Fall 2014

Dear Reader,

As we recommit ourselves to
Yiddishkeit in this New Yearand strive to do things better, we sometimes run into challenging areas. Mitzvos that seem hard to understand like kashrus and shmitta, which occurs this year, can be especially challenging…

Dear Kosher Spirit,
I read your excellent article about tevilas keilim. I would like to get it in electronic form to email to my family. Please send me the link to the article.

Thank you.
JP

Dear Kosher Spirit,

When making a smoothie in a blender, what level of checking is required on the fruit and vegetables that ordinarily need to be checked for bugs?

Drinking water in the morning increases the production of new blood and muscle cells.

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The voice of the shofar is calling and the Days of Awe are here, inspiring in each of us a Cheshbon HaNefesh – examining our deeds in the last year and thinking about making amends and beginning anew. What will we do this year that is better, to really make a new beginning?

Shivas HaMinim Salad

Venice, Italy. A city for dreamers and foodies alike. One of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, Venice attracts people by the thousands every year. The floating city draws people in for its sights, its beauty, and its food.

Shmitta – the Biblical commandment to leave the land fallow every seventh year – is as relevant as ever in Israel. There were times where most people perceived shmitta as a problem, something to find a way around, a mitzvah one should try and find leniencies and exemptions for, but not any longer.

Last year I traveled to Ukraine and Russia to visit ~ certified facilities and meet with local rabbonim who have their own hechsherim in the area. I was scheduled to fly on Aeroflot to Moscow at 2:20 PM and arrive at 8:30 the next morning.

When OK rabbis travel around the world, they might find themselves coming back with more than kosher reports and new information – sometimes, they also have amazing stories of hashgocha protis to recount.

Interview with
Rabbi Ouriel Serfaty

A Timely Letter from the Lubavitcher Rebbe ztz”l

Why don’t we make a brocha on teshuva like we do on other mitzvos?