QUESTION: Does Rav Moshe Feinstein’s leniency of chalav stam (milk that is supervised by government inspectors) apply to cheese? Is there such a thing as gevina stam? ANSWER: Shulchan Aruch (YD 115:2) writes that if a nochri makes cheese using herbs, even if one can tell that the cheese was made with herbs and not with rennet, it is considered gevinas Akum. The Rema writes that the general custom is like Shulchan Aruch. He adds that there were places (such as Narbonne) where they had a tradition to be lenient, but if one does not have this tradition it is forbidden to be lenient. In places without a lenient tradition, even if it is known that cheese was made with herbs, the Rema ruled that it is forbidden since a Yisroel did not supervise the cheesemaking.
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