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Special Occasions

• Anniversary/Wedding
• Bar/Bat Mitzvah
• Birthday
• Housewarming
• New Baby/Brit Mila
• Shabbat
• Sympathy/Shivah

See the Special Occasion Catagory

Hechsher

A hechsher (IPA: /hɛxʃəʁ/, הכשר Hebrew: "kosher approval" , plural: hechsherim) is the special certification marking found on the packages of products (usually foods) that have been certified as kosher (meaning "fit" for consumption). In Halakha, (Jewish law), the dietary laws of kashrut, specify food items that may be eaten and others that are prohibited as set out in the commandments of the Torah. Observant Jews generally will only eat permitted foods. To assist Jewish consumers, rabbinic authorities produce and regulate their own hechsherim. It is usually Orthodox rabbis who assume the jobs of mashgichim (singular: mashgiach, "supervisor"). This means that they will "supervise" the products and processes that manufacture kosher food to ensure compliance with the required standards. The mashgiach will allow the manufacturer to apply a hechsher to the packaging of the product only if found to contain only kosher ingredients and produced in accordance with Halakha. The rabbi may also apply additional words letters after the hechsher to denote whether the product contains meat (often denoted "Meat"), dairy (D or Dairy), neither meat nor dairy (Pareve), whether the product is Kosher for Passover because it contains no chametz (P), whether the product is pas yisroel (bread baked at least in part by a Jew), cholov yisroel (any dairy products came from Jewish owned farms), or whether the product is yoshon (lit. "old": all grain contents took root before the previous Passover).

Principles

Principles

There are many rules and details of kashrut, not all of which can be detailed in an article. Among different branches and communities of Orthodox Judaism there are differences of detail and nuance. Conservative Judaism generally observes a laxer set of rules than does Orthodox Judaism.

Key principles of kashrut are:

Restrictions on permissible foods (See Kosher foods):

• Land animals must be mammals which chew their cud (ruminate) and have cloven hooves.

• Birds of prey are prohibited

• Fish must have fins and scales (non-fish seafood is prohibited)

• Meat and milk (and anything made with dairy and meat products) cannot be served in the same meal, or cooked using the same dishes or utensils, or stored in a way that could cause them to intermingle. Observant Jews have separate dishes for meat and milk.

• Kosher slaughter of animals and birds. Kashrut requires all animals (and birds) to be slaughtered by a trained individual (a shochet) using a special method of slaughter, shechita. Among other features, shechita slaughter severs the jugular vein, carotid artery, esophagus and trachea in a single cut with an unserrated, sharp knife.

• Blood must be thoroughly removed from all meat, using one of several methods such as soaking and salting, or broiling.

• Utensils (and whole kitchens) which are used with non-kosher foods are generally considered to have been rendered non-kosher, and will transfer that non-kosher status to kosher foods. Alternatively, such utensils may be made kosher again by one of several methods appropriate to the utensil and circumstances. These methods include immersion in boiling water, heating, and other methods.

• Food cannot have been prepared by Jews in a manner which violates the Shabbat (Sabbath).

• On Passover, special rules prohibit leavening (chametz). These rules include prohibitions on certain grains susceptible to leavening, the products of such grains, and similar products. Any utensils which were used in preparing and serving chametz are also forbidden on Passover. Observant Jews traditionally have separate sets of meat and dairy utensils for Passover use only. The prohibition against chametz on Passover is much more stringent than the year-round laws of kashrut.

Certain foods must have been prepared in whole or in part by Jews, including:

• Wine (Kosher wine)

• Certain cooked foods (bishul akum)

• Cheese (gvinas akum)

• Bread (under certain circumstances)

• Certain dairy products (cholov Yisroel)

Biblical rules control the use of agriculture produce: for produce grown in the Land of Israel a modified version of the Biblical tithes must be applied, including Terumat HaMaaser, Maaser Rishon, Maaser Sheni, and Maaser Ani (untithed produce is called Tevel); the fruit of the first three years of a tree’s growth or replanting are forbidden for eating or any other use as Orlah [2] (See Orlah); produce grown in the Land of Israel on the seventh year is Shviis, and unless managed carefully is forbidden as a violation of the Shmita (Sabbatical Year).

The following rules of kashrut are not universally observed:

• The rule against eating new grain (Yoshon) outside the Land of Israel

• In addition, some groups follow various eating restrictions on Passover which go beyond the rules of kashrut, such as the eating of gebrochts or garlic.