{"id":51600,"date":"2017-04-25T17:00:53","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T15:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=51600"},"modified":"2017-04-21T20:33:41","modified_gmt":"2017-04-21T18:33:41","slug":"22-05-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=51600","title":{"rendered":"Making The Case For Kosher Wine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Making The Case For Kosher Wine
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Jeff Morgan
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Wines of the Times: [from left] Jodie Morgan, Jeff Morgan and Zoe Morgan at the Covenant Israel winery. \/ Courtesy of Covenant Winery<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In \u201cA Feminist Case Against Kosher Wine,\u201d writer Liya Rechtman has taken an antiquated approach to Judaism while ignoring the rapid change occurring in the Jewish community today. Her advice not to drink kosher wine during Passover or any other time shows a powerful disconnect with what kosher wine truly represents. We can look at any industry or community and dissect its underlying misogyny and sexism. However, Ms. Rechtman\u2019s many errors regarding wine and winemaking, as well as her downright nasty sentiments regarding kashrut will lead her readers to erroneous conclusions.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

What separates kosher wine from non-kosher wine is quite simple: Kosher wine is made with Jewish intent. It is produced with the Jews\u2019 long history and heritage in mind. And that intent is transferred to anyone who wishes to drink the wine.<\/span><\/p>\n

As someone who makes certified kosher wine in both Israel and California, I imagine first and foremost how my wines provide a link from past to present. On a more personal note, I have also found that kosher wine has opened the door to Judaism for me. And I have seen it do as much for others \u2014 both men and women alike.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s kosher wine industry is still very young. It lags behind the far larger non-kosher wine world \u2014 which until recently was very male dominated\u2014on many fronts. But kosher wine is nonetheless catching up quickly to the more egalitarian environment found throughout the general wine world. Ms. Rechtman is wrong in stating that \u201conly Jews are allowed to touch the grapes that go into wine and the vats where wine is fermented.\u201d To the contrary, anyone \u2014 Jew or non-Jew \u2014 can touch the grapes. It\u2019s the grape juice that is sensitive to ritual proscription. Once the grapes start to be processed into wine, yes, there are rules about who can touch it. But these rules are not gender specific.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"JeffJeff Morgan<\/strong> inspecting syrah grapes<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Rechtman also incorrectly writes, \u201cIf a non-Jew even opens a bottle of wine, it will no longer be considered kosher.\u201d The question of who can open a bottle of kosher wine is also up for debate. For many Jews, this is true. And for many it is not. The \u201crules\u201d are fluid, depending on who is judging them. Yet one thing is certain: Gender does not define who can open a bottle of kosher wine.<\/span><\/p>\n

It pained me to read Ms. Rechtman\u2019s comment that \u201cOrthodox women, who follow the same protocols of Shabbat observance, need not apply. Women are simply not kosher enough for the work of picking grapes or fermenting grape juice into wine.\u201d In addition to being false, commentary such as this does all of us the disservice of reinforcing stereotypes. As stated above, anyone \u2014 Jewish, male, female or whomever \u2014 can pick the grapes destined for kosher wine. And while there may be some debate among various rabbis and religious pundits (welcome to being Jewish!), there is really nothing that states a woman cannot make kosher wine.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, I know many women who work in kosher wine production. One of the most famous is Michal Akerman, viticulturist for Tabor Winery in Israel. She is responsible for managing vineyards that produce some of Israel\u2019s best known and best tasting wines. In California, enologist and winemaker Alicia Wilbur works for America\u2019s largest kosher wine producer, Herzog Wine Cellars. She is Orthodox and makes more kosher wine than almost anyone I know of. It\u2019s particularly ironic to see a photograph from one of Dalton Winery\u2019s vineyards in Israel at the top of Ms. Rechtman\u2019s article. Until recently, Naama Sorkin was the long-time winemaker at Dalton. She now manages vineyards for the winery.<\/span><\/p>\n

This list of \u201cwomen in kosher wine\u201d could go on, but I\u2019ll be the first to admit that it\u2019s not long enough. We absolutely do need more women making kosher wine and growing grapes. In Israel I have hired women harvest interns, yet I\u2019m still waiting for one to apply to our California winery, where (by the way) my wife, Jodie, is the CEO.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s sad that Ms. Rechtman gives wide berth to kosher wine because she believes it represents a culture of oppression. Or that she thinks a kosher hechsher represents some kind of commercial conspiracy in the name of Judaism. Alas, she has confused some very real and appropriate questions regarding the practice of Judaism and the politics of Israel with the simple act of making kosher wine. Instead of making false accusations, Ms. Rechtman should have studied her subject more thoroughly. She then might have been able to suggest real ways to make the kosher wine industry more open to women\u2019s participation. By simply calling for a boycott of kosher wine, Ms. Rechtman is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Rechtman shouldn\u2019t denigrate my winemaking efforts \u2014 and those of my colleagues \u2014 with half-truths and a twisted logic that equates our work with whether or not women rabbis can officiate at weddings and funerals in the Jewish State; or whether women are paid less and are less likely to get promoted within Jewish institutions. It\u2019s misguided. And it doesn\u2019t further her otherwise commendable cause.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jeff Morgan<\/strong> is co-owner\/winemaker of Covenant Winery in Berkeley, California, and Tel Aviv.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Making The Case For Kosher Wine Jeff Morgan Wines of the Times: [from left] Jodie Morgan, Jeff Morgan and Zoe Morgan at the Covenant Israel winery. \/ Courtesy of Covenant Winery In \u201cA Feminist Case Against Kosher Wine,\u201d writer Liya Rechtman has taken an antiquated approach to Judaism while ignoring the rapid change occurring in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51600"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51600"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51676,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51600\/revisions\/51676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}