- Shalom Rabbi. Thank you so much for the answer on the other post, it really helped. Here are two more places on the site that seem to point in different directions, each with the quotes and links.
1. On https://kashrut.org/project/asian-restaurants-chinese-thai-vietnamese-and-similar/ the guide says table wine or plum wine “May not be kosher unless labeled.” On https://kashrut.org/project/japanese-restaurants-sushi-whats-kosher-and-whats-not/ the guide says table wine or plum wine “Are all fine.” The wine article at https://kashrut.org/project/laws-of-wine-handled-by-non-jews-yayin-stam/ says a sealed store bottle “may be considered permitted” but that if a non jew “opens the bottle, and pours the wine into the glass, then the prohibition of Yayin Stam may apply.” In a non kosher restaurant, is ordinary table wine fine to order, or only when the bottle comes unopened and a Jew pours it?
2. On https://kashrut.org/project/foods-of-a-non-jew/ the article says “Bishul Akum remains fully in effect.” and that pat akum applies to homemade baked goods at a non jew’s home. On https://kashrut.org/bishul-akum-pat-akum-pat-palter/#comment-5477 the answer says people of Spanish and Portuguese ancestry “may be viewed as falling into a category of ספק” and “there is ample basis for leniency.” Does that leniency apply to any non jew of Spanish or Portuguese background, and does it cover both home cooking and home baking?
Thank you Rabbi for all the time and clarity you give.
Shalom, and thank you for pointing these out.
1. Wine: The restaurant guides may need clearer wording. Wine made from grapes that is not mevushal should not be poured by a non-Jew. This includes wine permitted under the explanation in the wine article because of how it is manufactured and bottled without direct handling. That permission does not remove the restrictions on subsequent handling.
Therefore, when relying on that permission in a restaurant, the bottle should arrive unopened, and a Jew should open and pour it. Mevushal wine does not have this restriction. Wine made from plums, berries, or other fruits, without grape wine mixed in, is not subject to these wine-handling restrictions.
2. Spanish and Portuguese background: There is no contradiction here. The article explains the general rules of bishul akum and pat akum; the comment addresses a particular category in which there is a basis for leniency because of the safek discussed there.
My comment referred broadly to people of Spanish and Portuguese ancestry in Europe and South America. It was not limited to people with a documented family tradition of Jewish ancestry. That leniency applies to both home cooking and home baking. It concerns bishul akum and pat akum; the ingredients must still be kosher.