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Kosher Concepts; a poignant and timely message by Rabbi Paysach Krohn. Raising the awareness to kashrus in our homes and preventing timtum halev. Watch, and be inspired.

The Kashrus of Home Chefs Part 2 Join Rabbi Sholem Fishbane, Director of Kashrus for the Chicago Rabbinical Council, and the Executive Director of AKO, and Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger as they discuss the recent Kol Koreh regarding home-based businesses.

The Kashrus of Home Chefs Part 1 Join Rabbi Sholem Fishbane, Director of Kashrus for the Chicago Rabbinical Council, and the Executive Director of AKO, and Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger as they discuss the recent Kol Koreh regarding home-based businesses.

The Raw Truth about Honey Kashrus Join Rabbi Daniel Senter, Chief Operating Officer of KOF-K Kosher, and Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger as they discuss the raw truth about honey Kashrus

Exploring the Kashrus Issues of Unsupervised Cooking Part 3 Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger continues his discussion with Rav Moshe Heinemann, Rabbinic Administrator of the Star-K and Rov of Agudas Yisroel of Baltimore, regarding potential kashrus issues that can arise when non-Jewish domestic help is employed in the home. Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger: One final question: if someone has domestic help in the house alone when no one is around, do they have to worry that the non-Jew may have used keilim or appliances to cook food for themselves? Rav Moshe Heinemann: The Shulchan Aruch speaks about this kind of case, when a non-Jew is left alone in a kitchen and knows the homeowner is on vacation for a week and will not be coming back for a while, which means he is not afraid that anyone will walk in on him. He says that in such a case, one has to be suspicious that the non-Jew used his keilim in a way that would make them treif. However, since you don’t know for sure that he used them, they only are assur for 24 hours. After 24 hours, everything is only a question of a derabanan because foods that are absorbed in keilim get a bad taste after that amount of time; therefore, one can be meikil. But that's only b’dieved if it already happened. One should be careful not to let this happen in the first place. One thing you can do if you have a gas stove is to shut off the gas in the basement. If your stove is electric, it probably has its own breaker and you could shut that off. Most aides don’t know anything about which breaker to turn on to use the stove so you don’t have to worry that they will do that. Once you turn off the gas or electricity to the stove, the non-Jew has no way to heat food. You would now only have to worry that they put their own food on your plates. If you gave him permission to use your food, you don’t have to worry that he brought in his own food. If you didn’t, you would not have to worry about cold food. The only problem would be if he washed the dishes in hot water. Water is only considered hot if it is “yad soledes bo”. The cut off point of yad soledes bo is 120 degrees; therefore, you can set the hot water heater to 120, and by the time it gets to the sink it will be less than that, so the dishes will always be considered cold. Rabbi Hisiger: If you have surveillance cameras in your home and the help knows about it, is that enough of a “mirsas” to assume that they won’t use your keilim when you aren’t home? Rav Heinemann: If the cameras are trained on the stove or any place that they could cook, it would serve that purpose. Although we said that a microwave won’t be a problem of bishul akum, it would be a problem if he cooked non-kosher food in it, as that would make the microwave treif. If he knows there’s a camera trained on the microwave, that would take care of this concern. Rabbi Hisiger: How often does one have to enter the house to be considered a yotzi v’nichnas? Rav Heinemann: There isn’t necessarily any amount of time. Rather, it has to be that the non-Jew is worried that you might come back home at any minute. If you leave for four hours but the non-Jew thinks you may come home at any minute, that would suffice. If they know that you went away and won’t be coming home for a while, that would not be a good yotzi v’nichnas. It is not a matter of time. Rather, it is a matter of whether or not the non-Jew is worried that you could come back. Rabbi Hisiger: Thank you so much to the Rov for sitting with us today and answering our shailos. We look forward to speaking again in the future. Rav Heinemann: Thank you. I appreciate it.

Domestic Help with Wines at Home Part 2 Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger continues his discussion with Rav Moshe Heinemann, Rabbinic Administrator of the Star-K and Rov of Agudas Yisroel of Baltimore, regarding potential kashrus issues that can arise when non-Jewish domestic help is employed in the home. Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger: Another common scenario people generally are concerned about when dealing with domestic help, are open bottles of wine. What do people need to know about that? Rav Moshe Heinemann: If a non-Jew touches wine – meaning that he puts his hand into the barrel and touches the actual wine – it becomes not kosher unless the wine was previously cooked. I was at a wine factory in Eretz Yisroel and told them that any wines they send us must be cooked. The winemaker said, “No way. I’m not going to cook my wine!” I asked him why and he said that cooking wine causes it to lose its flavor. Actually, that is the reason why there is no problem of yayin nesech with cooked wines. In olden times, idol worshippers poured out wine as part of their service to their gods, which is why the chachamim prohibited any wine touched by a non-Jew. However, they would not use cooked wine for their idol worship because it is considered inferior. That’s why it is permitted. I told the winemaker that he only had to cook it for five seconds, and he agreed to that. When you cook wine, the alcohol and the aroma go out with the steam. That’s what he was worried about. But if he only had to cook it for five seconds, he wasn’t worried. Rabbi Hisiger: So, if you have wine around domestic help, you should make sure that it is mevushal? Rav Heinemann: Yes. Rabbi Hisiger: Is grape juice the same? Rav Heinemann: Yes. It’s exactly the same. It used to be that if you didn’t pasteurize wine, it would start to turn into vinegar, and if you didn’t pasteurize grape juice, it would start to ferment. Today that no longer happens because they put sulfites into the wine and grape juice, which acts as a preservative. Hashem made grapes to be made into wine. How do I know that? If you look at grapes, you can see that they look cloudy, and this cloudy substance comes off on your fingers. That is yeast. When they squeeze the grapes, they leave some of the skin in the juice to make wine because the yeast turns the sugar in the juice into alcohol. If left out, the air will turn the alcohol into vinegar. The way they used to stop that from happening was by making it air tight. Today, they use sulfites for that, so they don’t have to cook it anymore. So, you should look at the bottle to make sure it says mevushal. If it says that, you know that it was cooked. If the wine is not mevushal and a non-Jew picks up a bottle with the cap on and doesn’t open it, even though they moved it around, as long as you are there, it does not become treif. If you’re not there, it is treif because you have to be worried that they may have spilled some out. But if you are there and see that they only moved it around, or if you saw it on a screen from a camera that is there, it isn’t a problem. If the bottle is uncovered and the non-Jew moved it around, it is a problem even if they didn’t put their hand into the bottle. As soon as the wine shakes around, it becomes treif. Rabbi Hisiger: If you have an open non-mevushal bottle of wine in your fridge, is there any way to wrap it to make sure it wasn’t tampered with and to alleviate the problem that way? Rav Heinemann: If you tell the help that they’re not allowed to go into the fridge and someone is yotzie v’nichnas, the wine would be permitted because you can assume that they didn’t open the fridge. If they do have a right to open the fridge, which they probably would have, if they are taking care of an elderly person and preparing their food, one can put a piece of tape over the cover of the bottle. It is even better if you write something on top and see that it is still intact like you left it. You also can wrap it in two bags and make sure it is the same as you left it. You also could have a camera facing the fridge to keep watch and see that the non-Jew didn’t open any bottles. Otherwise, you should make sure you don’t have any wine around that is not mevushal.

Kashrus Concerns With Domestic Help Part 1 Rav Moshe Heinemann, Rabbinic Administrator of the Star-K and Rov of Agudas Yisroel of Baltimore joins Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger for a comprehensive discussion of potential kashrus issues that can arise when non-Jewish domestic help is employed in the home. Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger: Thank you to the Rov for taking some of his valuable time to be with us today. Rav Moshe Heinemann: It is my pleasure. Rabbi Hisiger: We would like to discuss a very important issue in kashrus. That issue is domestic help in the home. People have cleaning help or health aides, who very often live in the home and help prepare food. This results in various kashrus shailos that we would like to discuss with the Rov. Let’s start with uncooked meat or fish in the kitchen when the domestic help is around. What concerns could be raised? Rav Moshe Heinemann: There are a few issues. One issue is bishul akum if the non-Jew cooked the food. A second issue is the concern that they might switch the original food with their own non-kosher food. A third issue would be if they bring their own non-kosher food into the kitchen, which could lead to questions about the keilim that they might have used. The first issue is bishul akum. In the good old days, when gas stoves had pilot lights, if a Jew lit the pilot light there are opinions that hold that there no problem of bishul akum. Not everyone agrees with this, but there is an opinion that holds that once a Jew lights the pilot light there is no more problem because every fire is lit from that flame, so it is like the Jew lit all of the fires. Today, you cannot buy a stove with a pilot light in America because it is considered unsafe. The only way to get one is to import it from Bolivia. Whether or not food that a non-Jew cooks on a flame that they lit is bishul akum, depends if the food is “oleh al shulchan malachim”, meaning that it is prestigious enough to be served by a king at a state dinner. It doesn’t matter if a king would eat it for breakfast. What matters is if he would put it on the table at an official state dinner. The general rule of thumb is that if it would not be served at a wedding, it definitely would not be oleh al shulchan malachim. Secondly, if the food is something that can be eaten raw, there is no problem of bishul akum. For example, corn on the cob can be eaten raw, even though most people prefer to cook it. Therefore, there is no problem of bishul akum if a non-Jew cooked it. The reason the chachamim prohibited bishul akum is because they were afraid that if Jews ate what a non-Jew cooked, it would create a certain connection. Most business deals are cemented over lunch because eating together puts people in a good mood and makes them like each other, which helps deals go through. This decree of the chachamim was not applied to foods that are not fit for a king’s table because they are not considered choshuv enough to create such a connection. The Shulchan Aruch says that lentils are not considered choshuv enough to go on a king’s table. What is considered worthy to eat raw and what is considered choshuv all depends on the place. Rabbi Hisiger: If domestic help takes my meat, puts it in my pot and cooks it, what would be the status of the meat and the pot? Rav Heinemann: Meat is oleh al shulchan malachim and it is not eaten raw in general. There may be crazy people who eat raw meat but normal people don’t, so it is bishul akum. Not only is the meat treif, the pot is also treif. If it was served hot, the dishes and cutlery are also treif. Some things can kashered and some things cannot. If the plate is china, it cannot be koshered under normal conditions because kli cheres, ceramics, cannot be koshered. Rabi Hisiger: What if they cooked it in a microwave? Rav Heinemann: If it was cooked before and they are just warming it up then there would definitely be no problem. Even if it was never cooked before, my opinion is that there is no problem of bishul akum in a microwave. Not everyone agrees with this, but that is my opinion. The reason I say that is because when the chochomim prohibited bishul akum, they only forbade foods that were cooked with a fire. There is a general rule that soaking something in liquid for 24 hours is considered like cooking. However, that rule was not extended to bishul akum because bishul akum was only prohibited if the food was cooked in fire. There is no fire in a microwave. Therefore, there is no gezeirah of bishul akum. Therefore, if someone has help and can’t cook for himself, they can ask the non-Jew to cook the food in the microwave. It won’t be bishul akum and will be kosher. The second issue is that Chazal were concerned that there might be reason to suspect that a non-Jew might switch your kosher meat for their non-kosher meat because they think that your meat is better than theirs. If there is a reason to be nervous about that, it is a big problem. If you provide food for the help, they would have no reason to switch your food for outside food because you are giving them the same food that you are eating. If you don’t feed them, you will have to be concerned about this problem. If you warn them before they cook the food that they better make sure to cook the food you give them and you are “yotzi v’nichnas”, meaning you come in and out and the non-Jew doesn’t know when you will enter the room and, therefore, will always be afraid to exchange your meat for theirs because you might show up right when they are doing it and catch them, you don’t have to be worried about this concern. Furthermore, if you make an identifying mark on your meat – for example, you cut it in a very specific way so that you can tell if it is your meat or not – that would be another way to alleviate the concern and get around this problem.

Where Did All The Bugs Come From? In this installment of Let’s Talk Kashrus, Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger is joined by Rabbi Lipa Klein, Head of the Vaad Hakashrus of Hisachdus Harabanim and Rabbi Shmuel Levi Weinberger, Head of Bedikas Tolaim at Hisachdus Harabanim, to discuss the issue of insect infestation in fruits and vegetables. Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger: Thank you, Rabbi Klein and Rabbi Weinberger, for joining us to discuss the very relevant area of kashrus of bedikas tolaim. A common question that we get at Let’s Talk Kashrus is why insect infestation is such a big issue today, when it didn’t seem to be such a major problem in the past. Can you please address that question? Rabbi Lipa Klein: First of all, I’d like to thank you for giving me this opportunity. Before I answer your question, I’d like to start with a short introduction. When it comes to bedikas tolaim, many people feel the Rabbanim are out to get them and to tell them, “You can’t eat this and you can’t eat that.” People ask: Why are you forbidding so many fruits and vegetables? Usually when I speak about this issue, I tell a story about one of our Mashgichim, who was certifying a run of a product at a certain company. He wasn’t there for anything related to bedikas tolaim, but he had some time on his hands and he decided to check some strawberries he had with him. As he was doing that, the owner of the company, who happened to be a completely non-religious Jew, entered the room and asked him what he was doing. He told him that he was checking strawberries, and he showed him the bugs he had found. The owner was very surprised and said, “I’m not giving up my ham sandwich but I won’t eat strawberries anymore.” The point is that if people would see what we find in fruits and vegetables, they would realize that this is a real issue. We aren’t just trying to find ways to make new restrictions. The bugs are there. We have a laboratory in our office, and we often invite people in who want to understand the issues so that they can see for themselves what we find. When they see it with their own eyes, they understand that we aren’t just making a tumult over nothing. Rabbi Hisiger: You’re saying that if people would see the bugs, they would be repulsed and wouldn’t want to eat the fruits and vegetables. Rabbi Shmuel Levi Weinberger: When we send Mashgichim to places to check vegetables, we tell them to show the non-Jewish owners whatever they find. Seeing is believing. At first, they often laugh at us when they see us checking for bugs. But once we show them the insects we found, they give in. It often happens that when we leave at night, we offer to leave them the leftover stuff – but nobody ever wants to take it after seeing the insects we found! Rabbi Klein: Getting back to your original question of why there seems to be more of an infestation issue today than there was years ago: In general things have changed very much in the way fruits and vegetables grow and how they are shipped to us. Today, the entire world is like one small town. Fruits and vegetables from all over the world are sent here for sale. This led to the famous shailoh of whether one can ever make a Shehechiyanu on a new fruit because you can always find avocados and grapes and everything else on the shelves all year round. If they aren’t coming from California, they’re coming from Chile or from somewhere else. That’s a big part of the problem. Fruits and vegetables today are shipped in from all over the globe, and they bring in infestation and insects that previously weren’t found in the areas they are shipped to, and the infestation spreads all over. Additionally, the natural predators these insects have in their home countries are not found in the places they are shipped to, so that makes the infestation that much worse. Second of all, the government keeps banning pesticides for environmental and health reasons. They used to be used on a very large scale and now they can’t be used. That’s one more reason that infestation is much more common. Rabbi Hisiger: You mean that today they use a lower level of pesticides? Rabbi Klein: They use different kinds of pesticides that are not as harsh as they used to be. Also, the bugs have built up a resistance to the pesticides. Just like when humans build up a resistance to antibiotics they don’t work as well, so too bugs build up a resistance and the antibiotics don’t work as well. Rabbi Hisiger: Would you suggest that our readers should only buy prechecked vegetables with a hechser? Rabbi Weinberger: Whoever is not a mumchah in bedikas tolaim should definitely buy prechecked vegetables, rather than checking it on their own. Rabbi Klein: There are different organizations that give out rules and guidelines for how to wash vegetables. At the Hisachdus Harabanim, from our experience we wouldn’t advise someone who doesn’t know what to check for to do it himself. I know that there are different methods out there and everyone should ask his Rov what he can do himself, but, in general, it’s very hard to check and you need to know what you are looking for. Doing it yourself can lead to people getting fooled. Rabbi Hisiger: What would you say is the biggest misconception you have seen in regards to bedikas tolaim? Rabbi Weinberger: I would say there are two big misconceptions regarding bedikas tolaim. One is called “greenhouse”, and the other is called “triple-washed”. People see packaging that says “greenhouse” or “hydroponic” or “triple-washed” and take that as a kashrus seal. That is not the case. For a greenhouse to be good, we need to put in a lot of money and effort and we need to have a lot of siyata d’shmaya. Just being grown in a greenhouse does not mean that vegetables are free of bugs. And vegetables being “triple-washed” without a hashgacha means nothing. Rabbi Klein: I couldn't agree more. I would add that a greenhouse by itself is nothing and could be even worse than an open field. If the effort is not put in to get it cleaned properly, the insects will be very comfortable there and will multiply by the hundreds and thousands and there’s no way for them to get out. Rabbi Weinberger: For insects to get in it is very easy, but they won’t go out so easily. That’s why a greenhouse could easily be more infested than an open field. Rabbi Hisiger: I want to thank both of you on behalf of the viewers for bringing light to this issue and making sure Yidden avoid the lavim of tolaim. I wish you much hatzlacha. Rabbi Klein: Our sechar will be if people know what they are eating and know what to watch out for.

An American's Guide to Kashrus in Israel Visiting Eretz Yisroel? Headed off to study in yeshiva or seminary? Do you know what you should or shouldn’t be eating? For many, the answer to this question is, “No. Not really.” ZNT Kashrus, led by Rabbi Shmuel Weiner and Rabbi Moshe Farkash, has undertaken to inform, educate and guide English-speaking “chutznikim” through the world of kashrus in Eretz Yisroel. In this conversation with Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger, they describe the purpose and goals of their innovative organization and provide some insight for those attempting to navigate the often-complicated Israeli kashrus scene. ZNT can be reached at zntkosher@gmail.com or 058-567-4375 Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger: Thank you Rabbi Farkas and Rabbi Weiner for joining us. It is an honor to have you here from Eretz Yisroel. It’s interesting to see two Americans running a Vaad Hakashrus in Israel. Before we get into practical issues people from the Diaspora face while in Eretz Yisroel, please tell us a little about how you founded this Vaad Hakashrus and what your goals are. Rabbi Shmuel Weiner: First of all, thank you for giving us this opportunity to “Talk Kashrus.” When I became a Rov in Ramat Eshkol, I saw that many members of the Anglo community were lost when it came to kashrus. They would come to me for help in navigating the world of kashrus in Eretz Yisroel and asked for help figuring out what was good and what wasn’t. I got pushed into it and now here I am, trying to put together information with the help of Rabbi Farkas and others who helped along the way to get this organization off the ground. We now service American bochurim and seminary girls who come to study in Eretz Yisroel, as well as yungerleit who live here and guests who are visiting and trying to figure out which hechsherim have the standards of the American hechsherim that they are used to eating, which restaurants they can go to and which products to buy. Rabbi Hisiger: What does this mean on a practical level? What role do you play? Are you actually providing supervision or just advising people from chutz la’aretz who come to Eretz Yisroel? Rabbi Moshe Farkash: We do certify a few restaurants but most of what we do is in the field of service. What I mean by that is that people come to Eretz Yisroel and want to eat in certain hotels. We create a relationship with the Mashgiach in the hotel and obtain real-time information about what goes on behind the scenes. Similarly, people have shailos about eateries and products. This year, Shemitah is a big deal. For people from chutz la’aretz this is really a complicated topic. We go into the hotel or store and review the protocols and products they use. Rabbi Hisiger: If you are happy with them, what do you do next? Rabbi Weiner: We have an approved list of places to eat around the country – not only in Yerushalayim, but also in cities like Herziliya, Netanya, etc. Anyone can contact us through the ZNT website to receive a copy of the list. We are working on upgrading restaurants around the country so that our people can eat there when they visit during bein hazmanim and other times. Rabbi Hisiger: What do you do if you go into an establishment and it’s not up to your standards? Rabbi Farkash: It depends on what the problem is. There are two parts to kashrus – the ingredients and the processing. We try to offer a service to the community, not a disservice, meaning we try to find places where people can eat. If someone wants to go to a particular restaurant, we may be able to tell him to stick to certain products and avoid others. I know that this is quite different than how it is in America. In America, if someone is going to a small city, he’ll call up his Rov, who will put him in contact with the local Vaad Hakashrus in that city. In Eretz Yisroel, you don’t really have that. We’ve created what can be described as a local Vaad Hakashrus for people coming from chutz la’aretz. We want to service them. We don’t want to tell them that they can’t eat anything – especially because people are coming for vacation and need places to eat. So, we try to “hit the happy medium”, as they say. Rabbi Hisiger: What would you say is the primary difference between Eretz Yisroel and chutz la’aretz when it comes to kashrus? Rabbi Weiner: The implementation of protocols is far different. In Eretz Yisroel, just keeping to the rules is, for some reason, a difficult task. This is especially true because Israelis -both frum and non-frum – often think they know everything about kashrus. If someone has been involved in running a restaurant for years, and now you all of a sudden tell him that he needs a Mashgiach Temidi and he needs someone turning on the fires, he’ll respond with: “What do you mean? I’ve been doing it this way for years!” If someone has his ideas of what kosher is, complying to new rules is hard. Some people have been kashering with a hose for years, and to tell them that they need to do more is very difficult. I’m not saying that every place is like this. There are some very good places. But that’s what we’re often up against. The culture in general is to say: “We can do whatever you ask. Just bring us the Americans and we’ll take care of it.” We have to tell them: “No. First you have to set yourself up properly and then we’ll send you the customers.” This is true even in non-kashrus matters. If we tell a restaurant owner that he’ll get American customers if he brings in a professional chef, he might respond: “What do you mean? I’m a professional chef!” That mindset plays out in kashrus, which makes it harder for Americans to navigate the system. Another point is that Eretz Yisroel has a lot of politics, which creates a lot of non-transparency. In America, the kashrus organizations are very transparent. In Eretz Yisroel, everyone is worried about the others. They’re worried about giving away too much and what the others will do with that information. It’s much more competitive amongst the agencies, which makes things a lot harder. Rabbi Farkash: I agree that lack of transparency is a big issue. Additionally, the culture in Eretz Yisroel is very relaxed. In America, I worked for the Vaad Hakashrus of 5 Towns and for Rabbi Fishbane in the CRC. The protocols were adhered to very strictly. We had checklists of every product in the storage room. If products got delivered by mistake that had to go back, they were listed and kept track of. In Eretz Yisroel, I went into a restaurant and saw a bunch of not approved products sitting around. They just told me that the chef knows what to use and what not to use. In America, you won’t find a fleishig restaurant without a Mashgiach Temidi. In Eretz Yisroel, you’d be surprised to find a fleishig restaurant with a Mashgiach Temidi. The mindset is that they have a system in place where everyone is Jewish and everyone knows halacha. That is a detriment, not a benefit. You cannot make assumptions based on the fact that the workers are Jewish. Rabbi Hisiger: I would add that when people come to Eretz Yisroel, especially if they are not knowledgeable, they may see signs with Hebrew letters and think that means the product is acceptable. They may see words like “Rabbanut” and Badatz”, but they don’t know that there are different levels of Rabbanut, and that “Badatz” is a generic term that doesn’t really mean anything. Rabbi Weiner: One of the most common lines they say in Eretz Yisroel is “yesh lanu kol habadatzim.” We have every Badatz. Americans don’t realize that any three people can be a Badatz. Us three here are already a Badatz! Another line you hear is: “We have Rav Rubin and the Eidah Hachareidis.” You won’t find any restaurant that has both of those hechsherim. What they mean is that their meat has Rav Rubin and the Eidah. But what about the rest of the ingredients? They’re not telling you about that. So, a lot of Americans might be asking the right questions, but they don’t realize that the answers they’re getting are in a different language. Rabbi Hisiger: Let’s talk about mitzvos hateluyos ba’aretz. Most people from chutz la’aretz are not familiar with those halachos. Does your organization play a role in educating them? Rabbi Weiner: Yes. The issues of terumos and maasros apply every year. Buying produce in certain places could be questionable. If someone has to be in certain cities that have no hechsherim for a simcha or to visit someone, we’ll give him advice regarding how to separate terumos and maasros on his own or about what is more of a problem and what is less of a problem. This year, there is a question of Shemitah, which could be more complicated because you don’t have the option of separating things on your own. If it’s assur, it’s assur. When people contact us, we’ll offer information and give classes to groups of yeshiva bochurim, seminary girls or avreichim to give them the knowledge of what to be aware of, which fruit stores to stay away from, etc. If people need help in situations where they have to be at a simcha or by a relative, we’ll try to guide them. Orlah is not usually a major issue. Hafrashas challah is more stringent in Eretz Yisroel, so we will sometimes tell someone to do it on their own if it is not clear that a Mashgiach did it in a pizza store or somewhere else. Rabbi Hisiger: Can you leave us with a Let’s Talk Kashrus takeaway? Rabbi Weiner: If someone is coming to Eretz Yisroel, whether it’s a bochur or a seminary girl or someone coming on a trip for the summer or for yom tov, he should be in contact with us to find out which places have better hechsherim and which hechsherim he should stay away from, as well as for advice about what to do in a shaas hadchak situation. Rabbi Hisiger: I want to thank both of you for all that you are doing. You are really providing a tremendous service for many people who go to Eretz Yisroel and otherwise wouldn’t know who to call or where to turn. You have become a very valuable resource. Many people watching this will now have a place to call before they go to Eretz Yisroel to find out where they can eat. Thank you for your avodas hakodesh and continued hatzlacha.

Is Vegan Always Kosher? Veganism is sweeping the nation. Does this trend provide a benefit for the kosher consumer? Can one eat just about anything in a vegan restaurant? On this episode of Let’s Talk Kashrus, Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger is joined by Rabbi Avrohom Weinrib, Rov of Congregation Zichron Eliezer of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Rabbinic Administrator of Cincinnati Kosher, to discuss this fascinating and very relevant contemporary topic. Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger: Thank you, Rabbi Weinrib, for Talking Kosher with us. Rabbi Avrohom Weinrib: What a pleasure! Rabbi Hisiger: We would like to discuss the following fascinating topic: Vegan food is very popular today. May a kosher consumer eat in a vegan restaurant? Rabbi Weinrib: Vegan food is very much in vogue today. Especially in out-of-town places, where there are less kosher-certified restaurants, people may believe that vegan restaurants are a great option. After all, what could be the problem? They don’t have any meat or dairy, so what could be an issue? The truth, however, is that there are many potential kashrus problems. The most obvious problem is infestation in the vegetables. Everyone knows that some vegetables must be checked for insects but many people do not realize how many different vegetables could be problematic. In vegan restaurants, the bulk of the food contains vegetables and many have infestation issues. Rabbi Hisiger: Aren’t there laws on the books that mandate the restaurants to clean the vegetables before serving them? Rabbi Weinrib: Yes, there are. But the laws of the country and the halacha are a million miles apart. They might legally have to wash the vegetables to some extent, and you probably won’t see any bugs crawling around on your plate, but the laws won’t take care of the halachic problems. A thrip, for example, is very small. According to the FDA, a certain number of thrips are permitted. But according to halacha, if someone eats one thrip he has transgressed six lavim d’oraysa. There also can be multiple aphids in the food that are permitted by the law but forbidden by halacha. People need to realize this but, unfortunately, even people in the kashrus industry do not. I recently had an experience that really highlighted this issue. There was a vegan restaurant that was under a certain hashgacha that will remain unnamed. Someone asked me to do a review of this restaurant to see if he could eat there. I went down and saw that there were horrific infestation issues that were not being dealt with. I asked the Mashgiach if anything was done about bugs and he told me, “I make sure that they wash the vegetables.” Obviously, just washing with water will not remove thrips. At best, it might take off some flies. This story illustrates the unfortunate situation that some hashgachos do not understand the infestations issues and are not up to date with the facts. Infestation issues are constantly evolving and changing and we always have to stay on top of it. People claim that it isn’t a big deal because “in the old days people ate everything.” That may be partially because they didn’t know about some of the problems and partially because they used more pesticides in those times that aren’t used today for health reasons. Today, some vegetables are infested much more than in the past. Rabbi Hisiger: So vegan restaurants need a reputable hechsher, just like any other restaurant? Rabbi Weinrib: 100%. Rabbi Hisiger: Are there any other issues besides for vegetable infestation? Rabbi Weinrib: Yes. The second biggest issue is bishul akum. Anything that is prepared and cooked by a non-Jew and is worthy of being served on a king’s table could present a problem of bishul akum. Some foods can be eaten raw and, therefore, are not a problem, but many other dishes cannot be eaten raw. People may not realize that even if all the ingredients are technically kosher, if something is bishul akum it may not be eaten. Rabbi Hisiger: Many people may also not realize that bishul akum could be a problem in their own home if they have domestic help preparing food for them. Rabbi Weinrib: Correct. I once had a very unfortunate story where a fellow called me and said that his cleaning lady had been making the soup for Shabbos in his home for 10 years and he had never been aware that this was a problem of bishul akum. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that he had eaten forbidden soup for a decade. I had to go through all the utensils in his house and determine what needed to be kashered. This was a very frum family but they transgressed a prohibition for 10 years because of a lack of knowledge. People have to be aware that even asking a cleaning lady to cook an egg for a child could be a big problem and, according to some dayos, could render the keilim treif. It could create a disaster in the kitchen. Rabbi Hisiger: Returning to the vegan restaurant, would it be a bigger problem if the owner is Jewish than if he is a non-Jew? Rabbi Weinrib: If the owner is a Jew there could be additional problems if the keilim were not toveled, if challah was not taken or if chometz was not sold over Pesach. Rabbi Hisiger: So is there anything a Jew can buy in a vegan restaurant? Rabbi Weinrib: Even if a product is not a kashrus problem, there is a general issue of maras ayin in entering a restaurant that has no hechsher. The worst kind of maras ayin is when someone enters a “kosher style” restaurant that is actually not kosher. If someone sees a frum Jew who looks like a “rabbi” going into such a place, they may assume it is okay to eat there. A vegan restaurant presents the same problem. If someone who is not so knowledgeable sees a frum Jew going into such a place, they might think it’s okay to eat anything there. For this reason, it is more of a serious maras ayin issue to enter a vegan restaurant than an obviously treif restaurant. Rabbi Hisiger: Do you have any final takeaways for our Let’s Talk Kashrus readers? Rabbi Weinrib: People sometimes get invited to meetings at non-kosher restaurants. Assuming there is no maras ayin problem, they want to know if they can eat plain, cut-up fruit. While this may not seem like a problem, there is an issue of the knife that was used to cut the fruit. In a commercial setting, such as a supermarket, this is less of an issue because the cutting of the fruit is done in a mass production, which the Shulchan Aruch rules is not a problem because any residue on the knife will be batul. One other topic that I’d like to mention briefly is that of party planners. We all have heard stories of party planners operating without a hashgacha. Until recently, I thought this was only relevant for large and fancy events. However, it became relevant to me three months ago when my daughter got engaged. The vort was held in Lakewood and, being from Cincinnati, we needed some help with the planning. One of my siblings told me about a woman who could help put the event together, so we gave her a call. I didn’t think of her as a party planner but, essentially, that’s what she was. I didn’t think anything of it until afterwards when I realized that there had been salads at the vort and I didn’t know where they came from. I hope it was okay but this story conveys why there is a need for awareness to make sure everything is done properly and only the most kadosh things go into our mouths. Rabbi Hisiger: Thank you, Rabbi Weinrib, for your insights and for your contributions to the field of kashrus.

Join Rabbi Daniel Senter, Chief Operating Officer of Kof-K Kosher, and Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger, as they discuss the kashrus status of various species of fish and what you need to know when you go fishing. Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger: Thank you for joining us, Rabbi Senter. Rabbi Daniel Senter: It is my pleasure. Rabbi Hisger: I’d like to tap into your knowledge on the intricacies of kosher fish. If someone goes fishing and catches some fish, how can they know if their catch is kosher? Rabbi Senter: That’s an excellent question. For fish to be kosher, they need to have two simanim - which is really one and the same. They need snapir v’kaskeses, fins and scales. Everything that swims in the water has fins. In fact, the tail itself is actually a fin. The scales are what identifies a fish as kosher. It is not as simple as taking a look and seeing that there are scales because not everything that I’d consider to be scales are actually scales. A scale has to be an armor-like substance on top of the skin that can be removed without tearing the skin. If you catch a fish and want to know if it is kosher, the best ways are if you can see the scales and know how to identify kosher scales, or if you are familiar with this particular species of fish. As an example, there is a common fish that is called a trout. On the trout, you can see clearly where the scales are. The other advantage is that I know that trout are kosher and I know that this is a trout. So, if I go fishing and I catch a trout, being that I know that trout is a kosher species and I know that this is a trout, I can eat that fish. There is actually a fish in the ocean known as a sea trout. It happens to also be kosher but it has no relationship to the standard trout. This shows why you can’t rely on the name alone. You have to be familiar with the particular fish. The trout is a good example of a kosher fish, however it’s not always that clear. There is a fish called the Spanish mackerel. If you look at the skin, it is completely smooth. This is actually a kosher fish. Mackerel is related to tuna, although not closely related. When they come out of the water, they shed their scales. If you caught this fish, most people would say it isn’t a kosher fish. But if you’re familiar with mackerel you would know that it is a kosher fish and it may be eaten. Rabbi Hisiger: Which part of fish do scales have to be on? The entire fish? Rabbi Senter: As long as you find one scale on the fish, it would be good enough. As I said, some fish shed their scales. On those fish, you’ll normally find scales in covered, protected areas of fish. But there are fish where the scales are very obvious. A tilapia is a fish where you can clearly see the scales. Carp is also a common kosher fish that people catch. Those have huge, developed scales. Fish like tilapia and carp are very easy to tell that they are kosher fish. Other fish, like the mackerel, are not as easy. The general rule of thumb would be to know your species. If not, be cautious and ask a question. I don’t mean that you have to ask your Rov if this is a kosher fish. You can ask a fishmonger what species this fish is and he can tell you. There are many lists of common kosher fish available. There are thousands of species of fish. Some of them are kosher and some of them are not. It would be far beyond us to publish a list of all kosher fish but we can publish lists of those that are commonly available. There aren’t that many. If you go to the northeast, there are about 30 or 40 different kinds of fish that are commonly available. If you are familiar with those and know, for example, that a bass is kosher and catfish is not and you know how to identify them, you’ll be able to make the decision yourself about the kashrus status of the fish. Rabbi Hisiger: When a store sells fish under a certain label, can I trust them and assume it really is what they say it is? Rabbi Senter: At one time, when fish was very inexpensive, you were safer doing that. The crazy thing is that fish was always the poor man’s alternative to meat. Today, fish is more expensive than meat, especially certain varieties of fish. As our oceans are overfished, certain species of sought-after and targeted fish become harder to get and, therefore, are commonly switched. A great example of that is sable. Sable was a very popular fish and many people enjoy kosher smoked sable. As it became more expensive, Chilean sea bass was a good alternative because it tastes similar. They are both kosher fish, so it wasn’t a kashrus problem. But it was a Choshen Mishpat shaila people thought they were getting one fish and were getting another. What happened, fortunately or unfortunately, is that Chilean sea bass has caught up to the fish it was being used as a substitute for. So now you’ll probably end up with the right species, identified the right way. Rabbi Hisiger: Do I have to be worried that the company is adding ingredients to the fish? Rabbi Senter: Yes and no. I very often get calls from people who buy fish that say “color added”. These calls are often about salmon. Salmon outsells all other fish in America by about 5 to 1. We eat a lot of salmon. Most of our salmon, though not all of it, is farm raised. How does salmon get its pink or red color? From eating animals in the ocean like shrimp that have beta carotene in them. You will sometimes see on salmon labels that it says “color added to feed”. That sounds like they’re coloring the fish. But what they actually do is feed the fish beta carotene. By law, they have to write “color added”. That would not be a problem. Sometimes, however, they will add seasoning to fish. And when they want to freeze fish, they will sometimes put it in a coating. Very often, the coating is just corn syrup, which would not be a problem other than on Pesach. But one has to be careful. Rabbi Hisiger: Is the coating a preservative? Rabbi Senter: What they want to do is give it a glassy coating. Putting a little bit of corn syrup or a little starch will give fish a nice shiny glaze when they want to freeze it. Seasoned fish would obviously be a problem. In regular fresh, raw fish without anything listed as additives, we haven’t really found a problem of added ingredients. Rabbi Hisiger: Is there a concern that the company may be adding a piece of skin or scales back onto fish? Rabbi Senter: So far, we have only discussed whole fish. Another option is buying fish with the skin on. We’ve gotten used to eating fish without having to be bothered with the bones. The fish is fileted for us, meaning that the meat is taken away from the bones. Sometimes, when a fish is fileted, the skin is also taken off. If the fish has no skin, catfish and tilapia look almost exactly the same. Because of that, fish without skin is not acceptable and would be considered non-kosher. But if the skin of tilapia is left on, it is very identifiable as a kosher fish and that would be enough to buy it. If a company says they will leave the skin on, you can trust them because they sell it by weight and if you pay for the skin, that’s additional money for them. So, you can rely on that. The problem we have created is that we’ve become lazy. People not only do not want bones. They also do not want skin. So companies will take off the skin and just leave one little skin tag in a corner. Theoretically that would be a good siman of kashrus. However, we’ve had cases of frozen fish with skin tags on that look kosher, but if you look closely, you can see that it is only frozen together to the fish a little and not totally attached. Why would a company put a skin tag of a kosher fish on a non-kosher fish? Because catfish only costs about two dollars a pound. It would be a big yeitzer hara for them to substitute it for a more expensive, kosher fish. Rabbi Hisiger: Can the layman tell if the skin tag is from a different fish? Rabbi Senter: If it comes off too easily or it looks like it’s in the wrong place, that’s something you should be concerned about. I wouldn’t say it’s a common problem but one should be careful. More importantly, one has to realize that just seeing skin on a fish doesn’t make it kosher. Non-kosher fish have skin too. There needs to be enough skin to recognize that it is a kosher fish, by checking for scales on the skin tag. Rabbi Hisiger: What is the strangest shaila you’ve ever received in regards to fish? Rabbi Senter: We received a phone call from a very irate customer in a restaurant. He had ordered a sea bass and was served a whole fish on a plate to his table. The fish’s last meal was stuck between its gills. Basically, he was served a fish with a shrimp in its mouth. We had a whole shaila about the keilim, etc. As far as fish are concerned, this was the most bizarre shaila I ever got. Would I tell you that you have to check the mouth of every fish? No. I would say that this was a one-in-a-million case. Rabbi Hisiger: As we try to do in these segments, can you please give us your “Let’s Talk Kashrus” takeaway for the people at home? Rabbi Senter: The takeaway is that before you assume that something is kosher, it is important to know what makes the fish kosher. More importantly, it is upon us to recognize what makes things kosher and not kosher. We tend to rely on everyone else and want to do less ourselves. It’s important for us to learn and know on our own, so that we can take the achrayus of kashrus on ourselves and make sure that whatever ends up on our plates and in our homes is kosher. Rabbi Hisiger: Thank you Rabbi Senter for this educational and entertaining lesson.

Join an insightful conversation between Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger and Rabbi Sholem Fishbane, Director of Kashrus for the Chicago Rabbinical Council, and the Executive Director of AKO, discussing a sticky rice situation that happened at a recent event.