored Kool-Aid? (Come to think of it, the Hassidic parents didn’t even let their kids drink that for fear there was something un-kosher in it.

Everybody had to drink some Kosher Wine occasionally, but nobody really seemed to like it. It was almost always assumed that Kosher wine was over-sweet and unpalatable. You used Kosher Wine for those rituals that required wine, like Kiddush, Havdalah and Sheva Berachot. Once the obligations were taken care of the Kosher Wine went right back in the pantry. I remember, there was a nice Italian fellow who ran the neighborhood grocery. He usually had a few bottles Kosher Wine laying around. According to him, for a wine to be Kosher the Rabbi has to bless it. He theorized that the winemaker refused to give the Rabbi a complementary glass, so the Rabbi would always mix a few curses in the vat to make it taste bad. He farther conjectured, once the wine had gone bad, the wine maker had no choice but to throw in a bunch of sugar to make it sweet.

Well, a great revolution happened in Kosher Wines starting in the 1980’s and today we have hundreds of Kosher Wines that can hold their heads up high in any company. Today almost everyone knows that the two qualities most associated with Kosher wine in the past (i.e. poor taste and high sugar content) are not what makes a wine Kosher. Eventually I decided to take a long hard look at the concept of Kosher Wine, and today I can share with you the answer to that age old question: What’s Kosher in a Kosher wine?

Ancient Origins of Kosher Wine

We often forget that in the ancient world numerous gods were worshipped by sophisticated pagans everywhere. Images of gods and goddesses were all over the place, and you were considered an impolite bum if you didn’t give the local deities their due. This is idolatry in the strongest sense, and it is completely the opposite of everything the Torah stands for. There are strict commands in the Torah, not just to refrain from idolatrous practice, but to distance ourselves completely from objects and things used in an act of idol worship. Rejecting idolatry is the living heart of Judaism. We fail to appreciate today how serious an issue this was for the Torah believing Jew of yesteryear, because the non-Jewish world has changed so much. Back then a non-Jew who opened a bottle of wine would always pour out a small amount as an offering to the household gods. This was the courteous and cultured thing to do. Strictly speaking, wine that was known to have been poured out in idol worship is utterly forbidden by Torah Law. We may neither drink of it nor may we even sell it. The Sages extended this prohibition to any wine touched by a pagan non-Jew. The non-Jew could disqualify a wine just by moving it slightly; the enactment assumes that some idolatrous were going on in his mind while he was touching the bottle. (1) This might sound a little extreme, but back then, idol worship was as much a part of the Greek and Roman world, as Music, Sports and Movies are a part of ours. Accidentally drinking idolatrous wine would be a serious breakdown of a Jewish soul’s connection to Hashem, and is something that had to be avoided at all costs.

In addition to this prohibition of Yayin Nesech, which based upon the Torah prohibition of idol worship, the sages enacted a secondary prohibition of “Stam Yenam” or “Ordinary Non-Jewish Wine.” This enactment served to safeguard the Jewish community from intermarriage, since drinking wine together was very often the first step in blurring the distinction between Jews and non-Jews. According to some, the zealous Pinchas (from Parshat Pinchas in the book of Bamidbar) was the first to propose this enactment, although apparently it didn’t catch until the late second Temple period. Regardless, the enactment against Stam Yenam is quite ancient, and has helped maintain Jewish identity throughout the ages. Interestingly, when the sages formalized the prohibition of Stam Yenam, they stated it like this: “From now on, all wine which has been handled by a non-Jew (even if it is utterly impossible that he had an idolatrous intention) is to be treated as if it may have been used idolatrously.” The term Stam Yenam refers both to ordinary non-Jewish wine, as well as Jewish wine in an open flask that was handled by a non-Jew. The fact that non-Jews today are no longer idolaters does not make the prohibition of Stam Yenam go away, especially since the threat of assimilation is even more ominous now than it was back in antiquity.

Basically, a wine is Kosher if it has been made and bottled by Jewish hands under Rabbinic supervision. The Rabbi or Kosher supervisor is there to witness and testify to the consumer that the wine is not Stam Yenam.

The connection between Yayin Nesech and Stam Yenam provides an important leniency, namely: A wine that an idolater would not pour out to a deity cannot become Stam Yenam either. A cooked wine was considered unfit to be offered, so it stands to reason that if a Jewish Wine is cooked, it can no longer become Stam Yenam. This is important nowadays, because if a Kosher Wine was made by Jewish hands, and has also been cooked, it may then be handled by non-Jews even after the bottle has been opened. That means, for example, than non Jewish waiters can pour the wine at a Jewish Simcha. If you hare having a Simcha or some other catered affair, you had better check the wine to make sure it really has been cooked. A cooked Kosher Wine will usually have the word “Mevushal” which means “cooked” on the label. It is important that you check this out, because most quality Kosher Wines are un-cooked, and if your waiters are not-Jewish…well, you will end up with a great deal of un-kosher wine by the end of the evening, not to mention a whole bunch of upset guests. It is also worth remembering that Rabbis disagree on the question of “How cooked is cooked?” The stringent opinion, sometimes followed in Israel, is that a wine needs to be so cooked that it changes taste. Most of us follow the lenient opinion which maintains that regular pasteurization is sufficient to cook the wine.

There is also an extra stringency (that as far as I know has no basis in the Talmud or the Codes of Jewish law) which proposes that a non Jew may disqualify a wine even by looking at it. This stringency if followed in some Hassidic communities. If you are doing a Simcha with Hassidic guests and you want to offer them wine, you had better make doubly certain that you are serving Mevushal wine. Come to think of it, your Hassidic guest may require a wine that has been pasteurized before any non-Jews have even set eyes on the grape juice! Most Kosher wines made under regular rabbinic supervision to not follow Hassidic stringencies. So it seems that your Hassidic guests need wine that has a special Hassidic supervision. Alternatively, you can make sure that all your waiters are Jewish. Just remember that you have to be careful with this option as well, since according to many authorities, a Jew who does not keep Shabbat can also disqualify the wine and make it Stam Yenam.

This being said, I think you can figure out what, first and foremost, makes a wine Kosher. When you hold a bottle of fine Kosher Wine in your hands, you know these things: from the extraction of the grape juice until the wine is sealed in the bottles, no non-Jewish hand has touched the wine; in the same way that the faith of the Jewish people has remained untouched and untainted since Sinai. Strictly Shabbat observant Jews are responsible for all the hands on work on the production line. Naturally, all the vessels used for the preparation of Kosher Wine have not been used for a non-Kosher production run. Similarly, no un-kosher materials have been used in processing or clarifying the wine.

This explains, by the way, why the Kosher Wines of yesteryear were generally of inferior quality. Why don’t you try and find a winemaker who will turn over his entire vineyard and production line to a bunch of Orthodox Jews, when there will be little demand for the finished product. Kosher wine makers had to make do with inferior vineyards and inferior grapes. The great change that came over the Kosher Wine industry is a result of the orthodox Jewish community’s growth and the expansion of its buying power. This has encouraged high quality wineries to open their Vineyards to Jewish Wine makers, who do all the work, under the direction of wine making experts. The fruit of their labor is now ours to enjoy!

Agricultural Laws

As I mentioned, the major difficulty in making kosher wine is that everything must be done by Sabbath observant Jews. However, even before that hurdle is clear, there are certain laws related to planting and tending the vineyard which must be adhered to. The first is the law of “Orlah”. This states the fruit grown within the first three years after the vine has been planted, is strictly forbidden. That fruit is called Orlah or “Immature Fruit” and one may neither eat it nor derive any benefit from it. The vineyard must be under continuous supervision, lest the vintner plant some new vines alongside the old. Another law is that of “Kiley Hakerem” or “The grafting of the vineyard.” This law stipulates that if any vegetable grows in the vineyard with the owner’s knowledge and acquiescence, it can render the grapes forbidden. The Laws of Orlah and Kiley Hakerem are real Biblical laws, written explicitly in the Torah, and they necessitate Rabbinic supervision of the vineyard.

Laws related to the Land of Israel.

Whatever I have said until now, is true about any Kosher wine grown and made anywhere in the world. However, when we speak of Israeli wines, the issues are even more complex. There are two sets of laws which are unique to produce grown in the Land of Israel. They are: A) Tithing Laws and B) Sabbatical Year Laws

Tithing Laws

Let’s look first at tithing Laws. In ancient Israel, agriculture was the basis of life, and communities lived close to the ground in small villages. Each tribe had its share in the land of Israel, with the exception of the Tribe of Levi, to whom the priesthood and other sacred responsibilities were given. Over the course of several growing cycles, numerous tithes would be separated from all the produce grown in the land of Israel. Un-tithed food is called “Tevel” and is completely forbidden. Some of these tithes were actually holy food, called “Terumah” which could only be eaten by Priests in a state of Ritual Purity. Other tithes, such as the portion of the Levites and portion of the Poor are merely gifts, and do not have any intrinsic holiness. This means that the Levites and the Poor can return their portions to the farmer if they so choose, and there is nothing wrong with the farmer consuming the fruit himself. There is also a Tithe that is meant for the Farmer and his family to bring on Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to be eaten there in Purity. This tithe is also irrelevant today, since no-one is able to become Ritually Pure any longer. Even the portions for the Levites and the Poor are no longer practical. You can hardly expect Levites and Poor People to go driving all over the country to pick up a few crates of grapes here and there.

Rabbinic Organizations providing the kosher supervision make sure to transfer the holiness of the “Pilgrimage Tithe” onto small sums of money, in a ritual called “Redeeming the Tithe.” Once emptied of holiness, that portion of grapes goes back with the rest of produce. They also have a deal going on with Levite Families and with charitable organizations that stipulates that all the tithes meant for Levites and the Poor are separated on their behalf, but then placed back with the rest of the produce. In exchange for “giving back” their portions, the Levites and the Poor receive a cash payment, which they much prefer to the bother of traveling around the country side. However, the special holy tithe for the priests, which (as I said) is real holy food, cannot, in our days, be consumed by anyone or redeemed. Nevertheless, like all the tithes, the Priest’s portion must be separated anyway, or else the entire produce remains Tevel. Only the very smallest amount possible is separated: a little over 1 percent of the total produce. Since this one percent is going to be left to decompose back into the earth, it is OK to take it from the inferior un-marketable part of the produce, which is usually left on the floor anyway when the produce is inspected.

Since none of these tithes go to their intended recipients, you are probably wondering why they bother separating them at all. Separating the tithes is important because according to Torah law, all the produce of the land of Israel is forbidden as Tevel until the tithes have been separated. As I said before, in fact, almost all the tithes find their way right back into the vat. Separating and designating them makes the entire produce permissible for us to eat, just like the proper slaughtering makes meat Kosher.

So If you are making wine in Israel, not only do you have to make sure that all your personnel are Shabbat observing Jews, that all your vines are older than 3 years old and that there are no vegetables growing in your vineyard; you have to be sure that all the tithes are separated as well. Needless to say, making a kosher wine in the Land of Israel is a serious challenge. Still, the most challenging part is yet to come. Let’s imagine that our Israeli Vintner has been working hard, making fantastic wine and creating a great reputation distributing his excellent product far and wide. At the end of six years his whole operation will come to a top. Yes, you guessed right! It’s the Sabbatical Year, the “Shemittah” year in the Land of Israel.

Sabbatical Year Laws

Let’s look briefly at what that means. Every six years, as regularly as Shabbat arrives for Jews around the world, The Sabbatical Year comes around for the Land of Israel. Now some Rabbis hold that it is possible to circumvent the Sabbatical Year if the farmer were to sell his agricultural land to a non-Jew. It is argued, that land owned by a non-Jew is not obligated to rest any more than the non-Jewish owner is. There is a great argument in Israel now about the advisability of this solution. Not that I’m one to voice an opinion about this kind of thing, but it does remind me of the time a Reform, Conservative and Orthodox Jew were talking about smoking. The Reform Jew said “I had to give up smoking. Our movement doesn’t tell people what to do of course, but it strongly encouraged us to consider the negative consequences of smoking!” The Conservative Jew said: “Well, my movement, in keeping with a progressive view of Jewish Practice in light of recent findings, has absolutely forbidden smoking!” The Orthodox Jew took a long draw from his cigarette and said “No problem for me! I sold my lungs to a non-Jew!” Basically, I think that all this selling stuff to non-Jews is getting out of hand. But all that aside, let’s assume that our Israeli winemaker wants to keep the Sabbatical Year, in harmony with the Holiness of the Land of Israel.

Firstly, he is not allowed the prune the vines, which is a critical part of growing fine grapes. Secondly, he is only allowed to maintain the vineyard and keep it from going bad. He can’t till the earth or do anything to improve the vineyard. The fruit that grows that year has a special kind of holiness. No individual person may show ownership over this fruit. It belongs to G-d and it is a free gift to all who wish to consume it. It must be left for everyone to come and take freely. The winemaker can make wine out of those grapes, but he is not the owner of the wine he makes.

Already in ancient times, as people became more and more urbanized, it became difficult for city dwellers to get out to the country-side and gather the fruits of the Sabbatical year. Eventually, it became the task of the central Religious Tribunal (the “Bet Din”) of each town to collect the produce from farmers in the country and deliver it to the city. The farmers found themselves harvesting their fields and turning the produce over to the town Bet Din. The Bet Din, acting on behalf of the city dwellers, could pay the farmers for their work. The farmers did not sell their produce. They were compensated for their work on behalf of the city dwellers.  Similarly today, a wine maker does not sell the fruits of the sabbatical year. Rather he receives a fee from the rabbinic supervisory organization for his labor on behalf of the public welfare. Incidentally, the holy fruit of the sabbatical year may not be taken outside the land of Israel. The wine cannot be exported.

Needless to say, growing grapes and making wine in the land of Israel has immense challenges all its own. It’s truly amazing, with all the difficulties there are, that we are able to enjoy such a range of quality kosher wines. This is truly a gift from Above.

Closing Thoughts

When I finished the research for this little article, I came away with an appreciation for that old fashioned Kiddush wine of my youth. It wasn’t great tasting or fancy, but some Jew somewhere put his whole heart and soul into that wine, making sure than no un-Jewish hand touched it, and that the wine was cooked, so it could be safely handled by non-Jews. He did all this so the mystery of the Jewish faith and our Covenant with the Creator would be present every time we lifted a cup in Kiddush or Havdalah! It seems to me that the wine we drink isn’t just a beverage. It contains our deepest feelings of joy and holiness. I began by asking “What is Kosher in a kosher wine.” The answer is: A Kosher wine holds the joy felt when the One Nation of Israel connects with the one G-d of the universe. This covenant we celebrate for ever.

(1) Rambam, Hilchot Maachalot Assurot 11:1-3. Also see Shulhan Aruch Y.D. 123:1 and the Rema there.