STAR-K Certification Hosts Diverse Klei Kodesh at Annual Food Service and Kashrus Training Programs

Rabbi Yonah Gross eagerly signed up for STAR-K Kosher Certification’s annual Food Service Kashrus Training Seminar held in the agency’s Baltimore offices July 6-8. As the newly appointed Kashrus Administrator of the Community Kashrus of Greater Philadelphia (Keystone-K) – for which he was an active rabbinical board member for seven years – the former Rav of Congregation Beth Hamedrosh in Wynnewood, PA, wanted to learn more about the challenges a mashgiach faces.

Shares Rabbi Gross, “As Kashrus Administrator, I spend plenty of time in our various establishments, but it was very helpful to see things from the perspective of someone who is in our kitchens, catering halls, and factories on an ongoing basis. It is also helpful to learn the best practices of other organizations in order to try to incorporate them into my own organization to strengthen Kashrus in Philadelphia. Interacting with the STAR-K staff is very helpful in developing relationships with […]

STAR-K’S COVID-19 RESPONSE HIGHLIGHTED IN BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the kosher food industry especially when it comes to making inspections in China and in some other countries that are limiting access to foreigners. Star-K’s approach to this issue making every effort to make in-person inspections of facilities has been highlighted in an article by Bloomberg Businessweek.

“In July STAR-K sent four rabbis via private jet to a fish gelatin facility in Uganda where they quarantined for 14 days to supervise production.”

There’s a lot more to the kosher food industry than Hebrew National hot dogs and Manischewitz wine. Kosher food was a $19.1 billion industry in 2018, according to Allied Market Research, which projects it will grow to $25.6 billion by 2026. Many ordinary products in U.S. supermarkets are certified kosher, with everything from Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to McCormick spices having kashrut symbols, and those labels can provide assurance not just for observant Jews […]

STAR-K’s Robust Educational Mission Thrives…Even During COVID

STAR-K Kosher Certification’s educational mission is as robust as ever during COVID, as evidenced by the nonprofit agency’s eclectic spring and summer seminars and programs. Target audiences ranged from food processors/exporters and mashgichim to consumers including adults with special needs.

STAR-K’s Rav Hamachshir, HaRav Moshe Heinemann, delivered a shiur on COVID shaylos in his capacity as the Morah D’Asra of Agudath Israel of Baltimore. The Rav also gave a virtual shiur watched around the world on Erev Tisha B’Av, “Being B’Shalom with Everyone”. It was part of Yeshivat Hakotel’s worldwide achdus Torah learning program featuring nine of the world’s chief rabbis and over 100 senior roshei yeshiva, poskim and leading mechanchim and mechanchos from around the globe

Approximately 60 companies in the Dominican Republic participated in STAR-K’s first virtual Zoom seminar. The successful two-hour-plus seminar was conducted entirely in Spanish, introducing the world of Kosher and the advantage of reliable Kosher certification […]

Klal Yisroel’s Youngest Members Benefit From STAR-K Kashrus

The importance of pairing a Jewish nursemaid with a Jewish baby can be found in Parshas Shmos. After baby Moshe was saved from the Nile River by his rescuer – ironically, Batya, the daughter of Pharoah, who mandated that all Jewish newborn males be killed – he cried profusely, refusing to be nursed by her gentile Egyptian maids. Thanks to his sister, Miriam, who happened to witness this scene by the river’s edge, Moshe ended up serendipitously receiving the nursemaid services of his own mother, Yocheved.

The Gemara [Sotah 12b] notes that Baby Moshe refused to nurse from a gentile woman, asking, “Shall a mouth that will speak with the Divine Presence nurse impure milk?” The Rama [Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 81:7] rules that a child should always avoid nursing from a gentile woman when it is possible to nurse from a Jewish woman, quoting the Rashba’s reasoning that the nature […]

STAR-K Shows Appreciation to Baltimore County Police Department with Pizza and Sushi

Baltimore, MD – June 10, 2020 –Torah teaches us the importance of hakaras hatov – expressing our gratitude to others. To show our appreciation and support of just some of the first responders who put their lives on the line for us daily, representatives of STAR-K Kosher Certification paid a lunchtime visit to its neighbor, the Pikesville precinct of the Baltimore County Police Department (BCPD), on Tuesday, June 9.

Armed with nothing but piled up boxes of pizza and a large tray of sushi from Caramel’s – and a framed letter of appreciation – STAR-K President Dr. Avrom Pollak and STAR-K Kashrus Administrator Rabbi Sholom Tendler made the presentation on behalf of the organization to a very grateful BCPD Precinct Commander, Captain Brandon Rogers.

The letter read:

Dear Captain Rogers and the entire BCPD Precinct 4 Staff,

Please accept this token of our appreciation, admiration and respect for the essential work that BCPD Precinct […]

STAR-K Partners with Mesivta Kesser Torah to Bring Torah Learning to Life

What better way to make kashrus and other halachic concepts come to life than to experience them hands-on? That is exactly what the bochurim of Mesivta Kesser Torah of Baltimore did when STAR-K Kashrus Administrators were invited to the yeshiva to present an array of topics.

The four-part STAR-K Educational Series kicked off in January with Rabbi Emanuel Goldfeiz’s Shatnez Lab practicum, in which the bochurim learned about modern-day shailos of shatnez. After the class, students expressed their excitement about the opportunity that they were afforded.  Students specifically were fascinated by the degree to which we go to avoid wearing shatnez. One student also remarked, “Knowing that VBC [Vitale Barberis Canonico] suits can be shatnez is very useful to know when suit shopping.”

The following week, Rabbi Sholom Tendler taught the students how to meticulously check vegetables for tolaim.  Students had a great time searching for bugs using the STAR-K’s thrip cloth […]

STAR-K-Certified Fresko Lands United Airlines Meal Contract

Things are looking up for kosher travelers flying to Israel on United Airlines, with the airline’s recent announcement that STAR-K-certified Fresko meals will debut this month on U.S. to Tel Aviv flights. The variety of new options offered will be available from the airline’s Newark/New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C./Dulles-based hubs.

Newark to Tel Aviv flights will feature Fresko menu options such as fresh bagels, cheese omelets, blintzes, chicken marsala, kale quinoa burgers and traditional bakery items including rugelach and black and white cookies. For its youngest flyers, United is testing a child’s menu offering in all cabins between Tel Aviv, Newark, and San Francisco. If it takes off the airline will offer the meal selection on additional Tel Aviv routes.

While waiting for take-off in Newark, United’s Polaris Lounge guests will now be able to find a hot Kosher à la carte meal option which it is also testing, in […]

STAR-K & Imex Co-Sponsor  Kosher Pavilion @ SIAL Paris 2020

STAR-K Kosher Certification is excited to announce a new collaboration with IMEX Management to organize the first ever “Kosher Pavilion sponsored by STAR-K Kosher Certification” at SIAL Paris 2020 this October.

 

SIAL Paris is the world’s largest food and beverage industry event.  Welcoming over 300,000 trade visitors and 7,000 exhibitors, SIAL is recognized the world over as the international hub for food and beverage innovation.  The global kosher food market is projected to grow by 11.6%, increasing in value to an estimated US$ 60 billion by 2025!  There’s no better time to meet with a global audience than at SIAL 2020.

 

Exhibiting in the Kosher Pavilion sponsored by STAR-K Kosher Certification at SIAL provides our clients with:

the opportunity to present their products in front of buyers from every continent and all sectors of the food and beverage industry
an excellent, central location in Hall 4
furnished, turnkey individual exhibit spaces available in denominations […]

STAR-K Kosher Certification Announces Synergetic Partnership <br>with Registrar Corp

Little did STAR-K Kosher Certification Director of Development Steve Sichel and Registrar Corp President David Lennarz realize when they serendipitously met at a trade show in Germany about 15 years ago, that their companies would partner in the future – but the match is an obvious one.

Every company that produces food or pharmaceuticals sold in the United States must comply with FDA requirements; with its numerous multi-lingual teams in offices throughout the world, Registrar Corp assists with the copious legwork needed to achieve that compliance seamlessly. For the twin benefit of Registrar’s clients exploring Kosher certification and existent STAR-K Kosher certified clients in need of FDA registration, the symbiotic relationship was realized. The partnership was formalized at Registrar Corp’s headquarters in Hampton, Virginia, in June.

“We decided we had a lot of synergy and started sharing trade show booths around the world – in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, among other countries,” […]

Kosher Dining at Yale University Hillel Newly Certified by STAR-K Kosher Certification

As a proud native New Havener, I was overjoyed when I found out that Yale University’s kosher kitchen would be certified by STAR-K Kosher Certification; I couldn’t wait to try it out, as I recently did, on my annual Elul trip to my hometown.

Yale University’s kosher kitchen has come a long way since it first opened to serve weeknight dinners to its graduate students in the fall of 1959. It was housed in the Young Israel synagogue, a 25-minute walk from the university’s downtown New Haven, Connecticut, campus. Most recently, reinventing itself as a STAR-K Kosher-certified facility in the Lindenbaum Kosher Kitchen located at the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life, it functions seamlessly in the middle of the campus as part of the Yale University Dining System.

Since 1999, STAR-K Kashrus Administrator Rabbi Mayer Kurcfeld has been engineering and overseeing the agency’s many certified on-campus facilities, custom-designing those which were […]

STAR-K FOOD SERVICE KASHRUS TRAINING SEMINAR IS WORTH THE TRIP…EVEN FROM ISRAEL AND COSTA RICA

Shai and Maayan Ben-Eli traveled the farthest – 5,863 miles from Yerushalayim – to attend the STAR-K Food Service Kashrus Training Seminar, held in the agency’s Baltimore offices, August 5-7. The Ben-Elis are being groomed not only as STAR-K mashgichim for their upcoming move to Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India, but as the agency’s emissaries to the once-thriving Jewish community.

There has been a Jewish presence in Kolkata since 1798, when a Syrian jewel trader, Shalom Cohen, migrated there. Other Jews followed, mostly from Iraq and Syria, who opened businesses and exported silk, indigo, and opium. By the last half of the 19th century, the city was bustling with 3,000 Jews. During World War II, the Jewish population peaked with those seeking refuge. The community teemed with Jewish amenities for its nearly 5,000 Jews until that number rapidly diminished when India gained independence from the British in 1947 and, again, with the […]

16th Annual STAR-K Kashrus Training Program Draws Participants from Amsterdam to Panama City

Samy Weill, who has been in the kashrus field for 26 years, traveled the farthest – 3808 miles from Amsterdam – to attend the 16th Annual STAR-K Training Program held July 22-25 in the kashrus agency’s Baltimore offices. As an administrator for the Chief Rabbinate of Holland, he oversees the initial inspections and annual visits of hundreds of companies in Holland, Belgium. Germany, France, and Spain. “I came to the training program to make contacts and bring back new ideas for improving our agency,” mentions Mr. Weill.

David Eshkenazi traveled only 2103 miles from Panama City, where he learns in kollel, to attend the program. He signed up because he aspires to work in the booming field of Kashrus in Panama.

“It’s one thing to learn about Kashrus in the Shulchan Aruch, and another thing to learn it, hands-on,” notes Mr. Eshkenazi. “Having experienced mashgichim and rabbis – who have seen things […]

Kashering Your Countertops Properly

Countertops that are made of solid stone, like granite or marble are able to be Kashered for Pesach. Other synthetic or composite materials (including granite composite) can not be Kashered  and should be covered.[1]

Granite or marble countertops can only be koshered using Eruy Roschin, which means pouring boiling water from a pot that has been heated on a fire.[2] Actual water[3] is needed to kasher, not steam.[4] The concept of using a steam machine is that it will boil water and spray that water through a hose creating a neat and efficient method to accomplish Eruy Roschin. However, if the steamer only produces steam and not actual boiling water, it can not be used to kasher, even if the steam is hotter than 212 F.[5] STAR-K has tested many models of steamers available commercially and have found that almost all of them will only produce hot […]

Pan-Asia Kosher Training Seminar Convened by STAR-K in Shanghai

They come from Yerushalayim; Perth, Australia; Mumbai, India; Manila, Philippines; Boston; Scottsdale; and, Los Angeles; but truly, the mashgichim who attended the first-ever Pan-Asia Kosher Training Seminar held in Shanghai, January 9-14, live out of their suitcases. Dedicated to the mission of ensuring and spreading Kashrus, even at a moment’s notice, implies where they are from is wherever their luggage happens to be.

As the premier Kosher certifier in Asia, these STAR-K mashgichim are the “eyes and ears” out in the field who help certify thousands of products–as diverse as canned goods and nori sheets in China and South Korea, to spices and coconut products in India and Sri Lanka, to banana chips and coco sugar in the Philippines. Most of the certified products are exported from the region to the world as “bulk” ingredients that are processed around the word to make consumer products.

STAR-K operates regional support centers in Shanghai, […]

STAR-K Kashrus Training Program Celebrates 15 Years of Preparing Kashrus Professionals Worldwide

Since July 2004, STAR-K Kosher Certification has provided a premier training ground for Kashrus professionals, administrators, and field representatives, Rabbonim, Rebbeim, Kollel fellows, and others serving in klei kodesh, from around the world. The comprehensive analysis of pertinent Kashrus and halachic issues is presented by STAR-K’s Rabbinic staff members, including Rabbinic Administrator Rabbi Moshe Heinemann and President Dr. Avrom Pollak. The lectures are supplemented by a visit to a glatt kosher slaughter house, a hands-on vegetable checking practicum and behind-the-scenes tours of various STAR-K certified establishments and manufacturing plants.

From Australia to Zürich

Just some of the illustrious alumni of the Annual STAR-K Kashrus Training Program, over the past 15 years, include:

Rabbi Dovid Asher, Rav, Keneseth Beth Israel/Rabbinic Administrator, The Va’ad HaKashrut of Richmond, Richmond, VA; Rabbi Hershel Becker, Rav, Young Israel of Kendall, Miami, FL; Rabbi Yechiel Biberfeld, Rosh Kollel, Philadelphia Community Kollel; Rabbi Azriel Blumberg, Corporate Kosher Liaison, KVH Kosher, […]

“Beer” Chometz – An overview of Beer Distribution in New York and Chometz She’avar Alav haPesach

UPDATED: As of May 10, 2018, all beer can be assumed from after Pesach.

Updated April 10, 2018 | 25 Nissan 5778

It has come to our attention that much of the beer sold in New York and surrounding counties is distributed by a Jewish owned company, creating a potential Chometz She’avar Alav haPesach issue for our communities. The following is a brief explanation of the issue.

Click here for a list of beers that are of concern.

Click here for a list of brands that may be purchased anywhere.

What exactly is Chometz?

The Torah[1] forbids eating any chometz – leavened grain products during Pesach. Simply defined, leavening is dough or batter that has increased in volume either through yeasts or chemical means. The process of how this happens is the following.

A chemical leaven such as sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) react with compounds naturally present in the dough to produce carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide […]

STAR-K Kosher Certified Food Options Take Off at JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark Airports

Catching a red-eye flight back to JFK after a business meeting in L.A.? Landing in Newark at 5:50 a.m., after a 12-1/2 hour flight from visiting the grandkids in Israel? Leaving for LaGuardia too early to eat breakfast before going on that long-awaited Saint Martin Island vacation? Have no fear, Fresko Green Label is here! Now the estimated 1.5 million kosher travelers who fly domestically and internationally from JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark airports, annually, can avail themselves of a large variety of kosher prepared food options packaged under the Fresko and Yummy Sandwich labels, under STAR-K Kosher supervision.

No longer do you have to subsist on pretzels and candy that, thankfully, are marked with a reliable kosher symbol! The STAR-K certified Fresko/Yummy Sandwich menu selection varies, terminal to terminal, and includes a wide variety of wraps, sandwiches, and salads. All breads are Pas Yisroel; all dairy items are Cholov Yisroel. These […]

From Wheatfield to Pesach Table:  STAR-K Kosher Certification Takes You Behind the Scenes at Migrash Farm

The hefty $20-$50 price per pound of handmade shmura matzah may cause you to raise your eyebrows, especially when comparing it to the price of machine-made matzah, but if you only knew what goes into manufacturing the crisp, paper-thin, artisanal specialty item you would understand why it is so pricey.

To keep up with the increasing demand for handmade shmura matzah, matzah bakeries around the world start baking as early as October! But, actually, the labor-intensive process of producing STAR-K certified shmura flour began a few months before, in July. That is when HaRav Moshe Heinemann visited the 28-acre Migrash Farm—located inside the Chesapeake Watershed, just a stone’s throw from STAR-K’s Baltimore headquarters. The farmer, R’ Yosef Hertzmark, who doubles as a STAR-K menaker, accompanied the Rav as he walked the fields to supervise the shmura wheat harvest, deeming its extra level of scrutiny– “shmurah m’shaas ketzira” (guarded from the time […]

Inclement Weather – Shabbos

In light of the unfortunate situation in Houston–and now, possibly, Florida–STAR-K presents the following short clips, from a previously recorded webinar, which discuss various halachic ramifications of some severe weather challenges faced on Shabbos. Rabbi Mordechai Frankel, Director of STAR-K’s Institute of Halacha, is interviewed by Rabbi Zvi Goldberg.

Validity of Eruv on Shabbos During Inclement Weather:  https://vimeo.com/232050647

Flooding on Shabbos:   https://vimeo.com/232054341

Using A Generator on Shabbos:   https://vimeo.com/232052016

State of Emergency to Keep Off Streets:   https://vimeo.com/232053205

Listening to Radio on Shabbos During Inclement Weather:  https://vimeo.com/23205328 7

Power Outage/Cholent:   https://vimeo.com/232054375

For the entire webinar, visit  https://vimeo.com/119136088. To join online classes and access past and future webinars, visit: https://www.star-k.org/telekosher

PURE Hashgacha Pratis Leads to Opening of STAR-K Certified Kosher Dining at Penn State University

This year, for the first time in Pennsylvania State University’s 162-year history, its estimated 4000 Jewish students will have kosher food options, thanks to the amazing Divine Providence that inspired one student to advocate for them.

On one weekend, last year, Philadelphia native and industrial engineering student Aaron Goldberg—who was completing an internship in Pittsburgh during his junior year–came back to his college campus located in State College, Pennsylvania. At that time, he met a student who was considering attending Penn State. She was observant and told him that, although she may have wanted to go to Penn State, she decided to go elsewhere because the kosher food options at the university were limited.

Subsequently, after Aaron attended a Pesach seder in Pittsburgh, his hosts observed and commented on the fact that he kept kosher for Pesach but not year round. Both incidents got Aaron to reflect not only on his own […]

STAR-K’s Top Ten 2017 Total Solar Eclipse FAQs & the Chofetz Chaim’s Message Prior to Radin’s Eclipse

Q. What is a total solar eclipse?
A. A total solar eclipse is when the moon totally blocks the sun. It turns dark during the middle of the day and stars become visible.  The corona (the sun’s outer atmosphere that normally cannot be seen) is also visible and appears as a pearly glow around the dark side of the moon that covers the sun.
Q. When will it occur?
A.  It will occur this Monday, Erev Rosh Chodesh Elul, August 21, 2017. The exact time will depend on one’s location. The maximum amount of totality in any one location will be 2 minutes and 40 seconds.
 Q. From where can one view the total eclipse?
A. The total eclipse will be visible along a narrow band from Oregon to South Carolina. Major metropolitan areas in this path include parts of Kansas City, St. Louis, Nashville, and Charleston, SC.
Q. What if it’s cloudy?
[...] Read More

Traiboring Mesorah is Passed Down at STAR-K Certification’s 14th Annual Kashrus Training Program

It didn’t take long for the boardroom at STAR-K Kosher Certification’s headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, to be converted from a lecture hall, where STAR-K Kashrus Administrator Rabbi Zvi Goldberg presented a PowerPoint about mislabels and fraud, into a makeshift “operating room”. Dressed in a starched white butcher’s coat, performing the delicate “surgery” on the bright red, fleshy section of a beef forequarter laying before him on the table, was STAR-K Kashrus Administrator Rabbi Mayer Kurcfeld. The 38-year veteran menaker explained every step of the process of the ancient mesorah of traiboring to the huddle of the agency’s 14th Annual Kashrus Training Program’s participants surrounding him. The crash course on removing the prohibited veins, arteries, chailev (prohibited fats), and portions that attach to and get nourishment from the chailev, including enabling free flow of blood during the kashering process, was just one of the many invaluable skills that they learned from […]

Inaugural STAR-K Rabbinical Training Program for Yeshivas Ner Yisroel Yungeleit a Huge Success

If you are learning in Kollel and wondering if Rabbanus is for you, wonder no more—if you are a member of Kollel Avodas Levi, the Kollel of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, Maryland, that is. The STAR-K Rabbinical Training Program now offers yungeleit in the kollel the opportunity of capturing a glimpse into the multifaceted life inside the Rabbinate. The inaugural lecture series, held between Tu B’Shevat and Shavuos, was a huge success.

“The STAR-K Rabbincal Training Program was borne from the strong interest of a group of twenty-five Kollel Avodas Levi yungeleit to have a series of Rabbonim, community leaders, and other presenters discuss what it takes to be a Rav, community leader, and mechanech,” explains Rabbi Nosson ‘Nate’ Miller, the Kollel Avodas Levi yungerman who spearheaded the program as the Kollel’s liaison.

In the past, the National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) in conjunction with STAR-K, held a similar training […]

The Hawaiian Chicken-Chilean Sea Bass-New York Cheesecake Shavuos Cooking Challenge

Cooking and baking for Shavuos can become a halachically confusing juggling act, alternating between the preparation of milchig, fleishig, pareve, and fish dishes.  Unless you have the luxury of using a separate oven for each, you might want to check out, “Oven Kashrus 101: Using the Same Oven for Meat, Dairy, Fish, & Pareve” [Kashrus Kurrents, Spring 2016], written by STAR-K Kosher Certification Kashrus Administrator, Rabbi Dovid Heber.

Based upon the psak of STAR-K Rabbinic Administrator Rabbi Moshe Heinemann, shlit”a, Rabbi Heber enumerates the halachos involved for regular gas and electric ovens when “going back and forth”. Using various l’chatchila and b’dieved scenarios, he discusses which food gender preparation combinations are allowed and under which circumstances.

Rabbi Heber’s Kashrus Kurrents article, entitled, “Meat and Dairy-A Kosher Consumer’s Handbook”, also discusses halachos pertinent to Shavuos, including the status of bread served with a dairy or meat meal, eating meat after dairy, and waiting […]

What Bracha Does One Make on Matza Brei?

Have you ever taken a bite out of a coconut macaroon and later doubted your choice of bracha? Was it really “haeitz” or is it “shehakol”? And, what about that matza brei or matzah lasagna? Do they require washing for a “hamotzei” or are they “mezonos”? Guess no more, thanks to STAR-K Kashrus Administrator Rabbi Dovid Heber’s new Pesach App: “Common Pesach Foods and Their Brochos”:

.

1.A brochah acharonah is recited when drinking at least a reviis (3.8 fl. oz.) within a 30 second span. If one drank between 1.0 fl. oz. (kzayis according to some opinions) and 3.8 fl. oz. (and cannot drink more) within a 30 second span a brochah achronah is not recited. However, if one also requires an al hamichyah or al ha’etz at this time, one can also include al hagefen. See Mishnah Brurah [M.B.] 208:82.

 2. This depends on the percentage of grape juice. If there […]

STAR-K Hotline’s Most Popular Pesach Questions

Over 30 years ago, STAR-K Kosher Certification recognized a deep community need for a hotline. Today, the STAR-K Kosher Hotline answers close to 100,000 questions, annually, from consumers calling in from around the world. It is comprised of a team of seven highly-trained receptionists who answer the questions from a written script. All answers are pre-approved by one of the STAR-K Rabbonim, who are available to elaborate on certain questions. As the phones continue to ring off the hook since Shushan Purim, the hotline has received close to 6000 questions, in addition to the many hundreds we received via email and our app. These are the top ten questions that have been asked.

If my oven is self-clean, do I just turn it on to kasher it?

It’s not enough since the door and opposing face of the oven don’t usually get hot enough to clean. First clean those areas, then turn […]

STAR-K Certification Lectures Cornell’s Didactic Program in Dietetics Students

A colorful, cutesy “Kosher Basics” PowerPoint was the springboard for a well-received interactive presentation made by STAR-K Kosher Certification Assistant Director of Supervision Rabbi Mayer Kurcfeld for Cornell University senior dietetics students, on February 28. It preceded a tour of the STAR-K certified kosher kitchen on the Ithaca, New York, campus for the future registered dietitians.

The presentation topics included: The Torah basis for Kashrus, ingredient sources, ritual slaughter, dairy and meat, vegetable checking for infestation, grape and wine products, Bishul Yisroel, the role of a Kosher certification agency, how to set up a kosher kitchen, and the practical application of the Kosher rules. Chef Jason Haus and mashgiach Gavriel Ress were also present to provide a comprehensive overview of the Cornell Dining team who work together to accomplish STAR-K certified dining at Cornell.

“To make it practical for them, we formulated and discussed various menus,” notes Rabbi Kurcfeld. “I emphasized the […]

Mesivta Ne’imus HaTorah Bochurim Learn Shechita Basics at STAR-K Kosher Certification

When Mesivta Ne’imus HaTorah Menahel Rabbi Laib Schulman approached STAR-K Kosher Certification about teaching a few of his students some Kashrus basics, the non-profit agency was eager to comply. Rather than start off with something as simple as what is behind a kosher symbol or basic kitchen kashrus rules, STAR-K Kashrus Administrator Rabbi Mayer Kurcfeld went with his gut feeling—literally and figuratively—planning a memorable once-in-a-lifetime presentation. He wowed the boys at STAR-K’s Baltimore offices, on January 4, with his three different-sized chalafim (shechting knives), two cow lungs, and a cow’s hoof!

In addition to demonstrating the chalaf sharpness test on a student’s nail and explaining which knife is used for which type of animal, Rabbi Kurcfeld discussed the five basic halachos of shechita, mentioning the types of animals that need to be schechted. He also reviewed the split hoof and fish scale kosher criteria, the difference between a neveila and a […]

STAR-K Kosher Certification Goes Ivy League: Cornell University’s 104 West

The logistical challenge of feeding 400+ Cornell University students and staff members Rosh Hashanah dinner in “Trillium at Kennedy Hall” and an overflow in an outside tent–in addition to two daily meals throughout the school year– was one that STAR-K Kashrus Administrator Rabbi Mayer Kurcfeld was up for. Cornell’s 104 West! and It’s Kosher– the campus’ satellite kosher dining station at North Star Dining Room—is presently the sixth college kitchen under this campus kashrus expert’s supervisory guidance.

Cornell upperclassman Sam Baer, president of the college’s Center for Jewish Living, first approached STAR-K Kosher Certification in March, 2015, about the possibility of certifying an on-campus kosher kitchen. After making three 12-hour roundtrip drives from Baltimore to the Cornell campus in Ithaca, New York, the STAR-K and STAR-D logos were awarded in time for the Fall Semester.

One of the factors unique to certifying a college kitchen versus a restaurant is finding just the […]

STAR-K Certification Kashrus Seminars Will Benefit Kehillos from Lakewood to Louisville

Portland, Oregon and Richmond, Virginia, were just two of the locales that participants traveled from to attend STAR-K Kosher Certification’s back-to-back seminars in its Baltimore offices. The 13th Annual STAR-K Kashrus Training Program was held August 1-4, followed by the Food Service Kashrus Training Seminar, August 8-10. Both certificate programs featured a Q & A session with STAR-K Rabbinic Administrator Rav Moshe Heinemann, as well as a variety of lectures by STAR-K Kashrus Administrators, tours of STAR-K-certified establishments, hands-on vegetable checking practicums, and an optional visit (led by Food Service Kashrus Training Seminar coordinator, Rabbi Sholom Tendler) to Kreider Farms—home of Pride of the Farm milk–in Lancaster, PA. The first seminar even included a live nikkur demonstration of a calf.

Rabbi Yitzy Mandel and Rabbi Simcha Snaid, kollel yungerleit of Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim in Queens, New York, found the Kashrus Training Program invaluable in preparation for their post-Tisha B’Av move to […]