33
The reason is to exempt it from Value Added Tax.
See the regulation at this www.gov.uk site.
The important bit says:
4.7 Food and drink for religious and sacramental use
The existence of religious laws requiring certain foods to be prepared
in particular ways (for example, kosher or halal) doesn’t affect the
liability of the final product, ...
15
The Gemara (Bava Batra 97b) says:
סוחט אדם אשכול של ענבים ואומר עליו קידוש היום
One can squeeze a cluster of grapes and say Kiddush on it.
The Shulchan Aruch rules this way in OC 272:2
So it seems that letting the juice ferment is not a prerequisite for ritual use.
14
Kosher wine that is Mevushal, "cooked"*, is fine to touch. The underlying issue is that an enactment was put in place in Talmudic times to prevent Yayin Nesech (wine used for idolotrous purposes) and extended also to prevent intermarriage and out-conversion (meaning that, even if you know that the gentile serving you wine is not going to engage in idolatry, ...
13
This holds true for wine that is not mevushal, boiled. If a non-Jew touches an open bottle of mevushal wine, there is no problem. Note, this is not a melacha, that is, an action forbidden on the sabbath, but a separate prohibition related to the laws of kashrut and concerns over idolatry. There is much to be said on the subject (including an explanation of ...
12
Nitei Gavriel Nesuin 2 - 80:21:38 says that the source for saying L'Chaim on wine is Sefer Hapardes L'Rashi, Ravia Brachos 120, Tanya Rabsi 24, Bach Orach Chaim 174. The reason is that since wine brought a curse on the world when Noach drank and cursed Canaan therefore we say L'Chaim when we drink it. He also mentions in the name of the Baal Shem Tov not to ...
12
In regards to your "first" question, the reason that we do not say hagafen before they are processed should really be asked the other way around, which is why do we make hagafen after it is processed, as opposed to any other fruit which does not get a more specialized blessing? The answer is given in Berachos 35b that since wine is סעיד ומשמח, typically ...
12
עוד מנהג ליהודים מארץ ישמעאל
בערב שבת הולכים כלם לבית המרחץ
ובשובם מביאות נשותיהם לפניהם יין ומרבים בשתיה ואחר מביאות התבשיל שהכינו לסעודת הערב אוכלים מבעוד יום עד שתחשך
ואחר באים כולם לבית הכנסת במלבושיהם נקיים ומגוהצים ומתחילים בשירות ותשבחות ומאריכים בתפילת ערבית עד שתי שעות בלילה ובאים לבתיהם ומקדשין אוכלים כזית לחם ומברכים ברכת המזון ואין מתפללים ...
11
Rabbenu Avraham ben HaRambam writes:
If God would forbid everyone to drink wine and alcohol as he forbade non-kosher animals and fowl, not all would be able to comply...such a prohibition would also interfere with the benefit of wine and the occasional need to drink it. And if our Torah would say "Drink but don't become intoxicated," it would not work ...
10
Imrei Baruch says the following answers to your question.
A: Chizkuni - The brothers drank since at that moment there was no Gezaira (decree) yet for Stam Yainom (non-Jewish wine).
B: Medrosh Talpios: They drank out of "Aimas Hamalchus" (fear of the king)
C: He goes on to say that the brothers considered themselves as Bnai Noach and thus together with "...
9
The Baal Hatanya, in his Shulchan Aruch (190:4), states that the cup can be passed to a child. (In footnote כז there it is noted that this is by analogy with various other cases where this may be done, such as havdalah on Motzaei Shabbos of the Nine Days, or a bris on Tisha B'Av.) The reason, he says, is:
לפי שגם על המברך לא חל החיוב כלל שלא חייבוהו אלא ...
9
Your question was asked of the Ohr Somayach "Ask the Rabbi" who answers about three things:
1) Extinguishing the havdalah candle immediately after havdalah
2) Extinguishing it in wine
3) Not blowing out candles in general
On 2, he says,
""Wine spilling like water," says the Talmud, "is a sign of blessing."
In order to start the week off right, we ...
9
A similar question applies to food cooked by a non-Jew who is converting to Judaism--can the convert eat the food or is it prohibited as bishul nokhri? R. Herschel Schachter apparently holds that the convert may eat the food he previously cooked as a non-Jew, for the following reason: There is a question whether the prohibition is based on fear of ...
9
Red is described as preferable, though white is always acceptable if necessary. (Or perhaps even if it's a type of wine you strongly prefer.) During times of the blood libels, white wine was actually recommended for the seder as no one could claim you were hiding blood in your glass.
For regular kiddush, the Gemara says you can use freshly-squeezed grapes. ...
8
Not sure about sources for most of these (although see Madeleine's comment to the related question).
But about the back of the neck, it may be related to the idea that this is the location of the luz bone (specifically, the protrusion where the knot of the head tefillin is placed - Arizal, Likkutei Torah to Judg. 4:5*); it is from this that the body will be ...
8
A primary source would be the מדרש תנחומה in פרשת פקודי at סימן ב
העת שחוקרין העדים על העבירה שאדם עושה, יוצאין הסנהדרין וכל ישראל עמם לרחוב העיר, ומוציאין לשם לאיש שהוא מחוייב סקילה או אחד מארבע מיתות בית דין, ויוצאין שנים מהם או שלשה הגדולים מהם ודורשין לעדים. וכששבין מלחקור, אומר להם, סברי מרנן. והם אומרים, אם לחיים לחיים, ואם למיתה למיתה. אם הוא מחויב ...
8
I will offer a partial answer to the question. Many states have exceptions to the underage drinking law that for religious purposes it is allowed. Many states also have an exception when on private, non alcohol-selling premises, with parental consent. I got this information here: http://drinkingage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=002591.
Although ...
8
The Kof-K list of tevila instructions says that, according to the OU, Star-K and CRC, a corkscrew does not require tevilah because it does not touch the food. The Star-K confirms. And so does R Forst on behalf of OU.
Not clear why it would need to be kashered. The prohibition is on drinking non-kosher wine. If (1) the corkscrew is clean and (2) it was cold ...
8
See e.g. Maimonides Hilkhoth Rotzeach U'Shemirath Hanefesh 11:8
כל המשקין האסורין משום גילוי שנתגלו בין ביום בין בלילה אסורין ואפילו היה בצדן אדם ישן אין אימת ישן על הזוחלין. וכמה ישהו ויאסרו כדי שיצא הרחש מתחת אזן כלי וישתה ויחזור למקומו
When a liquid is forbidden if left uncovered, it is forbidden whether it was left uncovered during the day or during the ...
7
You bring up a much more fundamental question than the other answers have dealt with. If the reason to forbid wine touched by certain people is lest they libated part of it to Avoda Zara, then should the wine be forbidden to the toucher himself if he knows that he did not libate it?
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein deals with this question (Igrot Moshe OC V 37:8) ...
7
I heard the following:
Wine and frankincense were administered to a person condemned to the death penalty Sanhedrin 43a
This is an association between wine and death. So we say when we drink wine, L'chaim "to Life."
7
Wine becomes yayin nesech when it is open and then is handled by a non-Jew or by a Jew who violates Shabbat or participates in avoda zara. "Messianic Judaism" could certainly be considered a form of avoda zara as discussed in other places on this site. So if the person touches an open bottle of wine, that wine would become prohibited.
If the wine is ...
7
This one's fairly clear-cut.
The Talmud says it's prohibited to sell frankincense in small, retail amounts to pagans that they will use in their pagan worship. However you can sell it in bulk as wholesale, and what the retailer does with it is not your concern. I may not enable a non-Jew to worship idols, but I may enable the enabler. (That's indirect ...
7
This is debated by the Gemara (Avodah Zarah 64b). The Rambam rules that it is forbidden to drink the wine of a ger toshav, but it is permitted to derive benefit from it. This is the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch as well, regarding all non-idolatrous gentiles (Yoreh De'ah 124:6).
7
Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayyim 269 rules that if one recites kiddush in a synagogue without a meal following it (where such is the custom) the adult making kiddush should not drink the wine but instead give it to a child to drink.
Mishnah Berurah 269:1 writes that if no child is available, the adult reciting kiddush should make sure to drink a revi'it so that ...
6
From here:
The Gemara states (Avodah Zara 57a) : "Rav Kahana and R. Asi said to Rav: You yourself said that a one day old Nochri makes Yayin Nesech (if he touches wine, even though he has no intention)! Rav: I meant only that one may not drink it, but one may benefit from it." Shmuel disagrees and holds that "only adults make Yayin Nesech, ...
6
To add to Shmuel Brin's answer:
R' Moshe Feinstein rules that a Jew married to a non-Jew is presumed to not observe Shabbos, and R' Moshe implies that such a person would have the presumptive status of a public Shabbos violator. Accordingly, R' Moshe rules that non-mevushal wine such a person touches is forbidden (Igros Moshe YD vol. 2, §132).
R' Yosef ...
6
The Shulchan Aruch in Yoreh Deah 124:8 says that a yisrael mumar traifs up the wine when he touches it, but he's considered trustworthy when he says he's done teshuvah.
6
I've been part of a group that did Hashgacha on a production of grape concentrate for the OU. The grapes are untouched by non-jewish hands from when the are loaded into the crusher until after the juice is boiled.
The run was specifically for Grape Juice Concentrate. The grapes were taken directly from the field to the crusher and were completely processed ...
6
From the Baal Hatanya's Haggadah:
ויכוון, שהכוס הוא סוד המלכות, ושופך מהיין שבתוכו סוד האף והזעם
שבה על ידי כח הבינה לתוך כלי שבור סוד הקליפה שנקראת ארור
One should have in mind that the cup represents sod hamalchut (the secret of sovereignty), and the wine that is being poured into the broken vessel represents the secret of anger and indignation,...
6
The Rosh ,based on the two sevaras given in Avoda Zara for the issur, explains that the issur of yayin nesech is not solely an issue of avoda zara but additionally an issue of mingling with non-Jews (משום בנותיהן). If this is so, he asks, why would mevushal wine be any less likely to cause mingling between jews and non-jews?
He also asks even if one just ...
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