On a previous post you commented that white wine or red wine vinegar is not an issue. Could you please share with me the halachic rationale?
Jacob Levy
1 Comment
Aaron Abadi
on August 7, 2026 at 11:16 am
The concern with a non-Jew handling wine is a rabbinic enactment. Chazal prohibited wine that a non-Jew might have handled because, in earlier times, wine could have been used for idolatrous libations. Since it was impossible to know in each case, they made a general prohibition.
That concern simply does not exist with modern commercial wine vinegar production in Western countries. The wine is transferred through sealed tanks, pumps, hoses, and automated equipment. There is no practical opportunity for a worker to handle or pour the wine while it is still wine.
In addition, wine vinegar is usually only one ingredient in a finished food. It is uncommon for wine vinegar to make up more than one-sixth of the final product.
Finally, virtually all commercial wine vinegar is pasteurized (mevushal). Once wine is mevushal, the rabbinic prohibition on handling by a non-Jew no longer applies.
For those reasons, I permit ordinary commercial wine vinegar and products containing it without requiring a kosher certification.
The concern with a non-Jew handling wine is a rabbinic enactment. Chazal prohibited wine that a non-Jew might have handled because, in earlier times, wine could have been used for idolatrous libations. Since it was impossible to know in each case, they made a general prohibition.
That concern simply does not exist with modern commercial wine vinegar production in Western countries. The wine is transferred through sealed tanks, pumps, hoses, and automated equipment. There is no practical opportunity for a worker to handle or pour the wine while it is still wine.
In addition, wine vinegar is usually only one ingredient in a finished food. It is uncommon for wine vinegar to make up more than one-sixth of the final product.
Finally, virtually all commercial wine vinegar is pasteurized (mevushal). Once wine is mevushal, the rabbinic prohibition on handling by a non-Jew no longer applies.
For those reasons, I permit ordinary commercial wine vinegar and products containing it without requiring a kosher certification.