Summer 2026

When the Torah commands: ubasar basadeh treifah lo socheilu” (Shmos 22:30) – “you may not eat treif meat” – it is not making a general statement about non-kosher food, which is the common understanding of the word treif. Here, treif refers specifically to an animal whose flesh was torn or ripped.

Technically speaking, if a kosher species of animal or fowl is attacked by a predator, the meat of the victim may be deemed treif. The meat of a kosher animal slaughtered improperly is actually called a neveila. The flesh of a non-kosher animal species, on the other hand, is the meat of a temei’ah. Still, the term treif has found its way nowadays to be generally synonymous with non-kosher. That is how we will be using the term from here on.

The Mitzvah of Shechita

The halacha requires that all animals and fowl used for kosher consumption […]

Summer 2026

V’karasa l’ Shabbos oneg – “and you shall call Shabbos a day of delight.”[1] Oneg Shabbos manifests itself in many delightful ways. On Shabbos Kodesh we enjoy delicious ma’acholim and sing l’his’aneig bisa’anugim. We delight in wearing beautiful clothes, taking a well-deserved afternoon nap and, of course, engaging in limud haTorah. All these combine to make the preeminent day of the week extra special.

And what could be more delightful than a steaming cup of coffee on a cold Shabbos morning? How about a delicious mug of hot chocolate?  Does the piping hot mug of hot cocoa mirror the steaming cup of hot coffee in the eyes of halacha? Let’s take a closer look and discover that the twain do not meet.

Chocolate 101

The prime ingredient in chocolate is the cacao bean, which grows in many regions of the world, including West Africa, Central America […]

Summer 2026

The first reference to sugar in the Torah is in Shir HaShirim (5:1): “yaari im divshi – “my forest with my honey” – which some commentators[1] deem to be referring to cane sugar and deduce that sugar canes are considered trees.  

Sugar is a fascinating commodity. It was not always as plentiful or cheap as it is today. A homemaker living in London in 1319 would have had to pay two shillings for a single pound of sugar – the equivalent of roughly $50 in today’s dollars – and was unaffordable by most people. Even in the 1700s, sugar was considered a luxury item and referred to by some as “white gold.”

Fast forward to the current sugar market. Refineries nowadays can store more than 100,000 tons of raw sugar at a time. To put that staggering quantity into perspective, if all […]