by: Messianic Rabbi Yeshayahu Heiliczer
One of the more controversial effects of the traditional kashrut laws against eating meat with milk (basar b’chalav) is the problem of hard cheese ( Swiss, Cheddar, Colby, Gouda, Muenster, etc.). Most cheeses found in most grocery stores are not certified as kosher. And there are reasons for this. But they are not very simple.
There are a couple of issues surrounding the kashrut of cheese. This has mainly to do with the how hard cheeses are made, which is fundamentally a coagulation process. The stomach lining of calves is used -- actually the mucosa found in the linings -- which, when added to milk (because of an enzyme called "rennin"), hastens coagulation. This obviously brings up the question of whether or not this breaks the rabbinic rule separating all meat and milk.
It seems that originally, the problem that the rabbis had with hard cheese was that it might have been made by a non-Jew. The assumption in the Talmud is that cheeses made by non-Jews would involve the stomach linings of non-kosher animals, rendering the cheese forbidden. Cheese made by Jews, however, or supervised by observant Jews, was deemed permissible because the rennin-coagulant is produced from linings of kosher-slaughtered, permitted animals.
In modern times, the method is slightly different. Instead of using the actual stomach lining to coagulate the milk as was done throughout history, cheese manufacturers can now extract and process the rennin enzyme. The extract containing the rennin enzyme is called "rennet." There are also rennet substitutes which are developed via microbial means, as well as milk-clotting enzymes made from fungi. Today, the term "rennet" applies only to the enzyme derived from the calf stomach linings; the rest is called "microbial rennet." So, rennin is an enzyme produced from the stomach lining of young calves, and rennet is the extract containing the rennin, prepared for commercial use.
So how was it that in Talmudic days, cheese, in which the stomach lining of a calf was used and mixed with milk to make cheese was allowed? Isn't this a violation of the separation of milk and meat? Yes and no. Some authorities said that, indeed, cheese was forbidden to Jews because of the way it is made! Others said no, the use of rennet does not affect the kashrut of cheese, because rennet no longer has the status of food, and instead is considered a "mere secretion" (peershah b'almah). This controversy appears numerous times in Rabbinic literature. Once again, there is disagreement: among the ancient authorities, over whether cheese was indeed permissible or not. In modern times, the disagreement is over whether or not hard cheese requires kashrut supervision or not, and if so, which cheeses require it and which do not. Orthodox authorities generally agree that cheese requires supervision. The Conservative movement holds with the more lenient opinion that all cheese is permissible and no hechsher (kosher certification) is necessary. Their reasons are that when cheese making was a "cottage industry" (no pun intended) there were, justifiably, a great many fears as to control over ingredients. The Conservative movement feels that this is no longer necessary today, because, in the U.S. at least, cheese making is regulated by the "Pure Food and Drug Laws." Also, the rennet used in most hard cheeses, Conservative Rabbinic authorities feel, does not affect the kashrut of the cheeses for the Talmudic reason given ("mere secretion") and also because the mucosa from which the rennet is extracted are thoroughly dried and treated with strong chemicals. This makes the rennet a "davar chadash" (new substance). So, the opinion here is that all cheeses subject to the Pure Food and Drug Act should be considered kosher.
So the question is whether or not an enzyme, extracted from an animal, can be considered meat at all! Kosher hard cheeses (made with vegetable enzyme) are sold in kosher grocery stores, but for many in the Jewish community any cheese is considered kosher despite the enzyme question. This is a controversy which may never be solved, but one to be aware of.
However, the additional problem for the consumer is that which plagues any processed food, no matter how innocuous it seems. With no Orthodox Jewish Authority supervising the manufacture of these cheeses because of the controversy, there is nobody to insure that contamination from non-kosher items (even non-kosher "natural colors") has not occurred. So cheese which would be otherwise kosher (without "the controversy") are not marked, leaving the consumer who wishes to go by the Conservative standard with no product to buy.
So what is the answer? This is undoubtedly one for the "personal conviction" pile, since it does not seem to be able to be judged according to Scripture.
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