The essence of the prohibition
Our sages, may their memory be blessed, prohibited eating several types of foods prepared by non-Jews:
- Bread baked by a Gentile.
- A dish cooked by a Gentile.
- Milk milked by a Gentile.
- Wine of a Gentile.
Why is it forbidden?
The reason for the prohibition is derived from two other prohibitions explicitly in the Torah:
- The prohibition to eat impure or forbidden things. – As a result of this prohibition, it is also decreed not to eat Gentile food. For if a Jew regularly eats in the house of a Gentile and in his company, even if he eats today foods with a kosher certification, another time he may stumble upon eating forbidden foods.
- The prohibition of marrying a Gentile. – The severe prohibition of intermarriage caused the sages to prohibit several things that might lead a Jew to marry a non-Jew. We all know that food brings hearts closer. When several people sit together and eat, they become emotionally closer to each other. Therefore, they prohibited us from eating their food, so as not to end up marrying one of them.
- Even if the Gentile doesn’t have children at all, or alternatively even when the Jew eats in the privacy of his home, it is still forbidden to eat these things.
Why is it forbidden?
The reason for the prohibition is derived from two other prohibitions explicitly in the Torah:
- The prohibition to eat impure or forbidden things – As a result of this prohibition, it is also decreed not to eat Gentile food. For if a Jew regularly eats in the house of a Gentile and in his company, even if he eats today foods with a kosher certification, another time he may stumble upon eating forbidden foods.
- The prohibition of marrying a Gentile – The severe prohibition of intermarriage caused the sages to prohibit several things that might lead a Jew to marry a non-Jew. We all know that food brings hearts closer. When several people sit together and eat, they become emotionally closer to each other. Therefore, they prohibited us from eating their food, so as not to end up marrying one of them.
- Even if the Gentile doesn’t have children at all, or alternatively even when the Jew eats in the privacy of his home, it is still forbidden to eat these things.
Gentile’s Bread (non-Jew)
Any bread made from one of the five types of grain (wheat, barley, spelt, oats, and rye), whose blessing is “Who brings forth bread from the earth,” and made by a gentile – is prohibited to eat. Of course, we are speaking here of bread baked from kosher ingredients. If it is made from prohibited ingredients, it is forbidden in any case.
Cakes and biscuits are also included in the prohibition of gentile bread, and according to Jewish law, since nowadays non-kosher fat is often mixed into food, or used to grease the baking trays, if there is no supervision over the food, it is forbidden to eat the baked goods. The same problem exists with bread.
A gentile who has a bakery and produces bread solely for sale – if the products from which the baker prepares the bread are kosher, and there is no other bakery in the place (such as in many places abroad) – it is permitted to buy from him. However, despite this, it is preferable to be strict and not eat gentile bread at all.
On special days such as the Ten Days of Repentance – when we add to commandments and are more cautious about prohibitions, or on Sabbath and holidays – when we fulfill the commandments of the Sabbath and holiday meals through eating bread, in any case, one should not eat bread baked by a gentile.
Question: I live abroad, and I want to be strict about not eating gentile bread, but I can only get bread from a gentile bakery, can I kosher the bread or am I ‘decreed’ to eat bread only at intervals?
Answer: There is a possibility to permit the bread baked in a gentile bakery. If you perform one of the following actions, the bread will be permissible to eat without any concern: igniting the oven, raising the oven’s heat, or inserting the bread inside. Of course, after verifying that the ingredients are kosher.
Even if the gentile has already done all these actions but the bread is at such a stage that raising the heat will benefit it, it is still possible to raise the heat and permit the bread (but one should not return bread to the oven for the purpose of permitting it even if it improves as a result).
Gentile’s Cooking (non-Jew)
Definition of the Prohibition
A dish cooked by a gentile is forbidden to eat (even when all the ingredients are kosher). The prohibition applies even if it’s just a chef in a restaurant and the like. When we say ‘cooking’ by a gentile, this also refers to roasting and frying, but what the gentile prepared by smoking, pickling, or salting is not prohibited. Therefore, vegetables or fish pickled in vinegar, as well as salted or smoked fish, are not prohibited because of gentile cooking.
General Prohibition Rules
A dish is prohibited from gentile cooking only when:
- It is not possible to eat the food without that cooking. For example, a potato. It is impossible to eat potatoes without cooking / frying / baking. Therefore, on the other hand, a gentile who cooked tree apples (which can be eaten even without cooking), does not prohibit them from eating.
- The food needs to be such that in the language of Jewish law: “It is served on a king’s table.” This means that it is a respected food, ‘served’ on the tables of dignified and important people.
- Note a few things:
- Since the ‘high-end’ dishes served on the tables of royalty change from generation to generation, and what in one generation could be considered a distinguished dish, could be considered a simple dish in the next – the prohibitive laws of gentile cooking also change accordingly, and it could be that what was allowed today will be forbidden tomorrow. An example? Please: In the past, potatoes were considered poor people’s food. Today, potatoes can be found even on the tables of the most important people – and it is acceptable to serve them in various forms and with various spices, which give them great importance. Therefore, even if they were once permitted when a gentile cooked them, today they are forbidden.
- A dish that was cooked by a Jew and has cooled, there is no problem for a gentile to warm it up, and even if it is almost impossible to eat when it is cold.
- Cooking by microwave is considered regular cooking and is forbidden by a gentile.
- Coffee (instant and even black), tea, cocoa, can be drunk even if prepared by a gentile. Beer – even though part of its production process requires cooking – is allowed for drinking – of course, if the ingredients in it are kosher.
How do we ‘neutralize’ gentile cooking?
To permit a dish cooked by a gentile for eating, the Jew must perform one of the following actions: either light the fire under the dish, or place the pot with the dish on the fire, or participate in the cooking process (like stirring the dish in the pot before it is fully cooked). Even if all the other actions related to cooking were done by the gentile, the dish is allowed for eating.
Therefore, if you are eating in a kosher restaurant and there is a gentile cook, you can always find the place’s kashrut supervisor, or a Jew on his behalf, who turns on the gas every morning for the cooking of that day. Also, if you have a Filipino worker at home taking care of one of your parents (and also helps in the kitchen, of course…) and she wants to prepare food for them, in order for it to be allowed for eating, you have to perform one of the actions we mentioned before.
However, according to the opinion of the Sephardic communities, only if the Jew places the pot with the dish where it will be cooked, will the dish be allowed for eating and lighting the fire is not enough. Also, in their opinion, interference in the preparation of the dish is only effective in its initial stage and not after it has been cooked even partially.
- Pay attention! A utensil in which a gentile cooked a dish without a certain involvement of a Jew is forbidden for use and needs to be kashered. (How to kasher? You should ask a rabbi. There are many details in this).
Gentile’s milk (non-Jew)
Milk that was milked by a non-Jew, is forbidden for drinking.
One of the reasons for the prohibition is the fear that the gentile mixed in the milk also milk of a non-kosher animal (like a camel) which is forbidden for drinking.
- To be able to drink milk of a non-Jew, a Jew needs to be present at the time of milking. He needs to check that the container in which the milk is collected is empty of other milk and to see the milking.
- A utensil in which was cooked milk that was milked by a non-Jew, is forbidden for use and needs to undergo a kashering process.
- Also in a place where non-kosher animals are not found, and even in a place where the gentiles themselves do not drink milk of a non-kosher animal – one should not drink non-Jewish milk.
Question: Today, the laws of developed countries require manufacturers to write the components that their products are made of on each item. If it were involved in milk, even milk from another animal, it would certainly be written on the milk label (otherwise it would be a criminal offense that could even close the factory). Is it permissible to drink milk that has been milked by a non-Jew in this situation?
Answer: Indeed, there are authorities that permit it, and there are those that only permit it for children and for those who need to drink milk and do not have another source. However, it is said in the holy books, that drinking milk milked by a non-Jew, even in a place where there is no fear of mixing other milk, impairs the Jewish faith in the Holy One, blessed be He, and therefore it should not be drunk in any way.
Question: Nowadays, in an age of technology where it’s possible to break down a product into components and use some of them for other products, we encounter the terms ‘non-Jewish milk powder’ (milk curdled by a non-Jew that has been dried) or ‘components of non-Jewish milk powder’ (certain components of the powder from non-Jewish milk). Is it permissible to eat these products (you can see these terms a lot on kosher products imported from abroad, such as milk chocolate or milk cookies and similar)?
Answer: These powders are better for all opinions than actual curdled milk, and therefore some of those who prohibit actual milk will permit non-Jewish milk powder. However, despite this, it is better not to eat or drink anything that comes from non-Jewish milk or its powder.
- Cheeses made by a non-Jew – are forbidden to eat. Even if made from kosher milk.
Gentile’s Wine (non-Jew)
Of all the food prohibitions due to their connection to non-Jews, the prohibition to drink their wine is the most severe, as the Torah feared that perhaps the non-Jew also ‘poured’ this wine for idolatry.
Even wine of a Jew that a non-Jew touched is forbidden to drink.
What is ‘pouring’?
In the past, when non-Jews worshipped idols – statues and various figures, they used to pour (or decant into a vessel) wine in honor of their idolatry. Such wine is forbidden to use or benefit from.
- Even wine of a non-Jew that it is unknown whether it was poured for idolatry, and even today when most of the world does not practice idolatry – the prohibition to drink their wine still exists.
Utensils that have had non-Jewish wine in them are forbidden to use and need to be made kosher (How to make them kosher? Depends on the type of vessel. It’s best to ask a rabbi).
Details of the prohibition
The prohibition to drink Jewish wine that a non-Jew touched is only if the touch was accompanied by a motion of the wine, but in a case of light touch without motion – Ashkenazic custom allows drinking the wine, and Sephardic custom forbids it.
Moreover, all prohibition is only when the bottle is open, or even closed with one cover. But if it is closed with two covers (like all existing wine bottles today that are closed with a cork which has an additional cover) – it is permitted to drink even if a non-Jew touched it. Today, two covers are necessary – because many of the transport and supply workers etc. are not Jewish. If there was only one cover – any touch of theirs would prohibit the bottle, and we would not have kosher wine in the stores…
Eating in a restaurant or a hotel? Make sure to receive only a closed wine bottle. Who knows who opened it or used it before you?
Drinking some beverages at a bar? If the bartender is not Jewish, you need to open the bottle yourself and pour it yourself.
Which wine is forbidden?
Any wine or grape juice that a non-Jew has touched is forbidden. However, if the wine or juice is cooked, they are permissible for drinking, as cooked wine can never be used for idolatry.
If the wine is mevushal (cooked), it is preferable not to drink it if a non-Jew has touched it. However, if there is a need to drink wine (such as for kiddush, blessing after the meal, wedding, brit milah, or any other Jewish reason) and there is no other wine, it is permissible to drink it.
Would you like some stam yainom (ordinary wine) after the meal? Enjoy. But it should be known that this is not considered ‘necessary’ from a halakhic perspective and it is not desirable to drink the mevushal wine that a non-Jew has touched for this reason.
- Nowadays, on almost all wine bottles that have a kosher seal, it is indicated whether the wine is cooked, mevushal, or not cooked at all.
- Wine that has already been forbidden by a non-Jew’s touch will not be helped by cooking it afterwards.
Before you sit down with your ‘friends’ and drink a bit of liquor, it would be worthwhile to check if it is kosher. Sometimes, even when the ingredients of the drink are kosher, in order to enhance the flavor of the liquor, it is left for a certain period inside wooden barrels that previously held wine (which is, of course, non-Jewish wine = yayin nesekh), and the flavor of the residual wine in the barrels enhances the taste of the liquor. This is common in “whiskey” drinks. In such a case, within the liquor, there is also some of the ‘yayin nesekh’, and therefore it would be forbidden to drink. Therefore, it is recommended to check the kashrut of all types of liquor before you indulge.
