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Can I drink a beer or liquor manufactured by a monastery?


By Moshe Goldman

Question:

There are many beers manufactured by monasteries—they are called trappists or abbey ales. Some examples: Chimay, Orval, and Floreffe. I think that Benedictine liquor is also made by or in a monastery. Can I drink a beer or liquor that was made by a monastery? Is it wrong to support such causes?

Answer:

Regarding Benedictine, according to their website, the recipe was originated by a monk, but commercial production is not directed by monks or a monastery. In the 1860s, a relative of the drink's creator found the original recipe and began producing it for commercial purposes.

Nevertheless, you may purchase and enjoy even such drinks that are produced by monasteries. A monastery is not a church, it's a dormitory. The income these beverages generate go towards the monks' living expenses—which poses no problem at all. So from this angle the beers you mention are all okay, just make sure that they are kosher!

Rabbi Moshe Goldman for Chabad.org
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By Moshe Goldman   More articles...  |   RSS Listing of Newest Articles by this Author
Rabbi Moshe Goldman is the Director of Chabad of the Waterloo Region in Waterloo, Ontario. He is also a member of the Chabad.org Ask the Rabbi team.

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Reader Comments
Latest Comments:
Posted: Sep 23, 2010
kosher scotch
is there a list of chabad approved scotch?
Posted By d levine, roslyn, ny

Posted: Jan 20, 2009
To Rebekah
The question here was one of the kosher status of the origins of the beer, not its ingredients.

But it's worth addressing your question as well. According to the Star-K organization, "our research has shown that all the raw ingredients and additives used in Domestic beers, Norwegian beers, and German beers do not present Kashrus concerns. English beers are permitted; stouts require certification. However, specialty beers such as flavored beers, barley wines, European, Asian, and other foreign beers would require kosher certification due to insufficient information regarding these products."
Posted By Rabbi Moshe Goldman

Posted: Jan 19, 2009
kosher beer
isn't all beer kosher?
Posted By Rebekah, Hollywood, Florida, USA

Posted: Oct 6, 2008
a Christian scratches her head...
On the off chance this will be seen, I'll ask: Rabbi, while your distinction is most apt, what is the actual difference whether the monastery was a 'church'? Is there a prohibition against buying something made available by a church, or that benefits it?

I was lucky to grow up in a town with excellent interfaith interactivity. The church and synagogue were neighbors and functioned as such in many ways. I remember xeroxing prayers for them when their copier was broken, and the rabbi helping us after a storm in which we suffered damage. All of that is informal, I know.

But we always chipped in if our friends' temple was doing some sort of fundraising, and our friends did the same when my parish was doing so. I never heard of a caution of the sort described.

Did I miss something? If we acted in ignorance, I am convinced we were enriched in our faith by lending support in this way. What is amiss with Jews and Christians supporting each others' good work?
Posted By Lesley

Posted: Apr 6, 2008
Response to Anon
While you raise some interesting points, the key distinction is that the money you are buying the product with is not supporting Christianity - it is supporting Christians. It would be different if the product was sold directly by the church.
Posted By Rabbi Moshe Goldman

Posted: Apr 6, 2008
beer from a monastery
with all due respect, Rabbi I have to disagree with your definition of a mnaastery. Yes there are dorms in one but the inhabitants are priests and monks who are sometimes contemplative and cloistered but many times, in the case of the Benedictines let's say, they are missionaries. it was monks of the Dominican and Jesuit orders, all "monastic" who were our greatest persecutors. "Herr Luther" also was one, of the Augustinian order. He was ordered out when he committed heresy.
I don't know if this will change your opinion regarding purchasing products that are produced in such places but I just wanted you to be clear that a monastery is not simply a place the faithful go for a period of time or that it is somehow separate from what we see as a church. Every monastery contains a church and some of the most impressive church buildings in Europe are connected with monasteries.
In the non-cloistered orders, the public may worship at such places at least at certain times of the year. I grew up near one in NJ and the public could attend every service.
BTW I grew up as a crypto-Jew but don't know why.
Posted By Anonymous



 


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