Jerusalem Kosher News

1.    JKN Looking for a Volunteer
2.    4th and 5th Machane Yehuda Shuk Tours
3.    Honey for Rosh Hashanah
4.    Is the Hechsher Good?
5.    Shofarot Need a Hechsher
6.    Jerusalem Old City Shwarma Shop

JKN Looking for a Volunteer
Actually, this is an official JKN request for a handout – not cash, but perhaps one of the readers in the Jerusalem area is a graphic artist and willing to donate services to this volunteer endeavor.

While a list of restaurants and hechsherim would be ideal, it is not practical and I will not undertake such a project because such a list will become outdated before the ink dries. Too many restaurants open and close and change hechsherim to make such a project practical.

I would like to design a type of large folding business card that contains the following;
1.    Basic information on JKN (contact information)
2.    Kashrut symbols of a dozen or so recognized agencies
3.    Names of bogus agencies
4.    Basic questions to ask a mashgiach when eating out

I am making presentations to yeshivot and seminaries, and conducting shuk tours, and more and more people are asking for something that will guide them somewhat. I think this would be a invaluable assistance, since one could use the photos of acceptable hechsherim for reference while shopping and immediately find the name of a bogus agency when looking to dine out, and avoid such an eatery.

Anyone interested, please respond to my email at jerusalemkn@gmail.com.

I understand I need a file that is ‘print ready’ and then we will take it to print. Of course, the name, logo and contact info of the volunteer artist will appear on the cards as well, which will be distributed to yeshivot, seminaries and households in the Jerusalem area for starters.

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4th and 5th Machane Yehuda Shuk Tours
Keeping in line with the rules of fair play, I am displaying photos of the participants [who did not object to being photographed] from the final summer shuk kashrut walking tours.

I am pleased to hear the feedback has been positive and I hope blei neder there will be other walking tours in the future, in the shuk and other areas, but for now, none are planned. I change my focus to the arriving yeshiva and seminary students and I will be presenting my PowerPoint kashrut presentation to a number of schools in the hope of alerting students before they begin running around and eating in places they may wish to avoid.

For the over 90 people who took part in the shuk tours, I hope you are now wiser kosher consumers and please, spread the message to others – share your newly acquired knowledge, perhaps by accompanying a friend to the shuk and conducting your own walking tour. Elul is around the corner and we can help one-another to avoid kashrut pitfalls, a noble project ahead of the New Year.

It was great meeting you, the participants, and you truly enhanced my experience, a nice break from beating the pavement on my own. I look forward to meeting many out-of towners who are starting to arrive in the coming days, preparing for the envious task of learning Torah in Eretz Yisrael during the coming year [or longer].

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Honey for Rosh Hashanah
I use this opportunity to remind shoppers that with Rosh Hashanah on the horizon, the annual honey scam will most likely be upon us. Check the label and remember; if it is too cheap, it is most likely what it claims to be. (This is also the case too often with olive oil by the way).

Unfortunately, many unscrupulous individuals seek to market fake honey, which at times carries a forged hechsher – so one may lose out by paying for honey and getting molasses or the like and chas v’sholom getting something with non-kosher ingredients. Not the way we wish to usher in the New Year.

Details to follow with photos hopefully as the Chief Rabbinate Fraud Division seeks out these unscrupulous folks in the hope of stopping shipments before they hit store shelves.

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Is the Hechsher Good?
I continue to receive an increasing volume of email questioning if a specific hechsher is “good or not”. As you may know, I do not go there. I can and will tell you if a hechsher is legitimate of unrecognized.

Reports also contain information pertaining to various kashrut supervisions and you must draw your own conclusions. I am not in a position to advise anyone regarding a specific hechsher, just relaying details, the results of investigative reporting.

The website has links on the upper right side under “Other Pages on the JKN Website” section providing many photos of legitimate recognized kashrut certificates, as well as a section of “unauthorized” kashrut certificates to permit you to familiarize yourself with them, and do distance yourself from such stores.

There is also a listing of many kashrut agencies, telephone and fax numbers to assist you in reaching the people you wish to speak with to obtain answers. This appears in the same section under the title “Recognized Kashrut Agencies in Israel”.

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Shofarot Need a Hechsher
While a shofar is not an edible item, it is a matter of kashrut, especially involving such an important mitzvah – therefore I opted to include this blurb.

The Chief Rabbinate and other rabbinical agencies warn many many shofarot (shofars) sold around the country do not meet halachic requirements and therefore, may not be used to perform the mitzvah. Actually, many of the large Yemenite looking shofars are not even from an animal permitted by halacha for a kosher shofar while others have cracks and have been glued and repaired, albeit not generally detectable, rendering them pasul (unfit for the mitzvah too).

I humbly suggest you limit purchasing a shofar to one bearing a kashrut certificate from a reputable agency so you can bring it home and perform the mitzvah as intended. The weekly Mishpacha Magazine did a comprehensive piece on the shofarot sometime ago. It was quite informative to say the least.

I am sorry but I too am aware at times the bulletins seem depressing, downbeat, but the desire of some to make money seems to send some folks in the wrong direction.

The Eida Chareidit for example has announced that many foreign workers are employed in southern Tel Aviv tying tzizit for example, once again, not kosher but you cannot tell since they appear genuine. This is a known fact and these garments are indeed being sold in many a Judaica store, and people buying them are being duped.

The foreign workers learn to tie them correctly, making them undetectable from the real thing, and they work for less than minimum wage, earning a handsome profit for the unscrupulous entrepreneur.

Yeshiva World News (http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/) recently carried a story prepared by Rabbi Moshe Flumenbaum of HaSofer Stam, (http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=38042) in which he details the use of non-kosher gidden in tefillin, so you see, the problem exists not just with food, but with many Judaica items – basically wherever dishonest folks see the possibility of making money.

The Eida announced sometime ago that one buying tzizit should only accept an Eida Chareidit hechsher (label) with a hologram, a new addition to assist kosher consumers to weed out the forgeries. Some of you may have noticed the Eida also includes a hologram on its frozen chicken labels today, as does Rav Rubin and Badatz Beit Yosef on their kashrut certificates in stores.

The serious agencies are working to prevent forgeries from going undetected. We, the consumer however must know what to look for to avoid falling prey to those seeking to dupe the kosher consumer.

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Jerusalem Old City Shwarma Shop
Perhaps a reader who frequents the Old City of Jerusalem can take digital photos of a shwarma shop in the area, one I am told carries a hechsher from ‘Ateret Yerushalayim’ and email to me. I would like a photo of the store’s sign and the kashrut certificate.

This will expedite my work and save me a trip to the Old City. Thanks

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