![]() ![]() Rabbi Elchonon and Chana Tenenbaum up in the Napa Valley have been making wine since 2007. Hilel is not the only Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in California to discover the joys and rewards of making wine, and he enjoys comparing notes with them. Hilel with Josh Klapper, who runs the La Fenêtre vineyards in nearby Arroyo Grande. “We put our wine in the barrel, say our prayers, and trust in G‑d!” The wine came out excellent, acknowledges Klapper. Klapper was anxious that no one would be touching the wine for so many days. Last fall, in the middle of the busy harvest season, all the Jewish holidays fell out on Thursday and Friday, meaning that with Shabbat observance, there were several crucial times in the production process when for three consecutive days, Hilel could not be involved. Winemaking also has given Hilel the opportunity to share his trust in G‑d with people in the industry, such as Klapper, famous for his pinot noir wine and very involved in every aspect of its production. Their shared interest led to a wine-tasting session for faculty and the opportunity for the rabbi to teach a class for seniors (over age 21) on kosher wine. But he got an unexpected surprise when a philosophy and religion professor invited him to do a presentation on Judaism, and over coffee afterwards, informed Hilel that he had written a book on wine and religion. He has helped Jewish people who work in the winery to do mitzvahs such as wrapping tefillin, and shaking a lulav and etrog during the Sukkot holiday.Įager to penetrate the academic scene at Cal Poly and reach as many of its estimated 1,000 Jewish students as possible, Hilel never imagined that being a winemaker would open that door for him. Hilel has found that his status as a kosher winemaker also has helped him forge relationships with people he otherwise would not have met. ![]() People have been eager to try the new kosher wine and lend support to Chabad of San Luis Obispo. “When we say ‘ mashiv haruach’ or ‘ morid hageshem’, you realize how dependent we are on His blessings for rain, for sun, and how every turn in nature affects the sugar content of the grapes, and ultimately, the quality of the wine.” ![]() “Winemaking brought me closer to the Torah’s cycle of seasons in a way I never considered before,” Hilel told. The decision to immerse himself into winemaking, he says, has had far-reaching material and spiritual benefits for himself and others. People were eager to try the new kosher wine and to lend support to Chabad of San Luis Obispo at the same time. The $30 bottles sold for an opening price of $23 within a short time, the run was sold out. That first year, they bought a ton of grapes (yes, literally, a ton), which resulted in three barrels, or 75 cases of merlot (900 bottles). Once it’s in a sealed bottle, it can be handled by anyone. His work continues for months throughout the process: pumping the grapes out to give them oxygen pressing the grapes transferring them to kashered barrels sealing the barrels topping off the barrels tasting and adjusting the wine and finally, the last step, bottling the wine. Twice a day for several weeks, Hilel goes to the winery to punch down the grapes with a metal implement to keep them submerged in liquid. Kosher From Start to Finishįor wine to be considered kosher, the entire wine-making process must be handled or supervised by a Shabbat-observant Jew, from the time the grapes are crushed until the beverage is bottled. The grape mixture is then considered wine, and from this moment until bottling, it must still only be handled by a Shabbat-observant person. Once the grapes come in, Hilel must mount a forklift, lift the grapes 15 feet into the air and dump them into the machine to begin the fermentation process. His responsibilities then and with each new run call for ensuring that the machinery at the winery is kashered (purged from non-kosher residue) before delivery of the grapes from the vineyard. As the only Shabbat-observant man in town, Hilel was the man for the job, but it left him having to devote more time than expected to the project on an almost daily basis. For wine to be considered kosher, the entire wine-making process must be handled or supervised by a Shabbat-observant Jew, from the time the grapes are crushed until the wine is bottled, and all ingredients must be kosher. ![]() The first wine Hilel worked on was a run of kosher merlot. He was referring to the Klappers, of course, and not believing in coincidence, Hilel decided to help. Mevushal: Kosher Wine and Grape Productsīut soon after the request, he traveled to New York and ran into a cousin who mentioned that he had recently met a man on Long Island whose son was a winemaker in Hilel’s area, and was looking for a rabbi to help him. ![]()
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