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Questions tagged [grapes-wine]

halachos and customs applicable to grapes & wine

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Why does my bottle of Kosher grape juice say that it's 'for sacramental purposes only'?

I recently noticed that the bottle of Kedem Kosher grape juice that I purchased has a notice on the label which reads 'FOR SACRAMENTAL PURPOSES ONLY'. I assume this means that it's being sold to be ...
Joel K's user avatar
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29 votes
2 answers
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Why don't people bentch on a kos nowadays?

Bentching with a kos (recite Grace after Meals with a cup of wine) was clearly a popular thing to do in the times of the gemara. Additionally many Ashkenazi rishonim (Rosh, Ri, and many other ...
Double AA's user avatar
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24 votes
3 answers
910 views

Providing wine for Christian ceremonial purposes: in the 8th century, what did the rabbis write?

Under Charlemagne in the 8th century and the Carolingian emperors, Jews were official importers of exotic foods from the Holy Land;[1] they also provided wine for Christian mass. At the time, what ...
Rabbi Levi Cash's user avatar
19 votes
1 answer
504 views

Mushrooms in a Vineyard

The bracha on a mushroom is "shehakol" because the Talmud (Berachot 40b) correctly (I think) states that mushrooms do not derive their nutrients from the ground. If a mushroom is growing in a ...
Double AA's user avatar
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16 votes
5 answers
1k views

What makes a wine kosher?

Why are some wines kosher and some not?
Jeremy's user avatar
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13 votes
4 answers
7k views

Non-Jews and kosher wine

As a non-Jew, undergoing the conversion process, I am very careful regarding the Torah, rabbinic, and cultural laws. However, some times it seems to me that some laws are not compatible for converts. ...
Ben's user avatar
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13 votes
4 answers
2k views

Bracha on frozen grape juice

For a cold dessert, I often like to freeze a cup of grape juice and then eat it with a spoon like an Italian ice. What is the appropriate bracha to say before and after eating this delicacy?
Sam's user avatar
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13 votes
2 answers
690 views

Plastic gloves in Halacha

If someone touches something while wearing gloves (i.e. waterproof rubber gloves), does that halachically count as touching? Practical examples include: Touching a neveilah, whether or not you become ...
Hahu Gavra's user avatar
12 votes
4 answers
5k views

Wine made/handled by non-religious Jews

Assume for the purposes of the question that all circumstances are the same as if the wine had been made/handled by non-Jews. I don't want answers regarding whether it is Mevushal or whether Mevushal ...
Seth J's user avatar
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12 votes
1 answer
7k views

Why do we recite 'Borei Pri Ha'etz ' on grapes?

One thing I have always wondered is why we recite Ha'etz over grapes. First, grapes grow on a vine, so why do we say 'borei pri hagafen' only after the fruit has been processed. Second, grapes ...
user1799178's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
556 views

Does a Jewish idolater's pouring of non-mevushal wine make that wine forbidden to himself?

We see from this answer that wine poured by a Jew who rejects Judaism is yayin nesech. Would that cause the wine to be forbidden even to himself, or is it only forbidden to others? Would he be ...
Daniel's user avatar
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11 votes
4 answers
858 views

Source for pairing l'chaim with alcohol?

What is the source or reason that a l'chaim is often said over a drink of alcohol instead of any other beverage, or over other foods, or even over no food at all?
please remove my account's user avatar
11 votes
4 answers
249 views

How could the brothers drink with Yosef?

Towards the end of parshas Miketz (Bereishit 43:34), it mentions that the brothers drank with Yosef. Considering that as far as the brothers knew, they were surrounded by idol-worshipers, were they ...
user8612's user avatar
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11 votes
4 answers
2k views

Why is kosher wine or grape juice rare alone but less so as an ingredient?

My understanding is that wine or grape juice is s'tam yenam and forbidden if handled by non-Jews without having been cooked. (See, e.g., an explanation on chabad.org.) The practical result of this, ...
msh210's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
4k views

What makes a wine valid for Kiddush?

Where do we draw the line to define what drinks are valid to do Kidush (Shabbat)? Does it matter if it says so on the bottle? I saw that some bottle say "valid for kiddush" or something like this. I ...
Nathan H's user avatar
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10 votes
7 answers
3k views

Drinking Havdalah Wine during the 9 Days

What are the different Minhagim you or other people have with the drinking of the wine at havdala during the "9 Days"? Do you drink it yourself, or do you use Chamar Medinah (a non-wine substitute)? ...
Googler's user avatar
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3 answers
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Making Kiddush with Grape Juice or White Wine

Lechatchila (a priori, by standard Halacha), can you make kiddush with grape juice or white wine? Can you fufill the mitzvah of drinking your 4 cups on Pesach with white wine or grape juice, bedieved ...
Dovid Benizri's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why is alcohol not prohibited?

I came across a post on Mi Yodea about the Torah approach to alcohol and a lot of it seems pretty negative. For example, Brachot 40a - 'grapes cause sorrow to the world', Yoma 76 - wine is called יין ...
user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
3k views

Why extinguish the havdala candle in wine?

My family's custom is that, on motzae Shabas, someone making havdala, after drinking from the cup, pours some of the wine into the saucer (which, note, already had wine, because we overflow the cup on ...
msh210's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
535 views

Can a convert drink wine he previously touched?

If a non-Jew touches uncooked wine it is considered yayin nesech. If that same non-Jew then converts and states categorically that he did not offer the wine as an idolatrous libation when he was a non-...
not-allowed to change my name's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
448 views

Can a woman drink the Kos Shel Bracha?

After saying Birkat HaMazon with a cup of wine, the Shulchan Aruch rules in OC 190:3, that at least a cheekful of wine must be drunk. If this was at a zimmun and the leader of the zimmun does not want ...
Double AA's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
456 views

Borei P'ri or Borei F'ri hagefen?

Have heard a few older mizrahi recordings for qiddush and am noticing that some of them use borei f'ri hagefen. When i looked up Qiddush in my Egyptian siddur (Farhi Siddur) i noticed the Pei had no ...
Aaron's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
581 views

Opinions concerning using other beverages for kiddush and "cups of blessing"

What are the major rabbinic opinions today concerning the suitability of substituting another beverage for wine (or grape juice) for kiddush and other "cups of blessing," e.g., havdalah or Passover ...
Tatpurusha's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
374 views

Is there such a thing as פת מדינה?

In Bereishit, Hashem said to Adam בזעת אפך תאכל לחם This would seem to imply that bread is universal to all people. We also know that bread has a particular definition: it has to be made from one ...
Heshy's user avatar
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9 votes
4 answers
1k views

Rubbing the Havdalah wine

Is there any source for the practice of not only dipping one's fingers into the Havdalah wine that was used to extinguish the fire and rubbing the eyes with it, but also spreading it around onto other ...
Seth J's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
801 views

How can we drink wine after the Afikomen?

Mishna Berura 478:1:2 says that you should not drink anything other than water after the Afikomen in order not to lose the flavor of the Matza. How then can we drink cup 3 and cup 4 of wine after the ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
898 views

What bracha do you make on Martini

The Italian company Martini and Rossi make a bottled drink called "Martini" - it has a good hechsher from Rav Gerlich from Milano and the Israeli Rabbinate. Martini is made from red wine and alcohol - ...
Danny Lieberman's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
596 views

Why is mevushal wine good enough for kiddush, but not good enough for avoda zara?

So the reason why we use mevushal (cooked) wine is that it's seen as a wine inferior and incapable of being offered to an idol (Shulchan Aruch, YD 123). I understand why one can drink mevushal wine in ...
rosenjcb's user avatar
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9 votes
4 answers
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Is whisky matured in a sherry cask Kosher?

Is whisky matured in a sherry cask Kosher? I know there is a Machlokes about this. Who holds what?
Zvi's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
597 views

When does one become considered shomer shaboss?

Clarification : Mr. X is a orthodox religious Jew. Mr. X has a rebellious phase and violates shaboss. Mr. X later starts keeping the rules again. I'm asking in both cases: Case 1: Ten people knew ...
shachna's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
491 views

Alcohol sales despite government monopoly

Many places have government imposed alcohol monopolies and private retailers of alcoholic beverages are forbidden. As alcohol, especially (red) wine, has a central place in Jewish practice and as ...
Adám's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
865 views

Can a secular Jew drink non mevushal wine that he touched?

If a secular (non-observant) Jew touches wine that isn't mevushal does that render it not kosher for him to drink? Nafka Mina: gifting non-mevushal wine to a secular friend.
Ani Yodea's user avatar
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8 votes
6 answers
877 views

If sleeping suffices for "ad d'lo yada", why drink?

The Shulchan Aruch (OC 695:2) writes: One must become drunk on Purim until he doesn't know the difference between "arur Haman" and "baruch Mord'chay". The Rama (ad loc.) adds: But some say that ...
msh210's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
1k views

Is there "stam yeinam" with wine from a monotheistic gentile? (eg Muslim)

Ok so I already know the difference betweem yayin stam (wine touched by gentiles; forbidden rabbinically out of a concern for being yayin nesech) and nesech (wine used for idol worship; forbidden ...
David Feigen's user avatar
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8 votes
1 answer
771 views

Origin of Spilling Wine by 10 Plagues

The custom among all Jews (as far as I know) is to spill a drip of wine for each of the plagues as they are mentioned in a list in the haggadah. This custom is not mentioned anywhere in the Talmud (as ...
Double AA's user avatar
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8 votes
1 answer
111 views

Why don't we detail the wine-libations during Mussaf?

During mussaf, after the verses of the appropriate offering are recited, we add: ומנחתם ונסכיהם כמדובר, שלושה עשרונים לפר ושני עשרונים לאיל ועשרון לכבש ויין כנסכו And the flour offerings and wine ...
Ypnypn's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
345 views

Not Bentching on a Kos when wine is already on the table

According to this answer R' Moshe Feinstein Paskened that, since for many years the practice of Bentching on a Kos (reciting grace after meals over a cup of wine, as formally constructed in the Talmud)...
Seth J's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
939 views

May Jews sell wine to Christians for them to use in their religious ceremonies?

(This question is based on an older one which Rabbi Levi Cash posted a few years ago.) Under Charlemagne in the 8th century and the Carolingian emperors, Jews provided wine for Christian mass. But I ...
unforgettableidSupportsMonica's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
2k views

Blessing over a wine-water mix

Someone I know likes to mix (commercial) grape juice or wine with water or seltzer and drink the result. Of course, the first of those two ingredients normally requires "hagafen" and "al hagefen", ...
msh210's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
223 views

Can a Minor Convert Effect Yayin Nesach?

Per the answer to Are children adopted by Jews Jewish? a child that is adopted by Jewish parents when they reach adulthood (13/12) are given the choice of remaining Jewish. If I know of a child that ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
772 views

Why wine for kiddush?

Why do we use wine (or grape juice - fruit of the vine) when sanctifying Shabbat? How was it first determined that wine was holy and that it is used to satisfy and make holy the coming holiday or ...
Kalman Krause's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
438 views

Orla: are the leaves of the plant included in the prohibition?

I have recently planted a grape vine. The nursery insists that it is at least 1 year old (and the size of the plant suggests no less than 2 years old). It was planted with it's roots entirely ...
Justin Alexander's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
355 views

Would a gentile child that sees/touches wine make it into Yayin Nesech?

Would a gentile child - under the age of 13 (male)/12 (female) - that sees/touches wine make it into Yayin Nesech? Or can only an adult make it into Yayin Nesech?
Gershon Gold's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why is this wine Yayin Nesech?

There is a letter of the Lubavitcher Rebbe where he writes a letter to a person whose brother said that not traveling on a Jewish owned ship is a "hard test" (which the person seemed to have failed). ...
ertert3terte's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
1k views

Using the Coravin Wine Preserver on shabbat

There is a new device called the coravin which allows one to insert a needle into a cork of a wine bottle and the wine flows through the needle by using argon gas (protects quality of wine) and by ...
sam's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
240 views

Is there a problem with crushed grapes?

I'm making my own grape juice with grapes bought from the local supermarket. Every so often I encounter a grape that is partially crushed. Do these crushed grapes present a problem of yayin nesech?
James Read's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
129 views

When to make kiddush at a Seder with no wine?

What is one supposed to do on Seder night if he has no wine (nor chamar medinah if that’s relevant) at all? On a regular Friday night one would make kiddush on bread under these circumstances (...
Joel K's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
1k views

How much of a minimal sized kiddush cup must be consumed?

If someone uses a kiddush cup that is exactly (or close to) the bare minimum (see this question) needed to fulfill the obligation, how much of that cup must he drink? Do the different times one must ...
Menachem's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
122 views

Is there a distinction between משתה and משתה יין?

Throughout the Megillah, the term משתה is consistently used to refer to feasts (ex. 1:3,5,9; 2:18). Rashi on Esther 5:4 writes: אֶל הַמִּשְׁתֶּה. כָּל סְעוּדָה נִקְרֵאת עַל שֵׁם הַיַּיִן שֶׁהוּא ...
DonielF's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
349 views

Does the halacha require that even someone who does not like meat and wine must consume them on Yom Tov?

An often-quoted line, usually preceded by the words "The Sages said", is: "En simchah ella be-bassar ve-yayin -- There is no rejoicing except with meat and wine." I can't find it worded this way in ...
Maurice Mizrahi's user avatar