Hot answers tagged oil
11
There are two explanations provided for the eight day delay in getting new ritually pure oil.
One opinion is that the oil was produced in a region that was a four day journey from Jerusalem. This is the explanation of the Ran on Shabbos 21b. The Meiri identifies the oil producing region as Tekoa.
The other opinion is that the delay was because they were ...
9
The Mazal Sha'ah on the Rambam infers that the shi'ur l'chayyev for anointing with t'rumah oil is a k'zayis, based on R' Yehudah's opinion in the gemara (K'risus 6b) who holds that a person is liable for a k'zayis of prohibited anointing with the shemen hamishchah (Commentary to Mishneh Torah, Hil. T'rumos 10:2). (One should note that it is still Biblically ...
9
There is a talk by the Lubavitcher Rebbe o.b.m. (in Likkutei Sichos, vol. 25, pp. 235ff, and adapted into English here) about this.
The gist of his answer is that there was a more "physical" miracle (the military victory) and a more "spiritual" one (the Menorah's lights burning for eight days), and the latter in a sense overshadows the former, since the war ...
8
One of the purposes of the shamash is to ensure that there is light in the vicinity of the menora other than that of the menora itself. That way, if someone reads near the menora, their reading won't be [exclusively] by the light of the menora's lights, so they won't be making mundane use of those lights, which is forbidden, since they're supposed to serve ...
7
http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-kosher-cons-handbk.htm (footnote 10):
One must also wait six hours if he ate french fries that were fried in oil previously used to fry chicken. Therefore, if one eats
french fries (or other deep fried items) prepared in a fleishig
restaurant, he should assume that he is fleishig unless the
certifying agency of ...
7
Reb Shlom Zalman Auerbach in Halichos Shlomo Chelek Beis- Amud SHin Yud Tes: answers that we eat Donuts A mezonous food in order to Make an Al Hamichyah as in the AL Hamichyah we mention The Mizbach and we know that part of the Joy Of Chanukah is the Chanukas Hamizbach,The Gemara in Avodah Zara says that the stones the Mizbach the Chashmonim were unable to ...
6
Mishna Berura 298:5 and Beer Hataiv 298:2 mention in the name of the Sefer HaKavonos and the Magen Avraham in the name of the Kavanos HaArizal that it is preferable to use a beeswax candle for Havdala.
As you can see in the Halacha the candle is supposed to be an Avuka - which is more than one wick. This also makes it more practical to use a candle over ...
6
Rambam, Hil. Avodas Yom Hakippurim 1:3 (from Yoma 12a-b):
זה שנכנס תחתיו אינו צריך חינוך אלא עבודתו מחנכתו
"The one who replaces him doesn't need any inauguration; his performing the avodah [of Yom Kippur, which is reserved for the kohen gadol] inaugurates him."
So he doesn't need anointing at that time (and not after Yom Kippur either, because as ...
5
Indeed, as Menachem commented, it's not necessary to assume that they were made into a dough. No kometz (handful) was taken from such menachos (see Rambam, Hil. Pesulei Hamukdashin 18:8), so it may not have mattered much whether it could hold together as a solid. (With private menachos, on the other hand, the ratio was 1/10 eifah flour (7.2 log) to 1 log ...
5
See this interesting article by Rabbi Yirmeyahu Kaganoff about the production of olive oil. He discusses the issues of fraud in the market and notes that different kashrut organizations have different views on the matter. He quotes the OU as not requiring certification on extra virgin olive oil only (virgin olive oil still needs). He also quotes the Eida ...
4
According to this article, in Eretz Yisrael in ancient times they did recite the entire section for each Yom Tov (including the verses describing the menachos and nesachim). But because it's difficult to remember them (particularly before siddurim began to be written), in Babylonia the ומנחתם ונסכיהם paragraph was created to regularize the description of ...
3
Star-K’s article explains its statement that
oil refineries still require kosher certification.
London Beth Din lists several unsupervised approved olive oils.
2
Here's what I understand from the Gemara:
Drinking oil alone doesn't get a bracha since it's mazik- it's like having a stand-alone butter, but a little better for you.
Drinking oil through anigron, the oil doesn't get a bracha because it's tafel to the anigron- think butter on bread. You wouldn't have the oil because it's mazik. It's there to enhance ...
2
Definitely not unhealthy. Olive oil is high in monounsaturated fatty acids, which are considered to be "a healthy dietary fat." As such, consuming this kind of fat is healthier than consuming saturated and trans fats. In addition,
Monounsaturated fatty acids, [such as olive oil], may help lower your risk of heart disease by improving related risk ...
2
My understanding is that the goal is for the light to be fairly steady, and not constantly flickering because of impurities in the fuel or wick.
I think that (assuming you use standard store-bought ingredients) the light will definitely meet or exceed the necessary threshold.
If you are making your own, I guess you should avoid making candles out of ...
1
Since there are a variety of opinions out there, I thought it would be worth including the metaphoric law of the land: the Italy Kosher Union. On their Kosher Food list, they write the following:
Extra virgin olive oil is generally allowed without control
and
In general, all extra-virgin olive oil are permitted.
Other oils like soybeans, ...
1
Olive oil fraud is rampant. Just because something claims to be virgin olive oil, that doesn't mean that it is. Therefore, all other possible issues aside, I would not automatically assume that it is kosher. [A quick test to help determine if you have genuine olive oil is that olive oil should harden in the fridge. If it doesn't, you know that it's not ...
1
Sufganiyot are mentioned by Rav Maimon, father of the Rambam and he quotes the famous connection with cooking oil. A hint to their popularity in Israel can be found in an article in the Jerusalem Post which says that the Histadrut, worker's union, pushed sufganiyot instead of latkes because they're harder to make in your own home so it would force people to ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
