Rabbi Hershel Krinsky, a Rabbinic Coordinator for the OK, responds:
Years ago, those who kept Cholov Yisroel could eat Grade AA butter even without special Cholov Yisroel certification based on the fact that butter can only be made from (cow’s) sweet cream as brought down in Shulchan Oruch. Therefore, Grade AA butter could be eaten even if a Jew did not watch the milking from which the sweet cream was taken.
Today, the USDA allows companies to use up to 5% whey cream in AA butter. As long as the butter passes testing by a USDA grader (a taste test), it may be labeled USDA AA Butter.
This causes a kosher concern because sweet cream (taken off fresh cow’s milk) is considered kosher, but whey cream (a by-product of cheese productions that could be non-kosher due to the addition of some non-kosher ingredients in the cheese making process) is not always kosher.
Those that only eat Cholov Yisroel dairy products may only eat whey cream from a Cholov Yisroel cheese production. Butter with a kosher certification is guaranteed to contain only kosher whey cream, but that whey cream may not be Cholov Yisroel.
Therefore, if one keeps Cholov Yisroel the butter requires Cholov Yisroel certification to make sure that all ingredients are only from Cholov Yisroel sources.
(Courtesy of KosherSpirit.com
This is from the Star K website. If you read through to the bottom they imply that the chance of having whey cream in AA butter is slim to none! Whey cream butter: When dairies separate whole milk, it is separated into two products: skim milk and cream. Butter is made by churning the separated cream into butter. The Shulchan Aruch permits the use of natural, pure butter produced from non supervised milk for cholov yisroel consumption. The halacha maintains that the Rabbinic decree of cholov akum did not include butter. Whey cream can also be churned into butter. Like… Read more »
My grandfather was a student in 770 during the war time. He told me that when he arrived in 770 after a three day train ride he was served butter with his food because the government had rationed a certain amount of butter for the school and given it to them. Do you think that butter was Cholov Yisroel? I don’t.
to #12 Cholov Akum is how the Gemara calls it.
In wine the Gemara differentiates between nesech and stam yenam. those who eat cholov akum-to feel good call it stam, Reb Moishe in his tshuvah calls it “cholov companies”
In Russia, butter was not made with whey cream. It’s a new Shtick of the USDA.
But since you have been unknowingly consuming cholov akum, which is “metamtem halev vhamoach” we understand your confusion.
I heard that in Bronoy Yeshivah under reb nissin they used to serve the regular butter.
CHOLOV AKUM=TREIFOT UNEVELOT
sorry to open up this can of worms but so many times i hear from people commnets about Cholov Yisroel that “ahh reb moshe said cholov stam is fine” so they are big holders of reb moshe but when you say to them ahh you hold so high of reb moshe then i assume you dont use aneiruv b/c reb moshe didnt hold by “modern day” eriuv. these people are happy to use his heterim but dont hold by his machmirim
im just saying ……
I keep hearing BOTH terms – Does anyone know which is the right term and what are the differences between them??
Is the response of the Rebbe to the Shliach printed anywhere? If not, maybe you can have him print it on collive, please.
I hate when people run their mouths despite not knowing or understanding ANY of the issues. The whole point of the article is that butter that is pure milk fat butter is not required to be chalav yisroel. This is a fact and you can ask any of the elter chassidim, they all ate butter in the 50s and 60s. Today, chalav yisroel butter has become the accepted standard and therefore we are stringent however that doesn’t change the metzius which is that kosher butter does not have to be chalav yisroel. The author’s point, which is very interesting, is… Read more »
I remember in the late 50’s early 60’s there was only salty-cholov-yisroel-butter but no cholov-yisroel-sweet-butter, and most frum jews (including some Lubavitch homes) that ate non-cholov-yisroel-sweet-butter, they were considered not to be very makpid, but it was explained to us (who didn’t eat the non-cholov-yisroel-butter) that it was really ok but we still don’t eat it because we are Lubavitchers.
However, in the schools they used to get government donated USDA butter and the same story would happen in school, some would eat it and some wouldn’t.
Amazing how misinformed you are. What do you think the elter chassidim did in Russia? You think their butter was cholov yisroel? Absolutely not. They bought off the locals. Some would provide their own knife to cut a chunk of butter off. Your misinformation is dangerous to society. Stop spreading ignorance.
I heard in the name of Rabbi Zalmen Shimon Dworkin (many years ago) that although by halacha butter was Kosher and did not require Cholov Yisroel supervision, since Cholov Yisroel butter was available, it should be used, so that people would not become confused with (and use R”L) other non Cholov Yisroel products. But he accepted the opinion that it was Kosher.
The answer to your question is at the end of your article- yes it does need to be certified as cholov yisroel, because the kosher whey could be non-cholov yisroel whey, hence the butter becoming non-cholov yisroel
The article explains that these days butter needs a hechsher. But the question still remains: If the butter HAS a reliable hechsher, so there is no chance of whey from non-kosher sources, does it STILL need to be cholov yisroel??? This is VERY NOIGAYA so please respond!!
Rabbi Hershel Krinsky one of the quite kashrus giants who live in crown heights
I love that magazine, its informative and very well put together
thanks for clearing that up. i remember as a kid they said that butter is kosher and does not need to be marked as cholav yisroel…
Even years ago Chabad Lubavitch was makpid to NOT accept the heter for butter. Cholov Akum / Stam was ossur for us PERIOD! In Lubavitch we were (and should sill be) always proud Shulchan Oruch Yidden with impeccable Yiras Shomaim. This is included proudly being machmir on what enters our mouths. Even as the misunderstood heter from Reb Moshe was gaining popularity, it was NEVER EVER accepted in our community. This included NOT eating BUTTER and NOT eating on keilim of that were of cholov akum status. Additionally, the Rebbe pointed many times to the fact that cholov akum is… Read more »