#kosher rules for orthodox

[vamptastic]

the places where i think religion made me Weird are i think morally doing (consensual) fucked up shit to corpses is fine but i find the actual processes of embalming and cremation to be violating and disgusting on an instinctual level. and also i think judaica tattoos are insanely tacky if not outright disrespectful even when other jews get them. and generally seeing tattoos in jewish spaces is a weird feeling. but overall i am i think a chill guy for being considerably more religious (or idk, knowing/caring more about religion) than the average person. idc about promiscuity or gender roles or whatever. i just feel guilty every time i eat shrimp.

[kyliecatqueen]

Every time I think of Human!Sam I imagine him having peyos instead of his flappy dog ears. And then Human!Max has a pair of very clean bunny ears that he found in a dumpster as a kid and fell in love a 2nd time (the 1st time was with violence, the 3rd time with his gun, and the 4th time with Sam). The bunny ears are meticulously cleaned and cared for, and they'd be the only thing on Max that he'd willingly keep such high maintenance on if it weren't for Sam forcing him to take care of himself as well as the bunny ears.

"Peyos" (or "Pe'ye" if it's singular) are uncut/unshaven sideburns, it's a thing done by a lot of Orthadox Jewish men and boys because one of the rules of the Torah that they uphold to is to "never shave the sides of their head". Most people wear them curled, and the literal translation of "Pe'ye" is "corner/side/edge".

[girlactionfigure]

Did you ever notice how Orthodox Jews couldn’t care less what the world thinks of them?

Not a little. Not secretly.

They truly, completely, deeply don’t care.

They’ll walk through an airport looking like they time-traveled out of 1850.

Pray out loud in a hoodie or a hat while people whisper.

The men grow beards, wear hats, let their tzitzit hang out.

The women cover their hair with wigs, scarves, hats (depending on your heritage)—like queens from another world.

And they’ll show up to your office two days late because it was a holiday no one’s ever heard of.

And they won’t apologize.

Because you can’t even imagine what their life is.

You can’t imagine what it’s like to disappear from the world—fully—every single week.

Shabbat comes in and they’re gone. Just gone.

No phone, emails, group chats, news, and no chaos.

You could be calling them a hundred times. The world could be in flames. They won’t pick up.

And they wouldn’t even know.

And honestly? They don’t even care.

While the world is busy arguing over the next divisive  topic, they’re sitting around the table with their eight kids. Singing 1,000-years-old songs.

Wearing their nicest clothes for no one but each other.

Eating and talking about the weekly Torah parsha or the current holiday, Walking to shul in the rain without an umbrella—because it’s muktzah (forbidden to carry or touch).

It’s not just that they are screen-free or tech-free.

They are world-free.

And it doesn’t stop there.

You can’t imagine what it’s like to live on a calendar that makes no sense to anyone else.

To be out of office when no one else is.

To fast for 25 hours on a random Tuesday in July or September.

To miss concerts, meetings, deals—because it’s Pesach, Sukkot, Purim, or Tisha B’Av.

To need kosher food and say no to 98% of restaurants—not because you’re picky, but because there’s a God, and He is watching.

You might think they’re disconnected from the world.

Maybe.

But somehow, many of them still manage to own buildings, run multimillion-dollar companies, donate billions to charity, raise big families, live rich lives.

They vanish for Shabbat, disappear for holidays, leave early Fridays—and yet they’re still there at the top.

Still getting it done.

How?

Because when you live with clarity, you waste less time chasing noise.

Because when your values are ancient, you’re not shaken by what’s trending—because your values were already tested, again and again, and they won.

Because when you know who you are, you don’t need to keep proving it.

They don’t care what people think—

Not because they’re rude or arrogant.

But because they already have something better than approval: conviction.

Their compass doesn’t point to likes or clicks.

It points to Sinai.

And once you’ve stood at Sinai—even in memory—you just see the world differently.

So yeah, they’re not ashamed.

Not of their prayers.

Not of their outfits.

Not of the way they live.

Not of the rules that guide them.

They’re not trying to be different.

They’re trying to stay loyal.

To something eternal.

In a world obsessed with changing,

they’re holding on.

And that kind of confidence—that kind of freedom—

You can’t buy it.

You can’t fake it.

You can’t even imagine it.

But they live it. Every day. Proudly. Openly.

And they wouldn’t trade it for anything.

@AP_from_NY

[hailruth]

Good time of a day!

I'm not Jew or Jewish, but I genuinely want to learn more about Judaism and Jewish culture. I recently found out about kosher clothes for girls who are 13 and higher (that the clothes must cover the elbows, etc) and wanted to know: are these rules strictly followed by Jewish girls in reality? Is it voluntary? Do secular Jews obey it?

I'd be glad if you answered these questions! Have a great day! Wish you all the best!

so, first things first, you will never be able to say that every single member of one ethnicity, religion, race, country, etc. definitively does one particular thing. so, something like how one dresses will not be universal among any group, including jews. the idea of how one should dress is also very broad; a simple yes or no answer is impossible to give on this topic. i am not a rabbi nor extremely educated on these ideas, so keep an eye out on the comments/reblogs from people who can provide more insight. also, keep in mind that i'm typing this on mobile while waiting at a gate for a flight.

there is an extremely large amount of secular jews out there and just as many religious jews who do not follow the laws of צניעות (tznius/tznuit, "modesty"). even then, how tznius is defined varies between communities (it is largely shaped by the minhag hamakom, the "custom of the place"). it also varies between streams of judaism. for example, the reform movement does not require a certain kind of dress (this does not mean that there aren't reform jews who choose to dress modestly / according to tznius), while orthodox and conservative movements will have guidelines. those are not all the branches of judaism, but they are the "big three." even within orthodoxy, which is probably what you're thinking of when you talk about "kosher clothes," there are many different ways in which people follow tznius.

there seem to be a few other misconceptions that you are approaching the topic with, so i would like to correct them.

tznius is absolutely not gender-specific (as in, only for women). modesty applies to every jew, regardless of gender. there are requirements for both men and women. there are, additionally, very interesting discussions among jews who are not cisgender or are gender nonconforming and how they interact with tznius. i do not have a personal gender identity but choose to practice judaism according to the laws given to women, and that is the only way in which i identify with any gender at all.

i am not completely sure where the "13 and higher" idea comes from. i am not educated on every single movement, but within orthodoxy, parents who choose to dress according to tznius generally start their children much earlier than that (anywhere from 2-6 years old, this is also dependent on minhag, but often is thought to only start once the child can understand the concept). there *could* be some communities that instead do this at the age of 13, but not that i personally know of. there is no strict answer as to exactly when children should begin dressing modestly.

like i said before, the idea of exactly what is modest is different between communities. modern orthodox and conservative movements, for example, follow tznius but do not always believe that this includes the need to cover elbows, according to the example you gave. as another example, not all orthodox jewish women wear strictly skirts, modern orthodox women often wear pants.

now onto your specific questions.

are these rules strictly followed by jewish girls in reality? i have largely answered this already, but to reiterate, there is no one mode of dress which you can assign to the whole of judaism or jewish women. but there are many who do follow these rules. i am an example of someone who is working towards having a modest wardrobe. in synagogue, i cover my collarbones and elbows, i also wear long skirts that are mid-calf length at the shortest. once i am married that will most likely be the entirety of my closet, though i am still personally working through whether or not i will continue to wear pants. as you can see, it is a very personal journey as clothing is so central to one's identity and mode of self-expression.

is it voluntary? again, it is impossible to give a universal answer to this question. i already have a multi-paragraph response in my mind to this, but i don't think i will get into the complexities of cultural expectations, societal norms, religious thought, and intracommunity disagreements. ideally, hopefully, and in the best scenarios, one will never, ever be forced to dress in a way that they do not want. but the world we live in is far more complex than that. however, most people who follow these laws do so because they believe in them deeply.

do secular jews obey it? well, again, this isn't a yes/no question. if they are secular, though, they definitely aren't doing it for religious reasons. i know of many jewish movements that adopt jewish forms of dress as cultural markers (such as women who cover their hair as a symbol of judaism, even if they aren't married). it's simply more comfortable and freeing for some to be more covered up, too. the reasons are endless and always personal. while most secular jews one meets probably do not choose to follow jewish modesty, there are absolutely those who do.

i hope these answers suffice. i would greatly appreciate it if any jews could share their personal beliefs and habits when it comes to how you dress. it would be most helpful for the asker to see the immense variation among movements, communities, and individuals.

[mariacallous]

As soon as news broke this week that the Food and Drug Administration was suspending federal testing of commercially produced milk, the Orthodox Union’s hotline lit up.

The flood of inquiries was “off the hook … crazy: emails, calls, WhatsApp, everything,” said Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer, chair of the dairy committee at O.U. Kosher, the most recognizable kosher certifier in the United States.

The callers were all anxious about the potential implications of the policy change on the kosher status of milk. Since 1954, most kosher-keeping American Jews have relied on an influential rabbi’s determination that government oversight of milk production is sufficient to render commercially produced milk kosher.

The rabbi, Moshe Feinstein, was dealing with an age-old problem of Jewish law when he made his ruling.

[frownyalfred]

Hello! I’m not Jewish and I just learned about Pikuach Nefesh. Being Jewish yourself, I’m guessing you have a lot of thoughts on this and how it relates to Bruce’s no-kill policy. I’d be really interested in hearing them if you want to make a post!

Hey friend!

I absolutely have thoughts, but I must begin with a disclaimer:

My perspective does not cover all Jews, nor is it the authority on what is or isn't Jewish. I grew up Reform/Reconstructionist, in an ethnically Ashkenazi Jewish family, and these are just my thoughts as a Batman blog.

Another important note: different types of Jews hold the halacha (rules/principles) of Judaism to be far more important in their lives. An Orthodox Jew will observe halacha much more strictly than a Reform Jew. Despite what some people will tell you, this doesn't make either of them better. Just different.

Whew, okay. Now that that's out of the way, let's get down to business.

What is Pikuach Nefesh?

In very general terms, Pikuach Nefesh (hard ch sound in the back of your throat) allows Jews to override other religious "rules" or values in the pursuit of preserving or saving a life.

A good example of this is a an Orthodox Jewish person, who, following halacha, will not drive or operate items with electricity during the Sabbath (Shabbat). But what happens if someone has a heart attack and they need to call 911? Pikuach Nefesh would permit them to use electricity, despite it being Shabbat.

If a Jewish person who keeps total kosher is in a situation where they will starve if they do not eat non-kosher food, they are permitted to eat non-kosher food.

Exceptions

There are some notable exceptions to Pikuach Nefesh, which I suspect is what your question is getting at. The threat to an individual's life generally has to be known, urgent, and not abstract.

Murder is another large exception, with some conditions. Generally, the intentional act of killing another person, or injuring them to the point where they might die from their injuries, is not an act that can be permitted by the principle of Pikuach Nefesh.

The slim exceptions to this include highly specific cases of self defense of oneself or another against an aggressor. One may kill to preserve a life in very strict situations, but they cannot murder. There are even times where killing is obligated, such as war.

So how does this relate to Batman/Bruce's no-killing rule?

Okay. So. I've had a lot of discussions with folks about this, and the answer I've learned is: it doesn't. Not really.

Pikuach Nefesh refers to the principle that a Jewish person should preserve life over almost any other rule or halacha. It does, actually, permit Bruce to kill under very specific situations. It does actually forbid him from gravely injuring people and doing so in the name of fighting against abstract threats, which are both things he does in canon.

The last time I wrote about this, I was definitely off about the details of Pikuach Nefesh in regard to Batman. I was corrected and I stand by that correction. I didn't grow up in the Orthodox faith and I don't observe much of their halacha, which is where a lot of religious theory questions arise from. I'm not an expert, and my explanation is only as deep as my own experience.

I think a good way of looking at Pikuach Nefesh is not as a way to define what, if any, killing is acceptable, but rather, what are we obligated to do to save a life?

The more important Jewish principle shaping Batman's ideology (in my opinion)

"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire."

This is much more of an important focal point for Bruce's Jewish-influenced ideology. The flipside of this quote, from the Talmud, is equally important: "Whoever kills one life, kills the world entire."

Bruce's no-killing rule is famously tied to his parents' deaths during his childhood. In a way, his entire world ended with their murder. He sees his mission to clean up Gotham as a way to prevent that loss from occurring for anyone else.

Saving one person, like he tells Barry in Justice League, is enough. That is a viciously Jewish thought. It is frequently quoted in reference to those who acted in support of Jews during the Holocaust, doing what little they could against a fountain of evil.

Conclusion

In that regard, yes -- Pikuach Nefesh tells us that preserving a life is the most important thing above all else. But Bruce's no-killing rule would swiftly be broken if he followed the principle of Pikuach Nefesh closely, in that he would a) likely have to kill someone in self-defense at some point in his duties and b) it would not allow him to injure or hurt people to the extent that he currently does in canon.

More importantly, Bruce's no-killing rule is a better reflection of the Talmudic quote that "he who saves/kills a life, has saved/killed a world entire."

It is not much of a stretch, in my opinion, to connect Bruce's trauma from losing his parents at young age to his outright refusal to kill later in life. The more interesting question, in my mind, is if the creation of this no-killing rule truly was shaped by Batman's Jewish creators and their view on life and death, especially post Holocaust.

Comics became more widely available during and after WWII and the Holocaust, during which time many -- many -- Jews entered the field as writers and artists. Their influences on the characters we see today are obvious, often intentionally Jewish, but just as often un-intentional.

Was Batman's no-killing rule a product of the post-WWII Jewish comic writers who shaped his character? Was it a coincidence that lined up well with the Talmud, but not necessarily all the conditions of Pikuach Nefesh?

How else does Batman represent, or not represent, the goal of Pikuach Nefesh (the necessity that a person act in the preservation of human life, above almost all else)?

[cephalopodvictorious]

random ass question but I swear at some point I saw you mention like a Great Cheat Sheet Website of like "Is it Kosher?" Did I hallucinate this or did this exist and may I have the link? heh

Someone on wood turning reddit had a question on wood finishes on a gift project for what sounded like very orthodox neighbors, which caused me to fall down a rabbit hole reading if shellac is kosher (which wasn't even the finish he wanted to use, I just love them lil' shellac bugs lol) but google wasn't useful for their finish at all. And now I'm mad curious

It may have been OU Kosher or the Kosher App?

Now, idk about the wood version, but food shellac is one of those things that is debated, and is or isn't based on who you ask

Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igeros Moshe Y.D. 2:24) offers several reasons why shellac is permitted for food use. The most basic justification is because shellac is inedible and is only applied to the surface of the food to produce a shine. However, Rav Elyashiv zt”l questioned the permissibility of shellac. He argued that although shellac is inedible, it should have the same status as the insect from which it came. The insect is inedible, and yet the Torah forbids it, and the same should apply to shellac. Rav Belsky zt”l agreed with Igeros Moshe that shellac is permitted. He explained that shellac is what the gemarah refers to as “pirsha”, which means a “waste product”, of the beetle. There are many poskim who write that waste products of insects are permitted, such as the Maharam Chaviv (84:37). Teshuvos Ginas V’radim (2:16) ruled that silk is permitted even though it is produced by silkworms, because it is a waste product. In many ways, shellac is similar to bee’s wax which is also an insect secretion, and many poskim write that it is permitted. [x]

[kemetic-dreams]

All Abrahamic religions claim to be monotheistic, worshiping an exclusive God, although one who is known by different names. Each of these religions preaches that God creates, is one, rules, reveals, loves, judges, punishes, and forgives. 

However, although Christianity does not profess to believe in three gods—but rather in three persons, or hypostases, united in one essence—the Trinitarian doctrine, a fundamental of faith for the vast majority of Christian denominations, conflicts with Jewish and Muslim concepts of monotheism.

Since the conception of a divine Trinity is not amenable to tawhid, the Islamic doctrine of monotheism, Islam regards Christianity as variously polytheistic.

Judaism and Islam have strict dietary laws, with permitted food known as kosher in Judaism, and halal in Islam. These two religions prohibit the consumption of pork; Islam prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages of any kind. Halal restrictions can be seen as a modification of the kashrut dietary laws, so many kosher foods are considered halal; especially in the case of meat, which Islam prescribes must be slaughtered in the name of God. Hence, in many places, Muslims used to consume kosher food. However, some foods not considered kosher are considered halal in Islam.

With rare exceptions, Christians do not consider the Old Testament's strict food laws as relevant for today's church; see also Biblical law in Christianity. Most Protestants have no set food laws, but there are minority exceptions

The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) embraces numerous Old Testament rules and regulations such as tithing, Sabbath observance, and Jewish food laws. Therefore, they do not eat pork, shellfish, or other foods considered unclean under the Old Covenant. The "Fundamental Beliefs" of the SDA state that their members "are to adopt the most healthful diet possible and abstain from the unclean foods identified in the Scriptures".

Proselytism

Judaism accepts converts, but has had no explicit missionaries since the end of the Second Temple era.

Judaism states that non-Jews can achieve righteousness by following Noahide Laws, a set of moral imperatives that, according to the Talmud, were given by God[k] as a binding set of laws for the "children of Noah"—that is, all of humanity. It is believed that as much as ten percent of the Roman Empire followed Judaism either as fully ritually obligated Jews or the simpler rituals required of non-Jewish members of that faith.

Christianity encourages evangelism. Many Christian organizations, especially Protestant churches, send missionaries to non-Christian communities throughout the world. See also Great Commission. Forced conversions to Catholicism have been alleged at various points throughout history. The most prominently cited allegations are the conversions of the pagans after Constantine; of Muslims, Jews and Eastern Orthodox during the Crusades; of Jews and Muslims during the time of the Spanish Inquisition, where they were offered the choice of exile, conversion or death; and of the Aztecs by Hernán Cortés. Forced conversions to Protestantism may have occurred as well, notably during the Reformation, especially in England and Ireland

[batboyblog]

Okay you may ignore this question so dearly because I can freely admit this can chalk up to my personal religious-political ignorance on how things truly operate so I apologize in advance;

Regarding Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, since he holds the highest office in the land that’s been long regarded as the Holy Land for both the Jewish people and faith, does he have influence over the faith akin to how Pope Francis at Vatican City has the influence over the Roman Catholic Christian faith (to which I belong too but I digress) Or is Netanyahu’s office a purely secular position with no tangible influence on the faith?

Again this is purely my complete utter ignorance on this subject and I offer all my sincerest apologies

Short answer: No the Prime Minster of Israel has no religious function or influence.

For one thing Judaism unlike Catholicism is not a top down religion with one agreed on "head" who can make rulings that all Jews agree to. So While there's a Chief Rabbi of Israel (actually there are two) his rulings are unlikely to be even be noticed by American Jews, and if any do its out of respect for the Rabbi's learning not so much his office and the power of it.

For another thing, for millennia, Jews have believed and hoped for a coming Messiah who would unite the Jews and return us all to the Land of Israel and found a Kingdom there etc. From time to time since the exile waves of Jews would go to the holy land believing the moment was at hand. In the 19th Century some Jews who had become more secular but hadn't given up on the dream started talking about maybe a secular political movement could return the Jews to the land, they also felt with rising violence against Jews in Eastern Europe that a safe place for the Jews was needed. All this crystalized into the Zionist movement around Theodor Herzl and his book "The Jewish State" in 1896 and the first Zionist Congress in 1897.

Herzl himself was very Secular, and the generation of leaders that came after his death in 1904 were more secular and the Zionist movement quickly became socialists. Soon there was a pretty strong conflict between Zionists and ultra Orthodox Rabbis. The Zionists felt like over strict obedience to the laws of Torah had made the Jews in exile passive. The Rabbis had long rejected ANY involvement in secular government, fearing angering the Gentiles. Indeed to this day there are ultra Orthodox who feel that the only defense of the Jews is the study of Torah and the involvement of Jews in politics is not Kosher, a leading Rabbi, Yitzchok Sorotzkin, called on Jews not to rally against antisemitism in Washington last month (500,000 did any ways) but study Torah

Understandably the Holocaust greatly changed the relationship on both sides with many homeless and stateless Jews settling in the new state of Israel after 1948. But the founding generation of Israel remained very secular and socialist and the Religious Jews remaining at best lukewarm to cool toward the state and many using the term "Non-Zionist" or even "Anti-Zionist" As the founding generation of Israel left power in the 1970s and secular socialist Labor Party became less dominant relationships between the state and the Religious has slowly warmed and Israel's political class has become less defiantly secular for better or worse. In 2021 Naftali Bennett became Israel's first prime minster to wear a kippah regularly.

Before I wrap up, I should note that while the Prime Minster is a secular job with no religious role or influence. Israel is not a purely secular state the way the US is. Family Law (marriage, divorce, child custody) are governed religiously. Meaning there are judges paid by the state who are religious experts who rule on divorce cases and other family law matters, and that representatives of the faiths are the only people who can marry people. There are a number of religions recognized by the state, Judaism of course, Islam, the Druze (an important Religious-Ethinic minority in Israel) and a number of branches of Christianity. As part of that there's an officially recognized Chief Rabbinate of Israel, which has two Chief Rabbis, one Ashkenazi one Sephardi. Together they can make rulings on "who is a Jew" which determines if a group might immigrant to Israel, they also oversee who is licensed as a Rabbi and oversee the Jewish Courts that rule on divorce and the like. As a religious body that is supported by the state and has real powers in it, its very controversial both in Israel itself and among American Jews who tend to be much more liberal religiously than Israeli Jews who are religious. There's not much space for liberal religion in Israel its very Secular=liberal religious=conservative

Also while Israelis can't get civilly marriage in Israel (so no interfaith or gay marriages) the state is required to recognize any marriage carried out overseas so for generations secular Israelis and interfaith couples have taken vacations to nearby Cyprus to get married and in the 21st century Zoom weddings were recognized leading to a boom of gay marriages by Zoom officiated from Utah of all places

[nullb1rdbones]

okay but jewish orthodox communities are fucking nothing like catholic/christian groups of that nature AT ALL

source: I visit Muncy to see family and have seen that family since i was very small, i KNOW this community

and specifically this community...this community where the women cover their hair and wear ankle length skirts, where the men have payot and wont be caught dead withous a tallis, THIS Community where every resturaunt is kosher and you'll be squinted at if you drive on shabbat, THIS COMMUNITY has been so chill. for context i usually stay with my grandparents where we spend all day at an old folks home. not only is most of the staff dedicated, smiley folk from all over the world (jamaican, ukrainian, probably coming in from new york -- not really worth mentioning but they're all so nice and JKLD my grandma's old nurse didnt do half of her job and they still kept her for a year which :( but also yeah!! no xenophobia that i could pick up on, quite the opposite) but even some of the oldest members of the community decide not to follow the religious 'rule.' old ladies will wear pants, shorter skirts, reveal their hair, and they will recieve NO flack for it FROM ANYONE

and when i was sitting outside one time next to a group of old ladies, one of the ladies had a little 1 year old grandson who was bored out of his mind, so as I was waiting for my grandma to get back from a walk i sorta played peekabo with him for the better half of an hour. and the ladies looked over at me and went "oh how nice of you ^^" even though I was (1 very obviously queer (2 very obviously not from the community

and also after my grandma outed me to my slightly more religious aunt (as in EXTREMELY religious WILDLY religious MATRIACH of the community religious), her response was just "shrug. she'll do what she wants. lets get dinner as a family :)"

they almost all have phones, MOST people have access to the internet. it felt like I was walking through the 80s, honestly, kids playing with chalk on the sidewalk and riding bikes and walking to the convenient stores. the biggest drama was the fact that my boy cousin wanted to impress the people he was going to camp with, so he asked his sister to drive over and bring his 'cool' pants, and she was like...'what. why.' 'i want to look cool' 'is everyone wearing dress pants' 'no, just me' 'wh' and she did it anyway so she could pick up icecream on the way back HJGJLDS

and even my littlest cousin, who is very obviously autistic, definitely isn't recieving any school mandated support but is handled with the loving community approach of "oh, let him do as he pleases, he means no harm" and if anyone bullies him they have to deal with his parents

its just AAAAGH its so wholesome, and even as far the more conservative approaches go, its more of a dartboard than a specific community rule. like for instance even if the people nearest to the center of the board were extremely strict with the rules and narrow minded, the people in the outer ranks would be much more accepting. its like different social circles, you cant get ostracized by the entire community because everyone has different levels that they're willing to go, and to everyone in the area its more unusual to be as extreme as my aunt

AHGHHHHH college is making me long for a simpler life drawing chalk on the sidewalks and living in blissful ignorance of what fandom drama is. TAKE ME BAAAACK

[jasperjv]

Hey man I was just reading a thread of you and another blog arguing about Israel (frankly the thread was a shitshow and I couldn't find it in my heart to reblog it) but you said at one point that veganism is kosher, and I don't know if you're Jewish, but I just wanted to correct you on that.

Pure veganism is a myth. I call myself vegan, but it's not possible to cut out animal products or cruelty altogether - for example, migratory bee farming is used to pollinate many vegetable crops, beeswax is used in processing and storing fruits, calcium carbinate (used as a ripening agent for fruits) is sometimes sourced from the shells of oysters and molluscs, and pesticides are almost universally necessary (including, despite what many people think, in organic farming).

These things are mostly ignored by vegans because of the impracticality of trying to avoid them, but that's generally ok! because veganism is more of a philosophy to minimize harm than a rule of law to eliminate it.

But kashrut are laws, and depending on your denomination, there's less flexibility if you want to keep kosher.

Wine is the obvious one. It sometimes isn't kosher even if it's vegan. They have a whole kosher certification body that oversees the production of wine. By extension, vinegar and grape products are often not kosher.

This is partly because pests are taken into consideration when determining the kosher status of plant foods - especially if they're organic.

Organic farming is generally more likely to be kosher because they use fewer products to treat and process the crops, but it has the drawback of using less effective pesticides and is non-GMO (meaning less resistant to disease and infestation) so there's a greater chance of insects being inside the food you're purchasing. Things like lettuce, broccoli and brussel sprouts are especially susceptible to this. For some Jews keeping kosher, this might necessitate them preparing the food themselves and paying extra attention to washing.

Figs can also have dissolved wasps inside them and I'm sure there are Jewish scholars out there who've spent months debating the kosher status of figs. I would personally consider them vegan but not kosher, because in this case the lifecycle of the wasp is natural rather than farmed.

In any case, kashrut don't just apply to the foodstuffs themselves but often the circumstances around their preparation. To a strictly observant Orthodox Jew who follows Bishul Akum, a vegan meal can be non-kosher simply because it was cooked by a non-Jew. Another well-known example is that chametz (leavened bread) isn't kosher during Passover.

Of course YMMV as to where you draw the line, but my point is: vegan doesn't automatically mean kosher. I'd encourage anyone interested to read about eco-kashrut. It's a movement to incorporate environmentalism into Jewish life, built on the philosophy that 21st century interpretations of Halacha should promote the preservation of life and the natural world.

Have a nice day & sorry for the infodump.

Interesting. Thanks!

[collapsedsquid]

The Haredi parties had until recently championed some of the most unpopular measures of the judicial shakeup, including the “override clause” allowing the Knesset to ignore court rulings with a simple-majority vote, the Deri law, the bills strengthening religious courts and allowing hospitals to prohibit non-kosher food on Passover. Then, all of a sudden, they seemed to be working ferociously to stall and stymie the coalition, to tone down the rhetoric and pressure Netanyahu and other right-wing figures to seek a compromise. [...] Rulings on the military draft — the court’s canceling of several compromises reached in the Knesset over the question of drafting young Haredi men to the IDF — made the court’s power and activism a burning question in ordinary households. Court rulings limiting state subsidies to schools that refuse to teach core curriculum subjects like math and English have had a similar effect, convincing a great many ordinary Haredim that the court is an instrument of liberal social engineering that tears at the fabric of their society.

Was wondering how the judicial reform thing related to the Haredi draft issue, the position of this piece is that they flipped against reform only once it became clear that it wouldn't be total and they might get kicked out of the coalition

[real-shul-stories]

An Alaskan Altar

Guy calls from Alaska two days before Rosh Hashanah. He said he went with his friends to become B’nai Noah (a noahide, or christian who wants to become Jewish but doesn’t want to put in the actual work of conversion and just wants a gold star for showing up), and the ceremony was performed by a rabbi.

After becoming b’nai noah, the guy called up his second cousin, who is a modern orthodox kosher certification rabbi for slaughterhouses. I’m not entirely sure how we got from point A to point B, but his cousin pointed out that a noahide could build and maintain an alter for ritual slaughter anywhere (Jews can’t do ritual slaughter unless the temple is rebuilt, but noahides apparently aren’t bound by those rules).

So now this guy is trying to get an altar built in Alaska and was wondering if anyone in the Jewish community in our city would be interested in getting the animal sacrifice part of Judaism going again.

Some notes: He initially asked if a rabbi was available. I told him that 2 days before a major holiday was a pretty bad time to get ahold of a rabbi. He responded that he knows, but wanted to speak to a rabbi anyway.

I also checked to confirm whether he was actually trying to reach us and not the Beth Shalom that I know is up in Alaska but he actually was looking for us.

[weareallfromearth]

This is a tangent based on OP’s post, but I don’t know whether this is a common experience for ex-Orthodox-Jewish folks, and I’m wondering whether it feels familiar:

There is a part of me that still knows how to keep kosher, and in rare cases when giving up something matters to me in a special and particular way, my usual methods of managing my desires - with moderation, self compassion, harm minimisation etc - get supplanted by the part of my brain that used to help me keep kosher.

“No, you can’t have that, you don’t do that now.”

“But what if I-“

“Shh, kiddo, we just don’t anymore. This isn’t up for negotiation. That thing is gone now. I don’t make the rules (yes I do).”

This has only truly kicked in maybe two or three times in my life since I stopped keeping kosher, and once it was for following pandemic restrictions, but it feels like a completely different willpower well than the one that runs the rest of my life.

There’s power in telling yourself ”no we don’t do that anymore” in response to self destructive urges.

[mariacallous]

A war stretching into its sixth month with no end in sight, more than 100 hostages still held by Hamas, nearly 120,000 evacuees from towns along the Gaza and Lebanon borders waiting to return home, and a sputtering economy. Any one of these issues should be enough to bring down Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but the greatest threat hanging over his government today is the question of whether the ultra-Orthodox should be conscripted into the military, an affair that has been simmering unresolved for more than 20 years.

At first glance, it might seem strange that in the Jewish state, the most intensely religious Jews refuse to serve in the military. But the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredim, have always had a problem with a Jewish state created by human action rather than by divine decree. To help win them over, Israel’s founding father, David Ben-Gurion, made a series of concessions to them around the time of independence in 1948, including exempting from conscription young men for whom “Torah is [their] occupation.” In other words, men spending their lives engaged in the study of religious texts.

It seemed like a minor issue at the time. Many Haredim were fighting in the war. Europe’s ultra-Orthodox community had been decimated by the Holocaust, and its numbers were tiny and expected to decline with assimilation. The total number who were to be exempted was about 400.

By the end of the 1990s, however, that concession no longer looked so minor. Thanks to an extraordinarily high birth rate, the Haredi population was growing rapidly. Today, it comprises about 13 percent of the population and by 2042 it may reach more than 20 percent, by the government’s own estimates. Meanwhile, state subsidies for the Haredim grew immensely after Menachem Begin and his Likud party took power in 1977, enabling the community to realize its ideal of a lifetime of Torah study for males. Even as they took money from the state, refusal to serve in the military became, for the Haredim, as sacrosanct as keeping kosher or the Sabbath.

The first serious challenge to this arrangement came in 1998, when the High Court of Justice ruled that it violated the legal principle of equality among Israelis—in this case, the “equality of burden” in regard to military service. That began a two-decade saga of legislation that failed to correct the problem, more court challenges, and foot-dragging. While the draft issue periodically became headline material, it quickly faded. Politicians from the left and the right were loath to touch the issue for fear of losing the support of Haredi political parties, which often hold the balance of power.

The fact that the controversy has suddenly been reignited is due to a confluence of events.

The first and most important is the war in Gaza, which has made the fact that some Israelis are fighting and dying while others are not more glaring than in many years past. Since Israeli ground forces entered Gaza in late October, more than 240 soldiers have been killed and thousands wounded. More reservists have been called up than at any time in the last 40 years. The sacrifice they have made has been underscored by the fact that most Israelis see the Gaza campaign and the fight with Hezbollah in the north as a war of survival unlike any the country has fought since the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. The sense of national unity that emerged after Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre has made it harder for the ultra-Orthodox to explain their unwillingness to share in the sacrifice.

That imperative for public sacrifice will not go away when the war ends. Oct. 7 has fundamentally altered Israel’s national security thinking of the last 20 years, which held that threats from Hamas and Hezbollah could be contained and that technology could replace boots on the ground. To ensure it has enough soldiers, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) plans to increase mandatory service and the number of days reservists may be called up every year. Even now, it is reportedly short some 7,000 soldiers in the standing army—which numbers around 170,000.

Before the war, the Netanyahu government promised the Haredi parties it would pass legislation shielding the Haredi exemption from future court challenges. Among the wilder ideas was to pass a quasi-constitutional law that equated Torah study with military service, thereby getting around the equality-of-burden problem. However, preoccupied with its judicial-overhaul drive, the government failed to act. Instead, the cabinet voted to give itself what has turned out to be an inauspicious deadline of March 31 to come up with a solution. It is now asking the High Court to give it another three months, but at a Feb. 26 hearing, the justices showed little sympathy for further delays. If they don’t extend the deadline, young Haredi men will, in principle, be liable for the draft starting April 1.

If Haredi political leaders recognize that the public’s attitude has changed, they have shown no signs of it. There was a brief flurry of news reports at the start of the war about ultra-Orthodox men signing up for military service, but it turned out to be overblown. The IDF’s Personnel Directorate told a Knesset committee last month that just 540 had actually enlisted. By comparison, a record 66,000 Haredim received an exemption over the past year. In a December survey of Haredim by the Jewish People Policy Institute, 70 percent said the war had not changed their opinion that they should be exempt (another 12 percent said they felt even more strongly about it). “We won’t agree to anything in regards to drafting yeshiva students. … Nobody can force us to abandon the Torah,” Rabbi Meir Zvi Bergman, an influential member of the rabbinical advisory panel of the United Torah Judaism party, vowed last weekend.

Haredi apologists offer up a variety of justifications for the draft exemptions. They claim that the military doesn’t actually need them and point out that many Haredim volunteer for civilian rescue services. Ultra-Orthodox rabbis contend that Torah study is no less important than military service because it ensures Israel’s divine protection.

But even many believers acknowledge that some of the men who shirk the draft are enrolled on paper in yeshivas but don’t actually study. The real reason the Haredi leaders fear the draft is that it threatens the barriers they have so carefully erected: In the military, young enlistees would encounter non-Haredim in a serious way for the first time in their lives; see the outside world; perhaps learn a useful skill or trade; and, worst of all, meet secular women. Many may never come back.

For Netanyahu, the Haredi case for exemption or the military’s personnel needs are secondary at best. What concerns him is keeping his coalition intact. If the two ultra-Orthodox parties quit over the draft and take their 18 Knesset seats, the coalition won’t survive. Yet Netanyahu cannot, as he has in the past, assume his party and far-right coalition partners will do as commanded. Ordinarily spineless Likud backbenchers have said that a solution involving at least some Haredim being drafted is unavoidable. Even Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an extreme rightist sympathetic to ultra-Orthodox interests, has picked up on the change. “The current situation is outrageous and cannot continue,” he said during a visit to a yeshiva for more moderate Orthodox students who do enlist.

In the end, most of these renegades will fall in line with Netanyahu; they, too, are focused on their political survival. But that may not be true in the case of the National Unity, a centrist party that joined the coalition at the start of the war, and in the case of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a Likud politician. Gallant laid down the gauntlet on Feb. 28 when he said he would not back any conscription bill that did not have National Unity’s support. The party has laid out a relatively moderate plan for drafting Haredim, but nothing Haredi leaders would ever consent to.

As a result, Netanyahu is boxed in. On the one side is Haredi obduracy; on the other, Gallant’s position raises the risk of National Unity and even Gallant leaving the coalition if they don’t get what they want. Technically, the prime minister doesn’t need National Unity or Gallant to stay in power. But their exit from the coalition would leave him in a difficult position, running a complicated war with mostly inexperienced and extremist ministers. The Haredim may feel boxed in as well, in which case they might force an early election—as a way of buying time. A caretaker government would not be allowed to deal with such a critical issue, putting it off until the formation of a new government.

Netanyahu may try to kick the can again by giving the High Court a plan for a Haredi draft that looks good on paper but is designed to fail. If it’s vague enough and impractical in the long run, the Haredim might be willing to go with it. The problem is that in the post-Oct. 7 reality, almost no one else would accept it.

[f-acto]

What are the commercial advantages of having Kosher certification in Ghana?

What is Kosher Certification?

Kosher certification in Ghana proves that a food item, ingredient, or process complies with the dietary rules of the kashrut (Jewish food law). The laws include:

Animals that are as clean or dirty

How food is prepared and processed

The separation of meat from dairy products

Cleanliness and the absence of cross-contamination

The ” KOSHER certification in Ghana” product assures Jewish consumers–and anyone else who is a fan of high-end quality food products–that they meet the stringent specifications. A rabbinic KOSHER certification in Ghana authority administers kosher certification or an acknowledged Kosher agency that reviews manufacturing processes, inspects facilities, and ensures product compliance.

Why is Kosher Certification Important in Ghana?

KOSHER consultant in Ghana is famous for its top-quality agricultural products, including:

Cocoa and cocoa-related products

Spices

Cashew nuts

Seafood

Food and drinks that are processed

With the growing demand for certified products internationally, Kosher accreditation can be an attractive advantage to KOSHER consultant in Ghana ian for porters. It guarantees importers that the product meets the strict standards of hygiene worldwide, traceability, and religious respect.

Benefits of Kosher Certification for Ghanaian Businesses

1. Access to Global Markets

Many retailers, particularly in Europe, the US, EU, and Israel, need Kosher-certified products to cater to a large customer base. By obtaining Kosher accreditation, Ghanaian businesses can tap into these markets more easily.

2. Enhanced Product Quality

KOSHER consultant services in Ghana -certified products are often subject to more thorough inspections than regular food audits. This increases the quality of the product and improves the confidence of consumers.

3. Diverse Consumer Appeal

The Jewish populace doesn’t just eat kosher products. They are also a favourite among:

Vegetarians (for clear labeling)

Muslims (for the overlaps to Halal)

Allergy-prone consumers (due to the strict labelling of ingredients)

4. Brand Differentiation

In a highly competitive export market, the Kosher brand label for your item can act as an effective marketing tool that can set your company apart.

5. Increased Sales Opportunities

Wholesalers and supermarkets may carry exclusively certified items. Since they are Kosher certified, Ghanaian producers can be considered for these large-volume contracts.

Who Should Apply for Kosher Certification in Ghana?

Kosher certification is an excellent option for companies involved in:

Processing and packing of food items

Beverages (juices, wine, spirits, alcoholic drinks)

Dairy substitutes and alternatives to non-dairy milk

Bakery and confectionery

Processing of seafood

Spices and condiments

Small and large-scale companies can benefit, particularly those with an export goal.

Steps to Get Kosher Certification in Ghana

1. Choose a Recognized Kosher Certification Body

Choose a reliable certification agency that is aware of the local context as well as international KOSHER consultant services in Ghana requirements. The most well-known agencies are:

OK Kosher

OU (Orthodox Union)

Star-K

Kof-K

Local partnerships via consultants or agents such as Factocert

2. Initial Application and Facility Review

The agency will review your business model, ingredient sourcing, and addresses.

3. On-site Inspection

A certified KOSHER audit in Ghana or Rabbi will examine your premises with a focus on the following:

Ingredient origins

Equipment cleanliness

Food preparation and storage techniques

Separation of dairy and meat (if appropriate)

4. Compliance and Training

It may be necessary to alter specific procedures or products to comply with KOSHER audit in Ghana standards. Particular staff training could be required.

5. Certification Issuance

After you have been certified, you will get the Kosher certificate and authorization to display Kosher symbols on the packaging. Kosher symbol (hechsher) on the packaging.

6. Ongoing Audits

Inspections every year or biannually ensure that you are in constant conformity.

Cost of Kosher Certification in Ghana

The price varies based on:

Complexity and size of operations

A large number of products

Cost of travel and accommodation for the auditor.

Why Factocert for KOSHER Certification in Ghana?

We provide the best Kosher Consultants in Ghana who are knowledgeable and provide the best solutions. Kindly contact us at contact@factocert.com. Kosher  Certification consultants in Ghana and Kosher auditors in Ghana work according to ISO standards and help organizations implement Kosher  Certification with proper documentation.

For more information, visitKosher certification in Ghana