Summer 2025

Which pilgrimage site is the most visited around the world? While some may guess the Vatican (approximately 7 million visitors a year) or Mecca (10 million), few would fathom that one of the contenders for the title is a remote Indian temple located on one of the Tirumala hills near the town of Tirupati in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

An estimated 25 million Hindu pilgrims visit the temple each year – an average of 68,500 visitors daily. Although this seems like a huge number of pedestrian traffic, it is worth noting that, as a percentage of the Indian population, this would correspond to approximately 1,650 visitors were the site in the U.S.

What do the visitors do in Tirupati? They wait in line all day to get a glimpse of the avodah zara in the temple for a few fleeting seconds. Another popular activity is tonsuring, the act of shaving […]

Summer 2025

As noted in the article, “The Sheitel Controversy,” the author reviewed a wide array of sources that could not be included due to space considerations. Links to many of these sources are presented here for those who wish to delve more deeply into this fascinating topic.

More material can be found at ‫חומר בנושא תקרובת עבודה זרה בפאות Google Drive and קונטרסים – מכון הישכם אוהבים את ה’ לחקר תקרובת העבודה זרה בפאות

Please email the author at [email protected] if you have any additional articles or books on this topic that are available to be uploaded and shared with the public, or if you are the author of an article and would like it to be removed from this page.

Notice

Some of the material below was previously available at http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~spotter/sheitel/.  That website is no longer in service.

Annotated Summaries of Online Resources

Hindu Beliefs and Practices Regarding Hair Sacrifices – […]

Summer 2025

From fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt cups to your Bubby’s famous galarita (a.k.a. p’tcha), collagen – and its modified form, gelatin – seems to be everywhere these days. It is no exaggeration to state that the food and health industries are currently undergoing a veritable collagen craze. In 2023, the collagen market had a value of $5.1 billion, with no signs of slowing down; it is projected to top $7.4 billion by 2030.[1] What exactly is collagen and why is it so popular?

Collagen is a fibrous, insoluble protein found in all living beings. The word collagen comes from the Greek word kolla, meaning glue, which is a fitting term for a substance that makes up a major portion of bone, skin and connective tissue and serves as the glue that holds the body together. There are three main types: type I, found in skin, tendons, bones and ligaments; type II, […]

Summer 2025

Widely available gelatin substitutes provide kosher consumers with sound alternatives to meat- and fish-based gelatin products. They are also making headway in the field of vitamin and medicinal capsules.

Popular gelatin alternatives that are seaweed-based include:

► Agar Agar/Kanten:Derived from some species of red algae. Has strong setting properties similar to gelatin. Will gel at room temperature. Is more affected by acidity than gelatin and thus can cause fruity desserts to turn watery.

►Carrageenan/Irish Moss: Is a reddish-purple seaweed. Less stiff than Agar Agar. Useful as an emulsifier and a thickener.

Gelatin alternatives that are vegetable-derived and that can be used as stabilizers, emulsifiers, or thickeners include:

► Gellan Gum: Produced by the microbial fermentation of a carbohydrate using the bacterium Sphingomonas elodea. Requires reliable kosher certification to verify that the ingredients used in their processing are all kosher and that the equipment used for their processing are all kosher parve.

► Guar Gum: A […]

Summer 2025

Every year at the STAR-K Chanuka mesiba, Rav Moshe Heinemann shlit”a, STAR-K’s Rabbinic Administrator, rises to address the assembled. His annual message consists of a brief Chanuka dvar Torah, expressions of hakaras hatov to the entire staff, and a reiteration of the uncompromising principles of emes and shalom by which STAR-K is governed.

This year, he added the following to his divrei chizuk: “Good kashrus requires a clear understanding of products, process, and all the source materials that go into a certified product. What are they?

“Take nuts, for example. Hazelnuts, also known as filberts, are classical tree nuts. The bracha for all nuts grown on a tree is Borei Pri Ha’eitz.

“Peanuts, unlike their other shelled counterparts, grow in the ground. The bracha for peanuts is Borei Pri Ha’adama.

“Doughnuts,” he quipped, “are Borei Minei Mezonos. And what bracha do you make on a gallnut? None!”

“What is a gallnut? A gallnut is […]