Zev Kraut: Winner OU KOSHER Essay Contest 2012
What is G-D teaching me with the laws of kosher? Since the moment G-D gave the Torah to the Jewish people, keeping kosher has been an essential part of the Jewish home. Accordingly, the home is an essential part of a Torah lifestyle. What goes on in the home is directly effective to what goes […]
Michelle Natanova: Winner OU KOSHER Essay Contest 2012
KASHRUT Hashem gave the Jewish people the special privilege to keep Kashrut. Kashrut is a decree that we just do because G-d commanded us to; we do not understand why we are doing it. When one keeps Kashrut, he only eats pure, fit, and halakhically permitted food. Even when one eats non-kosher food unintentionally, the […]
Shmuel Michaels: Winner OU KOSHER Essay Contest 2012
Topic: How does Keeping Kosher Enhance Your Jewish Identity? KASHRUT: LONG–TERM GAINS IN A WORLD OF COMPROMISES My grandmother is an amazing chef. She makes the best sponge cake, matzo ball soup, and sticky buns. We always loved visiting her and noshing on her delicious treats, but when my family became Torah observant, we had […]
Hannah Kark: Winner OU KOSHER Essay Contest 2012
Topic: “What the Kosher Symbol Means to Me” KASHRUT – MORE THAN JUST A SYMBOL ON A BOX When I walk in to the grocery store it is second nature for me to just check to make sure that that bag of chips or that cookie has an OU or another kosher symbol on it. […]
Lo Basi Ella L’Orer: Keurig Coffee Makers
The Keurig coffee machine, an appliance unbeknownst to most of us two or three years ago, has become a fixture in many homes and offices. This has given rise to a great number of questions surrounding this machine, especially regarding the office setting. At the OU we get asked these questions on a daily basis and I would like to share some of these questions and answers.
OU Kosher In Great Neck Draws Rave Reviews
“OU Kosher’s Harry H. Beren ASK OU OUTREACH program in Great Neck Sunday night, which was supposed to present the two OU poskim (halachic decisors), Rav Yisroel Belsky and Rav Hershel Schachter, was held under the cloud of the sudden serious illness to Rav Belsky, shlita,” declared Rabbi Yosef Grossman, the organizer of the program and OU Senior Educational Rabbinic Coordinator. “Rabbi Menachem Genack (CEO of OU Kosher) stepped in as a substitute on very short notice. He and Rav Schachter were outstanding, as can be seen by the following feedback, first from one of the participants, and then from Rabbi Avraham Kohan, the Rav of Congregation Torah Ohr where the event was held.”
ASK OU Rabbis Program In South Florida Enlightens And Entertains
The show must go on….and on: Rabbis Chaim Loike (left) and Dovid Jenkins continue to answer questions following their presentations at the Ask the OU Rabbis session in South Florida.
Lo Basi Ella L’orer – Limitations of ChaNaN
ChaNaN does not apply to a davar heter. This is because chatichah na’ases neveila, as it name implies, means that the entire item that absorbed ta’am of issur becomes like a neveila. Since one must refrain from eating the item, we view it as becoming 100% assur. This sevara obviously does not apply to a davar heter such as kosher milk, kosher meat or kosher fish. Therefore, if 1 gallon of kosher milk is mixed with 10 gallons of water, and this mixture is then mixed into 100 gallons of water, we would not say ChaNaN and the milk would be batel b’shishim. Although, we would still insist on labeling this product as dairy, however there would be no need to kasher the equipment that came in contact with the mixture since the milk is already batel.
Lo Basi Ella L’orer – Chatichah Na’ses Nevaila (Part I)
The minhag of Ashkenazim is to apply the halachos of Chatichah Na’ses Nevaila (ChaNaN) to all issurim, not just to basar b’cholov; (Rema Y.D. 92:4). Therefore, if one kezayis of any issur is cooked with 9 kezaysim of heter, we would have 10 kezeysim of issur. If these 10 kezaysim of issur, are subsequently cooked with 90 kezaysim of heter, although this is more than 60 times the original kezayis of issur, nevertheless because we say ChaNaN the entire mixture becomes assur. However, there is a distinction between the original 10 kezaysim and the subsequent 90 kezaysim. The original 10 kezaysim are assur mid’oraisah because they were mikabel ta’am issur (ta’am k’ikar); however, the later 90 kezaysim are only assur mid’Rabbanan because of ChaNaN b’shar issurim.
Thou Shalt Not Commit Adulteration: Guarding Against The Dilution of Juice
The mission statement for the Technical Committee for the Juice Products Association, the major trade association of the juice industry, states that it is “dedicated to a level playing field for products containing juice” which means, as the statement goes on to say, that they “develop and validate methods for authenticating juice and juice products.”
The committee exists in response to the age-old problem of juice adulteration, which usually involves diluting “pure” fruit juice with other ingredients. Those ingredients may be water or sugar or sweeteners, as well as juices that are cheaper than the one being sold.