Spring

Terumos and Ma’asros

By: Rabbi Moshe Heinemann

Published Spring 2002 | Updated June 2016

As a result of the State of Israel’s blossoming agricultural advances and innovative marketing strategies, Israeli food exports to foreign markets in all sectors continue to grow and flourish. Some consumer products are very well known to the American marketplace, such as Jaffa oranges, grapefruits, pomelos, clementines and parsley, Carmel tomatoes, Arava peppers, and candies, jams, jellies, canned tomatoes, olives, and pickled products. Other industrial products used for manufacturing are tomato sauce, tomato paste, orange oil and spices. New marketing avenues include private label manufacturing, the purchase of American companies by Israeli companies, and the use of Israeli components in the manufacturing of American labeled products.

Raising Cane: The Kashrus and Other Halachic Issues of Cane Sugar

By: Rabbi Zvi Goldberg

Published Summer 2009

It is noteworthy that in both Jewish and secular sources, the first recorded references to cane sugar are attributed to Jewish kings. In Shir HaShirim1, Shlomo Hamelech writes “Yaari Im Divshi,” “My forest with my honey.” Some commentators2 deem this to be referring to cane sugar and deduce that sugar canes are considered trees. Secular sources indicate that cane sugar was first used by man in Polynesia, and from there it spread to India. Darius of Persia invaded India, where he found “the reed which gives honey without bees”. Darius was the son of Achashveirosh and Esther[...] Read More