Worse than a computer manual :(
I took Larry Lennhoff's recommendation (posted here) and bought Rabbi Forst's Laws of Kashrus.
Oy.
It's dry as a bone, technical, and not the least bit interesting to read. (I generally do my reading on the subway, and prefer something that doesn't put me to sleep while I'm standing up.) And I've barely gotten to the chapter about nullifying, or not being able to nullify, accidental mixtures of kosher and treif (non-kosher).
There's a big difference between a computer manual and a kashrut "manual." If you can't figure out what the heck they're talking about in the computer manual, you can always call a computer repair person. But if you mess up the kashrut of your kitchen, who you gonna call, Ghostbusters? Er, Chabad? Those who want to keep a kosher kitchen must be able to do so independently, consulting a rabbi or other halachah expert when necessary only: If you "treif" a spoon (make it non-kosher), you have to know how to "kasher" it (make it kosher) yourself--you can't call the rabbi every time you need to kasher something.
If this is what we have to learn to maintain a kosher kitchen in accordance with Orthodox interpretation . . .
Tell you what, why don't we just serve you kosher take-out on paper plates, or an Ashke-fardi/S'fard-kenazi feast of chummus and herring?
posted by Shira Salamone at 10:26 AM
16 Comments:
I'm sorry you don't like it. I do, especially the charts. Of course, I'm a software professional, so computer manuals seem normal to me. Maybe in January we can have you out on a Sunday and I can walk you through my various books on kashrut and you can see if there is anything you like.
Alternatively Sunday December 5th might be ok, if you don't mind having just me without Malka Esther.
Larry, thanks for the invitation. Let me talk to the Punster and ascertain which date works better for him. I'd love to visit when Malka Esther is there, but a January date might run into my resident CPA's tax season.
I kept fleishig only disposables only before I got married--my husband kept milchigs only. When we started keeping a kitchen with both milchigs and fleishigs after we got married, we asked tons of shailot from several rabbis (that we knew and trusted). It'll be fine--they're used to it.
(and they got a kick out of being amused at our random paranoia)
Someone needs to write "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Kashrut". I bet they'd make quite a bit of money from it.
RivkaYael, I'm sorry to say that we have no rabbi to pester, er, consult because, for better and/or for worse, our synagogue no longer has a rabbi--we can't afford one. Given the financial state of our current shul, my husband and I fully expect to be "between rabbis" until we move and join another synagogue.
"Someone needs to write "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Kashrut". I bet they'd make quite a bit of money from it."
So true, Techelet. Nu, any authors out there? I'll be first in line (or online) to buy it!
Call a Chabad rabbi, any Chabad rabbi; he will be happy to help you.
Or, call any of the rabbis in any of the existing Conservative shuls in your Borough -- particularly the big one -- he's a nice guy and I suspect he would be very receptive.
But remember, you're likely to get a very different answer between the Chabadnik and the guy from JTS
Have you looked at either of these books?
How to Keep Kosher
author Lise Stern
(note-not Lisa, Lise)
-or-
Going Kosher in 30 Days
author Rabbi Zalman Goldstein
Both are on Amazon
TOTJ Steve, a few months ago, in a comment, you recommended that we drive to a town just over the NYC border for kosher restaurants. Since the recommended town is one that we could get to easily if we had a car, I assume that you've figured out in which borough we live. But I'm still keeping that information under my hat. So I'd appreciate it if you'd clarify *via e-mail at onthefringe_jewishblogger at yahoo dot com* which "big" Conservative synagogue in my borough and/or which rabbi you have in mind. I can think of a few Conservative shuls in my borough that have big buildings (some with dwindling congregations), and a few that merged.
Chicago, thanks. I checked out the reviews. Since I already have a pretty good idea of what's considered acceptable kashrut in the Conservative Jewish community, having kept a kosher kitchen for over 27 years, I'm not sure that I really need "How to Keep Kosher," written by a Conservative layperson, at this point. I think I'd do better with "Going Kosher In 30 Days," which has won the approval of the OK kashrut supervision agency's chief administrator, since I'm seeking an Orthodox perspective.
Sterns book is pretty basic. Now I'm interested in this "Going Kosher In 30 Days" though I don't plan to keep an Orthodox level of Kosher, I might like to take a peek. I'll have to check my library.
Dena, I should probably check my library more often. It might save me a few bucks.
Out of curiosity, what is an "Orthodox level of Kashrut?" Is this just a generational thing, where observant Conservative Jews says "Orthodox" to mean correctly because they cheat?
Seriously, to the best of my knowledge, the differences between JTS Conservative Kashrut and OU Orthodox Kashrut are:
1. Supervision on hard cheeses
2. Wine
3. Swordfish
Seriously, what else is different?
On the ground, in the Orthodox world you'll see LOTS of stringencies based on ignorance, and various Chumrot based on total silliness, and some sloppiness in the Conservative world, where are the big differences?
Sounds to me like you have some nuance questions, call a Chabad Rabbi, he'll help you with your details. People call Rabbis with Kashrut questions, it's one of the primary things that they do.
Around Pesach, the Shul provides a pot of boiling water for Kashering. There is absolutely no problem bringing a pot of water to boil at home, but some people are uncomfortable doing that, they need a "special Kashering pot," so they use one at the Shul.
You CAN do this all yourself, or you CAN call the Rabbi every 5 minutes... my wife has called the Rabbi from supermarkets on an unknown symbol. I've emailed him screenshots from my cel phone when I didn't need a snap decision.
It's really not scary.
"Seriously, to the best of my knowledge, the differences between JTS Conservative Kashrut and OU Orthodox Kashrut are:
1. Supervision on hard cheeses
2. Wine
3. Swordfish
Seriously, what else is different?
On the ground, in the Orthodox world you'll see LOTS of stringencies based on ignorance, and various Chumrot based on total silliness, and some sloppiness in the Conservative world, where are the big differences?"
Miami Al, I think the big difference is not so much "sloppiness" as ignorance. We've been keeping a kosher kitchen for over 27 years, but never knew that such sharp foods (davar charif) as vinegar could create kashrut problems until about 2-3 years ago. The question is, what else don't we know?
I think it's always a process of discovery--a friend said that some of his smicha classmates thought "nat bar nat" was the name of a tanna. I personally don't like denominational classifications "orthodox"/"conservative" kashrut--ignorance and wisdom both cross denominational boundaries which in themselves are very inconsistent and not informative.
"I think it's always a process of discovery--. . . ignorance and wisdom both cross denominational boundaries . . ."
RivkaYael, thanks for the encouraging words--I certainly need a few. Maybe I should take Miami Al at his word when he says that kashrut rules are really not scary.
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