coke on pesach

Answer

Answered by Aaron Abadi

1) Taste and flavor can cause a product to be prohibitted in situations like Meat & Milk combined, or derivatives of non-kosher animals. This is the calculation of 1/60th that you hear so much about. It is determined by our Rabbis that more than 1/60th is possible to give some flavor, enough to make it not kosher. The severity of the prohibition is the reason why even just a flavor of a non-kosher food is enough to make another Kosher product not permitted. In the case of wine of a non-Jew, the Rabbis reduced the restriction to allow even 1/6th to be permitted, considering that if it is less than 1/6th, the flavor of that wine is not enough to warrant a restriction on that other product. Remember that the wine is only a Rabbinical restriction, a Gezera. In the case of Kitniyot (beans & rice, etc...), the entire prohibittion is only a custom (for Askkenazim), which is even less severe than a Gezera. Therefore the Rabbis say that the only time it is prohibitted when mixed in to a Kosher product is when it is 50% or more. It is also a problem if it is not mixed in, for example if you made a soup, and there was beans in the soup. The beans are not mixed in, but rather sitting there whole on your spoon. A Tuna salad with mayonaise, would be OK, even though the mayo had Kitniyot in it, because it is mixed in. Rice in a roll at a nearby Sushi restaurant is not mixed in, but rice vinegar in a salad dressing would be OK, if less than 50%. The entire issue is really not an issue by coca-cola to begin with, because corn is not Kitniyot. Corn was not available in those areas at those times when the custom was made, and was not part of the equation. The immediate reaction by most of Orthodox Jews upon looking at the Halachah inside and realizing, "Hey! He's right," is to say, "Well, I still feel that we don't need to cut corners. I'd rather be stricter, than not. It's Pesach, and the stricter one can be, the better." They're not the first ones with this opinion. The Talmud explains that Chava (EVE from Adam & Eve) did just that. When the snake came to her and said to eat from the forbidden tree, she said that God said that we cannot "touch" that tree or else we shall die. God never said anything about touch, but rather don't eat from the tree's fruit. The snake pushed her into the tree and showed her that she wouldn't die even though she touched the tree. The rest is history. The Talmud says that we learn from here that anyone who adds to the laws or restrictions is hurting the big picture, Kol Hamosif Gorea, he who adds, actually is subtracting. The Ramba"m says that if someone cannot understand this concept he is certainly a fool. The Ram"a writes this very strongly in his Responsa. Am I trying to force everyone and bully them to follow my opinions by making such a strong case? Not at all. I am presenting to all the laws as they were given by God through Moshe and carried forth by our Rabbis down the generations till today. 2) What is not kosher about brandy? wine? wine is Batel at 1/6th. AA