If I Purchase Dough from a Non-Jewish Company and Bake it Myself, is it Pas Yisroel?

Yes. The determination whether bread is Pas Yisroel or not is solely based on who baked the bread. If a Yisroel baked the bread it is Pas Yisroel, even if the dough was made by a non-Jew and belongs to a non-Jew. In contrast, there is no mitzvah of hafrashas (separation of) challah from dough that was produced by a non-Jewish bakery. Whether a dough has a chiyuv (obligation) of hafrashas challah, is dependent on who owned the dough when it was formed. If it belonged to a non-Jew, the dough is exempt from hafrashas challah, even if later sold to a Jew. Conversely, if the dough was owned by a Jew at the time it was formed, there is a chiyuv to separate challah, even if the dough was subsequently transferred to a non-Jew.

Why is there a distinction between Pas Yisroel and Challah? Pas Yisroel (literally, Jewish bread) status is attained at the time of baking, because that is when the dough becomes bread. Therefore, Pas Yisroel status is contingent on who performs the baking. On the other hand, the Torah states (Numbers 15:21) that Challah must be separated “mei’arisoseichem”, from your dough. The implication of this verse is that the obligation to separate Challah takes effect when the dough is made, and it applies only to arisoseichem, a dough belonging to a Jew.

See our Pas Yisroel List – 5779 at OUKosher.org for OU certified Pas Yisroel brands and products.

The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.