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Kosher for Consumers
Useful articles and interesting information about Keeping Kosher and Kosher Supervision.
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Styrofoam Cups and Aluminum Foil
Over the past several decades the kosher industry has grown considerably. Food companies recognizing the profitability of the kosher market have pursued kosher certification in an effort to increase marketability and sales of their products. What has been especially remarkable is that the pursuit of kosher certification has not stopped with food. It is not unusual to find nowadays a hechsher on non-food items. Are there really any viable kashrus concerns with something that is inedible? This article will focus on three popular household items, aluminum foil and pans, Styrofoam cups, and paper towels.
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We know that in general before kashering a utensil one must make sure that it is an aino ben yomo. This is because otherwise the utensil will reabsorb the ta’am issur that it expelled. Because we say Chanan by sha’ar issurim even lach b’lach (unless there is a hefsed mirubah) all the kashering water will become assur and will reenter the pot.
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Whether it’s the days immediately prior to Pesach, or throughout the yom tov itself, unquestionably, we always find ourselves in a period that encompasses myriads of details. Aside from the many halachos that pertain to cleaning for yom tov and riding oneself of possessing chometz, Pesach is also a time where one directly encounters many standard and unique kashrus sheilos. It is obviously impossible to thoroughly addresses even a few of the kashrus issues that are relevant to this special time. This article will specifically focus on the selection and preparation of maror.
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Pesach is a period full of kashrus related halachos. During this unique time we observe various dietary restrictions, which are part of the holiday’s special “halachic diet”. However, kashrus issues associated with Pesach do not end with havdalah after the last day of yom tov. Chometz sheavar alav hapesach, a term that describes chometz that was possessed or controlled by a Jew during Pesach, is strictly forbidden after yom tov is over. This issue is unfortunately quite relevant, since many food manufacturers, distributors, and retail stores may have either full or partial Jewish ownership. In each of these sectors, unless the party or parties involved are shomrei Torah u’mitzvos, any chometz in their possession may very well be forbidden after Pesach.
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OU Mesorah Conference On Mitzvot Of Eretz Yisrael Both Enlightens And Educates Audience Of Over 300
They came from Randallstown and Baltimore, MD; Edison and Highland Park, NJ; Monsey and Spring Valley, NY. They came from Lakewood, Teaneck, Elizabeth, Passaic and Jersey City, NJ. They came from Allentown, PA, Plainview and New Rochelle, NY and throughout the Metropolitan New York area. Speakers came from Eretz Yisrael via Boston and Stamford, CT. A crowd of over 300 gathered this past Sunday at Lander College for Men in Kew Gardens Hills, NY, for a fascinating eight-hour Harry H. Beren program on the Kedushat Ha’Aretz and Its Mitzvot, that is the mitzvot especially related to the land of Israel. The audience sat mesmerized by one powerful presentation and dynamic shiur after the other.
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Mission Not Impossible: The Kosher Jew in a Non-Kosher Milieu
It is well-known that when Robert A. Heinlein entitled his most famous novel, “Stranger in a Strange Land,” he adopted a phrase from the book of Exodus. Very often, the kosher consumer feels like a stranger in a strange land. Whether it’s an executive in a hotel during a business trip, or a Ba’al Teshuvah in his parents’ home, kosher consumers must sometimes navigate their way in a nonkosher kitchen. The purpose of this presentation is to offer some points of guidance to those faced with such challenges.
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Are All Fromages Created Equal? Waiting Between Cheese and Meat
“You mean that I have to wait SIX HOURS after I eat cheese before I can eat meat??" Well, often yes. The Remo (Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 89:2) states that the minhag is to wait after eating hard cheese before partaking of meat, just as one waits after meat before dairy; this minhag has become accepted practice for Ashkenazim. (See Chochmas Adam 40:13.)
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Nothing Fishy Here! OU Releases ‘The Kosher Fish Primer’ DVD
Nothing Fishy Here! OU Releases 'The Kosher Fish Primer' DVD To Clarify Issues Of What Makes These Creatures Kosher
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OU Kosher Releases Educational DVD Containing 91 Harry H. Beren ASK OU Kashrut Presentations
If you “ASK OU” Kosher about the intricacies of kashrut, you are going to get a very substantial answer, almost 55 hours worth. That became perfectly clear today as the Orthodox Union Kosher Division announced the release of a DVD containing 91 presentations of ASKOU programs --kashrut education seminars presented by OU Kosher and made possible by a grant from the Harry H. Beren Foundation of Lakewood, NJ, in memory of Harry H. Beren z”l. Played end to end, the DVD would provide 25 hours of video and 29 hours of audio presentations.
