1.  There is a lovely family kosher butcher’s shop on Brent Street called Nissim.  They are fine upstanding people, who serve good quality food at reasonable prices, and whose behaviour is as kosher as the meat that they serve.

2.  And they are likely to be put out of business any month now.

3.  A chain of kosher butchers who already have branches in Golders Green and elsewhere are about to open up a new shop within a few yards of Nissims.  They have economy of scale advantages, and will doubtless dent or destroy the Nissim’s business.

4.  The Rabbis should prevent this, and could.  The Biblical precept of not disturbing your neighbours’ boundaries is given extensive ramifications in Jewish business ethics, and no Beth Din ought to grant a licence to a shop that is about to destroy someone else’s business, unless it is clearly shown that the existing business is exploiting its monopoly.

5. But the Rabbis won’t act.  Years ago a Rabbinic representative of the London Beth Din told me that they do not consider it practicable to apply or enforce the din of hasogas gvul (your neighbour’s borders), primarily because they are not the only Beth Din in London.  So people can always get licensed somewhere else.

6.  If the Rabbis are in disarray and unable to give practical expression to the values of the Torah, we must take matters into our own hands.  Let us see a customer boycott of any shop opening within a few yards of an existing business, and let’s all shop at Nissims harder than ever.

We had an interesting debate around our Shabbat table last night. If you shecht (ritually slaughter) a chicken, and there was an egg inside it practically ready to be laid, is that egg pareve or is it fleishig?

We had arguments for pareve, and arguments for fleishig. Comparisons were drawn between a live cow and a dead cow. While the cow is alive the milk is milchig, but once is has been shechted the milk becomes fleishig. Therefore by this reasoning the egg is fleishig. But, countered another brother, min-haTorah (from the Torah) chicken isn’t really supposed to be fleishig anyway, so maybe the egg is pareve.

The boys asked me to ask my readers who know more than we do to let us know their thoughts and what halacha says.

Thank you.

A gay rights organization has a satirical campaign that they have entitled “God hates shrimp.” Their underlying argument is that if Christians want to quote Leviticus in order to protest homosexuality and gay marriage, then they should at least be consistent. Homosexual behavior might be an “abomination” according to the Bible, but so is eating non-kosher food. So they carry signs saying:

• EATING SHELLFISH IS A SIN — REPENT!
• SHELLFISH ARE AN ABOMINATION TO GOD
• LOVE THE SHRIMPER, HATE THE SHRIMP

Now this group does not seem to be terribly biblically literate, but they seem to have a point, don’t they?

On one point I think religious conservatives are frequently unclear and would benefit from some re-thinking. Homosexual activity is a sin prohibited by the Torah. Homosexual attraction is not a sin any more than liking the taste of pork or being attracted to another person’s spouse. It is a struggle that some people face and others do not. Someone who has been faced with temptation and yet overcome it has more merit than one who never had the temptation.

So the past week has included two cake baking disasters for me. I have a lovely post about coffee cake all ready to go, but have not successfully baked one yet. I started with a challenging one that included a tunnel of cream cheese filling that ended up just under-baked enough to collapse on itself when I turned it out. Then I decided to pare down to a simpler one with the traditional cinnamon nut crumb topping.  As it was baking I decided to type up the recipe, and I had the horrible realization that I had put in double the baking soda. By this time the batter had bubbled up the sides of the pan and the topping had sunk completely to the bottom. So with two cakes in the trash and nothing to post I decided to take a break and read the New York Times.

Low and behold there is an article on the growing popularity of Kosher foods.  This managed to raise my hackles despite the cake fatigue. Since I have already mentioned some of my issues with the kosher meat industry, I’ll give you my run down on my issues with the rest of the kosher food industry. Most packaged, canned or processed foods that bear a hechsher, do so only because the food production company has paid a company, like the Orthodox Union, to send out a rabbi inspector (a mashgiah), to check out the ingredients and the manufacturing process for trayfe or any practices that might mix meat and dairy. They typically pay a large sum of money for this service and  inspections are done about once a year. There is absolutely nothing about this inspection that looks for health or safety violations, so whatever feelings of “purity” people are getting from the hechsher are based totally in emotion.

Seriously, Extreme Torchin’ Tamale Pringles  have a hechsher and so does Toll House refrigerated cookie dough, and it got recalled over the summer for e. coli contamination. Trust me, I have learned from experience, e. coli is not something you want to encounter and a hechsher won’t protect you from it. The New Yorker Magazine did an article about a year ago on how China is becoming the fastest growing exporter of kosher food and the mashgihim who are selling their services to the Chinese factories. After the rash of tainted and toxic Chinese made food imports a few years ago, a simple hechsher is not enough to convince me of the purity of these products. As I have stated many, many, times, if keeping kosher is important to you, the best and healthiest way to do it is to eat real, fresh, food you have purchased locally and made from scratch, not from a box. If what you are looking for is purity and healthier foods … well the same logic applies.

OK… rant over. Tomorrow I am having the cookie monsters over to make peanut butter cookie and assuming I don’t totally ruin those, I will attempt my cake once again and you may eventually get to read my fascinating history of the coffee cake in America.

This morning, my officemate Yinnon said to me, “The guy who supervises the kashrut in the cafeterias is barbecuing outside and he’s up to his elbows in bloody liver.” I said that he must be kashering it.

I ran down with my camera and asked the mashgiach if I could take a picture. He said he wanted to be in the photo, so here he is! He looks like he’s having a good time.

Tomorrow’s menu for the meat cafeteria includes chicken livers.

Pigs: quite unclean in themselves.

Judah Gabriel points out the problematic Pauline verse:

I am fully convinced in the Lord Jesus that no food is unclean in itself. (Romans 14:14)

He explains well that at face value, this appears to be a blatant contradiction of both the Torah and other apostolic texts. He goes on to demonstrate that the error stems from faulty interpretation and translation. “Unclean” should rather be understood as “common,” which is not the opposite of “clean” but rather of “holy.”

There is another confusing dimension to this general discussion that is rarely understood even by Messianics. There is a difference between “clean” and “kosher.” This misunderstanding is so pervasive that people sometimes use “clean” as a synonym for “kosher” (or to describe a simpler or, purportedly, a more directly biblically derived dietary standard than traditional kosher law).

That confusion arises from the list of animals in Leviticus 11 whose carcasses are neither clean nor kosher. But “clean” and “kosher” are not synonyms!

For example, if you performed the mitzvah of burying the deceased, you have contracted corpse contamination/uncleanness (tum’ah) that is transmitted by touch. All food that you eat while in that state will become unclean the moment you touch it. But it is still perfectly kosher. And you have no choice but to eat kosher but unclean food.

There is no commandment whatsoever that all the food we may eat must be “clean” (tahor), except in the case of offerings brought to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Nonetheless, in the first century, it was common for people to find value and holiness in eating food that is not only kosher, but also tahor (and for the person eating it to be tahor as well). Pharisees are particularly known for this.

The conflicts in Mark 7 and Luke 11 are related to this, although the complexity and numerous gaps in our knowledge make these some of the most misunderstood passages in the Gospels.

About 18 months ago I came across this blog post on Jeff Vandermeer’s website which presents us with answers to some serious kashrut questions that many of us have faced: which imaginary animals are kosher?

As they explain…

In honor of upcoming holidays like Passover, I thought I would ask Jeff’s better half, Ann VanderMeer, editor of Weird Tales , co-editor of New Weird and Steampunk, and a practicing Jew who teaches bat/bar mitzvah students, to give us an idea of which fantastical animals and beings would be kosher and which would not be kosher, in terms of gnawin’ off a bit o’ that. Answers below… – Evil Monkey

Abumi-Guchi (furry creatures formed from the stirrup of a mounted military commander) – Ann [with look of disbelief]: “Do they chew their prey?” EM: “I think so.” A: “Then no. Besides, the provenance is suspect.”

Aigi Kampoi (fish-tailed goat) – A: “Yes, that would be kosher because it has cloven hoofs, chews its cud, and has fins and scales. Although, it would still be considered a meat meal, even though it’s partially fish. So you can’t eat dairy with it.”

Amikiri (snake-bird-lobster) – A: “No. Absolutely not. The snake and lobster parts make it treyf.”

Arkan Sonney (fairy hedgehog) – A: “No, because hedgehogs aren’t kosher, so a fairy hedgehog wouldn’t be any different, monkey.” EM: “But they’re delicious!” A: “Even so.”

Baku (dream-devouring tapir) – A: “That’s considered a swine. It doesn’t chew its cud.” EM: “What if it was a dream-devouring cow? Would the dream-devouring disqualify it?” A: “No. As long as you don’t consider that scavenging.”

Brag (malevolent water horse) – A: “Horses are not kosher, no matter how aquatic.”

Bugbear (bearlike goblin) – A: “Bears have paws. Things with paws are not kosher. And they eat meat.” EM: “If it was a bear with hooves that chewed cud and the goblin part was just in its stomach, would it be kosher?” A: “Then it wouldn’t be a bear, idiot.”

Chupacabra – A: “It’s definitely a carnivore.” EM: “What if it’s just for show and they don’t eat their prey?” A: “Well I’m sure they don’t chew their cud and have cloven hooves unless the chupacabra turns out to be some kind of mutant cow.”

Cornish Owl-Man – A: “Unfortunately an owl is not kosher because it is a bird of prey–Lev. 11:17, and obviously you cannot eat a man because that is cannibalism.” EM: “Again, though–delicious!”

Dragon – A: “No reptiles or amphibians.” EM: “No exceptions? What about if it chews its cud?” A: “Shut up.”

Encantado (dolphin-human shapeshifter) – EM: “Surely it’s kosher when it’s a dolphin.” A: “A dolphin is a mammal just like you. It has no scales, even though it has fins. Besides, what if it starts changing while you’re eating it?”

ET – A: “…..?” EM: “It had cloven hooves.” A: “It’s a humanoid.” EM: “It looked like a pile of dung. It seemed to chew cud. Would any alien be automatically un-kosher?” A: “I guess it really depends on the alien–like a plant?” EM: “An alien that comes down to Earth.” A: “No, because they wouldn’t be considered an animal.” EM: “What if they looked just like a cow, but with a brain?” A: “Cows have brains.” EM: “Arggh!” A: “But cows don’t travel to other planets using their brains.” EM: “My point exactly!” A: “Anything intelligent is not kosher.”

Headless Mule (fire-spewing, headless, spectral mule) – A: “No, because the mule itself, even if it weren’t fire-breathing, isn’t kosher. The fire doesn’t cleanse it.” EM: “But it’s self-cooking!”

Hippocamp (horse-fish) – A: “Unfortunately, the horse part makes it treyf, and a little bit of treyf makes everything treyf. So if you had 99 percent fish and one percent horse it would still be treyf.” EM: “And a really fucked up looking hippocamp!”

Hobbits – A: “Not kosher at all. They are sentient beings.” EM: “That brings up a point. They’re actually not sentient because they’re not real, so aren’t they just as kosher as air.” Ann: “No comment.”

Hoopoe (rooster-swallow-chicken-snake-goose-lobster-stag-fish hybrid) – A: “The snake and the lobster make it unkosher–see Hippocamp above for percentages.”

Jackalope – A: “No, rabbits are not kosher.” EM: “Not even rabbits?!! Why not?” A: “Because although it chews the cud, it does not have hooves.”

Jaud (vampirized premature baby) – A: “Oh. Do I even have to tell you?” EM: “I guess not.” A: “Number one, a vampire drinks blood. Blood ingesting is a no-no. Number 2–baby?!?!”

Jotai (animated folding screen cloth) – A: “Sure, why not? It’s not a food item. Scarf it down to your heart’s delight. So long as it’s made from plant fibers, not a treyf animal. And only one type of fiber–no mixing of wool and linen.” EM: “Doesn’t sound too good…”

Man-Eating Tree – A: “Tree part yes, man-eating no, therefore treyf.”

Mermaid – A: “No, for the obvious reasons.” EM: “What if you marry one? Is that kosher? Will a rabbi marry you?” A: “Kosher is a term about eating, not about sex.” EM: “I’m not talking about sex–I’m talking about marriage!” A: “If the mermaid is Jewish, the rabbi will probably marry you. But only if you’re Jewish too. But you’ll definitely have to find the right rabbi…”

Mongolian Death Worm – A: “No, because you cannot eat anything that crawls on its belly.” EM: “Does that mean an injured kosher animal that is crawling along isn’t kosher any more?” A: “Yes, because you can’t eat an animal that’s been injured or is sick.” EM: “It’s a wonder you haven’t all starved to death.”

Pollo Maligno (cannibalistic chicken spirit) – A: “When you say cannibalistic, do you mean a chicken that eats other chickens or a chicken that eats humans?” EM: “When I say Pollo Maligno, I have no idea what I mean except I sound fierce.” A: “Well, chickens are kosher, but if it’s eating meat, probably not…” EM: “POLLO MALIGNO! POLLO MALIGNO!”

Pope Lick Monster – A: “I don’t know what that is.” EM: “I think it’s a monster that licks the Pope.” A: “If it’s licking the Pope, it’s probably treyf.”

Sasquatch – A: “What is sasquatch like?” EM: “I’d imagine kind of stringy.” A: “No, that’s not what I mean.” EM: “Kind of ape-like I guess.” A: “If it’s still undetermined, it might be kosher, but maybe not.”

Sea Monkeys – A: “Only if they have fins and scales. Wait a minute–aren’t they actually brine shrimp? Then no.” EM: “I don’t think so. The package shows these cute little things with human faces.” A: “Well, in that case…NO!”

Shedim (chicken-legged demon) – A: “If you have to eat a demon, you really ought to just go off and die somewhere.” EM: “Good point.”

Vegetable Lamb of Tartary – A: “Oh, absolutely kosher! Vegetables are kosher and lambs are kosher! Nice combination. How about some mint with that meal!”

Now, according to Jewcy, a book by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer entitled The Kosher Guide to Imaginary Animals: The Evil Monkey Dialogues exploring this subject in more depth is soon to be published. You can find explorations of more animals here. It’s sure to be the addition to our kosher guides that we’ve been desperately missing…

a taste of summer

Salsa makes everything better.  Especially after a long day of travel and realizing 30 minutes before landing that all of the movies and food on the plane would have been FREE. That was disappointing. Dinner, however, was not.  tonight my old roommate whipped up a college classic to top our cod: mango salsa. What makes this Jewish? Jews made it on erev erev Christmas. (and it’s all kosher by ingredient!)

Mango Salsa

Two mangoes, chopped

One small red onion

Two tomatoes

1/2 a jalapeno

2 tbs cilantro

1/2 lemon, juiced

Mix it all up and change proportions to your taste. this is a great topper to any fish, chicken or Mexican style dish you might whip up!

*this post is abnormally short because i am in transit, but GET EXCITED because i am west coasting this weekend for the Hazon Food Conference and am pumped to blog about it next week

December 8 2009
Lobby for Jewish values passes out fliers against hotels, restaurants putting up Christmas trees, other Christian symbols ahead of civil New Year, say businesses who do so risk losing kosher certification

By Ari Galhar
A new front for religious battles: Hotels and restaurants. The “Lobby for Jewish values” this week began operating against restaurants and hotels that plan to put up Christmas trees and other Christian symbols ahead of Christmas and the civil New Year.

According to the lobby’s Chairman, Ofer Cohen, they have received backing by the rabbis, “and we are even considering publishing the names of the businesses that put up Christian symbols ahead of the Christian holiday and call for a boycott against them.”

Fliers and ads distributed among the public read, “The people of Israel have given their soul over the years in order to maintain the values of the Torah of Israel and the Jewish identity.

“You should also continue to follow this path of the Jewish people’s tradition and not give in to the clownish atmosphere of the end of the civil year. And certainly not help those businesses that sell or put up the foolish symbols of Christianity.”

The Jerusalem Rabbinate also works each year to ensure restaurants and hotels receiving kosher certification from the Jerusalem Religious Council do not put up Christian symbols.

According to a senior official in the kashrut department, this is done each year consensually, but that businesses which do not meet this requirement may find their kashrut certificate revoked.

It should be noted that most of the hotels in Jerusalem and a significant part of the restaurants in the capital receive permanent kosher certification from the city’s religious council.

Source

Seems a few have way too much time on their hands.

This is called bigotry, religious intolerance and a few other things…..

Well if the shoe were on the other foot I am sure this Jewish Lobby group would be screaming from the roof tops, anti Semitic.

This is anti Christian.  Equally a bad thing. I see no difference what so ever.

You reap what you sow and this is the seed of hate.

So again another seed of hate has been sown, by a lobby group.  I suppose they think they speak for all Jews.  How self centered they are. In  a world filled with numerous religions, this is just one example of religious intolerance.  Soon they will be peddling their hate across the planet telling others what religious holidays they can celebrate.

We keep hearing that Israel is a democracy and fair minded towards others,  but it seems that it again been proven to be untrue.

I would suggest to all, not to visit Israel. Seems Christians and those from other religions are not welcome. With so many other wonderful vacation spots in the world,  seems a simple thing to do.

Empty hotels and restaurants might give a loud message.

In the world of business there are more non Jews in the world and they have the power to boycott any business that adheres to such a bigoted restriction.

If you criticize Israel however this is what one gets. A bombardment of hate mail.

Perils of criticizing Israel

My advice keep all the mail and republish it so the public can see just how bad it is.  Honest Reporting is anything but Honest.

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Presentation is everything, until you eat them

One Rugelah, many rugelach. The suffix lach (pronounced with a guttural h at the end) indicates a Yiddish plural. In the case of these small cream cheese filled cookies, one is never enough. Also a note of clarification for all the people who have fallen in love with the sweet greasy confection offered in the bakeries of Israel- these are different. The Israeli version is parve, meaning it contains no dairy (or for that matter meat) and uses a fair amount of oil and sugar to attain its hyper-palatable state. The down side is that after a few hours the Israeli ones taste like congealed grease. The best way to eat those is on the way home from the market.

These are less filled croissant, and more of a rolled cookie. They keep well and could even be frozen (if you manage to keep them that long). This recipe comes down on my mother’s side of the family. It was scribbled in her grandmother’s copy of the Settlement Cookbook in her own long hand. When my mother operated a bakery in Salt Lake City (yes, Jews in Utah) she sold these by the dozens to Jew and Gentile alike.

When I went to look these up in Joan Nathan’s cookbook she asserted that the cream cheese dough recipe was a product of the marketing department at Philadelphia Cream Cheese. The earliest published version turned up in a cookbook written in 1950 and its provenance was given as coming from the wife of pianist Arthur Rubinstein, Nela.

While all of that may be true, and this recipe is very similar to the one that Joan Nathan offers, it still is a bit of a family heirloom and having a chance to make these with my mother over Thanksgiving was great.

A word of caution, these contain almost nothing that is good for you (well, possibly the nuts) and they turn out to be mildly addictive. I found myself idly snacking on them if I left the cookie tin to close by, or even if I was just wandering through the kitchen.

Recipe after the break

Rugelach

For the filling:

1/2 lb cream cheese

1 cup plus 1 tb powdered sugar

1 cup chopped walnuts

3/4 cup raisins

Soften cream cheese in a mixer, cream in sugar until smooth. Mix nuts and raisins in by hand. Refrigerate until ready for use.

For the dough:

1/2 pound cream cheese

1/2 pound butter

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup powdered sugar

1 egg

pinch of salt

zest of orange

1/4 tsp vanilla

In a mixer soften butter, add cream cheese and mix. Cream in the sugar, until smooth. Then add in the egg, vanilla, and orange zest. Add the flour slowly, once the dough comes together in a soft ball stop. Divide dough into quarters and wrap in plastic before chilling. Chill for at least 4 hours, allowing the flour to hydrate fully and the fat to become as cold as possible.

On a well floured surface roll each piece out until it is as thin as possible without coming apart. Cut into roughly triangular shapes with a paring knife or pizza cutter. You should get 6-8 pieces from each ball of dough.

Place a tea spoon of filling in the middle of each dough section and then roll up. As you master the feel of the dough and filling it becomes easier to create uniform cookies- but they all will taste the same. the classic look is to place the filling at the large end, fold the sides in and the roll towards the long tip of the triangle.

Place on a greased or Silpat lined cookie sheet with the end of the dough tucked down and bake in a 350 F oven for 20-25 minutes until they are light brown in color. Cool on a rack and dust with powdered sugar before serving.

How is Torah more embodied than the Torah we put in our bodies?  The food we consume, or don’t consume, because we look to Torah for direction.  The following article by Jay Michaelson from the Forward makes a case for the new Magen Tzedek certification symbol, indicating that the food has been prepared according to the requirements of Jewish ethical law.

http://www.forward.com/articles/119143/

Forward.com

Magen Tzedek: Model of the Jewish Future or Show

Without an Audience?

The Polymath

By Jay Michaelson

Published November 18, 2009, issue of November 27, 2009.

The problem seems not to have changed. Back when I was at college, the egalitarian services couldn’t get a minyan, and so, while I didn’t like Orthodox liturgy, and didn’t approve of the mechitza (prayer barrier), I still schlepped up the extra flight of stairs to the traditional minyan, week after week. Whatever my personal preferences, it seemed that only Orthodox Jews cared enough to make the system work.

Today, I feel like the challenge remains the same — only writ much larger. Historically, progressive Jews have had trouble mustering the same degree of zeal as traditional Jews, whether regarding synagogue affiliation, in-marriage (and affiliation post-intermarriage) or any number of other values. This, the Orthodox often say with a degree of deserved smugness, just goes to show you.

Now, along come the Conservative movement’s efforts to create a Magen Tzedek, a seal for food products that would certify conformity not to the ritual particulars of kashrut, but to the deeper and more profound requirements of Jewish social justice law.

I think the Magen Tzedek is a fantastic idea — if it works. It makes a strong case for Judaism’s ethical relevance, a 21st-century update of the old Hebrew National advertisements — “We answer to a higher authority.” In fact, the Magen Tzedek is even better than the original, which, after all, was a ritual “authority” only tangentially related to contemporary health or sanitary concerns, It is a “higher authority” on values that really matter, to religious Jews, secular Jews and non-Jews alike.

Imagine if Jews were known in America to be the super-ethical people instead of the super-ritual ones. We’re the people who won’t eat a hamburger unless the workers at the restaurant are paid a fair wage. We’re the ones who consider environmentalism to be a matter of religious concern. Because doing the right thing matters to God.

This is good P.R., to put it mildly, both “outwardly,” in terms of the wider population, and “inwardly,” in terms of the Jewish community. This is a Judaism that stands for something meaningful, something more compelling than Jewish survival, or the ritual purity of cloven-foot animals. (Full disclosure: I keep kosher myself.) I’m not saying that the Magen Tzedek would end antisemitism and assimilation, but it would be a potent weapon against them.

And, contrary to the objections of some, it’s grounded in authentic, ancient Jewish values. Of course, the specific details of living wages and green production are new, just like the details of how to kasher a microwave. These will, and should, be debated: Many current Magen Tzedek requirements do seem to be needlessly obscure and overly strict. But the basic principles are indubitable. And I would suggest that in the Age of Madoff, making our ethical reasoning as current, comprehensive and mandatory as our ritual reasoning is, itself, a Jewish obligation. As many Orthodox rabbis said this past Yom Kippur, we need to be glatt yosher (ethically ‘straight’) even more than glatt kosher.

But it’s that pesky adjective — mandatory — that will be the biggest obstacle to the Magen Tzedek’s success. Practicing Orthodox Jews simply will not eat food whose preparation wasn’t properly supervised, even if they’re really hungry and there is no alternative. Will practicing progressive Jews be similarly strict? Or will this be yet

another optional practice that, like my egalitarian minyan at school, has the right values but no followers?

another optional practice that, like my egalitarian minyan at school, has the right values but no followers?

There are some positive signs. I know people who will not eat non-eco-kosher food (for example, factory-farmed meat or eggs, over-fished species of fish) and will not use environmentally unsound disposable plates, even if it means missing out on treats, snacks or full meals. And of course, there are increasing numbers of Americans who will not feed their children pesticide-laden vegetables or processed McFood made mostly out of corn. Some of this is motivated by health concerns, but some of it is value based, and much of it is every bit as strict as Orthodox kashrut. But such behaviors are still on the fringes. Will they ever become mainstream enough to make obtaining a Magen Tzedek worth the financial and administrative costs of doing so? Will progressive Jews care as much about progressive values as traditional Jews care about traditional ones?

I am both despairing and hopeful.

Within the Jewish community, I have my doubts. Conservative Judaism probably has the largest gap between ideology and practice, and it’s not clear how the Magen Tzedek will be any different from the 100 other Conservative rules and regulations that most laypeople ignore. Orthodox Jews have already, by and large, rejected it, although some have created their own version, which I’m not sure helps or hurts. And Reform Jews may not care about a specifically Jewish certification. That doesn’t leave much of a Jewish constituency.

But if the Magen Tzedek proceeds in its current direction, it will be of value far beyond the Jewish community. According to sources quoted in the Forward, the Magen Tzedek has the potential to be the most comprehensive “green seal” in America, and such seals matter economically. If the Magen Tzedek were to capture a share of this market — though, to be sure, there is already plenty of competition — it could indeed reach critical mass.

The dirty little secret of kashrut certification is that it works the same way. The kosher food industry has boomed in recent years: a 15% annual growth rate (compared with 4% for the food industry in general), and a $9 billion market. But according to a 2007 survey, 55% of kosher food consumers buy kosher because they believe it is healthier. And the majority of them are not Jewish.

This has to be the model for the Magen Tzedek — although not on the half-truth that kosher food is healthier, but on the whole truth that Tzedek food is more just. The takeaway is clear. If the Magen Tzedek gains traction among non-Jews who care about how their food is produced, it is sustainable. If it relies on Jewish observance patterns, it isn’t.

In a way, this is an unfortunate result — that a Jewish seal is of more value to gentiles than to Jews. But maybe it’s not so unfortunate at all.

In the coming century, sociologists tell us, Judaism will become less like an all-or-nothing proposition — ethnicity, identity, culture, nation and religion, all wrapped up in one — and more like one source of values, identity, spirituality and culture among many. We should get used to someone practicing Jewish dietary laws, Buddhist meditation and secular ethical values, whether that someone is born of a Jewish mother or not. Jewish culture and religion are going to survive not because of endogamy, but because they remain relevant to people of all ethnic and religious backgrounds who find them to be meaningful. Like it or not, the Kabbalah Centre, Matisyahu and the Magen Tzedek are the future of Judaism; they thrive not because the Jewish tribe maintains them, but because they appeal to a wide range of people.

This is a meaningful transition in the way Jewishness is understood. For some, it is terrifying. But for me, it represents a compelling model of how particularism can survive without ethnocentrism and despite assimilation — not quite a Judaism without Jews, but Judaism beyond the confines of the Jewish population. Yes, there will always be things that only Jews do: I don’t see the lulav and etrog suddenly holding universal appeal. But in the 21st century, progressive Judaism’s survival depends on its relevance to the other 99.9% of the world.

Thus, rather than seeing the Magen Tzedek’s dependence on non-Jews as a liability, I see it as an asset. Imagine an evening in which you enjoy African-American music, a Japanese-American car and Chinese-American food, and it’s all certified according to American Jewish ethical values. Could be worse.

Copyright © 2009, Forward Association, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

ArutzSheva (A7) and VosIzNeias report:

Supreme Court Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch has ruled that the Rabbinate of Ashdod may not negate the kashrut authorization of a restaurant merely because the restaurant owner belongs to a Jesus-believing cult of Jews.

She thus reaffirmed an earlier Supreme Court ruling, denying a request for a re-hearing.

The ruling states that the Halakhic [Jewish legal] standards that measure when one’s personal kashrut claims may be believed are not part of the “hard core” of kashrut laws to which the State of Israel is obligated. Therefore, the fact that the rabbinate does not “trust” the owner is not sufficient reason to withhold the kashrut certification. The certification must be issued immediately, Beinisch ruled, and if not, the city’s Chief Rabbi will be fined.

Beinisch acknowledges that the messianic beliefs of the owner may well lead to “difficulties” in terms of the rabbi’s trust in his kashrut practices – but “the trustworthiness of a restaurant owner must be measured according to standards of general law, and not according to Halakhic standards.”

The rabbinate had demanded that a kashrut supervisor receive keys to the establishment and that he be the one to open and close it each morning and night. However, Judge Beinisch ruled that this demand was unreasonable and harmed the owner’s basic rights.

Dorit Beinisch: what a legend

 However, not everyone is happy. According to A7:

Yad L’Achim Calls for Urgent Meeting
The anti-missionary Yad L’Achim organization responded with outrage to the ruling, saying that missionaries will now be able to open restaurants featuring kashrut authorization accompanying their missionary activities.

“It is unprecedented and grave,” Yad L’Achim announced, “that the local Chief Rabbinate is not authorized to remove the kashrut certification from an establishment that identifies clearly with the Jewish Messianic missionary cult and cannot be trusted to keep the laws of kashrut.”

Yad L’Achim Director Rabbi Shalom Dov Lifshitz has asked the Chief Rabbis to call an urgent meeting of rabbis to discuss the matter. He has also called upon religious Knesset Members to work to change the legislation in order to prevent this from happening. “This must be done immediately,” he said, “even if it causes a coalition crisis. Otherwise, missionaries, armed with official kashrut certifications, will be able to entice religious people into their waiting arms.”

As well as being a somewhat fascist organisation, Yad L’Achim are increasingly resembling a bunch of losers. This hysterical scaremongering doesn’t help. Really, missionaries will be successful if they can have kosher licenses? Nonsense!

Yad L’Achim’s are currently trying to manipulate Israel’s laws to keep out Messianics, whilst they show scant regard themselves for Israel’s democratic law.  Thus, they will fail.

Posted by Yeze

The following was shared with me recently and I wanted to share it with all of you as well:

Why Can’t I Own a Canadian?

October 2002

Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a radio personality who dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio show. Recently, she said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22 and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following is an open letter to Dr. Laura penned by a east coast resident, which was posted on the Internet. It’s funny, as well as informative:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the other specific laws and how to follow them:

When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord – Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness – Lev.15:19- 24. The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?

I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination – Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this?

Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? – Lev.24:10-16. Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.

Your devoted fan,
Jim

I hope my friend doesn’t mind but for literary sake, I’ll refer to him as “Bill”—which is not anything close to his real name but shorter than “my friend”.

So Bill, thanks for sharing this.  I found it amusing to start with.  You see, it shows the shallowness of some Christian thinking and I agree in part with the subtle point Jim is making in this letter.  Whether the letter is real or not, the point is still valid in some ways.  Christians do a good job of picking out or picking on one or two points in the Bible.  It becomes a banner under which a Crusade is fought.  Not cool.

According to some accounts, there are 613 Jewish laws or Mitzvot.  And for some reason, Christians pick 10 of them—no, 11—no 12 of them to hold up today as standards.  There are the Ten Commandments that most have heard of and few can recite.  Then there’s the one pastors love about tithing—and they say it’s not about the money.  And then there’s the one about homosexuality.  The other 601 simply don’t matter anymore to the Christian.  And that’s how we get to Jim’s letter.

So why can’t I own a Canadian?  I was going to be first in line for Shania Twain.  I’d settle for Alanis Morrisette but either way, my wife would have a problem with it.  Besides, there’s that 9th commandment.  Oh well.  Who needs to own anyone anyway!

Back to the point:

Jim, the problem with Dr Laura’s position and your assertions is that the Law is not understood and taken in context.  These laws were not given to the world, but rather to the Jews as a nation.  These were to be their laws within the borders of the land which God gave them.  He never told Moses to go enforce these laws for the Egyptians or Babylonians, but these laws prescribed how the Jew should act or behave if traveling in those lands or in dealing with those people.  These are not laws that necessarily transfer to other countries, peoples, lands, etc.

The laws give us insight into God’s character though and tell us what he finds acceptable and pleasing.  If one chooses to love God and to serve him—if ones focus is to please God—how better to do so than to understand how he feels about human interactions.

Some laws were ceremonial, others had to do with righteousness, while other laws have to do with health and hygiene.  Regarding the latter, there were laws regarding touching dead things, dealing with mold and mildew, and eating certain foods.  Relative to today’s food hygiene standards, I doubt many of us would want to have eaten shellfish or pork back then anyway.   And would we have E.Coli outbreaks today if we followed kosher guidelines for slaughtering an animal?

Lives would be more peaceful and healthy if we followed the ancient guidelines but today, we know better.  We risk eating shellfish and even then, raw!  We eat meat with the blood still in it (rare) and wonder at our health problems.  We have relationships with people at inappropriate times and in inappropriate ways and struggle to stop AIDS and STDs.  Indeed, there are people engaging in acts with animals—and society worries about getting H1N1 from eating pork???  What are they getting transmitted sexually???

I don’t accept that these laws apply to Christians today unless one chooses to live under them.  Not sure why they would.  However, knowing and doing what is right based on these laws is another thing.

In the New Testament, Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as ourself.  And he challenges us to change our thinking as to who that neighbor is.  He tells us to do to others as we would have them do to us.  Paul tells us to consider others better than ourselves, or rather, do not think of ourselves as being better than others.

Frankly, if we do these things, what commandments do we need?  Do we need to be told not to murder?  Who would we hate to the point of murder if we loved our neighbor as ourself?

As for the homosexuality issue, if God says something is an abomination, then that’s what He says.  Not me.  But I’m in no position to contradict him.  One of my best friends EVER is gay and I care about him and love him.  Do I agree with some of his actions or choices?  No.  Do I accept him?  Yes.  So let’s consider this:  I have heterosexual friends where I can say the same things—some of their actions and choices I disagree with also.  And if you knew me better, you would probably disagree with some of my actions and choices.

But this friend of mine—the gay one, not “Bill”—is also a Christian.  Is he headed to Hell because of his lifestyle?  I don’t think so.  You see, even if I thought so, I cannot pronounce judgment on him and I have no idea what his relationship with God is.  I stand in judgment over no-one.  Based on what scripture tells me, I believe he is saved and will be with Christ one day. 

But based on what scripture says, I also have to believe that his lifestyle is not in keeping with God’s perfect plan for humanity.

A few more points:

The Bible teaches that if we break one law, we break them all.  No sin is better or worse than another.

The Bible says that ALL have sinned and fall short.  That’s why Jesus came.

The Bible says that Jesus died for “whomsoever would believe would be saved”.

And the Bible teaches that for the Christian, there is no condemnation, but it also teaches that we are no longer under the Law.

MORE:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/drlaura.asp

http://www.humanistsofutah.org/2002/WhyCantIOwnACanadian_10-02.html

http://cavmom.wordpress.com/2007/10/05/why-cant-i-own-a-canadian/

My first ferment - a nice sauerkraut with purple cabbage

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a seminar entitled, “Yes We Can (and Pickle).” In addition to the fairly funny title, the event, put on by Avodah and AJWS, was devoted to food awareness. One of the workshops I went to was, not surprisingly, about pickling. I did not realize how much I didn’t know.

So let’s start with the basis. Pickling is a process used to preserve foods, such a cucumbers, by removing “bad” bacteria that rot food. It has been used for centuries to preserve food reaped in the warm months (before the times of refrigerators). Most cultures have their own variety  using different food (kimchi, miso, and sauerkraut, for example). Many pickles are made via “quick fermenting,” during which vinegar is added. The vinegar kills all the bacteria. However, there are good bacteria, which aid in the digestion process, making them preferable to keep. The better way, in my humble opinion, is to use just water and salt, which accomplishes the same thing. Here, the yeast in the air ferments the sugars and kills off only the “bad bacteria,” leaving the good stuff

I spent last week in New York City. New York is known for many things, but pizza and delis are for sure on the top of the list. I definitely did not leave being deprived in either category. But when I was walking in the streets, I was reminded also of the pickle’s Lower East Side historical roots, as I was found stands with dozens of different types of pickles. Possibly a hallmark of Jewish delis, the kosher dill arose during the 1800s. Everyone around the U.S. knows the kosher dill, and I have even seen them in supermarkets in the deep South. Today, ironically, kosher dills are not necessarily kosher, but rather only refer to the particular recipe with the generous amount of garlic in the brine, though the historical name still remains.

So why bother pickling? Here are three reasons: (1) It is really fun – it’s sort of like a science experiment. (2) They are tasty. (3) The bacteria in fermented pickles (ie, not the ones with vinegar) have probiotics, which are good for you.

So here’s the recipe…

Well, I am not going to give you a recipe, per se. It is so easy, and there is so much creativity that can go into it, I don’t want to restrict you. But here are a few basics that you’ll need.

• a good container, preferably one with straight sides, though anything will do
• whatever you are fermenting
• sea salt (don’t cut corners and use other salts)
• water

Basic Steps:

1. Cut the veggie into whatever size and shape you like. The larger the pieces, the crunchier they will be.
2. Place all of it in a bowl, and salt. Taste a bit and see how it is. The salting will bring out the water, which is critical.
3. In about 1 inch layers, start packing the veggie into the container, using your fist to really get it in there. Make sure to include all of the water at the bottom of the bowl.
4. Do this for about half of it, and then wait a few minutes. The salt will begin to draw out the water, making it denser.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 until complete.
6. Wait about 12 hours. If not all of the veggies are below water, add a little bit of salt water.
7. Place something over the container, to ensure that everything stays below water (critical step). Do not place a lid or anything like that on top though.
8. In 7 days, taste. If you like it, put it in the frig, which will stop the fermenting process. If not sour enough, let it go some more… There is a decent chance that the top of the ferment will start to rot because it is exposed to the air (you will see a sharp change in color). This is fine, but just be sure to discard this before you start eating.

Now, just using salt water is a bit boring. I suggest that you add a bit of flavoring. This can be added a little bit at a time, after each layer that you do. Here are some ideas:

• Cabbage (sauerkraut) – onions, chili, caraway seed, garlic, peppercorns, allspice berries, cloves, anise
• Cucumbers – garlic, onions, allspice, dill, rosemary, mustard, ginger, anise, coriander seeds
• Beets – (beets need to be cooked prior to pickling) cinnamon, allspice, herbs, nutmeg, chilis, cloves
• Other veggies… mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomatoes, or anything else that you can eat raw

They’re not. And they’re not kosher, either, which is odd because we find them among other non-kosher birds: storks, cormorants, owls, herons, the hoopoe (Israel’s democratically elected national bird) and the ever-abominable falcon in Leviticus 11:13-20 (JPS Version, for you citers out there). Of course, I crosschecked other versions of the Bible and they all say the same thing. This is no mistranslation. The authors of the Bible really thought bats were birds. Of course, we know they’re mammals–like us.

Thanks to Richard Dawkins for pointing this out in his recent book The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution.

Well, I have to say thank you Amiee, Gordon, and Dafna for inviting me to write. It is a real honor to be among such a distinguished group of foodies.

Undoubtedly, I will bring a new flair to the group – little meat, a plethora of fish, no trayfe, and NO dairy. Many ask me what I do actually eat, which is most often followed by my bitting response of “nothing.” If you ever come over and have my cooking, you would be utterly amazed what someone can do with such stringent restrictions! This no diary business of mine puzzles many. I actually strongly dislike the taste of diary (though I did have chessboard pizza last night), and it upsets my tummy. This fits into Jewish cuisine quite well though: the two largest groups of people in the world with lactose intolerance are… Asians and Jews.

As was previously alluded to, I do like being Jewish. My speech is peppered with Yiddish and my sarcasm, or lack thereof, highly mimics that of Larry David. I apologize if you find this too Jewy, but this is a Jewish blog after all…

Recipes are a bit difficult for me. “Take some onions, stir them in… some salt… some of this… and…” I will do my best to recipe-ize my cooking. But a word of caution, being in the kitchen is so amazing because there is food waiting to be make into yummy art. Use these recipes, and all your recipes, as a stepping stone for new ideas. Don’t be confined by what you read – be adventuresome!

So what makes food Jewish? I can’t give a good answer (wikipedia tries). However there is one thing that almost everyone can agree on (and this is extremely uncommon for Jews): food brings people together. For yontifs, simchas, and even shivas, all the Jews do is cook and eat. I love cooking, but, in the spirit of Jewish mothers, I make sure to fed family/friends/roommates/etc so they never go hungry!

Roast Chicken

“Why the number 1?” you might ask. Well roast chicken is such an integral part of the Jewish family kitchen I am confident that the heathens will produce multiple roast chicken recipes.  Roast chicken is a staple of Friday night dinners and holidays alike. This most likely has to do with the fact that kosher chicken was more readily available and cheaper than beef, and this has become the case once again as well. I tend to eschew meat and poultry that has been produced using factory or CAFO farming practices ,and given the propensity of these practices and a rash of other embarrassing scandals in the kosher slaughter business, I almost never buy kosher meat these day . That aside, kosher chicken has one distinct advantage: the salting process essentially makes it pre-brined.  So if you don’t feel like going through the hassle of brining, which I believe is a must, get yourself a kosher chicken. If you want to brine your own, I suggest the Cooks Illustrated Basics of Brining guide, which is free for download.

Today I have discovered that the level of attraction between brine and my kitchen floor is intractable. For the third time in about six months I have spilled several quarts of brine, soaking my throw rugs. This may have a bit more to do with my bumblebee attention span and propensity to forget to  close the jumbo zip-top bags I use for brining, before I walk away to get my meat. But a load of laundry and a second batch of brine got me back on track. One particularly handy piece of kitchen gear when roasting a chicken is (surprise) a roasting pan with a rack.  You can go crazy and spend  anywhere from $25 to $200 on a pan, but I think ones in the $50-75 are your best bet, giving you a good sized pan with a v-shaped rack. If you don’t have the cash to shell out for a pan you can also just make balls of aluminum foil to prop your chicken up off the bottom of the pan.

Last week I came into a large jar of local honey , my sweet tooth has yet to dissipate and my rosemary bushes went crazy this summer, so I decided to do a honey-lemon-rosemary chicken.

recipe after the jump

Honey Rosemary Lemon Roast Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 whole kosher or brined chicken, patted dry
• 2 Tbs butter (softened)
• 2 Tbs fresh rosemary
• 1 lemon
• 1/4 C. honey
• Salt and pepper

1. Place your roasting pan in the oven and preheat to 375°F
2. Mix butter and rosemary together. Using you fingers loosen the skin on the breasts and back of the chicken and tuck bits of the butter and rosemary under the skin. Rub the remaining butter mix on the outside and in the cavity of the chicken.
3. Juice the lemon and combine the lemon juice with the honey so it can be brushed on the chicken. Heat the honey in the microwave for about 15 seconds if it won’t combine. Stuff the leftover lemon rinds into the chicken cavity.
4. Remove the pan from the oven and place your rack in it. Place the chicken on the rack on its side with the wing up. Roast for 15 minutes
5. Rotate the chicken to the opposite side with the wing up. Roast for 15 minutes.
6. Brush the chicken with half the honey-lemon mixture and place the chicken breast side up. Turn oven to 450°F and roast until a thermometer in the breast registers 160°. Brush with the remaining honey-lemon mix halfway through the final roast. (Depending on the size of your chicken the final roast will take between 20-35 minutes.)
7. Trasnfer chicken to ta cutting board. Let rest for about 10 minutes then carve and serve.

I’ll give him a 5…! The heathen’s are again awash in  awesomeness. The incomparable  Marc L. has agreed to grace our humble blog with his wealth of Jewish food knowledge and burgeoning gourmand credentials. Marc will definitely take the kashrut award in the group. While I may know a shit-load about the intricacies of Jewish-dietary law, Marc has the tendency to actually practice it a lot of it. (Dafna describes him as “super Jewish, well compared to you and I… not so much Gordon”.) I went on a rant one day, a few years ago, about how most kosher labeled and kosher catered food was processed crap and that if you just started with fresh ingredients you could make edible if not delicious kosher food and he not only agreed, but described to me how he puts an enormous amount of thought and effort into elevating kosher cuisine and incorporating green, local and sustainable food sources as well. When I had the painful task of attempting to plan a weeks worth of kosher, vegetarian dinners, for 40 hungry college students at a campground, Marc was the man I turned to to prevent me from starving everyone to death. Throw in the fact that we only had Wal-Mart in the burbs of New Orleans to do our grocery shopping and you will understand that having Marc as a wing-man/sous-chef was invaluable. (Actually… I think I may have just invented the next Food Network reality show.)   He’s also just great fun to have a beer with.. I am looking forward to seeing his fabulous contributions. Oh, and in an effort to avoid totally annoying him, I have decided to not post the photo of him attempting to french braid my hair on a bus, but it is available for viewing if you are my facebook friend.

from: thejewishweek.com

“Rabbi Natan Margalit has become a seasoned chicken plucker. Simon Feil’s Brooklyn freezer is stuffed with beef cuts — including unanticipated non-kosher ones he cannot eat. And Devora Kimelman-Block, a onetime vegetarian, is quickly becoming the Jeff Bezos of kosher, free-range organic meat — taking Web orders and shipping beef, lamb and chicken all over the East Coast.

Kosher food is more widely available than ever — almost half of all American supermarket products are certified kosher and the fast-food chain Subway expects to have 16 kosher franchises around the country within a year. But with the mainstreaming of kosher has come a small but fast growing subculture of Jews seeking kosher food that adheres not just to the halachic details, but embodies their ethical and social concerns.”

Full Article Here

La palabra hebrea kosher significa apto o apropiado y se refiere a lo relacionado con el Kashrut, es decir, las leyes dietéticas judías, recogidas en la Torá que establecen 3 cuestiones básicas para los alimentos: lo que se puede y no se puede comer, los alimentos permitidos que se pueden combinar entre sí y cómo deben tratarse los alimentos para que no pierdan su pureza o condición kosher.

En otras palabras, el que un alimento o bebida sea kosher implica no un tipo específico de alimento, sino que el procesamiento de determinado alimento va de acuerdo al ritual judío y los criterios religiosos para este fin preescritos en la Torá, buscando establecer un régimen que beneficie tanto al cuerpo como al alma. Esta tradición implica una serie de restricciones muy rigurosas que no se comentarán en este artículo dedicado, exclusivamente, al vino o yayin (en hebreo).

La producción vinícola kosher, desde la siembra y manejo de la vid hasta el embotellado del producto debe ser supervisada por un Rabino quién vigila y garantiza que el proceso de vinificación se ha llevado a cabo cumpliendo con las normas necesarias para considerarse kosher.

El viñedo, por ejemplo, debe tener al menos 4 años de edad y las plantas de vid deben crecer por si solas, sin la utilización de fertilizantes –únicamente se permite la utilización de abono orgánico durante el año y 2 meses antes de la vendimia- u otra técnica que modifique la naturaleza de la planta y el suelo del viñedo debe descansar cada 7 años de producción por un año completo.

Una vez que la uva está madura, ésta debe ser cortada y transportada únicamente por manos judías y teniendo un cuidado especial en no romper el fruto ni maltratarlo.

Aquí viene un cambio importante, la fermentación del mosto no puede hacerse en madera sino exclusivamente en cubas de acero inoxidable, sin agregar ningún tipo de levadura, encimas ni ningún otro complemento. Pero lo más significativo es que ninguna persona que no sea judía puede estar en contacto con el vino antes de ser embotellado (en botellas nuevas, nunca recicladas ni previamente usadas). Todos los equipos utilizados para la producción de vino kosher deben cumplir con condiciones de limpieza extrema y jamás ser utilizados con ningún otro fin que no sea la producción del mismo vino kosher.

Una vez embotellado y a la venta, para conservar su “pureza” kosher el vino debe ser abierto y servido por un judío aunque puede ser degustado por personas de cualquier creencia o religión.

Como se puede ver, muchos de los requerimientos son utilizados también en las vinícolas de prestigio con la única finalidad de producir un vino que cumpla con altos estándares de calidad, mientras que muchas otras son rituales que van en función puramente del respeto a las creencias y preceptos de la religión judía

Creamos lo que creamos, si respetamos la cultura de otros y disfrutamos del vino, siempre será interesante probar lo que otros países producen y, dentro de esta misma diversidad, la distinta gama de productos que ofrecen, ya que es importante mencionar que los vinos kosher no únicamente se producen en Israel sino en todo el mundo. España, Argentina, Italia, etc. tienen vinos kosher.

En México tanto La Castellana como La Europea, en su amplia selección de vinos del mundo llegan a tener vinos kosher, así como Palacio de Hierro o Liverpool y los supermercados, especialmente Superama, de la Condesa, Tecamachalco y Polanco.

Vía Internet también se pueden conseguir y un excelente sitio para conocer diversas etiquetas existentes es Kosherwine.com.

Shaná Tová!