Thought for the Day: The Rabbi Doesn't Bless the Food to Make It Kosher... and Neither Does the Mashgiach

When we first moved to Dallas, we told the rabbi, Rabbi Aryeh Rodin, shilta, that we would like to "upgrade" our level of kashrut to the community standards. That is, we felt we were keeping kosher (we were not, of course), but wanted to be sensitive to other people's (in our mind, unnecessary) stringencies. You know, stringencies like looking for a hechsher when the ingredients on the label seemed just fine. Buying kosher cheese, even though we knew it was made with vegetable rennet. You know, stringencies.

Rabbi Rodin came over and started by telling us, "There is nothing magic or mystical about kashering. The basic rule is that you get it out the same way it got in. Pots that always used with liquid for cooking, were to be kashered with hot water. Something that was used with dry heat -- like a roasting pan and the oven grates -- had to be kashered with (high) dry heat. Simple.

I was very impressed and it changed my perspective on kashrus and the kashrus industry. There are good reasons that relying on the label isn't sufficient. For one thing, they don't list ingredients that are less than 2%; which is less than the 1/60 required for nullification. Another thing is that you have no idea what might be kosher sensitive in natural and artificial flavors and colors. Oh, and they don't have to mention things like the grease they use on the conveyor belts because that is not part of the food preparation.

So now we look for a hechsher when necessary. When is it not necessary? Fresh fruits and vegetables. Even pre-washed, shredded cabbage doesn't need a hechsher. Soda/pop definitely requires certification; who knows what goes in that stuff. Beer? Not usually, at least for national brands. But microbreweries need certification because they can rent out their still and brew pots on days they are using them.

What about bourbon and other liquor? The CRC has three categories: Not Recommended, Acceptable, Certified. I wanted to understand the difference between acceptable and certified. The basic difference is that acceptable means you are relying on the way things are typically done and there are no obvious red flags. Certified means it has been investigated. I asked if I investigated an acceptable brand and found it passed muster, would that be as good as certified. Answer: Absolutely! (I do that from time to time when I find a cool looking local distillery.)

And that brings us to what got me started thinking about this. Chalav Yisrael. Every Jew who keeps kosher keeps chalav yisrael. It is a real, live rabbinic decree and no Jew who keeps kosher would drink non-cholov yisrael milk any more than he would eat a chicken enchilada or have turkey and swiss on rye. It is not a thing. So why do people use that term? Rav Moshe has three t'shuvas on the topic in Igros Moshe. I used to think that Rav Moshe was saying that they didn't have company produced milk in the times of the gemara, so they required chalav yisrael; but really company produced milk in the US is just as good. Then I learned through the t'shuvas in some depth.

Rav Moshe is saying much more than that: Milk produced by companies in the US fulfills, in fact, all the requirements to earn the label "chalav yisrael." The key point is that definite knowledge is equivalent to supervision by a mashgiach. Yes, he knows that doesn't work for murder trials. Yes, he knows that government inspectors can be bribed. Rav Moshe knows quite a few other things, as well.

I would not call this a leniency, but a p'sak halacha. There are those, of course, who do not accept Rav Moshe's p'sak. I respect that. I also don't feel I am getting away with a leniency and trying to get away with something. There are also issues related to the cows rather than the milking that can make the supervised milk a safer choice; just like any other reasonable stringency. I feel at this point in my life, my avodas HaShem is better served without adding those stringencies. Others feel differently.

So, yes, I do keep chalav yisrael.