by Rabbi Nachum Scheiner
As people find themselves in various venues throughout the summer, I would like to discuss the halachic status of grape juice made from concentrate. As one can find himself at a Kiddush with such grape juice being used, it is a topic that is important to clarify. Is grape juice made from concentrate halachically acceptable to be used for kiddush every Shabbos?
You definitely won’t need to concentrate too much for this topic, so just sit back and enjoy the discussion about concentrate.
OPINION OF RAV SHLOMO ZALMAN ZT”L – REASONS NOT TO USE CONCENTRATE
There is a big discussion amongst contemporary poskim whether or not it can be used. We will cite some of the reasons mentioned by Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l (Minchas Shlomo 1:4) as to why it should not be used. We all know that the brachah on wine/ grape juice is borei pri hagafen and that they are both suitable for kiddush and other religious functions that require the use of wine (as is mentioned clearly in Baba Basra 97b). Borei pri hagafen is a special brachah that Chazal instituted for wine due to its unique qualities. One of the main qualities of wine is that it is called sheichar, i.e., an intoxicating drink.
The obvious question can be raised in regards to grape juice that is not intoxicating, and therefore we need to understand how this special brachah applies. The basic explanation given is that juice squeezed from grapes has the ability to ferment and become wine and therefore it already gets this special status of wine and the borei pri hagafen is said and can be used for kiddush etc.
However, when grape juice is taken and made into concentrate it can no longer ferment and become wine. Therefore, says Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l, one can argue that this juice no longer retains this special status of being wine, and maybe the brachah should no longer be borei pri hagafen or be used for kiddush etc. Another point that he raises is that, in general, wine can usually be diluted, giving the water added to the initial wine, the status of the wine. However, in the concentrated version, any water added might not attain the wine status, making it just a flavored grape drink and its brachah would no longer be borei pri hagafen and would therefore not be suitable to be used for kiddush and arba kosos. In summary, there is a big question mark as to the brachah on grape juice that was reconstituted from concentrate and is definitely not recommended for use for kiddush and the four kosos. This was the opinion of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l.
REASONS TO ALLOW USE OF CONCENTRATE
Other contemporary poskim suggest that this process does not affect the juice’s elite wine status and the brachah is still borei pri hagafen and will still be suitable for kiddush and the four kosos. One point that is made is as follows. One of the issues mentioned was that grape juice must retain its ability to ferment in order for it to be considered “wine.” The difficulty with that presumption is that if this is the case, then we might be able to raise a similar concern about any grape juice that was cooked or even grape juice that was pasteurized, because that process may also impinge on its ability to ferment.
This definitely has great bearing on much of the grape juice industry, due to the fact that much of the grape juice sold is cooked to make it mevushal, in order to facilitate situations of goyim handling the grape juice. In addition, the pasteurization procedure done on all wines and juices may be considered halachically equal to cooking the wine. Indeed, it is clear that wine that was cooked does retain its elite “wine” status.
This ruling can be found in Shulchan Aruch (O”C 202:11). This would lead one to suggest that even after the juice is cooked, it may still be possible for the fermenting process to take place (one possibility is that external yeast can be brought to facilitate the fermenting); thus its status as wine will not be affected.
Another possible explanation can be that grape juice will always retain its elite status, regardless of its fermenting ability being hindered. The only time it would be necessary to have the fermenting capability would be when it is needed for use on the mizbei’ach, where the Torah clearly requires wine that is intoxicating (Haseich nesech sheichar lashem – Bamidbar 28:7). This is just one of the arguments that are given to sanction the use of grape juice made from concentrate.
In conclusion, there are different opinions as to the halachic status of grape juice from concentrate, and whether it can be used for kiddush and the like.
