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Sweet-Talk: Inside the Kosher Bakery
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By: Rabbi Yisroel Bendelstein
While we’re on the subject of bread, it should be noted that more and more kosher consumers are becoming scrupulous about eating only pas Yisrael—which literally means the “bread of a Jew.” To ensure that baked goods are pas Yisrael, an observant Jew must ignite the oven in which the product is being baked. The OU recommends a device called the “Shain System,” named after the inventor, Rabbi Yehuda Shain from Lakewood, New Jersey. This technique involves installing an electric panel near a designated oven that will enable the oven to be turned on by a RFR (who is not in the bakery) using a remote control telephone hook-up. This system meets the strictest halachic requirements and has received the approbation of leading rabbinic authorities.
As the popular saying goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Commercial bakeries are constantly developing new, innovative products using the latest in technology to satisfy the needs of the burgeoning kosher market. The laws of kosher as outlined in our timeless Torah are incredibly adept in keeping up with these innovations.
