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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
Rabbi Chaim FogelmanEDITOR:
Dovi ScheinerASSOCIATE EDITOR:
Dina Fraenkel DESIGN:
www.SpotlightDesign.com
Rabbi Haskel received smicha from Beis Midrash Gevoha inLakewood, NJ. He has more than 20 years experience di-recting kosher productions and consulting for variouskosher agencies. For the past 8 years, Rabbi Haskel has di-rected the Israeli headquarters of ~ Kosher Certification,where he upholds kosher standards that are approved andrespected by kosher agencies in Israel and abroad.
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KOSHER QUESTIONS
EVERYTHING YOU EVERWANTED TO KNOW ABOUTKOSHER WINEby Rabbi Ahron Haskel
KOSHER MEDICINELISTS FOR PESACHby Rabbi Don Yoel Levy
TACKLING THE MOUNTAINS OF SHAIMOSby Rabbi Yosef Dovid Chanowitz
CHASSIDIC INSIGHTSINTO PESACHCompiled by Dina Fraenkel
PASSOVER DESSERT
WHO’S BEHIND THE ~Interview with Rabbi Steigman
FUN PAGE
ODDS & ENDS
Dear Reader,
It has been written in Sefer HaM’-Ta’amim, that in past generations, when a
calamity struck the Jewish community,every effort would be made to bury thetown’s shaimos in order to arouse DivineMercy. How relevant this is, in our times,with the calamities of terrorists strikingEretz Yisroel and abroad and the Israeli gov-ernment threatening to give away parts ofYerushalayim, our holy city. Now, as we ap-proach the holiday of Pesach, when Jews clean their homes from top tobottom and find piles of potential shaimos, we, too, can arouse DivineMercy by properly disposing of our shaimos and learning how to separatewhat is truly shaimos, from that which can be disposed of or recycled.After months of grueling research, Rabbi Yosef D. Chanowitz put togetheran outstanding article, “Tackling the Mountains of Shaimos,” which delvesinto the history and halachos of shaimos disposal. Thank you, RabbiChanowitz, for writing such an incredible, in depth article!
Wine and Pesach go hand in hand. At the Pesach seder, we drink wine,the Jewish symbol of joy, to recount the great miracles that Hashem per-formed when He redeemed the Jewish people. The four cups represent thefour expressions of redemption used in the Torah: “I took you out”, “I savedyou”, “I redeemed you,” and “I took you for Myself as a People.” This year, atyour Pesach seder, when you sit like a king, you can finally have kosherwine that is truly fit for a king. Join Rabbi Ahron Haskel, Executive Rab-binic Coordinator at ~ Israel, on a virtual tour of the kosher wine-makingprocess, as he relates the unique challenges to kosher vintners and the ex-traordinary effort made by ~ Kosher Certification’s mashgichim to ensurethat the quality and the kashrus of the wine is never compromised.
If you have medication that you need to take over Pesach, who do youask about its chometz status? Your Rabbi or the manufacturer? The answerto this question might surprise you, you really need to ask your doctor!“Kosher Medicine Lists,” a feature article by Rabbi Levy, explains the com-plex issue of medications on Pesach and the importance of consulting yourdoctor and Rabbi together, without being unnecessarily stringent at theexpense of your health.
Wishing you and your family a healthy, kosher & freilichen Pesach!
Rabbi Chaim FogelmanEDITOR-IN-CHIEF
We welcome your comments, submissions,and letters to the editor.
MAIL: 391 Troy Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11213
E-MAIL: [email protected]
Rabbi Yosef Dovid ChanowitzField Representative
Rabbi Ahron Haskel~ Israel, Executive Rabbinic Coordinator
Mazel Tov! Mazel Tov!Just as we went to print, our associate editor, Dina Fraenkel gave birth to a baby boy.We wish Dina and her husband Uri a heartfelt “Mazal Tov!”
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS:
Rabbi Chanowitz is a regular contributor to Kosher Spirit.He received smicha from Rabbi Feitel Levin of Brighton He-brew Congregation, author of “Mafteach HaGodol: A Com-prehensive Index of Contemporary Halacha,” and RabbiEliyahu Fisher, Rosh Kollel of Gur in America. RabbiChanowitz currently works as a Rabbinic Field Representa-tive for ~ Kosher Certification and he is the author of a com-prehensive work on hilchos kashrus.
www.OK.org • 3
The ~ receives manyletters/emails with kosherquestions...
DEAR ~,Is it permissibleto bake clay, orother art mediums(crayons, etc.) ina kosher oven?
RABBI KRINSKY RESPONDS: If the clay, or other art medium, isedible (non-toxic), then it must bekosher in order to bake it in a kosheroven. Since the ingredients andmanufacturing process for clay,crayons, etc. is proprietaryinformation, the ~ is unable todiscern whether a particular clay,crayon, etc. is kosher or non-kosher.Since there is no way to be sureabout the kosher status, it should notbe baked in a kosher oven. If youwould like to bake it in your kosheroven, the clay, crayons, etc. should bedouble-wrapped.
DEAR ~,What brocha do youmake on puffedwheat cereal?
THE ~ RESPONDS: There is a machlokes about what brocha tomake on puffed wheat cereal. The questionis whether the cereal has been processedenough to require the brocha mezonos, orwhether the brocha is ha’adama.According to HaRav Moshe Feinstein (IgrosMoshe OC 4:45), one can make either amezonos or a ha’adama. According toHaRav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (BirurHalacha Siman 27:4), the brocha isha’adama. Both poskim agree that thebrocha achrona is borei nefashos. Sincethere is a machlokes, this question shouldbe addressed to one’s local Orthodoxrabbi.
DEAR ~,Can I use Tropicanaorange juice forPesach with nospecial markings?
RABBI STEIGMAN RESPONDS: All Tropicana products used for Pesachmust have an ~P symbol on the packag-ing. During the year, the facilities wherethe orange juice is produced containnon-Passover ingredients.
DEAR ~,Does purecanola oilneed ahechsher?
RABBI COHN RESPONDS: Although pure canola oil is a man-made oil, it does need a hechsher,because it might be processed ina facility that also processes ani-mal products.
DEAR ~,I like to cook incast iron potsbecause they
are healthier, but I recentlyfound that they are being sold‘seasoned.’ Is it permissible tobuy a seasoned cast iron pot?
RABBI HANOKA RESPONDS: A seasoned cast iron pot is treatedwith a neutral fat (animal fat, but-ter, olive oil, vegetable oil, etc.) inorder to condition the pot for use.If a person wants to purchase a‘seasoned’ cast iron pot, the potwould require a reliable hechsher.On the other hand, one could pur-chase a regular cast iron pot, notseasoned, and season it himself athome, using a kosher certifiedpareve oil.
To submit your questions to the ~, email: [email protected]
THE ~ RESPONDS: Like the machlokes mentioned regardingpuffed wheat cereal, there is a machlokes about what brocha to make ongranola bars. Poskim disagree about which brocha - mezonos or ha’adama- to make on granola bars. Since there is a machlokes, this question shouldbe addressed to one’s local Orthodox rabbi.
Dear ~, What brocha do you make on granola bars?
4 • www.OK.org
or many years, kosher wine was mainly wine ofinferior quality, usually imbibed only for Kiddush andHavdalah. Today, the recent developments in thekosher wine industry have made it possible to findprestigious wines which are kosher l’mehadrin and are served as an integral partof gourmet meals and business lunches. Kosher l’mehadrin wines even win goldmedals in international wine fairs. Kosher wine has definitely come of age,and its maturity is delicious.
Kosher Wine
F By Rabbi Ahron Haskel~ Israel, Executive Rabbinic Coordinator
EVERYTHING you ever wanted
to know about
People used to believe that pro-ducing kosher l’mehadrin (super
kosher) quality wine was simplyimpossible, mainly becausekosher versions of many of theingredients (mentioned later inthis article) used in the wine in-dustry were unavailable. But thesituation has changed – thanks tothe ~’s determination to solvekashrus problems without com-promising halacha, but with aneye for preserving the quality ofthe wine.
Becoming kosher is never easyfor winery owners. They usuallygo through a very real crisis be-fore they are finally able to sur-render the winery, including thekeys, to the ~ rabbis. Peoplewho deal with wine tend to havea deeply emotional attachment totheir profession – as one of ourmashgichim once stated, “Thereis something artistic about thosepeople [hardly surprising if we re-member Robert Lewis Steven-son’s famous quote, ‘Wine isbottled poetry.’] and, like anyartist, they are deeply invested inwhat they are doing for a living.”
Wine is different from otherfoods and beverages. Wine is notkosher if it is made or touched bygentiles (ovdei kochavim). The rea-son for this prohibition is twofold– to prevent partying together,which leads to assimilation, andbecause wine was often used inthe rituals of avodah zara (idolworship). In order for wine to bekosher, it must be made only byfrum, shomer Shabbos workers.This means that secular winemakers cannot pay for koshercertification, let a mashgiach hangaround checking ingredients, andcontinue working as usual. Theyare actually required to relinquishcontrol over their business andwatch from the sidelines whilethe wine is made and maturedoutside of their reach. They can-
not even get into the wine cavesunless accompanied by the mash-giach. For an artisan, that’s not aneasy requirement to accept.
So, why do so many winerieseagerly seek certification?
As the old adage says, “Busi-ness comes before pleasure.” Be-coming kosher might mar theartistic pleasure for some wineryowners, but business considera-tions call for this concession.
Observant Jews consume a lotof wine. For Kiddush and Hav-dalah, on holidays, at simchas…wine is served at all these occa-sions and there is an increasingdemand for this wine to be of asuperior quality. Once, the Or-thodox residents of Israel weresatisfied with heavy sweet wines.But the awareness of wine qual-ity has risen immeasurably in thelast few years, mainly thanks tofrum, Anglo Jews who madealiyah. These Jews brought thewine-drinking culture to Israel –with all of its nuances, subtletiesand preferences. In the Orthodoxneighborhoods, a new liquor
store opens every few months.This large and still growing mar-ket is simply impossible to ig-nore.
Yet another advantage of beingkosher certified is the chance tosuccessfully export wines. Israeliwines are especially sought afterby frum Jews all over the world,who will, of course, only pur-chase kosher wines.
Another factor that contributesto the vintners’ satisfaction withtheir kosher certification is thestaff of frum workers the ~ em-ploys on their behalf – workerswho are conscientious, ethicaland hard working. We have neverhad an experience where thevintner was dissatisfied with anyworker we sent to a certifiedwinery, and the vintners knowthat their wine is in good hands.
Still, it is not easy. Becomingkosher certified involves manyapparent risks for the wineries.One winery owner in particularwent through an arduous innerstruggle before finally agreeing,albeit reluctantly, that he had to
www.OK.org • 5
Once, the Orthodox residents of Israel were
satisfied with heavy sweet wines.
But the awareness of wine quality has risen
immeasurably in the last few years...
Rabbi Ahron Haskel (right) giving the Rishon L’tzion, Rabbi Shlomo Amar שליט"א, a tour of an ~ certified winery and explaining the wine-making process.
6 • www.OK.org
venture into the kosher realm. Thisman was the true artistic type – he ac-tually used to sleep among the winetanks, believing that this was the wayto best sense the advancement of thefermentation process. He had to giveup his favorite sleeping arrangement,but today he is far from sorry for hissacrifice. There is only one thing he re-grets: “I wish I had become kosher 10years earlier.”
Sometimes, the financial benefits ofkosher certification seem less alluringbecause of the immediate losses in-curred. Many wineries in Israel havethe custom to open their special shopon Shabbos, when people all over thecountry come to taste their best prod-ucts. The ~ once had to deal withsuch a winery, whose owner com-plained bitterly about the huge lossesthat he was going to absorb. I prom-ised him that becoming kosher wouldnot cut his profits in any way. In itsvery first “kosher” year, this winerywas purchased by a very powerfulbeverage giant, and raised its annual
production rate from 100,000 bottlesto about one million bottles of wine.Needless to say, the winery owner suf-fered no losses from his decision to be-come kosher.
There is one thing, though, whichvintners cannot give up. ~ KosherCertification certifies hundreds of dif-ferent wines from twenty prestigiouswineries in Israel. These wineries,happy though they are to acquirekosher certification, do not want tocompromise the quality of their wine.So, certifying these wineries meansnot only making sure all of the ha-lachic requirements are met; it alsomeans a lot of research and develop-ment work for the ~ to ensure thequality of the wine does not suffer.This work takes time and is nevereasy, but the ~ has succeeded in prov-ing that, if there’s a will, there’s a wayto produce high-quality kosher wines.Rising to this challenge makes the ~the leader in kosher wine certificationacross the globe – not only in Israeland the United States, but in France,
Turkey, Argentina, Chile and Aus-tralia, as well. In almost every cornerof the world, you will find local andimported wines bearing the ~ symbol.
Kosher L’MehadrinTartaric Acid
Sometimes a wine’s acidity is nothigh enough. This is a result of har-
vesting too late in the season or toomuch heat during the ripening stage.Whatever the reason, the result is flatand unbalanced wine. To remedy thisproblem, it is customary to increasethe wine’s acidity by adding acids tothe must. This process is especiallycommon in warm areas like theMediterranean, where Israel is located.The acidity should not be too high, ei-ther; wines which are too acidic (dueto unripe grapes or exaggerated addi-tion of acids to the wine) will be toosour, sharp, and unpleasant to drink.
Stabilizing the wine is achieved bythe addition of tartaric acid, which ispreferable to all other acids because itis extracted from the wine itself. Thisacid is extracted from the crust createdin the barrels or from the grape refusewhich is left in the tanks after all theliquids have been extracted.
In the past, it was impossible to usetartaric acid in kosher wine produc-tion, since most tartaric acid is ex-tracted from stam yanam (non-Jewishwine). Alternatively, there are kosheragencies which rely on heterim permit-ting the use of tartaric acid producedfrom wine stone (the reddish, crustyresidue in wine barrels) after it hasaged for one year, but in ~ kosher l’me-hadrin wine production, we avoid re-lying on heterim.
The ~ decided to embark on a two-year project to produce kosher tartaricacid with the help of the kosherwineries we certify. Every mashgiachcollected the ingredients necessary for
Every mashgiach collected the ingredients necessary for
producing the tartaric acid, until we had such ingredients from
millions of kilos of grapes from wineries all over the country.
Rabbi Haskel giving Chacham Ovadia Yosef שליט"א, a tour of an ~ certified winery.
www.OK.org • 7
AFTERTASTE: Term used to describe the taste left in themouth after swallowing the wine. Bothcharacter and length of the aftertaste arepart of the total evaluation. May be harsh,hot, soft and lingering, short, smooth, tan-nic, or nonexistent.
APPROACHABLE:Drinkable, easy to enjoy.
BACKWARD: Describes a wine that retains youthfulcharacteristics despite considerableaging.
BALANCE: Denotes harmonious balance of wine el-ements - (i.e.: no individual part is domi-nant). Acid balances the sweetness; fruitbalances against oak and tannin content;alcohol is balanced against acidity andflavor. Wine not in balance may be acidic,cloying, flat or harsh.
BIG: The overall flavor of a wine, white or red,that has full, rich flavors.
BODY: The effect on the taster’s palate usuallyexperienced from a combination of alco-hol, glycerin and sugar content. Often de-scribed as “full,” “meaty,” or “weighty”.
BORDEAUX: The most important wine region inFrance. Red wines from Bordeaux are pri-marily blends of Cabernet Sauvignon,Merlot and Cabernet Franc. White winesfrom the region are usually blends ofSauvignon Blanc and Semillon.
BOUQUET: Near synonym for “aroma.” Term gener-ally restricted to description of odorsfrom poured bottled wines.
BREATHE/BREATHING: When wine is poured into another con-tainer, such as a wineglass, the mixture ofair seems to release pent-up aromaswhich then become more pronounced, inmany cases, as minutes/hours pass.
BRUT: Refers to dry champagne or sparklingwine.
CHAMPAGNE: An important region of France, mostknown for its production of the onlysparkling wine that can truly be calledChampagne.
COMPLEX: Possesses that elusive quality where manylayers of flavor separate a great wine froma very good one.
DIRTY: Describes any of the undesirable odorsthat can be present in a wine that that waspoorly vinified.
LATE HARVEST: Indicates grapes that are picked as late aspossible in the season for maximum sugarcontent.
MEVUSHAL: Wine that has been heated to a tempera-ture of 186.8° F (the temperature wherenechsar mimidaso [reduction of volume]is achieved) for under one minute inorder to retain its kosher status whenopened or poured by a non-Jew.
NON-MEVUSHAL: Wine that has not been boiled. This winemay only be opened, poured or touchedby an observant Jew. It is a hiddur to makeKiddush on non-mevushal wine.
NOSE: Strictly applied it refers to the totality ofthe detectable odor, (grape variety, vi-nous character, fermentation smells),whether desirable or defective, found ina wine.
~WINE: Wine that is kosher without compromise.
ROUND: Describes flavors and tactile sensationsgiving a feeling of completeness with nodominating characteristic.
STRUCTURE: Term for overall flavor. Used to suggestcomplete impression of the wine.
WARM: Possesses high alcohol flavor offset bycounterbalancing flavors and other desir-able qualities, it is a positive attribute.
WELL-BALANCED: Contains all of the essential elements, i.e.alcohol, flavors, acid or astringency etc. –in good proportions.
WineVocabularyLearn the “insider’s” wine lexiconand enjoy your wine like a pro!
producing the tartaric acid, until wehad such ingredients from millions ofkilos of grapes from wineries all overthe country.
The acid underwent initial process-ing in Israel and was then sent by ourmashgichim for final processing abroad.The kosher l’mehadrin tartaric acid pro-duced by the ~ was sent to manywineries which suffered due to theirinability to produce truly excellentwines. Now these wineries have theresource they were missing for so long– a kosher l’mehadrin tartaric acid to up-grade the quality of their wines.
Kosher MalolacticCultures
After the initial alcoholic fermenta-tion, some wineries perform a
second fermentation called malolacticfermentation. This process helps sta-bilize the wine and add character andflavor to it. Many prestigious winesundergo this second fermentationprocess. There is a serious kosherproblem with this process, though,since the malolactic culture comesfrom lactic acid extracted from milk.For decades, the ~ searched for akosher alternative and, finally, wefound a culture company that under-took the task of developing a malolac-tic culture from kosher, non-dairyingredients. The development of thisculture took a few years of hard work,but the result was a positive solutionfor another long-standing obstacle tothe production of superior kosherwine.
A Barrel of ProblemsSometimes, wines are matured in
special oak barrels from California,France, and Italy. Most wineries buybarrels which have already been usedto age other wines, but there is a prob-
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lem with these barrels – they wereused for the maturing of non-kosherwines. Used barrels cannot be used forkosher wine (unlike liquor that is ma-tured in cherry casks, which is notproblematic).
In the production of new barrelsthere is an interesting phenomenon.They are made from staves which areheld together by metal hoops, butsometimes they are bound by the an-cient method of using dough as glue.This dough produces an excellent seal,but of course, it is chometz. Barrel mak-ing is an ancient skill which has tradi-tionally been passed from father toson. The trade secrets, including howto glue the logs together, usually staywithin the family.
Most kosher agencies used to besatisfied with the barrel makers’ dec-larations that they do not use barrelssealed with chometz. The ~ decided tosend a rabbi to check whether it waspossible to rely on the barrel makers. Itso happened that the very day therabbi visited the cooperage (wherewine barrels are crafted) he noticed akosher delivery ready to be sent to Is-rael, but this delivery included somebarrels that were definitely not kosher.The cooperage owner explained thatthere were 17 empty places left in thecontainer, so he filled them with non-kosher barrels. The temptation tocheat “just a bit” is indeed hard to re-sist – every barrel costs over $1,000.
Following this incident, the ~started sending mashgichim to super-vise the barrel making and transport.Today, many kosher agencies use ourservices in this field.
Super Kosher Cork Stoppers
The stoppers for wines are madefrom oak cork, which grows
mainly in Portugal. The advantage of
cork is that it is a porous material thatlets the wine breath, so many winer-ies use cork as a means of wine clo-sure, especially for their prestigiouswines. Sixty percent of wine bottlesare closed with cork stoppers, but theproblem is that cork is not easy to ob-tain, since it is made from 150 year-oldoak trees and the bark can only bepeeled once every ten years. Thisshortage has caused cork prices to sky-rocket. One solution is to producecork stoppers from leftover cork chips.To glue this refuse together, factoriesuse glue made from fats and glycerinwhich are mostly non-kosher. Sincewine corks must be made from koshermaterial because the cork touches thewine in the bottle, the ~ had to getinto another field of wine productionand arrange kosher production of corkstoppers, where the glue was madefrom kosher ingredients and a mash-giach supervised the manufacturing ofthe stoppers.
Kosher Fungus Botrytis cinerea is a very interesting
fungus. On one hand, it can causeterrible damage to grapevines. On the
other hand, using it in a controlledfashion actually helps the wine in aprocess called “noble rot.” This fungusremoves water from the grapes, leav-ing behind higher percentages of sug-ars, fruit acids and minerals, makingthe end product more concentratedand intense.
This fungus is usually grown onwheat substrate and, moreover, it isfed with the blood of pigs. (The ques-tion of bio-engineering, especiallywhen non-kosher products are in-volved, is a highly complex halachicquestion, which will be, G-d willing,addressed in a future article.)
The ~ met with a leading biologistfrom Tel Aviv to develop kosher botry-tis and the process was neither short,nor easy, but in the end we had an ap-proved botrytis for our wineries to use.
Today we know that high qualitykosher wine is not a dream, but rathera very successful reality. Robert Parker,a famous wine taster, visited Israel lastsummer and gave the kosher l’mehadrinwines of an ~ certified winery a gradeof 93 out of 100 – a very high grade ac-cording to every criterion. This is ourwine vision come true – exquisite tasteand quality, paired with an extraordi-nary level of kashrus. ~
Today we know that high quality kosher wine is not a dream, but rather a very successful reality...
An ~mashgiach supervising wine barrel production.
10 • www.OK.org
KOSHERMEDICINE LISTS
for Pesach and Year Round
by Rabbi Don Yoel Levy
Several years ago, The JewishHomemaker featured an articleby Rabbi Avrohom Juravel
about taking medications on Pesach.When Rabbi Juravel’s article was pub-lished, we hoped that it would dis-courage the widespread disseminationof lists of medicines (and other prod-ucts) that are supposedly acceptablefor Pesach. Unfortunately, though hisarticle was well received at the time, ithad little effect on the publication anduse of these lists.
In fact, the phenomenon of “PesachLists” has taken quite the oppositeturn. Today, numerous lists of over thecounter (OTC) and prescription medi-cines are still published every year,claiming to state whether or not thevarious medicines contain any chometzor kitniyos, and their acceptability forPassover use. These lists of prescrip-tion medicines include many that areprescribed for serious conditions suchas heart ailments, low blood sugar, etc.
Therefore, I would like to take an-other look at the preparation and useof these lists from two perspectives.First, how authentic and accurate arethese lists? And, secondly, should theybe publicized at all?
As a kashrus agency, one of ourmain tasks is to continually review
and verify ingredient lists for the prod-ucts we certify. Obtaining accurate in-gredient lists and keeping themupdated can be a complicated processand is not simply a matter of a letteror phone call requesting information.For example, when a new companyapplies to the ~ for certification, wefirst request that they send us a com-plete ingredient list. The companymay not initially understand, or wantto understand, what is required, and itcan then take some time for ~ rabbisand staff to work with the applicant tosubmit the information. Once thecompany successfully submits an in-gredient list, two additional steps arerequired before the products can becertified. First, a specific formula, orrecipe, including all ingredients andthe manufacturing process, must besubmitted for each product. These for-mulae, when entered into our com-puter database system, may revealdiscrepancies with the original ingre-dient list, or suppliers that do not haveacceptable kosher certification. For-mula submittal is a crucial tool formonitoring which ingredients are usedin the production of certified products.In fact, in the course of a formula re-view prior to certification, I personallydiscovered a company that was using
a non-kosher ingredient, which theyhad not told us about.
After the ingredients and formulashave been reviewed, rabbis regularlyvisit the facility to verify the accuracyof all the information we received.Even after all of the work and check-ing described above, a Rabbi will oftennote that the submitted ingredient listwas incomplete.
Verifying ingredient lists does notpertain only to new companies seek-ing certification. The mashgiach whoregularly inspects a facility must en-sure that our ingredient lists are accu-rate, and that kosher ingredients arecorrectly warehoused. On occasion,unacceptable ingredients are broughtinto a facility; constant vigilance isnecessary to ensure that only ap-proved ingredients ever reach the pro-duction floor. At one facility withthousands of ingredients, the mash-giach performs a daily inventory ofnewly arrived ingredients. Sometimeshe has to reject incoming ingredients be-cause they do not meet acceptable criteria.
The companies discussed so farhave signed a contract with the ~ andare cooperating with us; nonethelessmistakes and discrepancies occur.Only through constant monitoring canwe be sure that ALL ingredients used
www.OK.org • 11
in the production of kosher products,and especially kosher-for-Passoverproducts, are acceptable.
How do the publishers of the“Kosher-for-Passover” lists get their in-formation – especially from compa-nies that have no certification at all?Generally, a clerical worker with littleor no kashrus expertise will write orcall the company asking for informa-tion. With no system in place to actu-ally follow up and verify theinformation received, it is ludicrous toassume that the information is accu-rate. Additionally, the months ofpreparation required to compile somuch information and get the listsready for publication guarantees thatthe information will be outdated bythe time it reaches the consumer.
Even if information was correct onthe day it was received, companiesmay change suppliers for a host of rea-sons, and they have no obligation toinform the list publishers of thesechanges. Perhaps they once used a cer-tain starch that was not chometzdik as abinder. Later they found a new supplierof the starch at a better price, and thenew one is chometzdik. Or, as commonlyhappens, the acceptable ingredient is nolonger available and the manufacturer isforced to find an alternative.
There is a commonly held view thatif someone writes to a company claim-ing a food allergy to a specific ingredi-ent, the company will give trueinformation. Although companies willrespond to such queries, they will notnecessarily reveal the whole truth andtherefore cannot be relied upon. Re-cently, a Jewish website claimed thata certain liqueur produced in Francewas Kosher. This claim was madeafter a rabbi sent an email to the man-ufacturer stating that the writer is al-lergic to grapes and would like toknow if there is any grape alcohol intheir product. The writer claimed thatthe company did not realize he wasasking about a kosher issue, merely anallergy concern. The response of thecompany stated that there was nogrape alcohol in their product and so
the rabbi assumed it to be kosher.There are two issues with such a
claim:• Allergist will tell you that alcohol
made from grapes, lactose, wheat,etc. will not affect a person allergicto base material from which the al-cohol is made. Therefore companieswill assume that this won’t affectthe consumer and may not revealthis information.
• Although the rabbi assumed thecompany did not know he was ask-ing a kosher question, the email ad-dress had the word rabbi in it, aswell as the name of his Jewish or-ganization! Another misconception is that the
kosher status of a product can be de-termined by checking the ingredientslisted on a company’s web site. Basedon the company’s reply to his email
and the ingredient list posted on thecompany website, the rabbi concludedthat the liqueur was kosher.
What a churban! Can we give ahechsher to a product simply by writ-ing a letter and checking the com-pany’s website?!
A very popular “Pesach List” pro-duced in the New York area has, foryears, printed erroneous informationabout a certain drink that is certifiedby the ~. Each year, this list claimsthat the product is only kitniyos, andcan therefore be used in certain situa-tions on Pesach, when, in fact, theproduct is chometzdik! Attempts tocontact the compiler have been ig-nored, and each year this horrifyinglyincorrect information is reprinted.Clearly, a G-d fearing Jew cannot relyon these lists of medications and otherproducts that are supposedly accept-able for Passover.
Should these lists be publicized at all?Besides all of the serious issues raisedabove regarding the accuracy of the lists,it is the position of the ~ that decisionsregarding the permissibility of medi-cines on Pesach, especially prescriptionmedicines, can only be made by a com-petent Rav on a case-by-case basis.
Anyone with a heart condition orother serious illness must consult withhis doctor about the need to take hismedication on Pesach. He should thenexplain all the details to his Rav, whocan then decide what to do accordingto halacha. Publicizing that certainmedications are, or may be, chometzdikwill only cause people to be machmiron themselves when they should not.Some years ago at a rabbinical meet-ing in Europe, Rabbi Bakshi Doron,the Chief Rabbi of Israel at that time,told of a young man he knew who
had refrained from taking a certainmedication during Pesach, becausethere was a chashash chometz (possibil-ity of chometz). Rabbi Doron stated, “Ihave just come from his funeral.”
A similar story was written byRabbi Shmuel Eliezer Stern of Israel, aprominent Dayan in the Bais Din ofRabbi Wosner, where someone didnot take needed medication during Pe-sach because of a chashash chometz andpassed away.
The publications of Pesach lists, es-pecially concerning medications, caneasily do more harm than good. Howcan anyone take such a responsibilityin good conscience? So, before Pesach,call your doctor about any medicationsyou are taking, consult your Rav, and letthem make a joint decision that takesyour health and halacha into account.
Wishing you a healthy and kosherPesach. ~
PASS VER 2008
Start: 04/19/08 End: 04/27/08
Patient: JEWISH CONSUMER
CAN WE GIVE A HECHSHER TO
A PRODUCT SIMPLY BY WRITING
A LETTER AND CHECKING THE
COMPANY’S WEBSITE?!Renew: ANNUALLY
12 • www.OK.org
I would like to extend a special “thank you” to Dayan Levi Yitzchok Raskin êW¬−ñ¾, of Stamford
Hill, England, and Rabbi Yosef Feigelstock êW¬−ñ¾,of Argentina, for reviewing this article.
By Rabbi Yosef Dovid Chanowitz
Tackling the MOUNTAINS
of Shaimos
A s the
world is
becoming
increasingly com-
puter dependent and
“paperless,” the Jewish world
is still heavily dependent on
handwritten or printed materials,
whether they are sifrei Torah, tefillin, mezuzos,
seforim, divrei Torah, or stories of tzaddikim. When Pesach approaches, most Jewish households are con-fronted with mountains of papers containing Torah thoughts or otherholy works, as well as damaged seforim and old magazines. Now thatthese printed items are so readily available, either from the localbookstore, newsstand, or even right from your own printer, the chal-lenge of dealing with shaimos is greatly magnified.
www.OK.org • 13
What objects are really consideredshaimos (literally: Hashem’s holynames, referring to religiously sacredobjects due to their use of Hashem’sname)?
Is Hashem’s name printed in Englishconsidered shaimos?
Do Jewish newspapers that haveTorah-related articles need to beburied in genizah (a burial place forshaimos)?
Do Torah audio cassettes, CDs,and videos have kedusha; does oneneed to place it in genizah?
What about computer hard driveswith Torah content?
Which other holy articles areshaimos (tzitzis, mezuzah nails, AronKodesh etc.)?
INTRODUCTION
As mentioned above, the shaimosproblem has become much larger inrecent generations. In addition to thevast amount of material printed fromour home computers, a large volumeof seforim and Torah literature is beingprinted on an ongoing basis, whichultimately ends up in our shuls,schools and homes. Just as importantas it is to properly dispose shaimos ingenizah, it is equally important to re-move non-shaimos related itemsfrom the genizah. One should sanctifythe shaimos by keeping it exclusivelyfor sacred items. To say, “Let’s just putit into shaimos,” may actually be adisgrace for real shaimos.
Note: In this article, some issues willhave several opinions. In that case, oneshould consult one’s local Orthodox rabbifor direction, because different communi-ties have different traditions. For that rea-son, I have attached footnotes in Hebrewfor reference.
In Devarim (Deuteronomy 12:2-4) itstates, “You shall utterly destroy all the
places where the nations that you are driv-ing away worshipped their gods… andyou shall obliterate their names from that
place. You shall not do this to Hashem.”From these passages we learn thatone must treat Hashem’s holy namewith the greatest respect. One cannoterase Hashem’s name or discard it –one actually has to go to great lengthsto preserve it with sanctity. In addi-tion, one must treat all Holy Scrip-tures as well as other sacred objectswith the utmost regard.1
The Jewish community has keptthe practice of preserving sacred ob-jects with great fervor. Even duringthe harshest of times, Jewish peopledemonstrated self-sacrifice to sanctifyHashem’s name and His Torah bygoing into a burning shul just to savea holy Torah. A remarkable exampleof this devotion occurred during theHolocaust, when my Zaidy (RebYaakov HaLevi Friedman, ob”m, Gab-bai Tzedokoh) was rounded up withhis community in Kovno, Poland, bythe Nazis, ¾”ô−‚ and ordered to go ona death march. My Zaidy could notjust leave the great Jewish city ofKovno with all of its Sifrei Torah in thehands of the cruel and despicableNazis. He ran to the shul andwrapped an entire Sefer Torah aroundhis waist, hoping the Nazis would notdetect it. At one point, when he sawthe Nazis getting suspicious, he foundthe right opportunity and buried theSefer Torah. When repeating the story,my Zaidy would not brag about hisself-sacrifice, rather he would shed a
tear, exclaiming, “Perhaps I did notbury the Torah properly!”
LEVELS OF HOLINESS ANDHOW TO CARE FOR THEM
(According to Chazal)2
A ¾ðîš −ë³×î í¾îðšHoly items and sacred writings,including the Torah scroll, Tanach,Torah She’baal’peh (Oral Torah),and writings containing Hashem’sname.
B í¾îðš −¾−ô¾³Holy objects that serve kedusha,including Aron Kodesh andmezuzah cases.
C í¾îðšð ¾−ô¾³ð ¾−ô¾³Objects that serve the holy ob-jects of Kedusha, including seforimcases and bimas.
D íî®ô −¾−ô¾³Objects that are used for a mitz-vah, including tzitzis and shofar.
A: ¾ðîš −ë³×î í¾îðšKEDUSHA OR KISVEI KODESH
Initially, only sifrei Torah, tefillin,mezuzos and Tanach written on parch-ment (klaf) were included in kisveikodesh. Torah She’baal’peh (OralTorah) was not included in kisveikodesh, since one was not permitted
One cannot erase Hashem’s name or discard it–one actually has to go to great lengths to preserve it with sanctity...
14 • www.OK.org
to write Oral Torah at all. In addition,one was not allowed to write a Torahscroll unless it was written it its en-tirety, on kosher parchment, withkosher ink. Therefore, if one eitherprinted Tanach in an impermissiblemanner or printed Oral Torah at all,the writings did not retain any holi-ness and would not be placed inshaimos.
During the era of the Mishnah, nottoo long after the destruction of theSecond Temple, people lost interest instudying the Torah with the old inten-sity and fervor. Our Sages were con-cerned that if they continued to relyon memory to retain the Torah itwould be forgotten.
For this reason, they ruled3 thatfrom now on one would be allowed toprint Oral Torah. As it says in Tehillim(119:126): “For it is a time to act forHashem, they have voided your Torah.”The printing of the Mishnah and Tal-mud followed this. They also ruled
that one can print the Chumash, Tanachor a portion of it on paper. Chazal feltthat it was too expensive for one towrite his own Torah scroll; therefore,they allowed the printing of the Torah,so that people would actually learn di-rectly from the Torah.
Over the course of the centuries,Chazal permitted printing Torah on amuch larger scale, including printingTanach and Oral Torah in many lan-guages, Haftoros, individual passages ofTorah, siddurim, Rishonim, Achronim, aswell as the latest surge of publishedTorah books, printed in the last fewdecades.
Now that it is permitted to publishall of the above items, one should carefor these Torah writings with the ut-most respect and holiness, as well asdisposing them properly in shaimos.4
The most sacred part of kisvei kodeshis “Shaimos Hakodesh,” which includesthe seven holy names of Hashem. Onemust dignify them with the greatest
respect. It is forbidden (m’di’oraisa) toerase one of Hashem’s holy names. Ac-cordingly, any item containingHashem’s name, whether in theTanach, Oral Torah, siddur, or any-where else, must be placed in shaimoswhen worn out or no longer in use.
• The use of words and names likeñêîô¾ “Shmuel,” í−¼¾− “Yeshaya,” andñê−òð “Daniel” are permitted, eventhough two of their letters representHashem’s name, since the intendeduse is for a person’s name, notHashem’s name. The word ñê³−ë“Bethel” can be written, as well asBeth-El in two words. Since it is thename of a city, it does not matterhow it is spelled.5
• In the siddur we spell Hashem’sname with the letter “yud” twice.This does not have the same holi-ness as Hashem’s name, though onemust treat it respectfully, and onlywrite it when necessary, like in a sid-dur, since it refers to Hashem’sname.6
• With regard to writing “íWë” on thetop of a letter, or a “í” as referenceto Hashem’s name, many poskim be-lieve that “íWë” does not have anyholiness, and can be discarded afteruse. However, some poskim are ofthe opinion that one should tear offthose letters and place them inshaimos. Therefore, these poskim en-couraged their followers to write“ðW½ë” instead, to avoid showing dis-respect for Hashem’s name.7 All agreethat “ðW½ë” does not need to beplaced in shaimos. The same appliesto the letters “B”H,” “b’ezrasHashem,” and “Im yirtzeh Hashem” inEnglish, as well as the word“Hashem” in English.
• When it comes to writing Hashem’sname in English – G-d8 (without ahyphen), though it does not have thesame holiness as Hashem’s name, itis a keinui (loosely: a nickname forHashem), and it should be placed inshaimos. This does not apply whenwriting G-d (with a hyphen).
The most sacred part of kisvei kodesh is “Shaimos Hakodesh,”
which includes the seven holy names of Hashem.
• In the present day, Torah books areprinted by machine. This does nottake away from their kedusha, eventhough a non-Jew might be pressingthe buttons that control the printingpress,9 since it was published for thepurpose of learning Torah. However,misprints, scraps of paper, printingplates, proofreading copies and extracopies, which were not used, maybe discarded, since they do not havekedusha.10 Similarly, homework,parsha sheets and tests childrenbring home from school may be dis-posed since they are meant for re-viewing purposes only. [It ispreferable to make a tenai (condition)before printing or copying divreiTorah, that all unusable copies shouldnot have kedusha.] This rule only ap-plies when no names of Hashem areprinted on these copies. However ifHashem’s name is printed, it must beplaced in shaimos, since Hashem’sname contains the highest level ofholiness.
• Regarding divrei Torah and seforimthat are worn out and are not us-able,11 there were those poskim in thepast that allowed burning them in arespectful way, particularly during aperiod of time when it was ex-tremely difficult to bury them prop-erly. HaRav Moshe Feinstein ñW®ïheld that in the present time one canplace such seforim respectfully in therecycling bin, but not in the garbage(providing Hashem’s name is notspelled out in them), but most poskimdisagree. They hold that one musttake great measures to bury them.
• One of the most complicated issuesis the disposal of newspapers andmagazines. Many have divrei Torahand secular topics printed back toback. Many of the Gedolei Yisroelwrote strongly against printing suchpapers.12 It does not show respect forthe divrei Torah, especially when thepictures and advertisements are notin the spirit of Torah. If need be, themagazines should be printed with a
www.OK.org • 15
ShaimosGuideTear-out
cut along line and
save
Shaimos > Papers containing Hashem’s name in Hebrew
(or any other language), even if not read.
> Seforim & Siddurim (in Hebrew or any otherlanguage).
> A posuk of Tanach (if it was read).
> Pictures, stamps or advertisements containingHashem’s name (if it is readable without amagnifying glass).
> Mezuzah coverings.
> Tefillin boxes, tefillin straps & tefillin bags.
> Gidim of the Torah scroll.
Suggested Shaimos (These items may be put in shaimos ORwrapped in a bag before disposing in thegarbage or recycle bin.)
> Corner of a paper containing the letters “íWë”
> Torah articles from magazines (if possible toseparate).
> Tzitzis [Fringes only] (or reuse for kedusha,like bookmark in a sefer).
> Lulav (or reuse for kedusha, like starting thefire for Biur Chometz).
> Schach and walls of a sukkah (or reuse for kedusha).
> Shofar.
Not Shaimos(But should be treated with respect and wrappedbefore disposal)
> Audio/Video tapes, DVDs and CD-ROMs.
> Children’s homework, parsha sheets & tests(without Hashem’s name in Hebrew).
> Printed divrei Torah in English (for one-time use).
> Text including the name of a person or placethat also contains a name of Hashem inHebrew (i.e. ñêîô¾).
> Pictures, stamps or advertisements withpesukim of Torah (unless Hashem’s name isreadable).
> Esrog boxes, shofar bags, and lulav covers.
> Seforim cases & book sleeves.
> Mezuzah nails.
> Tallis bags.
16 • www.OK.org
Torah section, that is easily detach-able, so one can put the Torah sec-tion in shaimos, and the rest can beput in the garbage.
Since there is not always a separateTorah section, it is preferable for oneto remove the Torah related articlesthat one read and put them inshaimos. Afterwards, one should placethe rest of the publication in thegarbage, since putting it into shaimosis disrespectful for the holy writings.Even though some of the other articlesuse phrases from the Torah or Chazal,they do not have kedusha, since theyare often written as a melitzah (alle-gory), not for Torah study. If it is notpossible to remove the Torah relatedarticles, or if one did not read theTorah related articles, then the entiremagazine should be double wrappedand placed in the recycling bin (orgarbage) providing there is no mentionof Hashem’s name.
• A picture, a stamp, or an adver-tisement that has a posuk of Torahor a page of Talmud does not go in toshaimos,13 since it is not intended forlearning. However if Hashem’s name(as long as it is readable) is printed onit, then it would require proper re-spect and disposal in shaimos. If it isnot readable, it does not have ke-dusha.
• Audio cassettes, CDs, and videosdo not have kedusha, even if one canhear or see words of Torah orHashem’s name.14 The same is true
with a computer or a hard drive.One may place them in the garbageunless clearly indicated on the objectthat it contains Torah (like on alabel). In that case, one should coverthem or remove the indicator beforeplacing it the garbage.
B: í¾îðš −¾−ô¾³TASHMISHEI KEDUSHA
Holy objects, whose purpose is toserve kedusha, need to be placed inshaimos. They can include an AronKodesh, a mantel of the Torah, a gartelof the Torah, a crown, an Etz Chaimand the paroches covering the bima, be-cause the purpose of all these is toserve the Sefer Torah. In addition,mezuzah coverings, tefillin boxes, tefillinstraps,15 tefillin bags, gidim of the Torahscroll and the bindings of seforim mustbe placed in shaimos. Some poskim saythat one may use these items for an-other use (like using tzitzis as a book-mark in a sefer), which is kedushainstead of putting them inshaimos.16 This is in contrast to itemsthat are of a higher level of kedusha,which must be put in shaimos.
C: í¾îðšð ¾−ô¾³ð ¾−ô¾³TASHMISH D’TASHMISH
D’KEDUSHA
Objects that serve as tashmish
d’tashmish d’kedusha do not need to beplaced in shaimos, but should not beused in a disrespectful way. They in-clude a bima, paroches of the AronKodesh,17 seforim cases, book sleeves,mezuzah nails, and tallis bags, as wellas esrog boxes, shofar bags, and lulavcovers (tashmish d’tashmish mitzvah). Allof these are not kodesh as long as nopesukim of Torah are written on them.
D: íî®ô −¾−ô¾³TASHMISHEI MITZVAH
Holy objects, which are used for amitzvah directly, only have kedushawhile in use. Once they are no longerin use for the mitzvah, they do not re-tain the same kedusha. Therefore, ha-lachically one does not need to burythem in genizah and can dispose themin a respectful manner. A Baal Nefeshshould be machmir and place them inshaimos or use them for holy matters.
Tashmishei mitzvah include tzitzis,arba minim, schach of a sukkah, walls ofa sukkah,18 and shofar, as well as tables,benches and shtenders dedicated for theuse of Torah and tefillah, such as in ashul.
It is beyond the scope of this articleto discuss the many halachos of respectand dignity we ought to have for holyobjects while in use, prior to the bur-ial. Additionally, it was not possible tocover the subject of the “burial site”and its halachic ramifications. ~
1ãáøéí éá, á-ã, øù”é ùí, âî’ îëåú ëá.,øîá”í éñåä”ú ô”å à-á,ùå”ò àå”ç ÷ð”ãîâ”à ñ÷”è, åáùå”ò éå”ã ñé’ øò”å.
2ôø”î àå”ç ñé’ ÷ðã î”æ ñ÷è”å åáôñ÷éúùåáåú ùí ñ”â.
3âî’ âéèéï ñ., ùå”ò àå”ç ùì”ã ñé”áåáîâ”à ùí, åáùå”ò äøá åîùð”á ùí,áàâ”î éå”ã ç”ã ìç,ã, áéçåä ãòú ç”ä ñé’ë”å.
4îâ”à àå”ç ÷ð”ã ñ÷”è, åáùå”ú áàø ùáòñé’ î”â, åòé’ áàøåëä áòéï éöç÷ àå”ç ñé’ä.
5òé’ áîùðä äìëåú ç”å ñé’ ÷ô”ã.6áùå”ò éå”ã ñé’ øò”å ñòé’ é’ áäâää äçîéø
áæä àà”ë áî÷åí öåøê, áù”ê ñ÷é”ãëúá ãå÷à áöåøê âãåì, åòé’ áîðçúéöç÷ ç”è ñé’ ñ”á.
7âî’ ø”ä éç:, ùå”ú öôðú ôòðç ñé’ ÷öåîçîéø áæä, åòé’ áàâ”î éå”ã ç”á ñé’ ÷ìçå÷ìè, åéçå”ã ç”â ñé’ òç, åîðäâ áéú äøá)çá”ã( ìä÷ì áëúéáú á”ä áîëúáéí.åøàä áæä áì÷åèé ùéçåú ç”å ò’ 091åçë”ã ò’ 995.
8áù”ê áéå”ã ñé’ ÷ò”è ñ÷é”à, áùå”ò àå”çñé’ ôä ñ”á, åáùå”ò äøá ñé’ ô”ä ñ÷”â,åáùå”ú úùáõ ñé’ á.
9îùàú áðéîéï ñé’ öè, ëðñú éçæ÷àì ñé’ìæ.
01òé’ áîåø å÷öéòä àå”ç ñé’ ÷ðã ò”ã äîâ”àñ÷é”ã, åòé’ áòéï éöç÷ ñé’ ä, åáàâ”îàå”ç ç”ã ñé’ ìè, åáèåèå”ã áöé”à ç”â ñé’à åéù îúéøéí áæä ø÷ áùòú äãç÷.
11ùáåú éò÷á ç”â àå”ç ñ”é, ùå”ú áàøùáò ñé’ î”â, ùå”ú ëðñú éçæ÷àì ñé’ìè.
21ùã”ç îòøëú ë’ ëìì é”á, òéï éöç÷ ñé’ä, àçéòæø ç”â ñé’ ìá, àâ”î éå”ã ç”á ñé’÷ìã, ÷åáõ úùåáåú ç”á ñé’ å’.
31ùå”ú ùáè äìåé ç”å ñé’ ç’, ùå”ú àáïé÷øä ç”á ñé’ ìâ, àâ”î éå”ã ç”á ñé’ ÷ìå.
41àâ”î éå”ã ç”à ñé’ ÷òâ, öéõ àìéòæø çé”âñ”à, åé”à ùàñåø ìîçå÷ ùîåú
The night before Pesach, all Jewsare commanded to search theirhomes for chometz by candle-
light and collect the pieces to beburned the next morning.There is a beautiful story of The Alter Rebbe, RabbiSchneur Zalman of Liadi, author of “Shluchan Oruch HaRav”and the “Tanya,” and his search for chometz in 5525 (1765).The Alter Rebbe had traveled to Mezeritch earlier that yearto study under the great Maggid. He returned home to hiswife shortly before Pesach, fully prepared to apply all of hisnewly learned spiritual lessons to his daily life – especiallythe lessons he learned regarding bedikas chometz. The day before Pesach, the Alter Rebbe was so busy prepar-ing to do the mitzvah of bedikas chometz, that he bearly ate(although he did not fast, because it is prohibited to fastduring Nissan). Though his home only had one smallroom, the Alter Rebbe’s search lasted the entire night.
After finally finishing his search, the Alter Rebbe gavea kabbalistic interpretation of the words of the Mishnah:“/rbv rutk .njv ,t ihesuc rag vgcrtk rut” (On the eve ofthe fourteenth, we search for chometz by the light of a candle).
The Alter Rebbe explained, “thirteen” is numericallyequal to the word “sjt” (one). Oneness is the knowledgeof G-d and His existence. When one is on this level, thereis no need to search. “Fourteen” symbolizes our seven emo-tional attributes—sxj (loving kindness), vrucd (severity),,rtp, (harmony), jmb (victory), suv (splender), suxh (foundation)
and ,ufkn (majesty), which are mirrored in the animal souland the G-dly soul, where a search is required.
According to the Mishnah, the search must be by can-dlelight, for a candle represents the soul: ,nab wv rb hf”ost” (The candle of G-d is the soul of man). This search mustinclude one’s entire self, all aspects of one’s soul and per-sonality, just like the physical search for chometz whichmust include all of the crevices of one’s home.
This inner search is symbolic of the difference betweenchometz and matzah; chometz rises, while matzah is flat. Therising of the chometz is like the inflated ego of one who is fullof self-love and self-importance. Matzah, in contrast, repre-sents humility (bittul), and one’s desire to submit oneself tothe will of G-d.
Chometz and matzah also have another difference. .njand vmn share two of the same letters, but .nj contains theletter “j”, while vmn contains the letter “v.” Ches and heyboth look similar, having three sides with an opening onthe bottom. In Chassidic texts, this represents an openingfor sin, as hinted in the verse “Sin crouches at the opening”(Genesis 4:7). What differentiates the hey and the chess, isthat the hey has an opening at the top, which representsrising above and beyond one’s self to do teshuvah.
This manifests itself in the inner struggle of man. A“chometz’dike” person, one consumed with self-importance,is more likely to give in to desire and rationalize sin. How-ever, a person who is like “matzah,” and has bittul, is lesslikely to sin and will feel remorse after commiting a sin,using the “opening” to do teshuvah. ~
Ridding Ourselves of the
CH METZ WITHIN
Chassidic Insights Into Pesach
www.OK.org • 17
Compiled by Dina Fraenkel
5 ounces semi-sweetchocolate, chopped
7 eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugarplus 3 tablespoonssugar, divided
2 tablespoons siftedpotato starch
3 tablespoons brandy,divided
1 teaspoon lemonjuice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups chilledwhipping cream
Berry preserves
Sugar (for sprinkling)
In top of double boiler, melt chocolate over simmering water,stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Cool to room temper-ature, about 20 minutes. In mixer, beat egg yolks with 1/2 cupsugar until golden ribbon forms when beaters are lifted. Beat inpotato starch. Slowly beat in chocolate and 2 tablespoonsbrandy.
In another bowl, beat egg whites with lemon juice and saltuntil soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining 1/4 cup sugarto stiff peaks. Stir 1/3 of the egg whites into chocolate mixture.Gently fold in remaining whites. Place parchment paper in an11”x16”x1” jelly roll pan. Grease bottom and sides of pan andspread batter evenly. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes, until tester in-serted in center comes out clean. Loosen cake from sides of panwith small sharp knife. Turn out onto towel sprinkled withsugar. Peel off parchment. Gently roll cake in towel, starting atlong side. Whip cream; fold in remaining 3 tablespoons sugarand 1 tablespoon brandy. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cakewith preserves, then whipped cream. Starting at one long side,using towel as an aid, roll up cake. Refrigerate. Sprinkle topwith additional sugar. Cut into 1-inch slices. Makes 10 servings.
Chocolate Cream Roll
Pa
ssov
erD
esse
rt
18 • www.OK.org
©2008 D
omino Foods, Inc.
All our sugar products are Kosher and Kosher for Passover, excluding Confectioners, Sugar 'N Cinnamon and Pure D'Lite sugars which are not Kosher for Passover.
The Domino Foodsfamily of sugarproducts, including Domino® Sugar,
C&H® SugarandFlorida Crystals®, wantsyour Passover to be aspecial time as yourfamily and friends gather. With a large portion ofour products Kosher forPassover, it’seasy tomake theholidaysweet. Sofrom our
family to yours, wewish you a joyousPassover season.
Preheat oven to 3500F. Line a 9" by 13" baking panwith heavy duty foil and spray with cooking spray orequivalent. In a saucepan or microwave, melt togetherthe chocolate chips and butter. In a large mixing bowlusing an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugartogether at high speed until light and fluffy. Combinethe matzo cake meal and potato starch. Add themelted chocolate alternately with the dry ingredientsto the egg mixture until just blended. Stir in the nutsand vanilla. Pour into the pan and bake 40 minutes oruntil set. Remove from oven and cool on rack.Glaze: Combine the chocolate, potato syrup and coffeeand place over heat or in microwave until the ingredientsare melted together. Stir well and pour over the cake.
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 sticks unsalted butter 2 cups granulated sugar6 large eggs
1/2 cup matzo cake meal1/4 cup potato starch2 tbs. Passover vanilla
powder1 cup chopped walnuts
(optional)
PASSOVER BROWNIES
Glaze (optional)12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips1/4 cup potato syrup 1/4 cup strong coffee
Makes 24 brownies.
ADVERTISMENT
~
KS: Where did you grow up?
RS: I grew up in London, England and learned in yeshiva inBrunoy, France; K’far Chabad, Israel; and, Yeshivas TorasEmes in Jerusalem, Israel. As a bochur in yeshiva, I wastrained in safrus (ritual scribal arts) and after yeshiva I wastrained in shechita (ritual slaughter).
KS: What did you do after yeshiva?
RS: After yeshiva, I married my wife Shulamit in 1969 andwe moved to Lod, Israel. In Lod, I worked as a sofer(scribe), writing mezuzos, tefillin, megillos, etc.
KS: When did you get involved in hashgacha work?
RS: I first started working in hashgacha in 1970 for LondonBeth Din.
KS: You were trained in shechita. What companies didyou shecht for over your career?
RS: I was a shochet for many different companies, including:Ribco (Rochester, NY), Falls Poultry, Sunflower (York, NE),Essen Chicken (Boston, MA), and a shechita in Mexico.
KS: When did you start working for the ~?
RS: I started working for the ~ in 1988, as a shochet inBoston.
KS: What is your current position at the ~?
RS: I am the Rabbinical Coordinator for Platinum Ac-counts. Essentially, I oversee the largest companies certi-
fied by the ~, including Kraft, Snapple, ConAgra,Cargill, Kerry, DSM, Danisco, and others. I work with agreat team of people to ensure that every product we certifymeets our stringent kashrus standards and that our compa-nies are provided with a high level of customer service.
KS: What makes the ~ a special place to work?
RS: I like working at the ~, because of the combined ef-fort and team spirit of all the special people, who arewell versed in halacha and the latest technology, thatwork here. The atmosphere is truly one of a cohesive,bonded unit.
KS: What is best thing about working at the ~?
RS: The best thing about working at the ~ is the freecoffee (just kidding!). No, really, the fact that everyonecan offer his/her own opinion on a matter without fearof being penalized is a really positive aspect about work-ing at the ~.
KS: How would you describe the ~ today?
RS: The ~ embodies the highest level of kashrus andtechnology and is a global leader in kosher certification.The success of the ~ is based on the fact that each em-ployee has a different strength and the entire agency re-lies on those individual strengths in order to form themost competent team of experts. ~
Interview with Rabbi Dovid A.
Steigman
BEHINDWHO’S BEHIND THE ~
Rabbi Steigman
MEET OUR STAFF:
20 • www.OK.org
“I have known Rabbi Steigman for overforty years and... he exemplifies the trait
of tov l’shomayim v’tov l’brios.”– Rabbi Don Yoel Levy,
Kashrus Administrator, ~ Kosher Certification
“ “What Other People SayAbout Rabbi Steigman
I have known Rabbi Steigman for overforty years and I can truly say that he
exemplifies the trait of- good in the eyes of Heaven and
good in the eyes of man. He has shownreal mesiras nefesh for kashrus over theyears by not being afraid of the mostpowerful figures in kashrus and alwayshaving the strength to stand up andspeak the truth. With all of RabbiSteigman’s fine qualities, it is no wonderthat he was especially well liked by myfather, Rabbi Berel Levy, ob”m. Whilestanding up for halacha and the higheststandards of kashrus, Rabbi Steigmanhas always displayed a certain charmthat makes it impossible not to love him.
Rabbi Don Yoel Levy,Kashrus Administrator, ~ Kosher Certification
Rabbi Steigman is a pleasure towork with. He goes the extra mile
to make sure that everything gets donein a manner that satisfies the highestkashrus standards and with excep-tional customer service.
Estee Butman,~ Account Representative, Platinum Accounts
Rabbi Steigman is well versed in allkashrus aspects of the “Shulchan Oruch,”
to the extent that he is able to explain com-plicated concepts to the talmid chacham andlayman alike. In addition, Rabbi Steigmanhas the unique capacity to relate to ourclients and explain our standards withoutmaking them feel inferior. Working withRabbi Steigman has taught me a vital lesson:If we have respect and perseverance we canachieve anything we want to, respect for themany diverse people we deal with on a dailybasis and perseverance in trying until weget it right. That is a formula for success.
Rabbi Yossi Pels,~ Executive Account Manager
I have known Rabbi Dovid Steigman formany, many years. Through his many
years of working in kashrus, he is ex-tremely knowledgeable in all areas of hil-chos kashrus. When needed, he does nothesitate to say that he does not knowsomething and needs to find out about it.It is always a pleasure to talk to and workwith him, because of his emes, fine middosand derech eretz towards others.
HaRav Aaron Teitelbaum, êW¬−ñ¾Nirbater Rav
www.OK.org • 21
èåá ìùîéí åèåáìáøéåú
Farvoss iz di nacht fun Pesach anderishfun alle nacht fun a gantz yahr?
Wei shen mo jin wen bu tong yu qi tayie wen?
Cherah een shab ba’ah shab hayehdeegar fargh dareht?
Pourquoi cette nuit se distingue-t-ellede toutes les autres nuits?
Was zeichnet diese nacht vor allenanderen nachtenaus?
Che differenza c’e fra questa e tutte lealtre notti?
Kuanto fue demud’ad’a la noce la esta,mas ke tod’as las noces?
Chem otlichayetsya eta noch ot vsekhdrugikh nochei?
Miert ish oyan mash ez az ayel mindenmash ayelnel?
¿Por qué esta noche es diferente atodas las demás noches?
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Global Questions
F U N PA G E
How good are you at finding chometz? Can you find the hidden slice of bread ( ) somewhere in this issue?
Can’t find it? Visit www.kosherspirit.com to see the answer!22 • www.OK.org
INSTRUCTIONS: Fill in the number corresponding to the correct language in the blank box, for example, 2=Yiddish
Jewish children all over the world will recite the “Ma Nishtana” at the Pesach sedarim.
Can you match each version to its language?
“Why is this night different from all other nights?”îä ðùúðä äìéìä äæä îëì äìéìåú
2
FindThe Bread!
HOW DID YOU DO?6 or more correct:
You might be a chacham
2-5 correct: You might be a taam
0-1 correct: She’eino yodea lishol?
For answers, please visitwww.kosherspirit.com
A Heavenly InvestmentG-d made a huge investment in taking theJews out of Mitzrayim – he sent the tenplagues, split the sea, changed the orderof nature, etc. Was it really worth it?
One might think that maybe for the Jewsof yesteryear it was worth the effort, butlooking at the Jewish people today, was G-d’s efforts worthwhile?
In the Haggadah it says:
“In every generation, a person is obligated toregard himself as if he had left Egypt...”
It was not only our ancestors whom Hashemredeemed from Egypt; He redeemed us aswell, as implied by the verse: ‘He brought usout from there, so that He might bring us to theland He swore to our fathers, and give it to us.’(Deuteronomy 6:23) Yes, our Torah and mitzvostoday are just as precious, if not more, toHashem. So yes, Hashem’s investment in Yet-zias Mitzrayim was well worth it... just for us!
Pesach Tidbits
On Shmittah> Less than 3 decades ago, only 200 farmers observed
Shmittah; today, close to 5,000 farmers observeShmittah! Many of these farmers spend their dayslearning in kollel, instead of working the fields.
> Just as the Shabbos day blesses the other 6 days ofthe week, the Shmittah year blesses the next 6years. - “Kli Chemdah,” Parshas Behar
> It says in the Mechilta (Parshas Beshalach), “Fromhere Rabbi Shimon said, ‘The Torah can be expoundedonly by those who eat the mann.’” The Jewish people were able to accept the Torahonly when they lived in a situation that wasbeyond the normal boundaries of nature.Therefore, the giving of the Torah was preceded bythe giving of the mann, to raise the people to asupernatural standard. Now, through the mitzvahof Shmittah, the Jewish people are removed fromthe regular limitations of nature. It is completelyunheard of for a nation to collectively cease allagricultural activity for an entire year. Our nationonly survives the year of Shmittah because Hashemgave a brocha to the Jewish people that they shouldsurvive the Shmittah year beyond the limitations ofnature. The mitzvah of Shmittah was given to theJewish people in order to raise them to the level ofthose who eat mann. In this way, they were able toconceive the depths of the Torah’s wisdom as didtheir ancestors at Har Sinai.
- “Dibros Kodesh” of the Strickover Rebbe
> During the year, some Chassidim, including the followers of theRebbe of Ropshitz and the Tzanzer Rebbe, have the customto make the brocha “she’hakol” on potatoes, but when usingpotatoes for karpas at the Pesach seder, they make the brocha“ha’adamah.” – The Ropshitz Haggadah
> Hydroponics is a popular method of growing large, insect-freeplants – especially in places with poor soil conditions. There aremany halachic questions and opinions regarding the use ofhydroponics (especially in Israel), including: shmitta, brochos, terumosand maaseros, and using hydroponics at the Pesach sedarim. Askyour local Orthodox rabbi what opinion you should follow.
Question& Answer
www.OK.org • 23
áëì ãåø åãåø çéá àãí ìøàåú àú òöîå ëàìåäåà éöà îîöøéí.
O D D S & E N D S
For a complete listing of all ~ KosherCertified Pesach products please visit
www.OK.org/Pesach
Is it KosherFor Pesach
Kosher Without Compromise.
KOSHERCERTIFICATION~
391 Troy Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11213718-756-7500 • [email protected] • www.ok.org
vyhnav ,ba
