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		Chabad.org » Jewish Holidays » Passover » How-To » Questions & Answers » Why is it permitted to drink wine on Passover when it is fermented with yeast?

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Why is it permitted to drink wine on Passover when it is fermented with yeast?

By Dovid Zaklikowski

Question:

Why is it permitted to drink wine on Passover when it is fermented with yeast? Isn't yeast forbidden on Passover?

Answer:

Of the hundreds of species of yeast, the Passover prohibition only applies to yeast which is a product of one of the following five grains: wheat, barley, oat, spelt, or rye. Yeast which is the product of grapes, or its sugars, is not considered chametz (leavened food).

Click here for more about chametz.

Have a Kosher and happy Passover!

Rabbi Dovid Zaklikowski
Chabad.org

10 Comments

	By Dovid Zaklikowski More articles... \|
	Dovid Zaklikowski is the director of Lubavitch Archives and is on the editorial staff of Chabad.org. Dovid and his wife Chana Raizel are the proud parents of four: Motti, Meir, Shaina & Moshe Binyomin.

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Reader Comments
Latest Comments:

Posted: Mar 27, 2009

New Wine

Why not just have the lovely juice of the grape!
Grape juice . This is what we have every Passover. Not fermented, and not a problem to anyone, old or young, or those on medicines. May the Lord Bless your celebration at HIS feast.

Posted By Nancy T'Koy

Posted: Mar 9, 2009

Anonymous

Hey, Anonymous, I am the one who continually invokes science in the religious practice debunking process. You're stealing my show. ;)

Posted By David Shabat, Atlanta, GA

Posted: Feb 15, 2009

I don't understand....

What's this about yeast being the produce of the grains? It is a "plant" life that lives on the surface and extends tendrils into the grains in order to extract the sugars. In no way is it the "product" of the grains as it can exist apart from them. For example, I can take yeast from the surface of a grape and place it on a grain seed. It survives and multiplies with no problem. Also, this works the other way around.
Any home wine maker can tell you that wince can be made with baker's yeast (OK, not the best option and makes a poorer wine than that made with wine yeast but it does work!).
Surely it is the grain that is forbidden, not the yeast growing on the surface.

Posted By Anonymous, London, UK

Posted: May 1, 2008

re:non-chametz yeast baking

Eighteen minutes is the amount of time it takes for a mixture of flour and water only to rise and become chametz. If other ingredients, such as fruit juices, which expedite the rising of the dough, are mixed in, the dough can be become chametz even in less than eighteen minutes. While baking soda may or may not be chametz on its own, since it facilitates the rising of the dough in under eighteen minutes, that resulting dough will be chametz.

Posted By Baruch Davidson, Chabad.org

Posted: Apr 29, 2008

RE: non-chametz yeast baking?

I have a simpler question. What if you use baking soda, flour, and water and bake the bread in under 18 minutes. As far as I know, baking soda is not derived from grain, making it halachically non-chametz.

Posted By Moshe

Posted: Apr 21, 2008

non-chametz yeast baking?

Just hypothetically...

If one was to take mead barm (yeast from the fermenting of honey) made from kosher for passover honey (or wine barm from kosher for passover wine) and kosher for passover wheat and mixed them together and had them baked in under 18 min., would it technically be non chametz since the fermentation and levening was already accomplished by the honey (or the grape) and not the wheat in this instance?

Posted By Kevin Brenner, CT

Posted: Apr 15, 2008

questions for ask the rabbi

I enjoyed your explanations and insights on Pesach rituals,e.g. can I serve roast chicken at seder?...keep up your great work!

Posted By Avi Strimber host of Jewish radio show in Phila., Phila, Pa.

Posted: Dec 6, 2007

Re: Good answer...but...

Wine that is kosher for year round use might not be kosher for Passover, as it is possible that the wine contains minute quantities of chametz ingredients, or was processed on the same equipment as chametz products. To learn more about Passover certification, go to www.chabad.org/1742.

The word "mevushal"--which you will often see on the labels of kosher
wines--is unrelated to Passover. To learn about mevushal wine, see
www.chabad.org/82688.

Posted By Eliezer Posner, Chabad.org "Ask the Rabbi" Team, Brooklyn, NY

Posted: Dec 3, 2007

Good answer... but...

What then, is the difference between wine that is marked 'kosher' and wine marked 'kosher for passover?'

I thought that this had something to do with the word, 'mevushal' (on Manischewitz bottles), but I really don't know.

Posted By Daniel, Bradenton, FL

Posted: Apr 26, 2007

Kosher for Passover Wine

All you have to do is shop for Kosher Wine that says: "Kosher for Passover" on the label.

Posted By Lisa , Providence, RI

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