When Is Chalav Akum Allowed?
‘Milked By A Gentile’
(Avodah Zarah 39b)
The sugya explains that Chazal forbade milk milked by a gentile (chalav akum), unsupervised, fearing that the gentile might have mixed it with milk from a non-kosher animal, unless a Jew was present during the milking.
An interesting documented historical footnote dating back to the 1800s is that of the widespread use of horse’s milk in the western U.S. The horse, of course, is a non-kosher animal.
Is Chalav Akum Forbidden In All Instances?
Clarification must be made as to whether the decree pertains to all milk milked by gentiles, or only where there is a real suspicion that milk of a non-kosher animal was mixed in. This is pertinent regarding gentiles whose herds contain only kosher animals.
The Rishonim and Poskim (see Radbaz 4:1147 and Responsa Chasam Sofer, Yoreh Deah 107) had different opinions. According to the Chasam Sofer, Chazal imposed their decree even if there is no non-kosher animal in the whole region, but the Chazon Ish asserts that such milk is regarded as having been milked in a Jew’s presence as it is obvious that no non-kosher animal was involved (see Chazon Ish, Y.D. 41, s.k. 4). The Chasam Sofer resided in Europe where non-kosher animals were common, while the Chazon Ish lived in Eretz Yisrael, where non-kosher animals are rare.
Chalav Akum Milk Powder During Wartime
According to the lenient opinion, there is no prohibition to consume chalav akum as long as there is no suspicion that it was mixed with non-kosher milk. This conclusion is also pertinent to our time, as the government controls milk marketing and imposes heavy fines for mixing in anything but cow’s milk. Anyone defying the regulation risks a fine and loss of marketing and health licenses.
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (Responsa Iggros Moshe, Yoreh Deah 1:47) ruled that Chazal did not impose their decree in such a situation, though he asserted that he was not lenient for himself and that a conscientious person would behave strictly (see the article by Rabbi Y. Efrati in Binesiv HeChalav).
Apropos, the Steipler Gaon attested that his brother-in-law, the Chazon Ish, permitted milk powder made from chalav akum during wartime, when milk was scarce, only for weak yeshiva students (Karyana D’igarta II, Letter 123).
Chalav Stam
In practice, the Orthodox communities of Europe and Eretz Yisrael behave strictly while those in the United States tend to be lenient, according to Rabbi Feinstein (Rav Efrati, ibid.). In fact, the OU, the Kof-K, and other major kashrus agencies that supervise the production of milk in the U.S. and Canada rely on the leniency, as they refer to such government-regulated milk as chalav stam.
Foreign Workers
In Eretz Yisrael, most farms are owned by Jews, though the milking is done by foreign gentile workers. The workers are not afraid of a fine, as it would be imposed only on the owners. In such case, we rely on the halacha that if the milking is performed on the Jew’s premises, the gentile is reluctant to mix in non-kosher milk, as he is afraid that the Jew, who is surely G-d-fearing and scrupulous, might catch him in the act.
Is Fear Of Fear Considered Fear Enough?
The variable is the sad reality that not all farmers in Eretz Yisrael are tzaddikim. The gentile fears the farmer, who does not fear the halacha but rather the government. Did Chazal allow chalav akum in such circumstances? According to Rabbi Yosef Sholom Elyashiv, the mashgiach does not have to be present during the whole milking process. It suffices if he visits the site from time to time without prior notice.
The fear of the mashgiach, together with fear of the one who milks and the farmer’s apprehensions, create a perfect combination for the consumer who cares about the strict halacha.
Another reason to ignore the suspicion that non-kosher milk might be mixed with kosher milk is that non-kosher milk is now much more costly than kosher milk (Binesiv HaChalav, p. 40). Contemporary poskim assert that where the ones milking are Jews, supervision should be performed once a month, and where they are gentiles, five times a month during the milking (Binesiv HeChalav, p. 105).
