Consumer Kosher Articles
Kosher Gardens – Green House Grown High Quality Kosher Certified Vegetables
A great contemporary kosher challenge is ensuring that vegetables are clean of insect infestation. Insects are forbidden according to Torah law and there is a rabbinic requirement to check those vegetables that are commonly found to house insects. Although the FDA has thresholds for insects in produce, kosher requirements are far more rigorous. For example, […]
The Local Bakery
Let us take a close look at the trip these baked goods took from the time the flour was milled until it was brought into the Jewish home. Is it as simple process as one is wont to assume? While many of us bake at home, the neighborhood bakery is a very different type of operation. As we will see, the neighborhood bakery is significantly more complex and has its unique kashrus issues.
Hi-tech Kitchen Appliances: Navigating their use on Shabbos: OU Certifies Plug-in Device by Zman Technologies…
Technology has changed drastically over the last 30 years and with that, its application in home appliances, such as refrigerators. What was once merely a question of indirectly activating a compressor on Shabbos, which many leading poskim permitted, is now considerably more complex. Activating the automatic defrost system, which is controlled by microprocessors and door sensors, can involve […]
A Guide for Mitzvah-Keepers with Housekeepers
Mi-Hu Yehudi? Here’s an Erev Shabbos “mishap” you don’t hear about very often… A rabbi, the scion of a rabbinic dynasty, sees that things are particularly busy in his home one Erev Shabbos and he asks his Hispanic non-Jewish housekeeper if she can perhaps stay into Shabbos. She agrees readily, but on one condition: they […]
OU Kosher Halacha Yomis: Chanukah
Whether to say havdalah or light chanukah candles first on Motzei Shabbos Baking and Cooking While the Chanukah lights are burning Chanukah Gelt What can be used as a menorah? Do guests light their own menorahs? Is there Any Obligation to Make a Seudah (Meal) in Honor of Chanukah? Which Comes First on Motzei Shabbos, Chanukah […]
Can skinless salmon be assumed to be kosher?
Although kosher fish are usually identified only by the presence of scales [1] , the Orthodox Union has a long standing policy of accepting as kosher all reddish-pinkish fillets, even without a piece of skin by which the fillet can be identified. The basis for this policy is that there is no fish [2] that […]
Color Additives and Kashrus
The following article is an overview of colorants used in the food industry. Kashrus considerations for colorants focus not only on the manufacture of colorants themselves but on any ingredients that may be used with colorants to help make them compatible in a given food system. The first part of the article will survey natural […]
Preparing for Sukkot 5777 – Q&A
SUKKAH Q & A Are there any rules as to where a sukkah may or may not be located? The sukkah should not be located in an area that has a bad smell.1 It cannot be placed under a tree or awning. It should preferably be built on a patio, deck or driveway and not on […]
Yom Kippur: A Halachic Guide
The following is meant as a convenient review of Halachos pertaining to Yom Kippur. The Piskei Din for the most part are based purely on the Sugyos, Shulchan Aruch and Rama, and the Mishna Berura, unless stated otherwise. They are based on my understanding of the aforementioned texts through the teachings of my Rebbeim. As […]
Is Your Oven Kosher? – Part III: What Every Kosher Cook Must Know
MICROWAVE OVENS Our discussion up to this point has focused on gas and electric ovens. A microwave oven follows the same general principals, but the application of these rules is different because of the manner in which a microwave oven operates. A microwave oven heats the water molecules (every food has some moisture), and the […]