December 27, 2005

OU to Embark on Kosher Adventure with Part Two: The Pareve Mesorahs, a Halachic and Historical Perspective of Fish, Plants, and Color, to be Held February 19 in Queens

After the huge success of the unique Ask OU Mesorah Conference held in May, 2004, in which the characteristics of exotic kosher animals and birds were portrayed in a show and taste manner, the Orthodox Union will once again embark on a kosher adventure with Part Two: The Pareve Mesorahs, A Halachic and Historical Perspective of Fish, Plants, and Color. (Pareve is a term used to indicate food that is neither meat nor dairy, while mesorah refers to tradition, which in this case implies the age-old tradition of kashrut.)

The conference will be held on Sunday, February 19 from 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. at Lander College, 75-31 150th Street, Kew Gardens Hills. Admission and a scholarly sourcebook with high-level commentary is free for OU members; $18 for nonmembers; and as a special bonus, $36 for admission, sourcebook and OU membership. (OU membership usually costs $54.)

Special focus will not be on just food, but also on the kosher technicalities of animals and plants -- such as the esrog -- used to perform mitzvot (commandments).

“This conference differs from others of its kind in that not only will we be discussing topics in kashrut that are known to everyone, but we will also explore areas in halachah (Jewish law) that might be new to most people,” declared Rabbi Yosef Grossman, Director of Ask OU. “Two of the main coordinators of this event, Rabbi Dr. Ari Zivotofsky and Dr. Ari Greenspan, Americans who now reside in Israel, call it Halachic Adventures, in which they look for mesorah that was lost to the general Jewish public, but is still found among select Jewish groups today.”

Examples of kashrut issues which will be presented at the conference will include the kosher status of swordfish and kingklip (a South African species of fish); the status of the shibuta, a fish whose brain tastes like a pig; different types of matzot; what halachah considers the five grains; and the kosher status of gelatin. There will also be a discussion on animal parts and plants used to perform mitzvot, for example, the fish dye used in biblical times for tzitzit.

The originators of the mesorah conferences, the two Ari’s, met in 1981 after watching the slaughter of a chicken. According to Dr. Greenspan, “Everybody who observed it left, and we stayed to help the shochet (slaughterer) clean the bird,” he said. “We discovered a joint interest in the reality of halachah and the interaction of nature and Torah. For 25 years we have traveled the world and investigated local Jewish customs and history.”

Rabbi Zivotofsky added, “One has to understand nature and science to really understand many aspects of Torah. The connection to Old World customs is disappearing as elderly Jews from Yemen, Libya and Poland die. We want to save these halachic memories.”

Topics to be discussed at the conference are as follows:

• Swordfish, KingKlip, and Rova’s (a rabbi from the time of the Gemara) Shabbos Fish: The Tale of the Three Fish That (Almost) Got Away, with Rabbi Zivotfosky.
   

• An Analysis of Kaskeset (scales): Past and Present, with Rabbi Chaim Goldberg, OU Kosher Rabbinic Coordinator, who will discuss what kaskeset are and how this relates to knowing which fish are kosher and which are not.
   

• Matzoh Mesorot Around the World, with Dr. Greenspan, who will discuss the different types of matzot eaten by Jews from different cultural backgrounds.
   

• The Five Types of Grain, with Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel, OU Kosher Rabbinic Coordinator, who will discuss what the five grains are according to Halachah, debating whether oats is one of them. This knowledge is relevant in reciting after-blessings, which differ depending on whether an item is a grain, fruit, or vegetable; and in preparing the ingredients for matzot.
   

• Gelatin with Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of OU Kosher, who will discuss whether it is permissible to use gelatin, which is pareve, from any animal’s hide, not just those that are halachicly approved.
   

• The Esrog Wars: The Halachic History, Botany and Economics of the Esrog, with Ari & Ari, who will discuss the origins of the different types of esrogim, the correct color and shape, and the debate over whether the pitom (stem) is necessary for the esrog to be kosher.
   

• The Mitzvah of Techelet in Our Times, with Rabbi Herschel Schachter, OU Posek (halachic decisor), who will discuss the correct color of tzitzit, which in ancient times were dyed blue from a specific type of fish whose identity is uncertain today.
   

• Shofar Shape: Straight or Curved, with Rabbi Ami Cohen, who specializes in the halachah of kosher animals, and will discuss the role the shape plays in determining whether the shofar (ram’s horn) is kosher.
   

• The Tzaraas Illusion – Color and Depth Perception in Halachah, with Dr. Shalom Kelman, an ophthalmologist practicing in Baltimore, who will discuss which skin lesions are associated with tzaraas (biblically defined leprosy).
   

• Midot (measurements) in Halachah, with Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, OU Posek, who will discuss the correct requirements for measurements needed for proper performance of various mitzvot, for example, how much matzah does one have to consume to fulfill the requirement for eating matzah at the seder.

Other speakers will include Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, OU Executive Vice President; and Rabbi Grossman, the coordinator of this event.

As at the previous mesorah conference, there will be a great deal of show-and-tell, including Powerpoint and video presentations; there will also be highlights from the previous event. There will be food tasting, including sampling of matzos from around the world. Lunch will be available for purchase.

Following the event, it will be viewable on the OU website, www.ou.org.

Advance registration is required. To reserve, contact Rabbi Grossman at 212-613-8212 or grossman@ou.org.

* * *

The Orthodox Union, now in its second century of service to the Jewish community of North America and beyond, is a world leader in community and synagogue services, adult education, youth work through NCSY, political action through the IPA, and advocacy for persons with disabilities through Yachad and Our Way. Its kosher supervision label, the , is the world’s most recognized kosher symbol and can be found on over 409,000 products manufactured in 83 countries around the globe.

www.ou.org

Comments? Requests? Questions?

Orthodox Union Department of Communications and Marketing David Olivestone Director Stephen Steiner Director of Public Relations Main Office: 11 Broadway, New York, NY 10004 Phone: 212.613.8318 Fax: 212-613-0763 E-mail: steiners@ou.org  |  media@ou.org

OUPR Archives Recent statements to the press: 2003  |  2002  |  2001  |  2000  |  1999  |  1998