For the past year, the Orthodox Union Kosher Division has presented in-depth kashrut education programs, made possible in great part by the Harry H. Beren Foundation of Lakewood, NJ. Due to the great success and popularity of these programs, foundation funding was recently renewed for the second year at a higher level than for the first grant.
The Beren programs include the highly acclaimed ASK seminars on a wide variety of kosher issues. Now, to bring the much sought after wisdom of the ASK programs to a world-wide audience, OU Kosher has established a Beren ASK channel on OU Torah.
The most recent programs are a fascinating three-part PowerPoint presentation on fish, including Understanding the Swordfish Controversy; Is the South African Kingklip Kosher?; and What Was the Shibuta Fish Rovo Prepared for Shabbat? given by Rabbi Dr. Ari Zivotofsky of Jerusalem. These sessions were recorded at the ASK Pareve Mesorah Conference held last winter at Lander College in Kew Gardens Hills, NY, which drew hundreds of people.
“These conferences are unique in that they are presented for the highest level of the rabbinate, but yet are at the same time greatly enjoyed by kosher consumers. The ASK OU channel enables rabbis and kosher consumers throughout the world to access these conferences and to learn from them as well,” declared Rabbi Yosef Grossman, Director of ASK and Kashrut Education.
“Our latest edition on fish is being made available on PowerPoint Juke Box which allows viewers to participate fully in the experience both by audio and visually. The viewer will feel as if he’s actually attending the conference,” Rabbi Grossman added. The Juke Box features live footage from the Pareve Mesorah Conference to accompany a PowerPoint presentation.
Plans are underway to add to the ASK Channel the many shiurim (Talmudic discourses) and lectures of past ASK Mesorah Conferences and ASK Kashrut Training Sessions. Some of these include:
- The Mesorah of Kosher Birds – Rabbi Hershel Schachter
- Nikkur Achorayim – Rabbi Yisroel Belsky
- Vegetable Checking – A “Hands On” Demonstration – Rabbi Yosef Eisen
- The Mesorah of Animals and Chagavim – Rabbi Dr. Ari Zivotofsky
- The Story Behind Our Unique Collection of Bird Mesorahs – Dr. Ari Greenspan
- Live Demonstration of Birds with Various Degrees of Mesorah – the Holy Kurkevan and Zefek – Rabbi Chaim Loike
- The Five Types of Grain – Are Oats Included? – Rabbi Seth Mandel
- Nikkur, Rabbinic Error and Heresy – Prof. Shnayer Leiman
- Matzoh Mesoras Around the World – Dr. Ari Greenspan
- The Etrog Wars – Dr. Ari Greenspan and Rabbi Dr. Ari Zovotofsky
- The Tzaraas Illusion – Dr. Shalom Kellman
In addition to the new seminars on fish, the channel already includes:
- Nikkur, in three parts – Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, Reb Shimon Mendlowitz, Rabbi Avrohom Juravel, Rabbi Seth Mandel
- Organizing A Local Va’ad Hakashrut – Rabbis Y. Luban, Y. Schonfeld and Y. Eisen
- Red Flag Ingredients – Rabbi Avrohom Juravel
- Creating An Insect-Free Environment – Rabbi Leonard Steinberg and Joseph Asia
- Bedikas Toyloim – Separating Facts From Fiction – Rabbi Yosef Eisen
- The Baking Industry (in two parts) – Rabbi Yisroel Bendelstein, Rabbi Yisroel Paretzky
- The State Of OU Meat & Chicken – Rabbi Seth Mandel
- Hashgacha For a Kosher Fish Store – Rabbi Chaim Goldberg
- The Kosher Slaughterhouse – Rabbi Ahron Teitelbaum
- The Shul Kiddush – Is It Really Kosher? – Rabbi Dov Schreier
- The State of the (Orthodox) Union – Rabbi Moshe Elefant
- Shiur on Bishul Akum – Rabbi Menachem Genack
- Ingredient Research – Rabbi Gavriel Price
- The Flavor Industry – Rabbi Nosson Neuberger
- The OU’s Hafrashas Challah System – Rabbi Dovid Rockove
- The Oleo Chemical Industry – Rabbi Yosef Goldberg
- OU Kosher Online – Rabbi Yonatan Kaganoff
- Tevilas Keilim – Rabbi Elimelech Lebowitz
- Pesach Issues – Rabbi Shmuel Singer
- The Pareve Mesorah: Shofar Shape – Rabbi Ami Cohen
- The Pareve Mesorah: Gelatin – Rabbi Menachem Genack
- The Pareve Mesorah: Measurements In Halachah – Rabbi Yisroel Belsky
- The Pareve Mesorah: Kaskeses – Rabbi Chaim Goldberg
- The Pareve Mesorah: Techeles – Rabbi Hershel Schachter
For more information contact Rabbi Grossman at 212-613-8212.