Wandering around the fascinating spice and gold souks, I came across an upscale store selling chocolate. But this was like no other chocolate store I had ever seen. Most of the gold-covered chocolates were shaped in form of a camel, and the reason for this was that they were made of camel milk!
The Al-Nassma chocolate company uses milk from 3,000 camels at the Camelicious Farm in Umm Nahad, Dubai, which also produces bottles of camel milk and camel ice cream. The camels are milked twice daily, producing 5000 liters of milk. Camel milk is long favored by the Bedouin, and is richer in vitamin C than cow milk, while being lower in fat and lactose.
Camel milk is, of course, as treif as treif can be. But I decided to buy some of the unusual looking chocolate to exhibit at the Biblical Museum of Natural History in our Hall of Kosher Classification, alongside some other highly unusual camel-related items that I purchased on this trip. As I lined up at the counter, the man in front of me said, "Watch out, it's so delicious, you'll get addicted to it!"
Although he spoke to me in English, his heavy accent sounded all too familiar.
"Me'efa atah?" I asked in Ivrit. "Haifa," he replied.
Interestingly, the Bedouin predilection for camel milk explains something in the Torah that I discussed in my book The Camel, The Hare And The Hyrax. Since the Torah specifies that animals must both bring up the cud and possess split hooves, the camel - which lacks hooves entirely - is obviously not kosher. Why, then, does the Torah need to warn us against eating it, along with the hare, hyrax and pig? The Sifra states that the presence of one kosher sign might lead a person to think that it's acceptable to eat them. But Chizkuni explains further that since the local nations eat such things, there is extra reason to spell out that they may not be eaten.
It seems to me that there is no such risk. Although in some ways the UAE is far from a First World country - it's an authoritarian regime with no free press - in other ways it is highly advanced, including having very strict laws on quality control in food and correct labeling.
But there's also another reason. Camels produce much less milk every day than modern dairy cow breeds. In addition, whereas male cattle calves are often killed, every camel must be kept near its young in order to continue producing milk, which means that two animals need to be kept fed. As a result of all this, camel milk is around thirty times more expensive than cow milk. The Gemara (Avoda Zara 34b) explains that there is no concern of non-kosher wine being secretly added to unsupervised imported fish stew in places where wine is more expensive, since there is no financial incentive to do so. The same logic would apply in Dubai - there is simply no incentive for dairy farms to use camel milk instead of cow milk.
However, with the enormous number of Israelis visiting Dubai, it's important for people to be aware that some of the chocolate there is very, very treife!
(Meanwhile, I am kicking myself for not buying a bottle of camel milk, emptying it, and bringing it back for a museum exhibit. So if you happen to be in Dubai, please get one for us!)
Wasn't there an issue of Maaras Ayin going in to buy some?
ReplyDeleteAs far as chalav yisrael, I heard an allegorical story about Saudi Arabia, where R Yisrael Belsky paskened one cannot drink from the milk there due to them producing high levels of other milk. Someone who traveled there supposedly tested the milk and found it to be 20% or so nonkosher.
That psak of Rav Belsky made no sense when it was publicized, and it probably is not true.
DeleteVery cool post!!
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Has the phenomenon of Israelis operating the stores in touristy areas been properly studied? I know first hand that this was the case in Key West, FL and the Chinatown market in San Francisco, and I'm pretty sure the same is true in many other touristy areas. Seems to me its the modern equivalent of the old itinerant Jewish peddler trope. First generation immigration v Second Generation might play a role here too. In any event, interesting post, hope you enjoyed the trip.
ReplyDeleteThis was a customer, not the proprietor.
Delete"As I lined up at the counter, the man in front of me said" - deliciously ambiguous as to whether "the man in front of me" at the counter is facing me (proprietor) or back to me (customer)! And I'm Talmudic, but not so Talmudic that I'm going to sit here parsing the words and making diyukim to support either side! (Unless you start, in which case I will be forced to engage!) Lol, shabbat shalom good shabbos.
Delete"every camel must be kept near its young in order to continue producing milk,"
ReplyDeleteNow I understand the phrase גְּמַלִּים מֵינִיקוֹת וּבְנֵיהֶם שְׁלֹשִׁים from next week's parsha...
Excellent observation
DeleteIndeed, kudos on an excellent point.
DeleteThe Gemara (Avoda Zara 34b) explains that there is no concern of non-kosher wine being secretly added to unsupervised imported fish stew in places where wine is more expensive, since there is no financial incentive to do so.
ReplyDeleteThat may figure into shaatnez nowadays. I remember back in the 1980s-1990s that there was a very high percentage of suits manufactured in Eastern Europe which were found to have shaatnez.
However, it's presently much cheaper to use synthetic fabrics than linen, so it's less likely to have a suit with shaatnez. (In my experience, most clothing stores in Israel say that they check by sampling a shipment, not each suit individually.)
Large deliveries of eggs are spot checked for blood in the same way.
DeleteTreyfot of chickens (and maybe cows) are also checked that way.
DeleteMost commercial eggs are unfertilized, so there isn't a chance of blood anyway.
"having prevented my wife and ME..."
ReplyDeleteoh no the grammar police!
DeleteEven Obama made this mistake at least once...I don't know why this grammatical snafu is so ubiquitous
DeleteIt's an over-correction. Never saw Peter Pan?
DeleteI'll tolerate an occasional I vs me switch if it means people stop putting apostrophe's where they do not belong!!
Delete[yes it was on purpose]
You beat me to it. And how about a colon instead of a comma here? --> "new hottest destination for Israelis, Dubai"
DeleteNon-kosher observant Israelis often make up interesting personal rules- kosher at home, kosher in Israel, kosher on Pesach, etc. An Israeli who eats pork will say that he ate "basar lavan" in Israel but that he ate "chazir" when, say, a tourist in China, even though it's the same exact thing.
ReplyDeleteEh, there are chutz la'aretz Jews who have the custom of "kosher at home" but not when they go out. (Of course, that makes me wonder how good their home standards of kosher are in the first place...) Weirdly enough, a nonreligious Jew asked ME (a clearly observant kippah-wearing getting-out-of-Shabbos-call guy) what the meaning of this custom was! He at least was consistent: he didn't keep kosher anymore. I had to tell him that it didn't make sense to me without bashing other Jews too much...
DeleteIt is being aware of such customs (eating nonkosher out of the home) that makes me sympathetic to opinions like that of Happy, as some of these people went to very "liberal" MO institutions. Of course, one could argue that were it not for the existence of such institutions, those people wouldn't keep anything at all...
https://oukosher.org/halacha-yomis/what-is-meant-by-chalav-stam/
ReplyDelete"The Pri Chadash (YD 115:6) writes that in Amsterdam (where he resided), one may purchase regular milk from the marketplace even though not supervised because non-kosher milk is not available or is very expensive. He explains that there is no absolute Rabbinic requirement to have a mashgiach watch the milking; it is only a means of verifying the milk’s purity. In a city where there is no possibility of adulteration, there is no need for a mashgiach. The Chasam Sofer (YD 107) strongly opposed this approach and maintained that actual supervision is a Rabbinic requirement, but some later poskim, such as the Chazon Ish (YD 41:4), disagreed with the Chasam Sofer and sided with the Pri Chadash."
See more there ( like reb moshe fienstiens opinion vechulu).
YidPoshut
Plenty of horse and pig milk available at the farms around here, and it is not more expensive than cows milk. Presumably the Pri Chodosh is not referring to wgat is available on supermarket shelves.
Delete"The Pri Chadash (YD 115:6) writes that in Amsterdam (where he resided), one may purchase regular milk from the marketplace even though not supervised because non-kosher milk is not available or is very expensive. He explains that there is no absolute Rabbinic requirement to have a mashgiach watch the milking; it is only a means of verifying the milk’s purity . . . later poskim, such as the Chazon Ish (YD 41:4), disagreed with the Chasam Sofer and sided with the Pri Chadash."
Delete"I'll take my halacha with a two spoons of reality, please."
Camels actually have what you would call a hoove, these hooves are encased in pads however - much like giraffe horns are covered in skin.
ReplyDeleteThat is not true.
DeleteIt may not have a scientific hoove like you claim, but it certainly has a Torah classified hoove.
DeleteNo, it doesn't. The Torah says that the camel does NOT have a hoof, split or otherwise.
DeleteRabbi Slifkin is correct. See Rav Saadia Gaon, Rashbam and others.
DeleteThat is a distortion of Torah! The verse actually says "ופרסה לא הפריסה" literally, "it's hoove is not split." It does not say as you suggest - ופרסה איננה
DeleteNo. According to Rashi, ufarsa lo hifrisa means "its foot is not split." According to Rashbam and others, who relate both words to the same root, it means "it does not form a hoof." Nobody says that the camel has a hoof, and if they did, they would be mistaken, because it lacks any kind of hoof.
DeleteTo further elaborate - Rashi uses the Old French word plante, which means the sole of the foot and refers to any kind of foot, not specifically to a hoof. Rashbam and others, on the other hand, interpret parsa to mean a hoof, and thus ufarsa lo hifrisa means that it doesn't have one.
DeleteCamels have two toes on each foot. A hoof that looks like a toenail grows at the front of each toe. Cows, horses, and many other animals walk on their hoofs. But a camel walks on a broad pad that connects its two long toes. This cushion like pad spreads when the camel places its foot on the ground.
ReplyDelete"I felt obligated to point out that the chocolate really is made from camel milk and is non-kosher. He responded indignantly that we don't even know what's in the water that we drink, so we might as well eat camel chocolate too. I must confess that I failed to follow this argument."
ReplyDeleteHis argument sounds to me like 'if there are microscopic "bugs" in the water that we drink, such that we can't even drink from a water fountain, then to hell with the rest of kashrut.' Chumrah culture drives disrespect for halachah.
Camel milk is not kosher. That's no chumrah.
DeleteIt would be so nice to visit the UAE right now. Lakewood is freezing! Enjoy your trip! Avital too.
ReplyDeleteRDNS: Can you please explain why cows and goats can give milk even if their young are not present, but not camels?
ReplyDeleteIn such a corrupt place, how would one know that the camel milk chocolate is from camels, not the cheaper milk, from cows?
ReplyDeleteNachum at Dec.2,22 at 8:55 AM. Many years ago I asked Rabbi Reuven Feinstein about whether having cooked a soft-boiled egg with a "blood drop" whether I had to
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, canal milk isn't "treif" in any way, shape or form.
ReplyDeleteIn order for something to be considered "treif," it needs to have come from a kosher animal that was properly slaughtered and only then to have been deemed a טריפה based upon it's internal examination.
Second of all, the comparison to יין נסך is also not proper, as there is nothing non-kosher about a grape, it's just a judgement that needs to be made about what people are using that grape for and therefore if we need to be worried about mixing.
In this case, the Camel is definitely a non-kosher animal in a place where there is definitely a use for it's milk. This would render the milk at least a מיעוט המצוי.
Furthermore, this isn't like the USA that has the USDA inspecting and making sure that it's only milk from cows - whatever the status of that cow happens to be.
Much like Prince John in Robin Hood: Men in Tights referred to the pig offered to him by Robin Hood as "treife," camel milk can be considered the same. I am sure you are aware that treife is a word which simply means "As Not Kosher As Can Be." You are referring to "t'reifah," which is a specific thing :)
DeleteI feel like you’re a joy at parties
DeleteRabbi Slifkin, my wife and I are having an argument about the proprieteur of the chocolate store. From your description I thought he was a Jewish Israeli. My wife thought he was an Arab Israeli. Did you note which he was?
ReplyDeleteSorry. I was referring to the person on front of me in line,.not the proprietor. And he was Jewish.
DeleteSorry. I was referring to the person on front of me in line,.not the proprietor. And he was Jewish.
Delete"every camel must be kept near its young in order to continue producing milk". Interestingly, in the list of animals that Yaakov presents to Eisav, the milk-producing camels are accompanied by an equal number of young, unlike the females of the other species which are accompanied by a smaller number of (mature) males
ReplyDeleteI do not think one should so easily assume that you can drink "milk" in a place where camel or other non-kosher milk is common. I once asked someone at the OU whether, if you rely on R. Moshe Feinstein's teshuva in the US to drink "chalav ha companies," then what about other countries? He answered, you can in Canada, the EU and Israel. Not in the rest of the Middle East. Both because camel and horse milk are commonly consumed there, and the level of government supervision is much less.
ReplyDelete""Me'efa atah?""
ReplyDelete-that's "Me'efO atah"
Isn't there a chance that camel milk is getting pasteurised in the same facilities as cow milk?
ReplyDelete