Chalav Stam
Question
First of all let me thank you for this site, its one of my favorite sites. I saw your responses about Chalav Stam that there is no reason to drink cholov yisroel and I was suprised because I grew up drinking chalav yisroel only, so I asked my Rabbi and he told me, that those who drink Chalav Stam might have on whom to rely, but he showed me the Oruch Hashulchan where he writes that if a jew was not standing during the milking even though he is positive that there is no way he could put in not kosher milk its still not permited, the only loophole is that if he is positive he has no unkosher milk then he could sit outside the house and it wil be fine, and does not actuly have to see the milking, but without that it would be prohibited, and the Oruch Hashulchon continues that you should not rely on those who say that a jew does not have to be there if he is positive that no unkosher milk can be mixed. thank you
Answer
Answered by Aaron Abadiyou say, "those who drink Chalav Stam might have on whom to rely, but he showed me the Oruch Hashulchan..." Since the Aruch Hashulchan says an opinion, it is final?! Did he find it in any other Sefer?! Suddenly anything else is just something to rely on?! People like to use the Halachah to prove their actions that they have been doing, rather than to learn it and find out what you are supposed to do. The overwhelming majority of Acharonim don't allow an Eiruv around a public street, yet everyone somehow relies on a Magen Avraham who allows it. Clearly we should be following the Shulchan Aruch and everyone else, especially on a De'Oraita. The justification is that we rely on the Magen Avraham. In the milk situation, there is hardly anyone that agrees with this Aruch Hashulchan, and there is no indication in the Gemara or in almost any of Poskim that it is a Gezera, rather than a Ch'shash. The words of the Shulchan Aruch are clear, where by milk he says ," because we are afraid that he mixed in non-kosher milk..." However, by cheese it says, "cheeses of non-Jews were forbidden by the Rabbis..." You can see it explained just like that in the Yad Efraim on the page of the Shulchan Aruch. If you learned the Gemaras, and Rishonim, and the Shulchan Aruch and major Acharonim, you'll see that there is no Gezera on milk, just on cheese. Once there is no Gezera, any approved method for clarification that there is no non-kosher milk is enough. I'm curious as to your Rabbi quoting the Aruch Hashulchan and expecting that to be the Halachah, and all else to be just "whom to rely." If that is the way Torah works, everything would be prohibitted. I stand by the statement that this Cholov Yisrael movement is ridiculous. And if it was required, more than half your Cholov Yisrael milk is really not watched. The Yeshiva guys that they send have a hard time getting up before the cows finish milking at 4AM. It's hard to get Frum guys to live out in the hicks at a farm, so the quality control is seriously lacking. AA