As a non-Jew, undergoing the conversion process, I am very careful regarding the Torah, rabbinic, and cultural laws. However, some times it seems to me that some laws are not compatible for converts.
One of these incompatibilities that I have encountered is the kosher wine. In my understanding, if a non-Jew touches an open bottle he/she will render the wine non-kosher.
Apart from all the non-kosher additives, that can be a part of the process, it eludes me why a convert should buy kosher wine, as the wine is not kosher when he/she is drinking it?
Answer
Kosher wine that is Mevushal, "cooked"*, is fine to touch. The underlying issue is that an enactment was put in place in Talmudic times to prevent Yayin Nesech (wine used for idolotrous purposes) and extended also to prevent intermarriage and out-conversion (meaning that, even if you know that the gentile serving you wine is not going to engage in idolatry, it is still prohibited to drink the wine that was touched by them). In a nutshell (very, very simplified), if wine is Mevushal, it is regarded as being of lesser quality, and it is therefore also not regarded as being suitable for Yayin Nesech, thus removing that problem. As a consequence, the restrictions on the wine are lifted all around. (However, it should be noted that there are still restrictions on drinking with gentiles, for those other reasons I already mentioned.) So, as long as you drink wine that is labeled Mevushal, you don't have to worry about making it non-Kosher by opening and then handling the bottle.
*Thanks to a comment from Msh210, readers should be aware that Mevushal wine nowadays is not "cooked"/boiled in the usual sense. It's heated to a high temperature, but not neccesarily to boiling. (You can ask the Kosher certification to determine the temperature they require). See line 131 here: http://www.kosher-wine.com/history.shtml
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