What is the story with Kosher cheese?
The answer to this question will take some time, as there are many misconceptions regarding Kosher and non-Kosher (or non-certified) cheese. In addition, the Kashrut industry controls both the supervision on production and the halakhic literature, thus creating an exorbitant pricing system in which what is considered a “strictly” Kosher cheese, of rather inferior quality, could cost twice or three times as much as a similar “non-supervised” cheese. This creates a considerable economic interest in preserving a state of affairs where “non-supervised” cheese is deemed non-kosher, despite the difficulties it creates for observant Jews (as I have mentioned in other articles, one cannot brush aside the cost factor, since the Talmud stresses in many places that we must not cause people to spend more than what is necessary.)
Let us start from the current situation and then go back to the origins of the Halakha:
We can distinguish between the following levels of Kashrut of cheese, which are listed here in a descending order, starting with what people believe is most Kosher:
- Cheese made of Halav Israel (aka Cholov Yisroel), that is, milk which was milked under Jewish supervision, and was also produced under supervision. As we shall later see, labeling cheese as Cholov Yisroel has an element of misinformation.
- Cheese made of “regular” milk, and supervised “only” during production.
- Cheese without supervision, with vegetable or microbial rennet – this cheese will be allowed according to some opinions.
- Cheese made with commercial or natural animal rennet – surprisingly, this cheese does not contain any non-kosher element, so its status is debatable.
- Cheese which contains pieces of meat (Yes! There is such a thing ) – Definitely not kosher.
We will return to this list later, but for now let us start from the Mishna (Avodah Zara, 2:5), which is the first source to mention that one cannot eat cheese made by non-Jews:
שָׁאַל רִבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אֶת רִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ כְּשֶׁהָיוּ מְהַלְּכִין בַּדֶּרֶךְ, אָמַר לוֹ: מִפְּנֵי מָה אָסְרוּ גְּבִינוֹת הָעַכּוּ”ם?
אָמַר לוֹ: מִפְּנֵי שֶׁמַּעֲמִידִין אוֹתָה בְּקֵיבָה שֶׁל נְבֵלָה.
אָמַר לוֹ: וַהֲלֹא קֵיבַת עוֹלָה חֲמוּרָה מִקֵיבַת נְבֵלָה, וְאָמְרוּ כֹּהֵן שֶׁדַּעְתּוֹ יָפָה שׁוֹרְפָהּ חַיָּה?…
חָזַר אָמַר לוֹ: מִפְּנֵי שֶׁמַּעֲמִידִין אוֹתָהּ בְּקֵיבַת עֶגְלֵי עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה.
אָמַר לוֹ: אִם כֵּן לָמָּה לֹא אֲסָרוּהָ בַּהֲנָאָה?
הִשִּׂיאוֹ לְדָבָר אַחֵר…
Rabbi Ishmael asked Rabbi Joshua while they were traveling: why did the rabbis forbid cheese made by non-Jews?
He answered: because they use rennet from an animal which was not slaughtered properly.
R Ishmael asked: but some priests used to slurp the rennet from the stomach of an animal destined for sacrifice [meaning that if the rennet has a status of food it would have been forbidden, and this proves that it is not food, hence cheese made with it should not be forbidden.]
He answered: Because they use rennet from calves slaughtered for pagan ritual.
R Ishmael asked: if this is the reason, the cheese should have been forbidden not only for eating but also to derive benefit from it [as an item used for idolatry.]
At that point Rabbi Joshua distracted Rabbi Ishmael by bringing up an enigmatic verse from Shir Hashirim.
The Mishna reports, indirectly, that the consumption of cheese made by non-Jews was forbidden by contemporaries of Rabbi Ishmael, who seems to disagree with the prohibition as he tries to get an explanation from Rabbi Joshua. R Joshua first says that it is because of non-Kosher rennet, but R Ishmael proves that rennet is not considered food and therefore cannot be labeled as Kosher or non-Kosher.
R Joshua than claims that it is an idolatry-related prohibition, but R Ishmael points out an obvious incongruence with the laws of forbidden idolatry.
R Joshua realizes that he has no answer and diverts the conversation to a different subject.
In his commentary on the Mishna, Maimonides makes a distinction between using the rennet, which is allowed, and using the cow’s stomach itself, which is forbidden, but the Mishna’s text remains unclear. It seems that a prohibition was decided on insufficient grounds, and the idea that it was a barrier against mingling with pagans, remains unproven.
The Talmud (Avodah Zara, 35:1-2) struggles to explain the strange behavior of R Joshua, who dodges his colleague’s questions. The Talmud argues that the prohibition was created in Israel and that the practice of the rabbis there was not to reveal the reason of a new decree for one year. The rationale was that once people start following the prohibition it would be more difficult to challenge it.
The Talmud[i] then suggests several reasons for the prohibition:
- For the fear that a snake bit the cheese and made it poisonous [this reason was rejected.]
- There might be some milk which has not become cheese, and on cannot consume milk which was milked by a non-Jew without supervision.
- The non-Jews use the stomach itself as rennet.
- The cheese is polished with lard.
- The cheese is made with non-Kosher vinegar.
- The cheese is made with sap from immature trees, which cannot be used until the tree’s fifth year.
So many different reasons point to a lack of knowledge as to the real reason of the prohibition. An additional problem is that the Talmud calls the prohibition a decree [גזרה], when as a matter of fact it is mentioned in the Mishnah only in passing as a prohibition. The difference between the two is that a decree is harder to revoke than a prohibition.
The Yerushalmi Talmud, however, presents a much clearer explanation of the Mishna, and states that the prohibition stems from the use of animals which were offered to idols.
This is then a clear case of a prohibition which depends on a certain condition or concern. Once this condition or concern is gone, so should the prohibition, and that brings us to the second part of the discussion:
[i] תלמוד בבלי, מסכת עבודה זרה, לה:א-ב: רבי שמעון בן פזי אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: משום ניקור. ולימא ליה: משום ניקור! כדעולא, דאמר עולא: כי גזרי גזירתא במערבא, לא מגלו טעמא עד תריסר ירחי שתא, דלמא איכא איניש דלא סבירא ליה ואתי לזלזולי בה… א”ר חנינא: לפי שאי אפשר לה בלא צחצוחי חלב, ושמואל אמר: מפני שמעמידין אותה בעור קיבת נבילה… רב מלכיא משמיה דרב אדא בר אהבה אמר: מפני שמחליקין פניה בשומן חזיר. רב חסדא אמר: מפני שמעמידין אותה בחומץ. רב נחמן בר יצחק אמר: מפני שמעמידין אותה בשרף הערלה.
