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Kosher for Consumers
Useful articles and interesting information about Keeping Kosher and Kosher Supervision.
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Transitioning Traditional Kosher Brands to the Mainstream
Last year more than 3,200 new foods products were certified kosher, according to a report by the Mintel International Group, a consumer, media and market research firm. Today’s kosher consumer looks for and finds wasabi horseradish sauce, frozen wraps and whole grain noodles on supermarket shelves.
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A list of General Mills cereals, their status and their brachah.
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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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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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Chametz She’avar Alav Ha-Pesach
The general rule is that any chametz for which a Jew violated the Biblical prohibitions of Bal Yiraeh U’bal Yimatzei becomes forbidden forever as chametz she’avar alav ha-Pesach. This penalty applies whether the transgression was violated knowingly or unknowingly, and even if the Jew was completely unaware of the prohibitions of chametz or the Yom Tov of Pesach .
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Here are some common cheeses and the lengths of time for which they are aged:
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“And the land shall rest” (Vayikra 25:1-7). Every seventh year, residents of the land of Israel are reminded that the land that flows with milk and honey is God’s property and domain. He grants the bounty of the six “regular” years and He commands that the land lie fallow during the seventh year, the shemittah year. During this period, landowners are required to relinquish ownership of their produce--whatever grows on their property must be made accessible to all. In this way, shemittah also serves as an antidote to greed and stinginess. Special halachot regarding the sanctity of the produce also prohibit their disposal as well as their profitable sale.
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We live in a world of technological advancements. How we approach new inventions, medical procedures etc., and their impact on halacha can be highly complicated and very confusing. We have therefore been blessed from one generation to the next with Gedolei Yisroel whose broad shoulders have borne the responsibility to address these types of issues. This article will focus on a not-so-recent technological advancement, but one that nevertheless has been discussed quite extensively by poskim, the microscope.
