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In the past,
when milk from cows was more expensive,
adulteration with camel milk or horse milk
was a serious issue; today this is not
considered a practical concern in the USA or
in most western countries.
As such,
most Modern Orthodox rabbis and all
Conservative rabbis hold that FDA
supervision is sufficient for milk and dairy
products to be considered automatically
kosher. However, where it is available, many
Orthodox Jews feel it is incumbent upon them
to eliminate all doubt by using only "Cholov
Yisroel" (חלב ישראל) milk and dairy
products; this label means that the milk has
been under constant rabbinical supervision
from milking to bottling, to make sure that
it is not admixed with the milk of a
non-kosher animal.
Also See:
On
Shavuot it is a customary to eat
Dairy dishes and
Blintz
Cheese:
Cheese is,
of course, considered a dairy product. Hard
cheeses, however, are made from milk and
rennet, an animal product, and the kashrut
of such cheeses is a matter of debate in the
religious Jewish community.
Rennet is the enzyme used to turn milk into
curds and whey; most forms of rennet derive
from the lining of the stomach of an animal.
Kosher rennet may be made from the stomachs
of kosher animals slaughtered in conformance
with the laws of kashrut, or may be made
from vegetable or microbial sources. The
Mishna and Talmud (in Avodah Zarah and
Hullin) state that cheese made with rennet
derived from a non-kosher animal is
non-kosher. Orthodox authorities follow this
ruling, and hold that rennet is a "d'var
ha'ma'amid" (דבר המעמיד), something that
changes the status of the food so much that
any amount makes the food it is added to
non-kosher. Conservative authorities
classify rennet as something that has
changed so much from its original form that
it is a "d'var chadash" (דבר חדש),
"something new", and thus is no longer
un-kosher. In practice Orthodox and some
Conservative Jews eat only cheese made with
kosher rennet, while other Conservative Jews
follow the Conservative ruling and eat any
hard cheese.
No mixing of meat and dairy
Milk
products and meat products may not be eaten
together in the same meal, much less cooked
together. Jewish law thus mandates a set of
'fence' laws that prevent this from
happening; cooking meat and milk together is
prohibited, even if it is not eaten, eating
milk and meat together is prohibited even if
they are not cooked together, and no benefit
can be attained from such activity; for
instance, one cannot even serve meat and
milk together to an animal. Note that in
most current forms of Judaism (but not among
all Karaites, Ethiopian Jews and some
Persian Jewish communities), this even
applies to the flesh of birds, not just
mammals. Most observant Jewish homes
maintain two sets of silverware, cookware,
cups, and dishes. One is for milk (Yiddish
milchig, Hebrew halavi) dishes, and one is
for meat (Yiddish fleishig or fleishedik,
Hebrew basari) dishes. This prevents any
trace of meat or dairy from being
accidentally mixed. (Foods that contain
neither milk nor meat are considered
"neutral" -- Yiddish pareve, modern Hebrew
parve.)
Jewish law considers glass (and some say
Pyrex) to be non-absorbent; thus, one could
use just a single set of glass plates and
dishes. In practice, this is rarely done
amongst Ashkenazi Jews not only because of
the cost, but also because it is held that
it would weaken the traditional system of
kashrut observance. However, it is common
within most religiously observant households
to allow drinking glasses to be used for
both dairy and meat meals, as long as they
are thoroughly washed. Amongst Sephardim,
glass dishes are often used for both milk
and meat — including for hot food. |
