Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus, כשרות or כַּשְׁרוּת) is the set of Jewish dietary laws.
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food containers - why is hechser needed? [duplicate]
I want to buy a vacuum sealer for food. The vacuum bags do not have a hechsher. Normally, I buy ziplock bags that are OU. To keep this general, I am hoping someone can elaborate on the reason and ...
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Why is chicken “meat” (with regards to basar bechalav) and an egg not?
Why is chicken considered meat but fish is not? Also, why is an egg considered pareve? And if we can eat chicken eggs, why can't we eat caviar (fish eggs)?
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Finding Kosher Fruit Flavored Snacks
Anyone know of a kosher fruit flavored snack, similar to these? According to oukosher.org there exists a "Scooby-Doo! Fruit Flavored Snacks 10 Count Carton" that is OU Parve, but I cannot find it ...
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How can pigs and shellfish be kosher for bnei Noach?
As a ben Noach, I watch what meat I eat. I eat kosher or halal cut meat only. However, I think that bnei Noach aren't forbidden from eating pig meat or shellfish.
How would I make sure that such meat ...
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Are homeopathic remedies kosher?
I'm not sure what they put in the remedies but I would like to know if they are kosher and would batel beshishim apply in this case if there was a non-kosher ingredient?
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Are sea sponges kosher?
The sea sponge is scientifically classified as an animal, therefore maybe it would be considered unkosher, as seafood. On the other hand, it seems much more similar to a vegetable of some kind, so ...
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I am or was a religious jew and purposely ate non kosher
I'm a religious Jew. I kind of lost faith and ate non-kosher purposely, and now I feel so bad with myself that I want to die. What should I do? Is there any type of repentance I should take upon ...
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I doubled wrapped something in a treif microwave and it opened, now what? [closed]
I doubled wrapped something in a treif microwave and it opened, now what? The plastic wrap stayed on but the container itself opened. Is the food treif? Is the container treif?
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Confectioners glaze - non alcoholic
Recently I read an article by Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff regarding confectioners glaze.
Confectioners glaze is manufactured from shellac, "a glandular secretion of the lac insect, Kerria lacca, a ...
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Maris Ayin and bags from restaurants
Similar to this question, suppose there is a chain of restaurants that is mostly non-Kosher, but there happens to be one kosher franchise in the chain. The example I am thinking of is that there is ...
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Kosher accommodations in out-of-the-way US places
Are there any non-urban vacation areas in the United States with full-service kosher food available? I realize that the following are not hard to find:
Kosher restaurants in some urban centers.
A ...
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Throwing out food with “questionable” hechsher - bal tashchis?
If one receive cooked food from a person that perhaps used ingrediants from a hechsher that one normally wouldn't eat is it bal tashchis to throw out the food?
With packaged, store-bought food it ...
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86 views
To what extent should one not sell unkosher goods?
I know that, as a Jew, I shouldn't sell unkosher goods. So, does this mean I can't directly make profit from selling unksher goods? For example, if I work for Walmart, and some one buys pork while I ...
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When is a grafted tree Kosher?
I understand that fruit isn't kosher if it is picked in the first 3 years of growth. However, what about grafting trees? If two branches come from trees that each more that 3 years old, but the ...
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Do non-toxic, biodegradable kitchen/dish cleaners pose a Kashruth problem?
In certain instances, I've heard rabbis allow soaps and harsh cleaners to be used to make food and food-residue "Pagum" (ruined), which then removes any prohibition that might otherwise result when ...
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When did kosher bakeries, restaurants, etc. start requiring supervision?
If my neighbor Shmerel keeps kosher and otherwise appears to be observant to the best of my knowledge, then I'd be allowed to eat in his house (assuming I'm invited), eid echad ne'eman b'issurin, his ...
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Is Coca Cola (and other beverages) kosher everywhere in the world?
I'm currently sitting in an airport transit lounge in Istanbul, and thinking I wouldn't half mind a drink. Available to me are the usual range: Coke, Fanta, Sprite, filter coffee...
Are these ...
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Is a Jewish farmer allowed to raise animals for non-kosher slaughter?
Is a Jewish farmer allowed to raise animals for non-kosher slaughter? Does it make a difference whether it is a non-kosher animal (e.g. pig), vs. a kosher animal? Does it make a difference whether the ...
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What are the reasons that chewing cud is a kosher sign?
In parashat Shemini (Lev. 11:3), we learn that one of the signs for distinguishing kosher mammals is that a species must chew its own cud. Are there any taamim (explanations) that elucidate the ...
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impure animals: present, future, past
The verses in Vayikra 11:4-6 gives 3 examples of different impure animals which don't have split hoofs, namely: the camel, the 'hyrax' (shafan) and the hare. An interesting thing I once noticed is ...
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Working in a non kosher yogurt store
I was asked a question this afternoon and I don't know a good answer (yet) so I'm posting it.
I have been asked in the past whether a Jewish person may work in a non-Kosher restaurant that serves ...
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Easiest way to determine if something is “Chametz” or permitted for Passover?
A friend of mine runs a catering company that does do business with a sizable group of Jewish people. Around this time of year she gets requests to be 100% Passover Kosher of course. This often ...
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Problems with the kashrut of todays machine matzot
I read a disturbing article by Rav Menahem Eizenberg in Techumin (26, page 123). The one of the many issues raised in the article is that the hechser for machine mazah does not apply to today's ...
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What foods do not need a Pesach hechsher?
Which foods are kosher for Pesach with only a "year-round" hechsher, or with no hechsher at all?
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Cities' רבנויות's accepting others' food
Years ago, IIRC, I heard the following from a respectable source:
By Israeli law, if the רבנות of one city certifies a food as kosher, then the רבנות of any other city must allow that food as an ...
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The Manna and non kosher taste
The Gemarah in Yoma 75a explains that the manna imparted all flavors except five flavors. Based on this idea, can one have in mind the taste of pork while eating the manna, or do we say that anything ...
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Is Guinness Beer no longer kosher?
A new Smithsonian article has discovered Guinness Beer's use of isinglass, a technique that Guinness Beer has confirmed that it does to the Huffington Post, and even declared "Guinness Black Lager is ...
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Using a non-kosher toaster oven
What is the permissible way to use a non-kosher toaster oven? My thought process was that, when cooking milk in a meat oven, the covering of the dish and the rack makes it acceptable.
Would covering ...
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What's the halachic advantage of double (or triple) wrapping food?
I've heard of both double and triple wrapping when it comes to shielding a food item in an oven with regards to Kashrus.
What exactly does double or triple wrapping accomplish that one wrapping ...
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Why is kosher grape juice rare alone but less so as an ingredient
My understanding is that wine or grape juice is s'tam yenam and forbidden if handled by non-Jews without having been cooked. (See, e.g., an explanation on chabad.org.) The practical result of this, ...
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Can my non-Jewish co-worker bring me coffee from the corner cafe?
Assuming coffee is Kosher, would it be alright if my non-Jewish co-worker brings me coffee on a trip to the corner cafe? May I assume that the co-worker indeed purchased a Kosher item and has not ...
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Why aren't any of the main American brands of chewing gum kosher?
These days, you walk into any American supermarket, you can find kosher chocolate bars, kosher jelly beans, kosher all sorts of stuff. I understand why the gummy worms aren't kosher, they contain ...
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Is Halal Meat Kosher?
Muslims slaughter a Cow by saying "Bismillah, Allahu Akbar" meaning : "In the name of Allah , Allah is Great"" and follow the Zabiha (shechita) procedure to make it Halal.
Some salient point of the ...
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At what point was it recommended to have a separate kosher certifier (mashgiach) for local Jewish businesses?
If I understand correctly, you can generally walk into an observant Jew's house (upon invitation) and if he says the food is kosher, you assume the food is kosher. Now if the same fellow has a kosher ...
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Does every thing need a hechsher?
Do objects used in food preparation and foods that have no or little chance of being not kosher really need a hechsher?
Please cite sources, if you can.
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Koshering granite
I have been told that a granite counter top is similar to glass in that it is not porous and does not absorb taste from food that touches it.
Is there a source in halacha for this concept? What other ...
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Opened “please-take!” food items in a non-Jewish workplace
Is it alright to consume unsupervised food items at work that are open and available to anyone, assuming the items were initially known to be Kosher1 and there's no evidence of tampering?
Items that ...
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How to explain Kashruth simply
How can one explain Kashruth to a curious colleague without too much complexity?
I get curious questions all the time, mostly about the laws and about rabbis blessing the food, which is, of course, a ...
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Can jews eat unclean animals when blood is removed?
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0512.htm
Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh within all thy gates,
after all the desire of thy soul, according to the blessing of the
LORD thy God ...
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What makes something “worthy of being honored”?
When a piece of meat is in a mixture that should nullify it, we don't consider it nullified if it is ראוי להתכבד, or "worthy of being honored", something you would serve to a guest. Is there some kind ...
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Efshar LeSoḥato Asur - because or even though?
I'm trying to comprehend the concept of "אפשר לסוחטו אסור" (roughly: "if it's possible to extract it - something prohibited from something otherwise permitted - it is prohibited"). As far as I can ...
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In what way is kosher chicken different from brined chicken?
Over on Seasoned Advice, there have been a number of questions related to the nature of kosher meat and the amount of salt absorbed by the meat. Most recently, In what way is kosher chicken different ...
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“Blias” in today's pots and pans
Throughout all of Yoreh Deah Chelek Alef and Hilchos Pesach (and perhaps other places in Shulchan Aruch as well) we see the idea of "blias" ("absorptions") by celim. That is to say there is a "taste" ...
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How does Kavush work?
The Halachic principle of Kavush states that leaving something in liquid for 24 hrs transfers taste, and therefore it alters the status of the thing with which it is exchanging tastes.
However, ...
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How can you get hot kosher food on campus?
So you're living in a college/university town with no kosher restaurants. How can you get hot kosher food?
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Waiting to reveal Kosher issue in order to get to the root of the problem
Suppose a Mashgiach realizes that a store is selling Treif meat, however is unsure as to the source of the problem. If he announces immediately that this store is selling something not Kosher he may ...
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One-in-Sixty Versus Roiv- Why both?
There are two concepts in the Halacha of Bittul (nullification). One says that if there is an item that is Unkosher that falls into another item that is Kosher, and it is a mixture, and the Unkosher ...
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Is it prohibited to derive benefit from a mixture of milk and meat if the animal was improperly slaughtered?
Is it prohibited to derive benefit from a mixture of milk and meat if the animal was improperly slaughtered? Assume the animal slaughtered, like the milk-giving animal, is kosher, but the slaughter ...
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Can you buy a fillet of kosher fish from a non-kosher store? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Fresh fish need hechsher
My wife complains that filleted fish at the kosher butcher is very expensive. Some people buy from the local grocery store, which is not ...
