Cholov Yisroel

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A bottle of cholov yisroel milk

Cholov Yisroel (Hebrew: חלב ישראל) refers to all dairy products, including cheese and non-fat dry milk powder, which have been under the supervision of a Jew.

Under Jewish halachic law, milk is kosher only if it comes from a kosher species of animal (such as cows and sheep) and milk from a non-kosher species (such as horses, pigs, and camels) is forbidden.

In the past it was not uncommon for farmers to mix the milk of their various herds together, unbeknownst to their customers. Since it was conceivable to have a farm selling a mixture of Kosher and non-Kosher milk, Rabbis issued an injunction against the use of milk from a non-Jewish farmer; such milk is referred to as chalav akum. The restriction did not apply if there was supervision of the milking process by a Jew until the milk was sold. The milk itself is automatically kosher (so long as it is 100% from a kosher animal, namely, a cow, sheep, goat, or other kosher mammal) but the Rabbis' decree served to protect people from potential dairy deception.

[edit] In the USA

Nowadays, modern health standards (regulated by health organizations, such as the USDA) are intended to make sure that milk sold in stores labeled as "cows' milk" is 100% cows' milk. Therefore, many prominent Orthodox rabbinical authorities, all basing their subsequent decisions on the ruling of Rav Moshe Feinstein, permit the use of regular cows' milk in the United States^{[citation needed]} when Cholov Yisroel is either not available or priced significantly higher. This is sometimes referred to as cholov stam. On the other hand, many prominent Orthodox Rabbis actually forbid the use of milk that is not cholov yisroel under any circumstance as violation of a rabbinical prohibition^{[citation needed]}. The ruling on OU-certified milk originated for the very young or very old. It was reasoned that if you lived in a remote area, with no real practical way to obtain cholov yisroel milk, and if you needed to consume it for health purposes, then one could reason that OU Dairy milk was okay to drink. Today, many use this ruling as a way to drink non-cholov yisroel milk and use products that are not as well.

Many Jews who wish to strive for a stricter observance of Jewish law only consume dairy products that are supervised by a mashgiach and are certified with the label: "Cholov Yisroel". The retention of the Cholov Yisroel system is also related to the retention of traditions/customs, a central part of Judaism. Kabalistic reasons are also given for being strict concerning cholov yisroel; these are not based on the possibility of mixing non-kosher milk.