Question #1: What is the prohibition called gevinas akum, and why did Chazal prohibit it?
Question #2: How is kosher cheese made differently from non-kosher cheese?
Question #3: I was once told by someone knowledgeable that one who is careful about chalav Yisrael is permitted to use a product containing whey, even though the product does not say that it is chalav Yisrael. Is this true?
Before discussing the halachic issues involved in manufacturing cheese, we need to explain the basics of cheesemaking. Hashem made cow’s milk contain all the nutrients necessary for a newborn calf to grow big and strong until it is ready to be self-supportive by mowing the lawn. The major components of milk are lactose, or milk sugar, which provides the carbohydrates a young calf needs; casein and other proteins; cream (which is the fat component); various other nutrients including calcium for healthy bones; and about 90% water, which keeps the other ingredients in suspension or solution.
To make cheese, one causes the casein to precipitate (separate) out of the fluid milk, which causes the casein to coagulate. (The word casein has the same cognate source as the word “cheese” — the Latin word for cheese, caseus.) This precipitation, or setting, can be allowed to happen naturally by allowing milk to curdle (thus producing the “delicacy” that Little Miss Muffet ate as “curds and whey”) or, can be facilitated by adding acid or an enzyme (such as rennet) to the milk. The coagulated part of the milk, called the curd, separates from the rest, which is the whey. In the case of a “hard” cheese, the curd is pressed, molded, flavored and aged to become the variety of cheese desired. The names of most cheeses (Roquefort, Swiss, Muenster, Gouda, Cheddar etc.) reflect the geographic location where these cheeses were developed.
What is the prohibition called gevinas akum, and why did Chazal prohibit it?
The origins of the rabbinic prohibition banning non-Jewish cheese are mentioned by the Mishnah, which records an interesting conversation:
“While the two of them were traveling together, Rabbi Yishmael asked Rabbi Yehoshua: ‘Why is the cheese of gentiles prohibited?’ He answered: ‘Because they set it using the stomach of a calf that had been slaughtered in a non-kosher way.” Rabbi Yishmael noted legal reasons why he felt that this could not be the reason for the prohibition, upon which Rabbi Yehoshua explained that the prohibition is “because the gentiles set the cheese with the stomach of a calf that had been offered for idol worship.” Rabbi Yishmael denied that this could be the reason, because if it was, one should not be permitted even to benefit from gentile cheese. At this point, Rabbi Yehoshua changed the subject, signifying that he would not discuss the matter further (Avodah Zarah 29b).
As we see, Rabbi Yehoshua evaded explaining why the Sages prohibited cheese. This is very curious, particularly when compared to the prohibition of chalav akum¸which the Gemara explicitly states is because of concern that non-kosher milk might be added.
In addition to the two explanations that Rabbi Yehoshua cited, the Gemara (Avodah Zarah 35) mentions five additional reasons why Chazal prohibited consumption of gevinas akum:
(1) Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: The milk may have been left in a place that snakes could poison it with their venom.
(2) Rabbi Chanina: The milk may have been adulterated with milk of a non-kosher species. Although most non-kosher species do not allow themselves to be milked, camels, donkeys, and mares (female horses) can all be milked and produce a palatable product. It is because of concern that these milks may have been added to milk from a kosher species that Chazal created a different prohibition, consuming milk when a Jew did not observe the milking (chalav akum). Although milk from non-kosher species contains very little casein and thus cannot be made into cheese, if such milk was mixed with kosher milk before it was processed into cheese, some fluid remains in the cheese that could contain non-kosher milk.
(3) Rav Ada bar Ahavah: The surface of the cheese may be coated with lard.
(4) Rav Chisda: Non-kosher wine vinegar may have been used to set the cheese.
(5) Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak: Sap of an orlah fruit may have been used to set the cheese. The Torah (Vayikra 19:23) prohibits eating or benefiting from fruit grown on a tree during its first three years. Those fruits are called orlah and the prohibition of the Torah applies whether the tree was planted by a Jew or a gentile, and whether it grew in Eretz Yisroel or in chutz la’Aretz.
The Rambam in his discussion of these laws mentions setting cheese with the sap of figs. Presumably, he is referring to the juice of figs from which today we extract the enzyme known as ficain (or ficin) which is used to make certain varieties of cheese.
As we will soon see, the Rishonim dispute whether these five opinions are in dispute – meaning that each holds his reasons to the exclusion of the others, or that they are each citing a different reason for the prohibition, and that the cheese was prohibited because of any of the reasons.
I want to share with you a curiosity: While researching information for this article, I discovered a sixty-year-old article describing how one manufactures cheddar cheese (also a name of geographic origin since it was originally developed in Cheddar, England). The article reports that the cheese was made by adding calf stomach rennet to the milk to make it curd, heating the curd, going through several processes to carefully remove “every scrap” of whey, pressing the curd, plunging it into hot water briefly to form a thin rind and then greasing the rind with pure lard to thicken the rind. Thus, three of the reasons mentioned by the Gemara to prohibit cheese were used to make this cheese – the use of non-kosher rennet; the use of lard; and the remaining uncurded milk in the cheese which could contain adulterated milk were it not deliberately removed.
Why did Rabbi Yehoshua hide the reason?
Although we now have some background why Chazal prohibited gentile cheese, we have no idea why Rabbi Yehoshua was reticent to explain the origin of the prohibition. However, the Gemara (Avodah Zarah 35a) does explain his concern, in the following passage: “Why did he not reveal the true reason? As Ula explained: When the scholars of Eretz Yisrael decreed a new prohibition, they did not reveal the reason for twelve months — lest someone dispute their reason and be lax in its observance.” Thus, we see that even when the prohibition began, no reason was given out of concern that this would affect whether the takanah would be properly observed.
In the times of the Rishonim, there were areas of Europe, particularly in Italy and parts of southern France, where there was a long-established practice to be lenient regarding the consumption of the local cheese of non-Jews. The lenience was based on the fact that the Jews knew the recipe that the gentile cheesemakers used, and that none of the concerns mentioned by the Gemara were germane. The cheese was set with “flowers,” some variety of plant-based enzyme. I am told that, to this day, there are cheeses in some parts of Europe that are made with an enzyme found naturally in a variety of thistle. Perhaps, this was the type of cheese that these communities used.
In any event, this leniency was common in certain areas and found halachic backing (several Rishonim in the name of the Geonei Narvona). Tosafos quotes Rabbeinu Tam as saying “that we do not find an obvious reason to prohibit gevinas akum.” Rabbeinu Tam felt that the different opinions quoted in the Gemara are in dispute and that the authoritative position for the gezeirah of gevinas akum is that of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi — that the cheese may be contaminated with snake venom. Rabbeinu Tam then opines that, according to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, the prohibition of gevinas akum was never instituted in a place where snakes do not flourish.
However, most Rishonim reject this reasoning, some because they feel that the different reasons mentioned by the Gemara do not necessarily disagree, and others contending that the prohibition against gentile cheese exists even when none of the original reasons apply. They maintain that the prohibition has a halachic status of davar she’beminyan, a rabbinic injunction that remains binding until a larger and more authoritative body declares the original injunction invalid, even when the reason the takanah was introduced no longer applies. Since a more authoritative beis din never rescinded the prohibition on gentile cheese, it remains even when none of the reasons apply (Rambam, Maachalos Asuros 3:4; Rashba, Toras HaBayis page 90b; Semag, Mitzvah 223; Tur, Yoreh Deah 115; For an explanation of how the Geonei Narvona resolved this issue, see Chazon Ish, Yoreh Deah 40). Others even argued that Rabbeinu Tam himself never permitted gevinas akum; his comments were meant to be theoretical, not definitive (Semag; Semak).
The Shulchan Aruch rules that there is no halachic basis to allow the practice of those communities that permitted use of the local gentile cheese, even when one has ascertained that they contain no non-kosher ingredients. The Rema follows a moderately more lenient view, permitting use of gentile cheese only in a place where one can ascertain that there was a long established custom to permit it. Thus, today no one would be able to use gentile cheese, with the possible exception of an Italian community that can prove that they have such a tradition going back several hundred years.
How is kosher cheese made differently from non-kosher cheese?
Having established that almost universal opinion contends that the prohibition against gentile cheese is alive and well even when none of the concerns apply, we need to clarify: Is any cheese produced by a gentile halachically non-kosher? Can a Jewish cheesemaker hire non-Jewish workers? Is there a way to have a gentile manufacture cheese and it is still kosher?
Regarding these issues, we find a dispute between two major halachic authorities, the Rema (Yoreh Deah 215:2) and the Shach. The Rema contends that when a Jew observes the production the cheese is gevinas Yisrael and fully kosher, even though the milk and curding agents are all owned by a gentile, and gentiles perform every step and process. Thus, the Rema understands the prohibition of gevinas akum to be structured similarly to chalav akum – if a Jew supervised the production, it is kosher.
The Shach takes issue with this approach, contending that if a gentile owns the milk, the acid, and the enzyme, and places the acid or enzyme into the milk; the resultant cheese is prohibited as gevinas akum, even if an observant Jew supervised the entire production! The Shach rallies support for his position from the wording of the Mishnah, which, when describing the prohibition against chalav akum, prohibits milk “milked by a gentile without a Jew watching,” whereas in discussing gevinas akum, the Mishnah simply prohibits “the cheese of gentiles,” omitting the proviso that a supervising Jew is sufficient to remove the prohibition. According to the Shach, the only “whey” to avoid gevinas akum is to have a Jew place the curding agent into the milk, or to have a Jew own the milk or the cheese. In these instances, the cheese is now considered “Jewish” cheese, because it was either owned or manufactured by a Jew.
The Shabbos problem
Those who followed the Shach’s approach, occasionally ran into the following practical problem. In order to have kosher cheese, they needed to have a gentile make it for them, and they could easily arrange that a Jew add the enzyme or acid to the milk. The gentiles were willing to accommodate Jewish needs if the price was right; the gentile ordinarily used non-kosher rennet, the Jew used his own kosher rennet. However, what was one to do when the gentile decided that the best day to set the cheese was on Shabbos? A Jew may not put rennet into milk on Shabbos – and, according to the Shach, if he does not, there is a problem of gevinas akum.
This entire problem does not exist according to the Rema. In his opinion, there is no gevinas akum problem here. The Jew can simply oversee the work that the non-Jew is performing, even on Shabbos. The Jew himself is performing no melacha, and the non-Jew does not have to keep Shabbos.
The Pri Chadash, who agrees with the Shach’s analysis as to what makes a cheese “Jewish,” discusses this issue and concludes the following:
If the Jew orders a certain quantity of cheese, that is sufficient to permit the cheese as gevinas Yisrael. Since this cheese is being specifically made for the Jew, the Jew is considered the owner of this cheese as soon as it is manufactured, thus eliminating the prohibition of gevinas akum, even if the Jew did not participate in the manufacture.
Hard and soft cheese; butter
Halachically, there is much discussion among authorities whether the prohibition of gevinas akum applies to butter and to certain soft cheeses like cottage cheese and cream cheese. This topic is explained in a different article, “The Great Cottage Cheese Controversy.” Searching for the word “cottage cheese” on the website should be sufficient.
The milky whey
Whey is a byproduct of the cheese industry. When milk curds, the leftover is the whey, which, although a byproduct, may have much commercial use if made from certain cheeses.
The first question we need to resolve: Is whey prohibited because of gevinas akum? Many halachic authorities accept that the prohibition of gevinas akum applies only to the cheese, but not to the whey. However, many varieties of whey may still be non-kosher for an interesting reason: Some types of cheese are produced by heating the milk to temperatures hot enough that the whey absorbs from the non-kosher cheese. Other cheeses, although produced at lower temperatures, have hot water added to the finished cheese that becomes part to the whey. The result is that this whey is non-kosher because it contains admixture of non-kosher cheese (Darkei Teshuvah 115:30).
However,we should note that Rav Moshe Feinstein contends that the whey that results from cheesemaking remains kosher since the cheese at the time of production is still owned by the gentile. Only when a Jew purchases the cheese does it become non-kosher, and therefore the whey is not considered to contain any taste from non-kosher cheese (Shu”t Igros Moshe, Yoreh Deah 3:17). In addition, he argues that Chazal did not prohibit whey from cheese production under any circumstances.
According to all opinions, whey is exempt from the prohibition of chalav akum. This is a topic to which we will need to return when we discuss butter and soft cheeses.
“Kosher Cheese?!?”
Before we close our discussion, I want to share with you a personal anecdote that demonstrates not only concerns about gevinas akum but also shows why one should not use a product when one does not know who stands behind its kashrus supervision. I was once driving through a small town in Western New York when I noticed a small cheese factory on the opposite side of the street. Being the curious type, I decided to drop in on the facility to learn more about the production processes. Since I am not shy, I asked the receptionist whether the owner or manager was in, and that I was a rabbi involved in kosher certification and interested in increasing my knowledge of food production. I was pleasantly surprised at the friendly reception I received from the owner, Vince, who indeed showed me through the facility and answered all my questions very cordially, as if he had all the time in the world. Obviously, the cheese was not kosher because of gevinas akum, and I therefore made no attempt to ascertain what type of rennet the company used.
After the tour, I was very surprised by the conversation that ensued, considering that this was a completely spontaneous visit and Vince did not even know me. He asked me whether I was an Orthodox rabbi, and whether I would be interested to provide his plant with a letter that it is a kosher facility. I was quite surprised by the question, and asked him whether he had ever entertained kosher certification before.
“Oh, we have been kosher for many years, but we have been unable to contact our rabbi to renew his letter.”
Further inquiry revealed that for many years the company had been paying an annual fee to a “rabbi” who in exchange provided them with a letter that the cheese was kosher. I was never able to ascertain whether this individual was a completely unlearned “rabbi” who was oblivious to the prohibition of gevinas akum, or someone not observant or concerned of the halacha. But it really makes no difference. As we have learned, obtaining a “kosher” letter is not a sufficient procedure with which to kosherize cheese.
