Working in Vineyards in Israel and Abroad – kilei HaKerem
Hello, I live in the United States, I study winemaking and viticulture at the university here and I have some questions concerning my situation. I hope you can give me the relevant halachic solutions if there are sources on the subject:
1) Am I allowed to work in a winery that makes non-kosher wine (not kosher, meaning just stam yeinam)?
2) Is it permissible to work in the vineyard of such a winery? And what should I be careful of when working in the vineyard?
3) It is customary here in the region to sow between the rows (there are certain areas where cover crops are planted right under the vines themselves) all kinds of seeds such as clover, rye, etc. as nitrogen binders. Am I allowed to actually do the sowing myself? Does kilei hakerem apply to vineyards outside of Israel? Does it apply in a vineyard belonging to a non-Jew? Is it considered kilei hakerem before flowering occurs (usually in the middle of the growing season they mow everything over)?
I would love to receive an answer if the sources are halachic what should I do. Thank you very much.
Answer / Rabbi Yehuda HaLevy Amichay
Greetings.
1. Today, stam yeinam, wine handled by a non-Jew, is forbidden for eating and not for benefit (hana'ah). So, from a halachic perspective, as long as you don't drink the wine, it is not prohibited. That is, you may work in such a winery but abstain from drinking the wine. While there are opinions that forbid buying and trading with such wine (Shulchan Aruch YD 123:1), the Rama (ibid.) is lenient even in the case of actual trade; he was not concerned that one would come to drink or eat it, and therefore as long as the work does not involve tasting the wine, it is possible to be lenient.
2. Regarding working in the vineyard of such a winery, there is no problem. However, kilei hakerem does apply in vineyards outside of Israel. This may be a problem, as I will specify below.
3. Regarding working in a vineyard with kilei hakerem in the Land of Israel. It is forbidden to sow grain, vegetables and legumes in the vineyard. The prohibition and flogging (malkot) applies when wheat and barley are manually sown together in the same place as a grape pip, but Rambam (Kilayim 5:7) wrote that the Torah prohibits sowing vegetables or grain next to the vineyards, and the person who does so disqualifies the vineyard for use and it constitutes a prohibition; however, flogging does not apply in this case. Although the main prohibition here is the sowing, Rambam wrote (5:4) that even in a non-Jews’ field in the Land of Israel it is forbidden to work such fields; not only is sowing forbidden, but even cultivation in a vineyard where there are kilei hakerem in order to “remove the abomination from our land.”
The Tosafot (Kiddushin 39) and Tur (YD 296) maintain that it is permissible to interplant in a vineyard in the Land of Israel with the exception of wheat, barley, and a grape pip planted together. According to their explanation, it would be permissible to work in a vineyard in the Land of Israel that did not sow wheat or barley manually under/in close proximity to a vineyard. However, we follow the Rambam's ruling that there is also a prohibition against planting one species in a vineyard, and therefore there is also a prohibition to work in a Gentile's vineyard (with the exception of uprooting, which is permitted). The prohibition according to Rambam to work for a Gentile in his vineyard stems from the fact that a Gentile's acquisition of land does not expropriate the sanctity of the land and therefore there is a prohibition even due to a Gentile (derabanan).
- Concerning a vineyard abroad: Rambam (5:3) writes that the Sages forbid kilei hakerem abroad. He explains (5:4):
Why did [the Sages] forbid planting mixed species in a vineyard (kilei hakerem) in the Diaspora, but not mixed species in a field (kilei zeraim)? Because [the prohibition against] mixed species in a vineyard is more severe. For if they were to be sown in the Land of Israel, it would be forbidden to benefit from them. Since it is forbidden to benefit from them in the Land of Israel, it is forbidden to sow them in the Diaspora.
We see the prohibition of sowing kilayim in vineyards abroad. The Rambam says this refers only to two species in the vineyard (wheat, barley and a grape pip manually), but it may include even sowing one specie with a grape pip. Indeed, Rambam (8:13) writes:
"But in the Diaspora, it is permitted to sow [other crops] at the side of vines in a vineyard at the outset. In the Diaspora, it was forbidden only to sow two types of vegetables or grain and grape seeds in one handful."
The commentators were divided as to whether it was permissible to sow two species in a planted vineyard or that in a vineyard planted abroad it was permissible to sow only one species and not more (see Chukkot Ha'aretz 8:13:3, published by Torah VeHa'aretz Institute, 5773). Even though it is permitted to sow vegetables in a vineyard abroad, the vegetables are still forbidden to eat, and as Rambam (8:14) goes on to say: "And even though it is permissible to sow on the side of the vineyard outside of the Land of Israel, the same vegetable sown there is forbidden to eat and even outside the Land of Israel."
In other words, it is possible to sow in a vineyard abroad, but the vegetables are forbidden to eat. The question arises whether it is forbidden to eat only two species sown together with a grape pip in a handful in a vineyard, or if even one species sown in the vineyard abroad is also forbidden to eat (even though it was allowed to sow).
According to the Radbaz (8:14), eating abroad was prohibited only when there were two species and a grape pip sown in a handful together, but each one separately was not prohibited abroad at all. This is what the Ramban wrote and the Ritva (Kiddushin 39a) as well as the Ramah (Rabbi Meir Abulafiah רמ"ה), quoted by the Rosh. However, Ramban (Kiddushin, ibid.) writes that it seems from the words of the Rambam that even sowing together wheat and a grape pip together is forbidden to eat.
The Radbaz states that the debate about whether it is permissible to eat what is sown in a vineyard abroad raises the question of whether the sower himself who did not see the harvest is allowed to eat the crops or not.
The Shulchan Aruch and Remah (רמ"א)YD §296:69 write:
And although it is permissible to sow the vegetable on the side of the vineyard abroad, the same vegetable sown may not be eaten. This refers to one who sees it harvested and sold, but when there is a doubt, it is permissible.
Ramah: Note (haga): There are those who say that since it is permissible to sow a vegetable in close proximity to grapevines outside the Land of Israel, it is permissible to eat those vegetable as well (Hagahot Maimoniyot, Hilchot Ma'achalot Assurim 10:9 and Terumat Hadeshen §194). And we need not be concerned except in places where there is a concern that two types of vegetables or two types of grains were sown together with a grape pip by hand (Mordechai 141 Kiddushin). For this reason, it is customary to be lenient with vegetables found sown in vineyards because it is not common that they were sown in a prohibited fashion.
We see here that with regard to kilayim in vineyards abroad, the Remah follows the ruling of the Ramah, Tur and Rash that it is only prohibited to sow two species together with a grape pip in a handful, but one species can be sown and eaten lechatchilah.
If so, it seems that we hold that outside the Land of Israel, we can be lenient and eat one vegetable planted in a vineyard.
Up to this point the discussion was about eating vegetables growing in a vineyard outside the Land of Israel. We saw that the Ramah ruled that the Sages only prohibited sowing wheat, barley, and a grape pip in a handful but were lenient about other things.
In regards to working in a vineyard abroad, the Radbaz wrote (5:5):
And from our Rabbi's words (the Rambam), it seems that even outside the Land of Israel one should not hoe with a Gentile (or without him – MB) in a vine with kilei hakerem because this is a rabbinic prohibition. I am surprised at the Tur that he writes about what applies outside the Land of Israel – why did he not write that it is forbidden to hoe with a Gentile? It is possible that he maintains that the prohibition of deriving benefit is biblical only in the Land of Israel.
It arises from here with regard to working in a vineyard planted with mixed species, if we hold like the opinion that one species in a vineyard is permissible to eat and to plant, it would certainly be permissible to work in such a vineyard. For this reason, since we are lenient with regard to eating it is also possible to be lenient about working abroad in vineyards with kilayim as long it is wasn't sown together. Certainly in the case at hand, where crops sprout on their own, it would be permissible to be lenient and work in such a vineyard abroad.
We will now go through your questions:
- It is permissible to work in a winery that produces stam yeinam as long as you do not drink the wine.
- It is permissible to work in the vineyard of such a winery, but you should be careful of a vineyard sown with kilayim. In the Land of Israel, it is forbidden to work in a vineyard that has kilayim, and even if there is only one species in the vineyard (and even in a Gentile's vineyard), it is forbidden to work in it, and only uprooting is permitted.
- Abroad, it is forbidden to work even in a Gentile's vineyard if there are two types of vegetables or grains sown together with a grape pip in a handful.
However, it is permissible (for Ashkenazim) to work in a vineyard if only one vegetable or grain was sown with a gape pip, or if two spices were sown but after the trees and not at the same time, or if the crops sprouted on their own (thus not being sown in a handful). Under such circumstances, it would be permissible for ashkenzim (but not for sefaradim) to eat the produce.
- In Israel, if you mow prior to the flowering of the vine and the crops sprout on their own, it is possible to be lenient and not prohibit the vineyard. However, it is forbidden to sow even one species in the vineyard.
