Kashering Liver

By: Rabbi Moshe Heinemann

Published Spring 2016

Before one is permitted to indulge in kosher Jewish delicacies such as chopped liver, liver steaks and onions, or sauteed chicken livers, raw liver must undergo various processes before the liver is deemed fit for kosher use. First, as with all kosher meat, the liver must come from a kosher species of animal or fowl that has been schechted, slaughtered, in the proper manner prescribed by the Torah. If it is an animal liver, all the fat must be meticulously removed. Furthermore, the Torah forbids eating the blood of an animal or bird. Therefore, it is necessary to extract the blood from the kosher slaughtered meat or liver.
How is the blood removed? With meat, this process is commonly known as kashering and is accomplished by soaking the meat in water, salting it, and then rewashing it. With liver, this method of extraction is insufficient. Since liver contains such a large concentration of […]

STAR-K Meat Team: Humane Standards Accreditation

Published Winter 2016

While the act of shechitah itself is an exquisitely humane form of animal slaughter, the manner in which an animal is handled prior to reaching the shochet should also conform with the Torah’s sensitivity for tza’ar ba’alei chaim (the prohibition against causing unnecessary pain and harm to creatures). Our mission to certify meat products of the highest quality was recently enhanced when two prominent members of our meat team, Rabbi Zvi Holland and Rabbi Tzvi Shaul Goldberg, traveled to Iowa in order to take part in an accredited certification program through PAACO (Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization). Instructors included world renowned experts in the field of animal welfare such as Dr. Temple Grandin, professor of animal science at Colorado State University and consultant to the livestock industry. She is considered a leading authority on animal welfare.

Making the Cut: Assuring that Glatt Really Means Kosher

By: Rabbi Moshe Heinemann

Winter 2016

It is written in our Torah, “Ubosor basodeh treifa lo socheilu” (Shmos 22:30), it is forbidden to eat treif meat. While the expression “treif” (non-kosher) has become the universal connotation for food that is not kosher, in truth, the word treif specifically refers to an animal whose flesh was torn or ripped. Technically speaking, if a kosher species of animal or fowl was attacked by a predator, the meat of the victim may be deemed treif. However, the meat of an animal improperly kosher slaughtered is not treifah, it is called a neveila. Technically, meat of a non-kosher animal species is the meat of a temeiah. Yet, the term “treif” has found its way through the portals of the slaughterhouse, as well as the aisles of the non-kosher meat section of the supermarkets. No matter what the name, all of these categories of meat are forbidden to be eaten.
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Kosher Meat in the Marketplace

By: Rabbi Moshe T. Schuchman

Published Winter 2016

Keeping kosher does not preclude being a locavore,[1] but it definitely presents substantial challenges, particularly for omnivores. Barely a handful of communities in the world today still host facilities where kosher meat is processed from slaughter to salting, and sold from steak to salami, all within close proximity to a kosher consumer base. Like most items in the modern marketplace, it’s much more common to find beef and poultry products traveling vast distances from slaughterhouse to processor, and from distributor to retailer, before reaching the dinner table.

The Old Way
This very untraditional configuration has uprooted the once prominent communal fixtures of shochet and bodek (one who checks for abnormalities that render meat treifah). It’s also a complete departure from an extreme version of locavorism that was practiced in many pre-war European kehilos, which legislated bans on ‘sh’chutay chutz’, not allowing meat slaughtered in a different city […]

Grillin’ With a ‘Bren’

By: Rabbi Tzvi Rosen

Published Spring 2015

One of Moshe Rabbeinu ’s first directives from the Ribono Shel Olam was that the Korban Pesach had to be tzli aish , no compromise – not boiled, not cooked, not raw – but grilled on the open flame. This was B’nei Yisroel ’s honest to goodness first barbecue! “ Maase Avos Siman L’Vanim .” Grilling has taken on a life of its own. As the weather warms, and once again we are ready to enjoy the outdoors there are many dos and don’ts that the savvy kosher griller should keep in mind before throwing that delicious rib steak onto the coals.

Kashering a Non-Kosher Grill

As unlikely as it sounds, there are times when the occasion arises where a non-kosher grill requires kosherization. This method is impractical for a barbecue pit in the park. However, in the event that one needs to kasher a non-kosher grill, below are the steps […]

Kosher Chickens: From Coop to Soup

By: Rabbi Moshe Heinemann

Published Spring 2007

There is a strange but true phenomenon that has resulted in our society’s technologically
motivated, highly competitive marketplace. If a manufacturer or producer desires to remain viable and competitive, he never loses sight of the fact that successful business demands innovation, creativity and growth. Status quo in the manufacturer’s lexicon often means stagnation, and no company wants to stagnate. In turn, the manufacturer on the move continues to innovate in an environment that encourages survival of the fittest. This presents additional challenges for products requiring kosher supervision from a kashrus agency. These axioms are very keenly felt in the production of kosher poultry, where halachic ingenuity and technological advances converge. The average kosher consumer rarely, if ever, has the opportunity to see a large or small slaughterhouse in action. Therefore, Kashrus Kurrents offers its readers an inside look at the policies and procedures of […]

Beware: Glatt May Not Always Mean Kosher

By: Rabbi Moshe Heinemann

Published Summer 2008

It is written in our Torah, “Ubosor basodeh treifa lo socheilu” (Shmos 22:30), it is forbidden to eat treif meat. While the expression “treif” has become the universal connotation for food that is not kosher, in truth, the word treif specifically refers to an animal whose flesh was torn or ripped. Technically speaking, if a kosher species of animal or fowl was attacked by a predator, the meat of the victim may be deemed treif, non-kosher. However, the meat of an animal improperly kosher slaughtered is not treifa, it is called a neveila. Technically, meat of a non-kosher animal species is the meat of a temeiah. Yet, the term “treif” has found its way through the portals of the slaughterhouse, as well as the aisles of the non-kosher meat section of the supermarkets. No matter what the name, all of these categories of meat […]

A Cut Above: Shechita in the Crosshairs, Again

By: Rabbi Moshe T. Schuchman

Published Fall 2012

The Community and Its Shechita

One of the most basic features of a functional Jewish community, no matter the size, has historically been the shochet. Rabbis are a necessity, but were not always available; access to kosher meat is indispensable. The original American Jewish community of twenty-three Dutch Jews from Brazil, who landed in New Amsterdam (later, New York) in 1654, was led by the celebrated Asser Levy, who was also the shochet. Well before the first ordained rabbi, Rabbi Abraham Rice, arrived in 1840, shochtim served the needs of American Jews.
In the more established kehilos of Europe, the shochet was also deemed critical. An intrepid shochet, who risked his life in the early 1930s to provide kosher meat to Jews in Soviet Russia, remarked during an interview: