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Monday, December 22, 2008
I had the opportunity to meet Ben Zion Chroman many times in Beijing on Shabbos during the past two years. I always will remember his intense concentration and kavana in his tefillah, especially Shmoneh Esrei. At the Shabbos meals he just loved to sing the Carlebach niggunim. His favorite melody was "Kol haolam kulo gesher tzar me’od, ve-haikar lo lefached kla," meaning "This world is just but a narrow bridge and there is nothing to fear." He would start singing in a very low melodious voice, which would get louder and stronger as he repeated those words with such emotion from the depth of his neshama, getting all present at the table to join in with him.
It was apparent to me that he loved all Jews even though he was a Bobover chassid with a streimel. Rabbi Teitelbaum, who used to sit opposite him at the Shabbos table, would be enthralled by his chaver’s sweet voice and join in as well with all the niggunim. It so happens that I grew up in Far Rockaway, NY, where I davened in Kehilas Yaakov by the Sulitzer Rebbi, the grandfather of Rabbi Teitlebaum, and where my parents still daven. I am sure that both kedoshim gave their lives while singing "ve-ha-ikar lo le-fached kla.”
Hashem yinakem damam…
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
OU Direct, the six-part website which OU Certified companies use to manage their accounts, became even more direct today with the enhancement of Online Ingredient Automation. This newest feature will enable companies to easily manage their Schedule A’s and add ingredients via the web – avoiding the paperwork that registering these ingredients used to entail.
Companies will be notified by e-mail within six business hours if their applications have been accepted or if further review is necessary. The ingredients are then available for view and printing on the company’s Schedule A (ingredient listing per plant).
The website, http://www.oudirect.org, includes each company’s Schedules A and B (Schedule B lists a company’s products); Letters of Certification (LOC) affirming that a product is certified kosher by the OU; a financial overview of the company’s account; applications for new plants, products and ingredients; variations of the famed OU symbol for use on labels; and the OU’s Universal Kosher Database (UKD), which contains a record of tens of thousands of products that are certified by the OU and participating kosher certifying agencies.
Now, with the development of the Online Ingredient Application, OU Direct has advanced even further in its state of the art capabilities.
“OU Direct has been extremely well received by our certified companies,” declared Rabbi Moshe Elefant, Chief Operating Officer of OU Kosher, who has played a major role in the development of OU Direct. “In our constant aim to better service our clients and to enhance our kosher certification programs, this new attractive feature on OU Direct will make those goals even more achievable.”
The operation of the Online Ingredient Application is very easy and provides the following benefits:
•Using very simple screens, the company applies for ingredients;
•Clients can select from thousands of OU approved ingredients on the Universal Kosher Database. The UKD contains close to 340,000 approved ingredients with more being added all the time. All products found on the UKD have been approved for use by the OU.
•Clients with multiple plants may view and select approved ingredients from their current Schedule A’s and attach them to their other facilities.
• Clients may apply for new ingredients by using a simple web form.
•Ability to upload attachments in various formats
Each ingredient is processed based on a series of validations and is either approved for use or referred to the OU Kosher rabbinic coordinator assigned to the company for further review. Companies will be notified via e-mail on the status of each ingredient. Newly applied-for ingredients will appear on the Schedule A within six business hours. The updated Schedule A can then be viewed on OU Direct.
The OU Direct Help Desk is available by phone or e-mail for any questions regarding the website. In addition, a Help Manual with instructions on how to utilize and take full advantage of the OU Direct website is available online.
The new feature is now up and running and available for use by the thousands of satisfied OU certified companies.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The ASK OUTREACH program, which was specifically designed to put OU Kosher in contact with communities in the Torah world not part of its usual constituency, reached out in a most significant way last week, conducting a two-part hands-on session in kosherization for the Satmar Yoreh Deah Kollel of Kiryas Joel, NY.
ASK OUTREACH is made possible by funding from the Harry H. Beren Foundation of Lakewood, NJ.
Under the direction of Rabbi Yosef Grossman, OU Director of Kashrut Education, and with Rabbi Moshe Perlmutter of Passaic, NJ providing the training, OU Kosher went to the Satmar Talmud Torah’s kitchen – capable of serving 10,000 meals daily -- to illustrate foodservice kashering, performed in large kitchens such as those found in schools, hotels and catering establishments. The next day Rabbi Perlmutter demonstrated industrial kashering, performed in plants and factories, at Oasis Food Company in Hillside, N.J., manufacturers of margarine and other condiments.
Some 20 members of the kollel, what Rabbi Grossman called “a very learned group,” participated. According to Rabbi Grossman, the group could have been as large as 100, based on interest in the community, if there had been space to accommodate them.
Outreach to Satmar follows similar approaches to Chabad Lubavitch, Belz, Bobov, Vichnitz and Skver Chasidim, among other groups. “It was only a matter of time before we got to Satmar,” Rabbi Grossman said. “We were approached to demonstrate kashering. Rabbi Perlmutter has great expertise in this area.”
In its study of Jewish law, the Satmar kollel seeks out practical applications of everything kollel members study, thus leading to the request to the OU.
“It is clear,” declared Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of OU Kosher, “that in the Torah world, we have much more in common than what sets us apart. The range of communities that have availed themselves of ASK OUTREACH is living proof that the OU’s expertise spans the Jewish world, and that respect for our knowledge and its practical applications is a unifying force in the observant community.”
Back in Kiryas Joel, the session in the Satmar kitchen, focusing on ovens, pots, kettles and other items, emphasized how to make a treif vessel kosher; as Rabbi Grossman pointed out, everything in the Satmar kitchen was kosher, but the techniques could still be demonstrated.
“We received a very warm reception at Kiryas Joel and were made to feel right at home,” Rabbi Grossman said. He was pleased to see the OU symbol on food items in the Satmar kitchen.
“We were very pleased to reach out to Satmar in our ongoing efforts to develop relationships with all segments of the Torah world who would like to benefit from our services,” Rabbi Grossman said. “We hope this approach to the Satmar community will be ongoing in future areas of mutual benefit.”
Rabbi Perlmutter agreed. He noted that in kosherizing seminars he gives for the OU, this was “the only time it was totally Satmar and on their home turf, in their kitchen, with their own mashgiach participating.”
Summing up their knowledge of kosher law as “phenomenal,” he said, “We both learned a lot from each other.”
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