Kashrus

Different Kashrut symbols

Kashrus refers to something done correctly and properly, permissible according to Torah law.

Kashrus is generally divided into two areas:

1. Kashrus of objects that a person deals with - A person's environment needs to be "kosher." A Yid must be careful to see and hear things that are permitted according to Torah.
2. Kashrus in matters of eating and drinking - The food that a Yid wants to eat must be "kosher." Meaning, it is permitted for consumption according to Torah laws regarding food and drink.

Kashrus of Objects and Environment

This level deals with the kashrus of objects that a person deals with, what a person sees or hears, the atmosphere surrounding a person during their life needs to be kosher, meaning adapted according to Torah. Objects that were used for avodah zarah are forbidden for use and benefit.

In a sicha on 20 Cheshvan 5744, the Rebbe dedicated extensive time explaining the problems with pictures of non-kosher animals, and their influence on human life, particularly on young children.

Kashrus of Food

There are many details in food kashrus, divided by type of food or drink:

Animals

Not all animals are permitted for eating. The Torah gave signs of purity, by which it is determined which animals are permitted:

Chayos and beheimos - The Torah gave three signs of purity: a. Split hooves - feet are split b. Completely split - the split continues from the foot to where it connects to the leg c. Chews its cud - after swallowing brings up the food to its mouth and chews again

The animal must be shechted according to halacha and undergo various checks (like lung examination) ensuring their kashrus.

Fish - The signs of purity in fish are: a. Fins - organ on the side of the fish helping it swim b. Scales - rough layer on fish skin, sometimes scales fall off but fish remains kosher. Every fish with scales also has fins.

Being exact in the Kashrut of food and drink Being exact in matters of modesty (to the extent that "you shall be as a wonder/example to many")

Azkir Al HaTzionLearning Chassidus is necessary, as explained in many places Learning with a chavrusa - is one of the conditions for acquiring Torah and is beneficial for many matters In this case - one should increase in the study of maamarim about avodah Foreign thoughts regarding faith come frequently - from a lack of proper care in eating and drinking kosher foods. [One should check] tefillin and tzitzis [Give] tzedakah before Shacharis (and also Mincha) without a vow

Insects and crawling creatures of all kinds are forbidden to eat.

Animal by-products, such as milk, and cheese, follow individual laws.

Fruits and Vegetables

The kashrus rules for fruits and vegetables include terumos and maasros, the prohibition of orlah, shemitah year, and more:

Orlah

From the moment of planting a tree until it's permitted to use its fruits, three years must pass during which it's forbidden to benefit from the fruits. Additional issue: If they planted the tree in a nursery and two years passed, then transferred the tree to an orchard, some poskim permit counting those two years as part of the three. However, if the clump of earth around the roots disintegrated during the transfer, the three years must be counted from the beginning.

Neta Revai or Kerem Revai

During the fourth year from planting the tree, one needs to set aside the equivalent value of the fruits or bring them to Yerushalayim to eat them there in kedusha and tahara. However, since we are now tamei meis, only the first option remains.

Terumos and Maasros

After harvesting the crop it is called tevel and it's forbidden to benefit from it until separating terumos and maasros:

Terumah Gedolah

First, a small portion (approximately one hundredth) is taken and separated for the Kohanim. Today this portion is destroyed (since there are no tahor Kohanim who can eat it).

Maaser Rishon

Afterwards, a tenth of the produce is separated for the Leviim. Today the owners can benefit from this portion (since it doesn't need to be eaten specifically in tahara).

Terumas Maaser

From the Maaser Rishon, a tenth is taken and separated for the Kohanim. Today this portion is also destroyed.

Maaser Sheni

The years for this maaser are determined according to shemitah. Therefore in the first, second, fourth and fifth years this maaser is separated, a tenth of what remains after separating Maaser Rishon. This portion needs to be eaten in Yerushalayim in kedusha and tahara (like neta revai), either itself or after being redeemed with money and using that money to buy other foods. Today it is redeemed with money.

Maaser Ani

In the third and sixth years, instead of Maaser Sheni, Maaser Ani is separated. This maaser is given to poor Jews. During the shemitah year in places where terumos and maasros are separated in chutz l'aretz - Syria, Maaser Ani is separated.

Shemitah

During the shemitah year there is special kedusha in the fruits, therefore it's forbidden to do business with them unless it's from "otzar beis din", in which case it's permitted to sell, and the money also has the law of "kedushas shevi'is".

Kedushas shevi'is means - it's forbidden to discard the fruits disrespectfully, and forbidden to give human food to animals and the like.

Insects and Worms

Many fruits and vegetables contain various insects that are forbidden to eat. Their size is very small, but they can be identified through various means. From time to time, various kashrus organizations publish types of fruits and vegetables that are infested, what they are infested with, and how to remove the insects.

Drinks

In drinks there are several issues:

Wine

Wine that was used for avodah zarah is forbidden to drink and benefit from like the law of taakoroves avodah zarah. Chachamim also decreed on "stam yeinam" that it should be forbidden like wine that was used for nesech. Therefore if a goy touches wine or sees it, the wine becomes yayin nesech which is forbidden to drink etc., therefore we are very careful that a goy should not see or touch wine.

There are two ways that wine won't become yayin nesech:

1. If the wine is sealed with two seals - a cork seal and a cover over it
2. If the wine was cooked until boiling, then this wine is no longer fit for nesech and therefore we're not concerned. Some claim that pasteurization is like cooking but most rabbanim ruled that specifically cooking is required.

Cholov Yisroel

Any milk that was milked by a goy and a grown Yid was not present during the milking is called "cholov nochri". This milk is forbidden due to concerns that perhaps they switched the milk with milk from a non-kosher animal or mixed it in. From time to time stories are published about various ways that milk from non-kosher animals can be found even in cow's milk bottles.

The Rebbe instructs to be strict about cholov akum even for small children, even in a case of 'chashash d'chashash'.

The Frierdiker Rebbe writes about "cholov akum": "Cholov akum and the like is the weapon of the yetzer hara, which shoots its arrows from afar, and kills rachmana litzlan, or makes a person spiritually blemished."

Modern Drinks

With the advancement of technology and invention of various ways to prepare soft and carbonated drinks, one must check the food ingredients, since among the taste, smell and food coloring materials are also those produced from animals (and not always from kosher animals), and from plants (and there may be issues of orlah and terumos etc.).

Fruit Juices (Natural)

1. Sometimes the juice is prepared in the same factory together with natural grape juice, and there is an issue of "yayin nesech"
2. Sometimes preservatives and other materials are put into the juice, and their kashrus needs to be checked.

The Importance of Keeping Kashrus

The Rebbe explains that being particular about kashrus in eating and drinking stems from the fact that food and drink become the blood and flesh of the person, and therefore they influence the person with the same characteristics they possess. Therefore we don't eat food from predatory animals - non-kosher ones, since through forbidden eating the person receives the cruel nature of predatory animals and the like.

Similarly regarding cholov nochri, the Rebbe expressed that one should be careful to avoid drinking it, because it causes doubts in emunah.

In seforim it brings a mashal regarding the importance of keeping kashrus: A simple person eats coarse foods and they don't harm him at all, but a prince who is used to eating fine and delicate foods, if he eats coarse food - the food will harm him. And the more elevated a person is, his food is also more refined and superior. So too Bnei Yisroel who are children of the King of kings, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, cannot eat forbidden foods, but must eat only kosher foods so they won't be harmed. And the higher and more elevated a person is, the more they need to be particular about keeping the kashrus of foods they put in their mouth, which is expressed in additional stringencies and various hidurim.

This mashal appears slightly differently in Rashi's commentary: A mashal to two sick people, one who has a chance to recover and the second has no chance. The doctor tells the one with a chance to eat only certain things that won't harm him, but tells the second to eat whatever his soul desires, since anyway he has no chance.

In Chassidic seforim it also brings on the possuk "v'nitmeisem bam" - that the reason it's not written with an aleph (v'nitmeisem) is because non-kosher food blocks up a person's heart and mind.

The Rebbe expressed that the reason why according to doctors' research Jews suffer from stomach problems more than non-Jews, is because for already 30 generations, three thousand years Jews have been careful with kashrus and their stomachs got used to these foods, and this passes through inheritance from father to son, and when they start eating other food that isn't kosher, it's hard for the stomach to adjust to the changes.

The Responsibility of Jewish Women

By virtue of the woman's role as akeres habayis on whom the foundation of running the home rests, among her roles is being particular about keeping kashrus, which affects the whole family and the entirety of Am Yisroel.

Besides the woman's responsibility for keeping the kashrus of foods in the home, she has the power to influence family members also regarding their eating outside the home, since when family members eat kosher food at home, it influences their way of thinking, and it becomes easier to influence them to be particular about kosher foods also outside the home, and additionally, after they get used to kosher foods, it's easier for them to maintain the habit.

Feeding an Infant

In response to R' Ovadia Stroks, the Rebbe wrote that regarding baby food that needs various kashrus accommodations, one should follow the Rav's instructions after presenting him with all the details of the situation accurately, and this is not from the things where one should be more stringent and mehadrin beyond the Rav's ruling.

Kashrus Organizations

In the modern industrial era, where most foods are produced or processed in large industrial factories, strict supervision is required throughout the entire food production process. For this purpose, kashrus organizations were established, responsible for kashrus in various foods, each factory and kashrus organization to which it gives responsibility.

Among the large kashrus organizations in Eretz Yisroel, considered especially mehudar are the kashrus system of the Eidah Hachareidis and the kashrus system under the supervision of Rav Landau - Rav of Bnei Brak.

The Beis Din Rabbanei Chabad gave, under the Rebbe's instruction, kashrus certification to the wines of 'Yekvei Yerushalayim' (winery of the 'Sar Hamashkim' Yona Mendelson). After the passing of Rav Zeev Dov Slonim in 5778, the hechsher from the Beis Din was discontinued (afterwards Rav Yurkowitz gave the hechsher of Heichal Lubavitch to the winery).

Today the Beis Din Rabbanei Chabad does not give any kashrus certification to wine or any alcoholic beverage products.

Additional Chabad rabbanim give supervision on various products, like Rav Ashkenazi - Rav of Kfar Chabad, Rav Yurkowitz - Rav of Shikun Chabad in Lod and Rav Bistritsky - Rav of the Chabad community in Tzfas who give kashrus to various products. Rav Gershon Mendel Garelik, the Rebbe's shliach in Italy, dealt with food kashrus according to the Rebbe's explicit instruction, and is considered a respected and reliable hechsher; today, his son-in-law Rav Avraham Chazan in Europe and his son Rav Yosef Garelik in the United States continue his path in giving hechsherim.

Another large kashrus organization, operating mainly in other parts of the world, under Chabad ownership and management is called the OK Kashrus Organization.

In 5773, the EK kashrus organization was established by the Conference of European Rabbis, operating in European territories in cooperation with all Jewish communities.

The various kashrus organizations are assisted by Chabad shluchim spread throughout the world to supervise the kashrus of food factories in remote countries.

Mivtza Kashrus

In 5735 the Rebbe launched Mivtza Kashrus.

As part of the mivtza, Chabad chassidim go to Jewish homes, make the kitchen utensils kosher and separate between meat and dairy. When launching the mivtza, the Rebbe opened a special fund, subsidizing 50% of the kashering expenses and buying new utensils.

See Also

• Shechita
• Shechitas Lubavitch

External Links

• The blessing for the representative of the Kashrut of the Badatz of the Chareidi community - The daily video
• Channel 2: Rabbi Ginzburg explained about Kashrut ● Video
• This is the animal that you shall eat ● Stories from Chabad House - Rabbi Yaakov Shmulevitz, Beit Moshiach
• Daily Rabbi: The Kashrut of foods affects a person's soul
• Eating correctly: Kashrut and its importance in Jewish life
• Rabbi Yeroslavsky, Proper supervision for Kashrut, in the 'Mibeit Hahoraah' issue 14, Adar I 5782 (2022)