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Monday, July 14, 2008
Rabbi Yosef Levy’s official job is as a Rabbinic Field Representative (RFR) in Kentucky and Indiana for the Orthodox Union, in which he certifies food plants as kosher, but in his spare time he uses that position for another, altruistic pursuit: playing matchmaker between the OU-certified companies he supervises and Louisville’s Jewish Family and Vocational Service’s (JFVS) Food Pantry.
Rabbinic Field Representatives are OU Kosher personnel who are proficient in the intricacies of Jewish law, modern food production and chemical and biological processes; there are nearly 500 such representatives worldwide for the OU.
Rabbi Levy declared, “I believe that the Baal Shem Tov, the 18th century founder of Hasidic Judaism, was right when he stated that a soul comes down to this world for 70 or 80 years just to do a favor for humanity. Those are the words I try to live by.”
In accordance with that belief, Rabbi Levy realized a few years ago that the surplus of foods from various companies he supervises could be used for a worthy cause. He said, “I knew about the food pantry of the JFVS, as it frequently places ads appealing for help in The Community, a local paper in Louisville published by the Jewish Community Federation. I write a weekly D’var Torah (commentary on the weekly Torah portion) for the same paper, and so that’s how my matchmaking scheme began.”
The Louisville JFVS coordinates a wide variety of charitable programs, one of them being the Sonny and Janet Meyer Family Food Pantry, which provides food for community residents in need. Some of the OU-certified companies, based in Kentucky, that have donated food in response to Rabbi Levy’s efforts are: Flowers Bakery of London; Kellogg’s Snacks; Morgan Foods; Preston Farms; and The Carriage House.
Rabbi Levy said that while some of the companies produce non-kosher products in addition to kosher, OU-certified ones, he only accepts donations of kosher food parcels. “This way, even though both Jews and non-Jews receive items from the food pantry, I can be assured that only kosher food is going to those who are Jews.”
Shelley Kahn, Volunteer Coordinator at JFVS, wrote in appreciation to Rabbi Levy. “I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you and the Orthodox Union for your continued support for the Jewish Family & Vocational Services Sonny and Janet Meyer Family food pantry for these past several years. The generosity of your contacts and manufacturers have been overwhelming, thoughtful and appreciated. Your donations have allowed us to continue to provide hundreds of pounds of food to those families in need in the Louisville Jewish and non-Jewish community. By quietly soliciting food and by keeping our pantry full, you have helped to sustain a viable program that touches the lives of hundreds of people.”
Ms. Kahn concluded, “Know that your actions are making a huge difference in the lives of so many. You are a treasured member of this community, and we sincerely appreciate all of your time and efforts on behalf of our clients.”
Friday, June 20, 2008
Kosher pizza, anyone? Those who keep the laws of kemach yashan must check whether their favorite pizza stores certify that the wheat used to bake the pizza is kemach yashan, the Torah law that states that only grains (barley, oats, rye, spelt and wheat) that took root prior to Passover may be consumed in the current year. Jewish law mandates its observance in Israel, while allowing for leniencies outside of Israel. Nonetheless, there are people who observe this law even outside of Israel, and they are facing problems.
The Orthodox Union’s Kashrut Department recently hosted a symposium on kemach yashan. Due to a wheat shortage in the United States this past year, the OU invited several distributors and companies, representatives from different kashrut agencies, and yashan experts to discuss the issues involved and to plan for the coming year.
Coordinated by Rabbi Yosef Herman, a rabbi well-versed in the laws of kemach yashan, the OU’s meeting was primarily to make the foodservice industry aware of the shortage. Several flour distribution companies, such as Dependable Food Corp., DUSO Foods, and Kemach Food Products Corp, sent representatives to the meeting. Manufacturing companies who sent representatives included Cargill and A. Zerega’s Sons, Inc.
The laws of kemach yashan are involved and complex, and this year in particular, have raised significant concern, thanks to the wheat shortage in the United States. Which leads us back to the pizza stores – assuming a store is a kemach yashan pizza store, proprietors need to ensure there is enough yashan wheat to last from the spring wheat crop of Pesach 2007 through Pesach 2009. While only a minority of kosher pizza stores are stringent about these laws, owing to the small number of Jews who keep them, larger Jewish communities usually have a few stores that do.
One suggestion to emerge from the meeting was to use winter wheat for items like pizza or challah and add vital wheat gluten for the desired, soft-baked consistency – because winter wheat is usually good for only crumbly or crispy types of food. Another suggestion was to stock up on the available yashan flour in bulk and store it in a cool area – a necessity as worms and bugs can result in flour that is kept in warm temperature.
Those who interested in inquiring about the laws, contact OU Rabbinic Coordinator Rabbi David Gorelik at , 212-613-8203.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Once again this year, for the festive holiday of Passover, the Orthodox Union has made available a list of newly certified OU Kosher for Passover products.
The following products and companies have been certified for the first time as Kosher for Passover by the OU.
Frozen Products:
•Cuisine Innovations (Ratner label ) matzah balls, potato pancakes and blintzes.
Pastries:
•Reisman packaged cakes;
•Lily’s Bakeshop packaged cakes;
•Willmark products.
Parve:
•Shoprite tuna fish.
For more Kosher for Passover products, certified in previous years, refer to the OU Kosher for Passover Guide, available on http://www.oupassover.org.
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