What happens when your community standards (which are either halacha or custom) are not the standards of a place you travel to? Let’s discuss some examples (this is not exhaustive): You live in the diaspora, so you celebrate an “extra” day of yom tov for 8 days of Pesach. You travel to Israel, where Pesach […]
Adventures in Semantics: Types of Kosher Meat
The title of this post may have confused you. Sure, there’s kosher meat and non-kosher meat. But there’s more. There are grades of kosher meat! And not in the USDA Grade A sense. Kosher Meat: Kosher meats are a) kosher animals b) slaughtered according to Jewish law. Certain internal injuries can render that meat un-kosher. […]
Non-Mevushal Wine Survival Tips
When you’re new to converting, it can be hardest to figure out why everyone freaks out when you get a little too close to the wine bottle. What’s that about? (And later on, you get freaked out by how many people don’t know these laws and try to hand you the wine bottle!) Let’s discuss. […]
Jewish Resources Are Getting Weirder and Weirder
While researching yesterday’s post for conversion gift ideas, I came across one of the strangest bits of Judaica I’ve ever seen: The Mitzvah Measure. It is “[a] tape measure that contains measurements in accordance with Jewish Law such as tefachim, amot, minimum sizes for lulavim, etc.” I thought these measurements were hotly contested by the rabbonim; […]
What a Halachic Non-Jew (Or Someone Who Doesn’t Keep Kosher) Can Contribute to a Kosher Meal
You’ve been invited to a Shabbat meal. That’s great! But oh no, they’ve asked you to contribute something towards the meal! As a halachic non-Jew, this can raise a lot of kashrut issues. So what are your options? Bring nothing and simply enjoy the hospitality of your host. Being an overly polite Southerner, I don’t […]
Things That Don’t Need a Hechsher
For an introduction to hechshers, read What Are Hechshers and Why Do I Care? Now let’s go more in-depth to hechshers. Conversion candidates and others new to kashrut get hechsher-dependent and get anxious about eating anything without a hechsher because we don’t trust our own knowledge (or may still lack that knowledge). What kinds of products […]
What Are Hechshers and Why Do I Care?
What is a hechsher? (Pronounced “heck-shure.”) It’s a symbol on a product that certifies that some rabbi or rabbinical organization has ruled that the item is kosher. Here is a list of hechshers you may see. What kinds of products have hechshers? In theory, something you would eat or might potentially consume (like swallowing toothpaste). […]
Explaining Kashrut to the Clueless
Since I became observant of the kosher laws while living in a largely non-Jewish area, I got a lot of practice in explaining kashrut in a quick-and-dirty way. This is what I came up with, and maybe it will be useful to you! Eating kosher is essentially three levels of paying attention to what you […]
So What Exactly Are Chametz, Kitniyot, and Gebruchts?
A Jew can not “possess” or benefit from chametz during the 8 days of Passover (7 in Israel), which additionally includes erev Pesach (the day when Pesach begins at sunset). Any remaining chametz must be destroyed, sold, or nullified by a certain hour on the morning of erev Pesach. The hour depends on your location, […]
Shabbat Shalom! The Pets and Pesach Edition
Using the Star K’s kosher-for-Pesach pet food list (locate the PDF under the food lists), I finally purchased my pet food for Pesach. For eight days and three upset pet tummies, I spent $70 on Science Diet food. The other brand (Blue Wilderness) would have been $100. I’m a little shocked, as you might imagine. One more reason […]