Is Light Kedem Grape Juice ok for kiddush?

Light Kedem grape juice has added water which I guess is to dilute the taste a little (hence the name light). Can this grape juice be used for kiddush and havdalah?

Kedem Light is not good for kiddush or havdalah. Grape juice that has added water is not fit for kiddush or havdalah.

I have spoken to the owner of Kedem.

Even their regular grape juice has some water added to it. (Its used for the grape juice concentrate)

It’s ok when you add back the water that was removed when making the concentrate. But if any additional water is added beyond that it is a problem.

@Isaacz I would be interested in hearing what Kedem has to say about this and why they hold its ok.

I actually prefer diluted grape juice over full strength. Does that matter?

Doesn’t matter. All that means is that you like flavored water more than grape juice.

2 Likes

Small note, the Kedem light is not just water and grape juice, they add fake sweetener into it as well. Just an FYI for anyone who assumes they make it light by just diluting it, as I originally thought until I reviewed the ingredients.

@YaacovWolf I prefer diluted also but I don’t use it for kiddush, just if I’m drinking grape juice plain. For kiddush it is full strength all the way.

For some reason, perhaps for halachic purposes (kiddush, etc), Kedem bottles their grape juice at a much higher level of sweet than typical (non-kosher) grape juice. If I recall correctly, Kedem bottles at 26 brix and most other grape juice is around 18 brix. They achieve this with grape juice concentrate.

So with the Kedem Light, it is probably just less concentrate, and less water. There is no way to tell from the label how much grape juice is there vs how much water.

The concept of “hakol holech achar hamaareh” (all goes according to what it looks like) can’t be applied here?

If you don’t have enough grape juice to fill kiddush cup, better to add water or have half a cup?

Kedem light very clearly tastes watered down. That is enough.

Use a smaller cup.

1 Like

As they say in law school you’re fighting the hypo. :wink: but it’s honestly way too often im stuck somewhere with only one size cup. So may i ask again? And really, thanks.

If you have no choice, the minimum that needs to be drunk is 2 ozs. So just make sure to have at least 5.3 ounces (a reviet) in the cup and drink 2 ozs of it

Can you add ice?

To make the grape juice cold, sure. But if its going to water down the taste (ex ice chips or letting it melt), then no.