Yoshon Guidelines

Updated September 14, 2023

This page is dedicated in memory of Rav Yosef Herman הרב יוסף בן הרב יהושע זצ”ל, who is credited with singlehandedly raising awareness about Yoshon in America and throughout chutz la’aretz and renewing the klal’s commitment to this precious mitzvah. He undertook the responsibility to conduct extensive research about Yoshon products and to publish Yoshon updates year after year without remuneration. May all of our work be an aliyah for his neshama.

Yoshon season 2023-24 has now begun. Any item from any of the grains (wheat, oats or barley) purchased prior to September 1, 2023, can be considered Yoshon. Rye and spelt in North America are always considered Yoshon.

There are still very few, if any, consumer products on the shelf that would contain Chodosh at this point, with the exception of flour. We are still working to update the product lists, but consumers can use the [...] Read More

Yoshon and Chodosh Something Old and Something New

The story is told about how in the mid 1970’s the proprietor of a kosher bakery in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood was asked if his products were Yoshon. Not realizing that this Hebrew word, which literally means ‘old’, actually refers to grain which had been planted before Passover, proudly, albeit naively, answered, ” I can assure you that everything in my bakery is 100 percent fresh.” Today, as we approach the millennium yoshon and chodosh have graduated and become household words which have rightfully taken their place among the more popular terms such as Glatt Kosher, Cholov Yisroel, and Pas Yisroel.