page_title: Kosher wine
section_title: Role of wine in Jewish holidays and rituals
hierarchical_section_title: Kosher wine / Role of wine in Jewish holidays and rituals
context_page_description: Kosher wine is grape wine produced according to Judaism's religious law, specifically, Jewish dietary laws.
  To be considered kosher, Sabbath-observant Jews must supervise and sometimes handle the entire winemaking process, from the time the grapes are crushed until the wine is bottled and any ingredients used, including finings, must be kosher. Wine that is described as "kosher for Passover" must have been kept free from contact with chametz, examples being grain, bread and dough.
  When kosher wine is produced, marketed and sold commercially, it would normally have a hechsher of a kosher certification agency, or of an authoritative rabbi who is preferably also a posek, or be supervised by a beth din.
  In recent times, there has been an increased demand for kosher wines and a number of wine producing countries now produce a wide variety of sophisticated kosher wines under strict rabbinical supervision, particularly in Israel, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Chile and Australia. Two of the world's largest producers and importers of kosher wines, Kedem and Manischewitz, are both based in the Northeastern United States.
context_section_description: It has been one of history's cruel ironies that the blood libel---accusations against Jews using the blood of murdered non-Jewish children for the making of wine and matzot---became the false pretext for numerous pogroms. And due to the danger, those who live in a place where blood libels occur are halachically exempted from using [kosher] red wine, lest it be seized as "evidence" against them.
  Almost all Jewish holidays, especially the Passover Seder where all present drink four cups of wine, on Purim for the festive meal, and on the Shabbat require obligatory blessings (Kiddush) over filled cups of kosher wine that are then drunk. Grape juice is also suitable on these occasions. If no wine or grape juice is present on Shabbat, the blessing over challah suffices.
  At Jewish marriages, circumcisions, and at Redemption of First-born ceremonies, the obligatory blessing of Borei Pri HaGafen ("Blessed are you O Lord, Who created the fruit of the vine") is almost always recited over kosher wine (or grape juice).
  According to the teachings of the Midrash, the forbidden fruit that Eve ate and which she gave to Adam was the grape from which wine is derived, though others contest this and say that it was in fact a fig. The capacity of wine to cause drunkenness with its consequent loosening of inhibitions is described by the ancient rabbis in Hebrew as nichnas yayin, yatza sod ("wine enters, [and one's personal] secret[s] exit"), similar to the Latin "in vino veritas". Another similarly evocative expression relating to wine is: Ein Simcha Ela BeBasar Veyayin—"There is no joy except through meat and wine".)
caption: Rabbi in a kosher wine shop in New York City, circa 1942
exif: {}