The Current Situation: Presently, there is a wave of interest in legalizing marijuana for both medical and recreational purposes. Marijuana has been shown to alleviate pain, anxiety, appetite loss and nausea in patients suffering from a range of diseases including HIV/AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis. Medical marijuana is already legal in nearly half of U.S. states. Three states have even legalized recreational marijuana use. Israel is a world leader in medical marijuana. With more than 11,000 people licensed to receive the medicinal form of the drug, patients in Israel can already buy kosher-certified products. Colorado State Representative Jared Polis and Oregon Representative Earl Blumenauer have introduced two bills on the federal level that would legalize and tax retail cannabis. Polis' federal “Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act” would remove cannabis from the Schedule of Controlled Substances and would leave all regulation rights to the state government. It would not force any states to legalize marijuana, but it would provide the federal regulatory framework for the states that do. Blumenauer's “Marijuana Tax Revenue Act” would impose a federal excise tax on retail cannabis sales, as well as an occupational tax for cannabis businesses. (Cannabis is the name of the plant that we call marijuana.) In Alaska, under a revised version of Senate Bill 30 (House Bill 79), cannabis would no longer be considered a controlled substance. On February 24th, recreational cannabis became officially legal making that state the third to permit recreational use. Connecticut has a medical marijuana program, limited to patients 18 years of age and older. House Bill 5892 would lower the age limit and expand the number of plants allowed for home cultivation. Other states have decreased the fines for trafficking in the sale of marijuana and permitted the medicinal use, but so far are holding the line on recreational use of marijuana.

And, in New York...Some companies plan to start selling legal, edible marijuana products that are certified kosher for medical purposes. The program should be in effect in New York next year if these companies are selected to grow, manufacture and distribute state-approved medical marijuana under the Compassionate Care Act signed last year by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The act lets people with debilitating ailments obtain medical marijuana, but bars them from smoking it. Because of marijuana’s clear medical benefits, and the national interest in medical marijuana, the Orthodox Union, which has rejected kosher certification requests from cigarette and e-cigarette manufacturers on health grounds, “would not have a problem certifying” medical marijuana, Rabbi Elefant said.

Wine Versus Grape Juice

Red wine is preferred for the four cups. If white wine is used and some red wine is available, the red wine should be mixed in to give the white wine a red color, provided the flavor will not be spoiled. The red wine should preferably be poured first and then the white wine added to it to avoid the melacha of dyeing (tz'viah), which is prohibited on Shabbos and Yom Tov. Although mixing colored foods is normally permitted, if the mixture is made purely for the purpose of coloring, this leniency does not apply, according to some poskim. A person should make an effort to drink wine, even if it causes slight discomfort or a headache. However, if, for serious health reasons, a person is unable to drink wine or even grape juice, or if wine and grape juice are not available, a drink which is "chamar medina" may be used. Chamar medina, literally �local beverage,� is a beverage which is drunk not to quench thirst, but rather as a social beverage (e.g. hot tea, coffee, or alcoholic drinks). Water and soda are not chamar medina. The use of milk as a chamar medina is questionable.

What Constitutes �Cooked� Wine?

Uncooked wine is preferable to wine which has been cooked (mevushal), since, halachically, cooking alters the wine's properties. Therefore, for the four cups and for Kiddush on Shabbos and Yom Tov, it is preferable to use uncooked wine. There are two well-known opinions about the temperature at which wine becomes mevushal. According to Harav Moshe Feinstein, zt"l, wine is considered mevushal at 165-175��F. The Tzelemer Rav, zt"l, considered wine to be mevushal at 190��F. This difference of opinion leads to differences in halacha. According to Rav Feinstein, some grape juices are considered cooked because they are pasteurized at about 175�. However, according to the Tzelemer Rav, grape juice is not considered mevushal. Similarly, according to the Tzelemer Rav, some wines that are labeled "mevushal" may indeed not be mevushal, unless the cooking temperature reached 190��F (which is rare). Following the Tzelemer Rav's opinion, wine that has not been cooked to 190�, as well as grape juice, may be used for Kiddush and the arba kosos even by the most stringent. The Tzelemer Rav did not hold that the beverage used for the arba kosos must be intoxicating. (Rav Feinstein did require intoxicating wine for the four cups.) One who follows the opinion of the Tzelemer Rav must be careful concerning nesech with wine which others deem mevushal. (Nesech is the prohibition against a non-Jew or non-observant Jew handling uncooked wine or uncooked grape juice.) An additional consideration is that many food products may contain wine cosplay costumes and most supervising organizations follow the opinion of Harav Feinstein of the lower temperature at which wine is considered mevushal. Therefore, these foods are not permitted for those who follow the opinion of the Tzelemer Rav. Most imported wines are pasteurized; a number of wine companies, including Schapiro's and Carmel, produce only pasteurized wines. Other companies produce both cooked and uncooked wines. Unless it states Mevushal on the wine, consider it not cooked.

The Method of Pasteurizing

A natural red concord can be produced by two methods. One way is to squeeze the grapes and then ferment the juice together with the peels. The red color from the peels will leach into the liquid during fermentation and color the wine red. The other method, which is faster, is to heat the entire grape. The heat releases the skin color, which penetrates into the pulp of the grape. For coloring purposes, the grapes are heated to only 120��F, which according to all opinions is not considered mevushal. There is also an opinion that even if the grapes would be heated to 190��F, the wine produced would still not be considered mevushal. This opinion holds that for wine to be considered mevushal, the wine itself, rather than the grape pulp, has to be cooked. [Editor�s Note: Many halachic authorities feel that even with so-called �cooked wine,� done through pasteurizing today, one should not allow a non-Jew to pour the wine, as the pasteurization process may not fulfill the requirements of cooked wine. (Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zt�l, (Minchos Shlomo 25); Rav Shmuel Halevi Wosner, shlita, (Shevet Halevi 2:51); Rav Yosef Sholom Elyoshov, zt�l, (Nesivos Kashrus 5752, p.13); Dayan Yitzchok Weiss, zt�l (Minchos Yitzchok 7:61). Rav Ovadiah Yosef, zt�l, (Yabiah Omer 8: YD 15) praises those who are strict about this matter.] There are some wines on the market which are produced from wine concentrate. Although the concentrate itself is cooked, it may not be considered mevushal. Because the concentrate is produced under vacuum pressure, the water evaporates at a much lower temperature than under normal cooking conditions. In fact, the wine or juice is heated to only 110-120��F to produce the concentrate.

Water & Sugar Added

Some people follow a stringency of not using any wine that contains added sugar or water. Halachically, if there are less than six parts of water or sugar to one part of wine, the mixture is still considered wine. However, since many producers already add water or sugar to their wines, it is questionable how much more water may be added. In fact, many poskim caution against adding any water at all to commercially produced wine. Juice from freshly pressed grapes contains from 12% to 24% sugar. Grapes grown in New York State tend to have lower sugar levels (16% on average), while grapes from California and Eretz Yisroel tend to have a higher sugar level. New York State law allows wine producers to use up to 34% water and sugar in wines which are produced in the State. Because New York grapes are highly acidic, many producers do make use of the 34% maximum allowed by law. Some wine makers may add sugar even to "naturally sweet" wines. Particularly in New York State, grapes are often harvested before they attain maximum maturity and sweetness. Since the grapes may not be sweet enough to yield the desired alcohol content, sugar is added to compensate. Since the sugar is added not to sweeten the wine, but rather as a fermenting agent, legally, the wine may be labeled �naturally sweet� and halachically it may, according to some poskim, be considered wine without sugar.

Grape Juice

Kedem Grape Juice is made from freshly squeezed grapes. Grape concentrate is sometimes added, when needed, to sweeten the juice. The proportion of concentrate can vary from five to ten percent, depending on the quality of the juice. Their wines, if sweetened, generally contain sugar, not grape concentrate. Kedem Grape Juices come in three categories: 1. Those stating mevushal are accepted as mevushal by the �OU� and the Tzelemer Rav, zt�l. 2. Those stating on the label not mevushal are accepted by all as not mevushal. 3. Those that do not state on the label mevushal or not mevushal A) according to the Tzelemer Rav, zt�l are considered not mevushal B) according to Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt�l and the �OU� are considered mevushal. In addition, all Kedem Sparkling Grape Juices are mevushal. All Kedem Grape Juice that is 32 oz., 64 oz., or 96 oz. bottled in plastic and the 22 oz. and 6.3 oz. juice bottled in glass are mevushal according to all opinions. The Kedem Grape Juice bottled in the 1.5 liter (50.7 oz.) glass bottle is not mevushal according to all opinions. (See Orach Chaim 272;8.). In addition, all Kedem Sparkling Grape Juices are mevushal. Kesser Mendees and Crown Grape Juices have no sugar, water or concentrates added; they are mevushal according to Rav Feinstein, but not according to the Tzelemer Rav.

Manischewitz Wines