By Rabbi Yair Hoffman

It is a story of a dying priest, a Chassidic psychiatrist, and a Vatican ruling shaped by a responsum of Rav Moshe Feinstein zt“l. But embedded within it is a fascinating and consequential halachic dispute regarding bisulfit: Is commercially produced grape juice actually considered halachically valid wine? The answer is a debate between two of the greatest poskim of the twentieth century: Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt“l and Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt“l.

THE STORY

Rabbi Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel Twersky zt“l (1930–2021) was a fascinating figure in the Torah world. A scion of the Chernobyl Chassidic dynasty tracing his lineage back to the Baal Shem Tov himself, he was simultaneously a board-certified psychiatrist who spent twenty years as director of psychiatry at St. Francis Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – a Catholic hospital.

Among his patients was a Catholic priest in the grip of severe alcoholism. The situation was dire: the priest’s addiction had sent him to the intensive care unit, where he spent five days and received his last rites. The very day he emerged from the ICU, he was found drinking mouthwash.

Rabbi Dr. Twersky was direct: “You have no self-control. If you take a drop of alcohol you are going to die from alcoholism. I have to put you on Antabuse, a medicine that makes it impossible to drink alcohol.”

Antabuse (disulfiram) causes a violent physical reaction when even a trace of alcohol enters the bloodstream. This created a serious religious problem: Catholic priests are required to use real wine when celebrating Mass. For this priest, consuming even sacramental wine could be fatal.

Rabbi Twersky posed a question to his patient: “Aren’t your sacraments based on the Jewish Passover Seder? Well, Jewish law, when necessary, permits grape juice to be used instead of wine for the Seder.” He cited the ruling of Rav Moshe Feinstein zt“l in the Igros Moshe permitting grape juice as a substitute for wine.

The priest brought the question to his bishop, and it traveled up the ecclesiastical chain to Rome. The Vatican asked for the Jewish legal reasoning in writing. Rabbi Twersky forwarded the responsum of Rav Moshe Feinstein from the Igros Moshe. The Vatican accepted the reasoning, and a new dispensation was issued: alcoholic priests may use grape juice for the Mass.

The ruling rested on the premise that grape juice carries the halachic status of wine. But does it? That question, it turns out, is far from simple.

In earlier generations, grape juice was simply unfermented grape juice. Its potential to become wine was real and immediate; only the intervention of human beings — by consuming it or preserving it before fermentation — prevented it from becoming wine. Its halachic classification as wine was therefore uncontested.

Today, the situation is fundamentally different. Virtually all commercially produced grape juice contains a fermentation-preventing substance known as bisulfit (potassium metabisulfite), added either in liquid form to the bottle or introduced as a gas during processing. Bisulfit inhibits the yeast that causes fermentation, rendering the grape juice chemically incapable of becoming wine.

This raises a halachic question: if the grape juice cannot ferment- does it still carry the halachic status of wine? Or has it been reduced to the status of a mere fruit juice, over which one recites SheHakol rather than Borei Pri HaGefen?

Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt“l addressed this question directly in Teshuvos v’Hanhagos (Chelek Beis, Siman 243). His ruling was stringent: since the bisulfit prevents the juice from ever reaching fermentation, it has no status of wine. One recites SheHakol over it, and it carries no consideration of wine whatsoever.

The practical consequences of Rav Elyashiv’s ruling are sweeping. Grape juice used for Kiddush on Shabbos or Yom Tov with a SheHakol blessing would not fulfill the mitzvah of Kiddush, which requires wine. The Four Cups at the Seder would be invalid. Affecting Catholics as well, lehavdil, the Vatican’s aforementioned dispensation, rooted in the assumption that grape juice carries wine status, would rest on shaky ground.

Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt“l, however, reached the opposite conclusion in Minchas Shlomo (Siman 4). His ruling was lenient: grape juice retains the status of wine and one recites Borei Pri HaGefen over it, even when it contains bisulfit.

Rav Shlomo Zalman’s reasoning is as follows: At the moment of pressing, when the grape juice first emerged from the fruit, it was entirely capable of fermentation. It possessed the full potential to become wine. The subsequent addition of bisulfit — an external intervention that prevented fermentation from occurring — does not retroactively strip the juice of the wine-status it had already acquired. The juice did not fail to ferment because of some intrinsic deficiency; it was prevented from fermenting by outside action.

Those who wish to avoid the dispute entirely can do so by purchasing grape juice that is certified as not containing bisulfit, or by using wine. Such grape juice does exist, though it is less common. And now, to some other halachos on the same topic.

The Four Cups: What Kind of Wine Should Be Used?

Ideally, the four cups should be filled with actual alcoholic wine. This is the ruling of Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l (cited in his son’s hagaddah – Kol Dodi), who adds that one should make every effort to fulfill the mitzvah in this preferred way (see also Pri Chadosh end of siman 483).

Can the Wine Be Diluted?

If necessary, wine may be diluted with grape juice or water. Rav Heinemann, shlit”a, rules that the final mixture must contain at least 4% alcohol. So, for example, wine with 12% alcohol can be mixed as ⅓ wine and ⅔ grape juice or water, or as ⅓ wine, ⅓ grape juice, and ⅓ water. While the Gemorah allow wine to be diluted as much as one part in six and still keep the bracha of Borei Pri Hagafen (M.B. 204:32 and 272:16), the wine for the four cups should not be diluted that much, since the mixture would barely be alcoholic. The common custom is to mix ⅓ wine with ⅔ grape juice (Hilchos Chag Be’chag, Chag HaPesach, page 422), provided the 4% alcohol level is maintained (Rav Heinemann, shlit”a).

What If Someone Cannot Drink Wine?

A person who cannot drink wine may use grape juice for the four cups. This applies to someone who is sick or elderly, and both the Chebiner Rav and the Brisker Rav followed this practice (see also Mishna Brurah 472:37).

Can Grape Juice Be Diluted?

Grape juice may be diluted with water, but the mixture must remain at least 51% grape juice — meaning no more than 49% water. “Light” grape juice should not be diluted at all

What If Someone Cannot Handle Four Cups?

A person who would become seriously ill or incapacitated from drinking the four cups is not required to do so (see Mishna Brurah 472:35). However, it is worth noting that even someone who finds wine unpleasant or harmful should still try to fulfill the mitzvah if at all possible (SA 472:10).

A Chag Kasher v’sameach! 

The author can be reached at [email protected]