{"id":3418,"date":"2019-03-11T17:26:48","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T17:26:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/?p=3418"},"modified":"2019-03-13T21:15:46","modified_gmt":"2019-03-13T21:15:46","slug":"on-a-mission-to-educate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/articles\/on-a-mission-to-educate\/","title":{"rendered":"On A Mission To Educate"},"content":{"rendered":"

OU Kosher Shares its Riches<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now the world\u2019s leading kashrut agency
\nis the leading kashrut college\u2026
\nand even Prompted a summer camp!<\/em><\/p>\n

For over two decades and running, OU Kosher\u2019s ASK OU kashrut educational projects have reached tens of thousands of rabbanim, mashgichim and kosher consumers, and continue to raise kashrut standards in restaurants, factories and homes around the globe.<\/p>\n

\u201cEducation is a vital part of our mission,\u201d says Rabbi Yosef Grossman, senior rabbinic educational coordinator at OU Kosher.<\/p>\n

True to his word and with the encouragement of OU Kosher\u2019s administration, Rabbi Grossman launched ASK OU in 1996. Sponsored by the Harry H. Beren Foundation of New Jersey, the program offers comprehensive two- and three-week kashrut education training seminars for rabbanim and mashgichim. \u201cThe OU is the largest communal kashrut organization in the world,\u201d says Rabbi Menachem Genack, OU Kosher CEO. \u201cPromoting kashrut knowledge is an essential part of our mandate.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Rabbi Genack, the program continues to serve as an excellent platform for training future kashrut professionals.<\/p>\n

In fact, a number of ASK OU graduates are now part of OU Kosher\u2019s staff, both in the office and in the field. ASK OU graduates have also gone on to take positions as rabbanim and mechanchim who are well-versed in kashrut. Some have gone on to head other kashrut agencies, and those graduates who hail from countries outside the U.S., including Poland, Germany, Eretz Yisrael, Canada and Mexico, have gone on to elevate the kashrut standards in their respective countries.<\/p>\n

ASK OU also reaches out to schools and shuls, with kashrut presentations given by the OU Kosher rabbinic coordinators. In addition, its VISIT OU venture welcomes schools and camps to OU Kosher headquarters, treating them to dynamic lectures, videos, and tours of the rabbis\u2019 offices.<\/p>\n

Extending its reach digitally, ASK OU recently conducted ten well-received Skype lectures to Australia, sends out Daf HaKashrus, a regular OU Kosher publication email (and hard copy), as well as The Gerald and Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis email, which contains a halacha per day on various topics. OU Press, the book-publishing arm of the OU, is currently publishing a book with these halachot for every day of the Jewish calendar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe OU prides itself in our level of transparency. The more the public is aware of kashrut, the more they will demand, which helps us up our game,\u201d says Rabbi Moshe Elefant, COO of OU Kosher. \u201cWe welcome that scrutiny.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hands-On Halacha Camp<\/em><\/p>\n

Inspired by the success of ASK OU\u2019s long-running mashgiach-training seminars, which attract over a thousand participants each year, Rabbi Chaim Loike, OU Kosher rabbinic coordinator, initiated Camp Yoreh Deah, offering teenage boys a summer like no other.<\/p>\n

For three and a half jam-packed weeks, 9th to 12th grade yeshiva bachurim travel to Durham, Connecticut, to learn the halachot of shechitah, matzah baking, safrut, shaatnez, how to kasher meat, tie tzitzit and tefillin, identify kosher fish, build an eruv, blow a shofar, and build a mikvah \u2014 and not just from inside a sefer. Camp Yoreh Deah is about hands-on halacha.<\/p>\n

Like other learning camps, the morning includes an in-depth Gemara shiur. But unlike other such summer venues, these boys apply what they\u2019ve learned each afternoon \u2014 live and in person.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of students who study the halachot on kashrut theoretically,\u201d says Rabbi Loike, a longtime talmid of Rav Yisroel Belsky zt\u201dl and a world-class expert on the kashrut of birds. \u201cThis is an opportunity to learn it hands on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rabbi Loike partnered with Rabbi Avrohom Reit, an expert in kashrut halacha and renowned author of numerous halacha sefarim, to bring the Yoreh Deah camp concept to reality. They assembled a staff of halacha experts from Eretz Yisrael and the United States (including OU rabbanim). The camp was overbooked almost immediately. In 2016, its first summer, twenty boys attended. The number doubled the following summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is that the boys who have excelled in their Gemara skills be able to apply them,\u201d says Rabbi Loike.<\/p>\n

To that end, he made sure to put in all the necessary legwork to give them those opportunities. To demonstrate the diversity in the chicken world, he brought in fifty-five different kinds of the squawking specimens. The campers were taught to identify the distinctions between them, and whether any of the birds were problematic or not. They also learned to shecht, clean and kasher the chickens and even cook the \u201cfruits\u201d of their labor for Shabbat.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Loike also took the campers on a halachic field trip to the supermarket to buy various cuts of fish. They then determined which of the fish they were permitted to cook and eat, and which were off limits. And since it was a non-kosher fish market, the boys also learned how to make the fish fit for the kosher palate (by scraping off the edges to make sure there is no cross-contamination from a non-kosher fish).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe boys come wanting to master different areas of halacha,\u201d says Rabbi Loike.<\/p>\n

Clearly, once they master the subject, they put the knowledge to work. One summer, after learning the halachot of mikvah, the boys noticed a stream not far from their bunks. They promptly took up shovels and dug a proper mikvah. Every erev Shabbat, the boys take a trek around the eruv to evaluate if it\u2019s kosher. If it\u2019s not, they fix it.<\/p>\n

\u201cCampers from previous summers have returned with megillot they are in the process of writing,\u201d says Rabbi Loike. \u201cOthers have shown me a klaf they made from an animal. They\u2019re proud of the skills they\u2019ve attained.\u201d<\/p>\n

OU Kosher shares that pride.<\/p>\n

\u201cExcellence in kashrut hinges on the vital partnership between OU Kosher and kosher consumers,\u201d says Rabbi Nahum Rabinowitz, OU Kosher\u2019s senior rabbinic coordinator. \u201cWhile consumers\u2019 demands drive the expansion of the kosher market, it is the educated consumer who ultimately raises kashrut standards ever higher.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Download the OU Guide to Passover 2019 here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OU Kosher Shares its Riches Now the world\u2019s leading kashrut agency is the leading kashrut college\u2026 and even Prompted a summer camp! For over two decades and running, OU Kosher\u2019s ASK OU kashrut educational projects have reached tens of thousands of rabbanim, mashgichim and kosher consumers, and continue to raise kashrut standards in restaurants, factories […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":3459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOn A Mission To Educate - Kosher for Passover<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/articles\/on-a-mission-to-educate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On A Mission To Educate - Kosher for Passover\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"OU Kosher Shares its Riches Now the world\u2019s leading kashrut agency is the leading kashrut college\u2026 and even Prompted a summer camp! For over two decades and running, OU Kosher\u2019s ASK OU kashrut educational projects have reached tens of thousands of rabbanim, mashgichim and kosher consumers, and continue to raise kashrut standards in restaurants, factories […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/articles\/on-a-mission-to-educate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Passover\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-11T17:26:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-13T21:15:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1675079230\/Kosher\/Passover\/GettyImages-1041740040\/GettyImages-1041740040.jpg?_i=AA\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"509\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"339\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bayla Sheva Brenner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bayla Sheva Brenner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/articles\/on-a-mission-to-educate\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/articles\/on-a-mission-to-educate\/\",\"name\":\"On A Mission To Educate - Kosher for Passover\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-11T17:26:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-13T21:15:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/#\/schema\/person\/3867f896d36f1c528ec42c181fef1857\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/articles\/on-a-mission-to-educate\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/articles\/on-a-mission-to-educate\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/articles\/on-a-mission-to-educate\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"On A Mission To Educate\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/\",\"name\":\"Passover\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/product-search\/#s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/#\/schema\/person\/3867f896d36f1c528ec42c181fef1857\",\"name\":\"Bayla Sheva Brenner\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c874d8541ee97321d4897ca0831df8de3e92b6183f6a60a6a13fea157662aaed?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c874d8541ee97321d4897ca0831df8de3e92b6183f6a60a6a13fea157662aaed?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bayla Sheva Brenner\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"On A Mission To Educate - Kosher for Passover","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/articles\/on-a-mission-to-educate\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"On A Mission To Educate - Kosher for Passover","og_description":"OU Kosher Shares its Riches Now the world\u2019s leading kashrut agency is the leading kashrut college\u2026 and even Prompted a summer camp! For over two decades and running, OU Kosher\u2019s ASK OU kashrut educational projects have reached tens of thousands of rabbanim, mashgichim and kosher consumers, and continue to raise kashrut standards in restaurants, factories […]","og_url":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/articles\/on-a-mission-to-educate\/","og_site_name":"Passover","article_published_time":"2019-03-11T17:26:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-03-13T21:15:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":509,"height":339,"url":"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1675079230\/Kosher\/Passover\/GettyImages-1041740040\/GettyImages-1041740040.jpg?_i=AA","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bayla Sheva Brenner","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bayla Sheva Brenner","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/articles\/on-a-mission-to-educate\/","url":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/articles\/on-a-mission-to-educate\/","name":"On A Mission To Educate - Kosher for Passover","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-03-11T17:26:48+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-13T21:15:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/#\/schema\/person\/3867f896d36f1c528ec42c181fef1857"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/articles\/on-a-mission-to-educate\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/articles\/on-a-mission-to-educate\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/articles\/on-a-mission-to-educate\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"On A Mission To Educate"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/#website","url":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/","name":"Passover","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/product-search\/#s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/#\/schema\/person\/3867f896d36f1c528ec42c181fef1857","name":"Bayla Sheva Brenner","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c874d8541ee97321d4897ca0831df8de3e92b6183f6a60a6a13fea157662aaed?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c874d8541ee97321d4897ca0831df8de3e92b6183f6a60a6a13fea157662aaed?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bayla Sheva Brenner"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3418"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3500,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3418\/revisions\/3500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/passover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}