Chalav Yisrael

Chalav Yisrael

A package of chalav Yisrael–certified cheese
Halakhic texts relating to this article
Mishnah:	Avodah Zarah chapter 2, Mishnah 6
Babylonian Talmud:	Avodah Zarah 35b, 39b
Shulchan Aruch:	Yoreh De'ah 115:1

Chalav Yisrael (Hebrew: חֲלֵב יִשְׂרָאֵל‎), also pronounced cholov Yisroel, refers to kosher milk whose milking was observed by an observant Jew. The halakha of chalav Yisrael, which originates in the Mishnah and Talmud, was instituted to ensure that no non-Jew would mix milk of a non-kosher animal with the kosher milk. Today, many kosher-keeping Jews rely on the ruling of Rav Moshe Feinstein, who argues that since countries such as the United States have strict laws against mixing milks, it can be assumed that the milk is kosher.