Kashrut: Fact, Fiction and In Between part 16

The issue of milk is a contentious one that divides us into factions. Many put it into the same category as wine; expanding an existing law (in this case, the milk of non-Kosher animals) into a safeguard against intermarriage. Others consider this totally baseless. There are many views in between. The issue is Halav Akum (idolater's milk) as opposed to "Halav Yisrael" (Jewish milk. called by many "Kosher Milk"). The Talmud is unclear on this topic. It simply says that "milk not seen by a Jew is forbidden". Some interpret this as meaning that we must ascertain that the milk from a non-Jewish merchant is, in fact, from a ruminant, unadulterated with horse milk or the like. It has nothing to do with intermarriage. as milk is not a festive product served at special events, the way wine is. Many interpret RAMBAM as taking that view. Rabbi Yosef Kappah writes in his commentary on RAMBAM that there is no such actual halachah as Halav Yisrael, except in a time and place where adulterated milk is common. (In some parts of Central Asia, for example, horse milk is ubiquitous). J.B. Soloveichik, the doyen of Modern Orthodoxy, once gave a subtle hint as to his view when once, when giving a lecture, he noticed that the container of milk that sat before him said "Halav Yisrael". He threw it across the room, shouting "Bring me REAL milk!" (You will probably not hear that story today, as his disciples have "reinvented" him as a Hareidi Lithuanian Rosh Yeshivah). Most other early and late authorities read the Talmud's statement as meaning that milk needs supervision from the time of the milking until either consumed, or sealed in a container. This, historically, has been the standard in most Jewish communities. When Jews came to America, Halav Yisrael was generally unavailable, unless one went to a dairy farm, and watched the milking oneself. Many devout Jews, upon coming to America, never tasted milk or milk products again. Others consumed what was available, although they felt they were sinning. Eventually, a small store on Manhattan's Lower East Side made a deal with a farm, and carried Halav Yisrael. (1920s, '30s and '40s). To the best of my knowledge, that was the only such store in the U.S. After the Second World War, when many prominent rabbis and Hasidic Rebbes came, small networks of Halav Yisrael were established. But what was a Jew outside the major areas of Jewish population to do? Most rabbis simply responded "no milk, or move to New York". An up-and-coming rabbi in New York, with a national, and to some extent international, reputation at that time was  Moshe Feinstein. You have probably gathered from earlier references that I am not a big fan, as many of his rulings are, in my opinion, needlessly divisive. However, he made a revolution in this area, with far-reaching implications in many other areas. He reasoned "IF Halav Akum is forbidden because one might come to marry the farmer's daughter (please no jokes!), but you are not interacting with the farmer, but are buying it at a grocery or supermarket, that in turn gets it from a dairy company, that actually has no cows but gets the milk from numerous small farms, your chances of marrying the farmer's daughter by buying this milk are essentially nil. (Actually, Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein had come up with this idea a half-century earlier, but concluded that it could not be relied upon).Government regulations ensure that no milk from other animals is mixed in, besides the company's fear of gaining a bad reputation. (Remember the Simpsons episode where Bart discovers that the school is giving the students rat milk?) Therefore, any commercial milk is fine, and can even be called Halav Yisrael, as it is as though we see it. If possible, real Halav Yisrael is to be preferred. But this is also fine". A nasty rumor was spread that Rabbi Feinstein was at a public event, and when he learned that the milk he was drinking was not actual Halav Yisrael, he went to the lavatory and made himself throw up. His family has always vigorously denied this story. Moshe Feinstein's view was thoroughly denounced in many circles. Even the Lubavitcher Rebbe, usually very conciliatory, said that there was no basis for the lenient ruling, and that one who uses it is tainting his children's souls. But the lenient view was widely accepted by virtually all Kashrut agencies. Halav Yisrael is, today, regarded by most as a stringency rather than a halachah. Moshe Feinstein's theory that the indirect nature of the transaction obviates the prohibition, has been adopted by many rabbis in other areas of Kashrut, and even in some Shabbat restrictions. Sadly, however, it has created a situation in which some Orthodox Jews will not regard the homes of other Orthodox Jews as Kosher. This is even more problematic in Israel, where virtually all dairy products use Jewish milk, but supplemented with milk powder from Europe during the Winter, when cows are accustomed to producing less milk (why cows have that custom is something I do not know). Those strict about Halav Yisrael, would need to insist on a hechsher that is likewise strict. Next time, I will discuss cheese. Although the OU has set standards, many consider those standards ridiculously lenient; others ridiculously strict. Next time.