Is Vegetarian Cheese Kosher?

These are the items of non-Jews which are prohibited, and their prohibition is on deriving any benefit from them at all: wine, the vinegar of non-Jews which began as wine, Hadrianic earthenware, and hides that were pierced at the heart. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel says: If [the hole is] round then it is prohibited, but if it is stretched it is allowed. Meat that is entering [a place of] idolatry is allowed, but leaving, it is prohibited, because it is like sacrifices of the dead, according to Rabbi Akiva. Those who are going on an idolatrous pilgrimage, it is prohibited to do business with them, but with those who are coming back, it is permitted.

(6) These are the items of non-Jews that are prohibited, yet their prohibition is not against deriving benefit from them: milk that was milked by a non-Jew without a Jew watching, and [their] bread, and their oil [although] Rabbi and his court permitted [their] oil, and stewed vegetables, and pickled vegetables to which it is their custom to add wine and vinegar, and minced fish, and fish-brine that does not have kilbit [a kind of small fish] floating in it, and the chilaq fish, and a [cut] piece of asafoetida, and seasoned salt, all of these [items of non-Jews] are prohibited yet their prohibition is not against deriving any benefit from them.

(4) The water-skins of non-Jews and their containers which contain a Jew's wine within them, they are prohibited and it is prohibited to derive any benefit from them, according to Rabbi Meir. The Sages say: Their prohibition is not against deriving benefit from them. The grape pits and grape skins of non-Jews are prohibited and it is prohibited to derive any benefit from them, according to Rabbi Meir. The Sages say: If they are moist, they are prohibited, if dry, they are permitted. The fish-brine and Bithynian cheese of non-Jews are prohibited and it is prohibited to derive any benefit from them, according to Rabbi Meir. The Sages say: Their prohibition is not against deriving benefit from them.

(5) Rabbi Yehuda says: Rabbi Ishmael asked Rabbi Yehoshua [a question] as they were walking along the road. He said to him, "What is the cause for the prohibition against the cheese of non-Jews?" He said to him, "Because they curdle it inside the stomach of carrion." He said to him, "But is not [the law regarding] the stomach of a burnt offering more stringent than the stomach of carrion?! And they [the Sages] said: [It was proposed that] a priest with a good disposition may burn [a burnt offering after sucking out the fat from its stomach] while it it still raw [and has not yet been burnt with the offering, which would forbid one form deriving any benefit from it]. And they [the sages] did not agree with him [who proposed this opinion], but they said: One may not derive benefit [from the fats of the stomach], nor is one [who does so] liable for meilah [deriving prohibited benefit from from a sanctified object]." [Implying that one should therefore not be liable for the less stringent case of a stomach of carrion.] He [Rabbi Yehoshua] retracted, and [instead] said, "Because they curdle it in the stomachs of calves that were used for idolatry." And he [Rabbi Ishmael] said, "If so, why is there no prohibition to benefit from it?" He [Rabbi Yehoshua] redirected him to another topic. He said to him, "Ishmael, my brother, how do you read (Shir HaShirim 1): 'For dodechah [Heb. masc: "your love"] is better than wine,' or 'For dodayich [Heb. fem: "your love") is better than wine'? He said to him:, "'For dodayich is better than wine.'" He said to him, "The matter is not so. For its fellow [the following verse] teaches about it: 'For the fragrance of shemaneikha [Heb. masc: "your oils"] is good.'"

GEMARA: The Gemara asks: Concerning milk, with regard to what need we be concerned? Why is the milk prohibited? If it is due to the concern that a gentile might exchange the milk of a kosher animal with the milk of a non-kosher animal, this concern is unfounded, as kosher milk is white whereas non-kosher milk has a green tinge to it, and therefore they are easily distinguishable. And if it is prohibited due to the concern that it might be mixed with non-kosher milk, let the Jew curdle the milk obtained from the gentile, as the Master said: Milk from a kosher animal curdles, but milk from a non-kosher animal does not curdle. The Gemara answers: If one desires to eat it as cheese, indeed, one can simply curdle it, as the milk of non-kosher animals does not curdle. What are we dealing with here? We are dealing with a case where one desires to use the milk in kamkha, also known as kutaḥ, a food item that contains milk. The Gemara raises a difficulty: But in that case, let him take a bit of milk and curdle it, to test whether or not it has been mixed with the milk of a non-kosher animal: If it curdles completely, it is kosher; if some milk is left over, it is not. The Gemara explains: Since there is also whey in kosher milk, which does not curdle, there is no way to establish the halakhic matter with regard to it. Even kosher milk will not curdle completely, and therefore this is not a reliable method to determine the halakhic status of the milk. The Gemara presents an alternative suggestion: And if you wish, say instead that you may even say that the concern applies where he intends to use the milk to make cheese, as there is milk that remains between the crevices of curdled cheese, and therefore there is a concern that drops of non-kosher milk might be mixed with it.

The Gemara asks: What is the reason that Rabbi Yehoshua instructed Rabbi Yishmael not to question him further? Ulla says, and some say Rav Shmuel bar Abba says: The ordinance prohibiting the cheese of gentiles was a new decree, and therefore one does not scrutinize its origins. The Gemara asks: What was, in fact, the reason for the Sages’ decree prohibiting the cheese of gentiles? Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi says that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: It was due to the concern for puncturing, i.e., the concern that a snake might have deposited its venom in the cheese, as gentiles are not assumed to be careful about this. The Gemara comments: But if so, let Rabbi Yehoshua simply say to Rabbi Yishmael: It is prohibited due to the concern for puncturing. Why did he choose to avoid answering? The Gemara explains: Rabbi Yehoshua reasoned in accordance with a statement of Ulla, as Ulla said: When the Sages decreed a decree in the West, Eretz Yisrael, they would not reveal the reason behind it until twelve months of the year had passed, lest there be a person who does not agree with it and will come to treat it with contempt. Rabbi Yirmeya would ridicule [megaddef ] Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi’s explanation that the prohibition was due to the concern for puncturing: If that is so, dry cheese should be permitted, and likewise aged cheese should be permitted, as Rabbi Ḥanina says: With regard to exposure, a dry substance is permitted even if it was originally in the form of an uncovered liquid, because a snake’s venom does not let it dry, i.e., congeal. And an aged liquid is permitted, as a snake’s venom does not let it age, as it causes it to spoil instead. The Gemara presents two alternative reasons for this decree of the Sages. Rabbi Ḥanina says: The cheese is prohibited because it is not possible for it to have been made without containing particles of non-kosher milk. And Shmuel says: The cheese is prohibited because it is curdled with the skin of the stomach of an unslaughtered animal carcass.

(12) The milk of a non-kosher animal will not coagulate and form into cheese like the milk of a kosher animal. If milk of a non-kosher animal were mixed with that of a kosher animal, when it coagulates into cheese, the non-kosher milk with its whey will flow out of the cheese.

(13) It, therefore, is logical that any milk owned by a non-Jew is prohibited, lest they have mixed in the milk of a non-kosher animal. Cheese produced by a non-Jew is permitted, since milk of a non-kosher animal cannot become cheese. However, in the days of the sages, they decreed that cheese produced by a non-Jew be prohibited, lest they coagulate it using the non-kosher stomach lining of animals they slaughter. And if you will say - the stomach-lining is negligible in relation in the amount of milk; should it not be considered nullified? Since it is the very thing which creates the cheese, and if the thing which creates the cheese is prohibited, the whole thing is prohibited, as will be explained.

(14) Cheese which is left to solidify with herbs or fruit juice, e.g., fig syrup, and it is apparent [that these substances were used for] the cheese. There are some of the Geonim who have ruled that it is forbidden, for [our Sages] already decreed that all the cheeses of gentiles are forbidden, whether they caused them to solidify with a forbidden entity or with a permitted entity. This is a decree, [instituted] because they cause them to solidify using forbidden entities.

Rabeinu Tam says that now, there is no simple reason to forbid the cheeses of the Heathens. The reason for the prohibition is because of puncturing [by snakes], as stated by R. Yehoshua ben Levy, and it is established that the Halacha follows R. Yehoshua ben Levy when he disagrees with Rabbi Yochanan, even more so when he disagrees with Shmuel …

And we also do not need to be concerned of the possible mixing of impure milk, as I explained above [Not as Rashi explained it] for the heathens are not so stupid to mix impure milk since it will not congeal. Rather, certainly the reason is only because of puncturing. And we, as there are no snakes in our place, do not need to be concerned about this. And we also should not say that it is something established by a majority and we need another majority in order to permit it, for certainly, when they made the original prohibition, they only included those places where snakes are found, as I will explain later when talking about non-kosher wine.

Also, there are many places where they eat [Heathen cheese] because they are set in flowers, and the sages of Narbonne permitted also them their country because they are set in flowers.

However, in our place, where they are set in a stomach, Rabbi Y. ben Chaim says that there might be a small reason to prohibit them, because they salt the stomachs, and there is a prohibition of meat and milk, because when salted it counts as being hot. And I also saw places where they are set in the stomach which has been salted.

Cheese made by non Jews was forbidden because that they are produced with the dried stomach of an animal that was not correctly slaughtered. And even when the cheese is produced using vegetarian rennet it is forbidden. Rema: And thus is the custom, and it must not be changed, unless you are in a place that has permitted this since earlier times. And if a Jew oversees the production of the cheese and the milking, it is permitted. And thus is the custom that spread in all of our countries. And if a Jew oversaw the making of the cheese, but not the milking, it is permitted after the fact, because there is no concern that perhaps something non-kosher was mixed in after the cheese was made from the milk, because non-kosher milk will not allow the cheese to form, and of course the non-Jew did not mix anything in once he knew it was for making cheese. And in any case, it is forbidden to eat such milk.