Chevra,
After only being part of the Bellerose Jewish Center for some three weeks I've already
fielded a number of inquiries about kashrut. Rabbis in general are perceived to be
interested in enhancing the observance of others so it would be assumed that I'm happy to
be involved with such sh'aa lot – questions. And I am. My desire is to be accessible and
approachable and serve as a "user friendly" source of Jewish information and council.
However, as both a rabbi and a person I strive to be a resource for more than halachic
dos and don'ts. My rebbe Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach Z"L once told me, "Some rabbis can
tell you which salami is kosher, which one is glatt kosher, which one is triple glatt kosher,
but if someone's heart is breaking or their neshama (soul) is hungry they have nothing to
say. You know why? Because they're good rabbis for salamis but not good rabbis for
people." My objective is to be a good rabbi for the people of the Bellerose Jewish Center
and our community.
While we're on the subject of kashrut I'll share with you some of my guidelines:
1) Most of what we observe in kashrut and other areas of halacha are what are called
"gedarim," fences established as rabbinical laws by our sages of the past to create a
barrier against violating an Issur Di'oritah – or violation of Torah law. An example of a
violation of Torah law, an Issur Di'oritah is motzay shem rah – slandering the reputation
of another individual. Unless I know for a fact that there is clear and unimpeachable
evidence that a rabbi is intentionally violating the basic laws of kashrut in giving an
establishment or product his hecsher I must trust him (or her) or I would be violating the
Torah level prohibition of motzay shem rah. I am explaining this to let you know that
unless I know for a fact otherwise when I'm asked "rabbi is this hecsher o.k.?" I'll assume
that it's fine and not worry if the supervising rabbi holds by every contemporary chumra -
stringency. Some rabbis seemed overly obsessed with the "level' of the kashrut of what
goes into their mouths but appear to be entirely unconcerned with the level of the kashrut
of what comes out of their mouths. Motzay shem rah is not kosher.
2) I don't worship the glatt kosher golden calf. While once Glatt kosher was correctly
understood to represent a special higher level of inspection concerning the quality of the
slaughtered animals' lungs that exceeded the actual standards of kashrut, today "glatt" is
primarily about Orthodox rabbinical politics and money. The "Triangle K" hecsher is
100% acceptable as are Hebrew National products.
3) I see kashrut and other halachic observances as a compendium and believe in praising
what one does instead of focusing on what one doesn't do or on what they are "doing
wrong." While it’s wonderful for a home to be set up with two sets of dishes and the like
(and I encourage it), the person who has given up eating pork or mixtures of milk and
meat is also praiseworthy. Kashrut is a discipline that ideally brings a person closer to G-d
and other Jews. It should never be used as a means to criticize or belittle others.
L'Shana Tovah U'M'tukah, Wishing us all a wonderful and sweet new year,
Menashe
This column appeared originally in the September 15, 2009, issue of the Bellerose Jewish
Center newsletter, The Messenger.
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