Special Features B.A.S.H. Way back, a few items in the Break Antithetic Shul Habits category appeared in some issues of Torah Tidbits. If I'm not mistaken, what is about to be presented, was one of them. But it bears repetition and emphasis. Shulchan Aruch Orech Chaim 102 states that one may not pass in front of someone (within 4 Amot) who is saying the Amida. It adds that if you are standing in front of someone else and you finished the Amida but the person behind you has not, then you may not take your steps back until he finishes his Amida - even if he startedlate and even if he's taking a very long time to daven. [A bench or table between you and one still davening is a partition and you are permited to pass by or step back.] It gets complicated - or at least, multifaceted. Let's take an example. You arrive at shul on Friday evening and find that someone has chosen to say his Amida while standing right near the front door of the shul. You cannot go in until he's finished, since to do so would result in your walking in front of someone saying the Amida, within his 4 Amot. Others arrive and walk right past him intothe shul. [The guy spots you waiting to enter and realizes your problem. He magnanimously waves you on, indicating that he is waiving (pun intended) his "honor" to allow you to walk in front of him. He can't. It's not his honor to waive. It is G-d's. The Divine Presence is in front of each of us when we daven (the Amida).] Realize the different aspects of this situation. He should have chosen a spot to stand that did not block anyone's passage. In general, we should always choose a place to stand in prayer that will not inconvenience others, nor cause them to violate the halacha, either out of ignorance or impatience. This is especially sowhen we come late and are saying the Amida when most of the congregation is not. It is also something to keep in mind in a Minyan Factory situation, such as at the Kotel. It isn't always easy. Do you tell this guy something after he finishes the Amida? How do you tell him? Do you say something to the others who entered the shul either oblivious to the guy davening or oblivious to the halachic rule in question? I would suggest that we should say something to the davener and the ones who walked in front of the davener. This, unless you are sure that your words would cause mocking rather than compliance. And the way we say what needs saying, the tone of voice. We should not convey the annoyance we felt having to wait a few minutes.We should speak in soft tones and try to be informative rather than critical. If this topic has struck you as rather minor and unworthy of a whole page in Torah Tidbits and of the time it took you to read these words, realize that at issue are proper respect for the Sh'china and a greater appreciation of the significance of our prayer. Those are definitely not minor issues. And it is also significantto improve our interpersonal behavior and concern for each other, even while being involved in a "between Jew and G-d" mitzva such as davening. Knowing, following, and appreciating Halacha are at stake. KOSHER KOLUMN This column is prepared for Torah Tidbits from material contained in the email answers to Kashrut questions posed to the OU's Webbe Rebbe, and by information supplied by OU Kashrut Israel Ltd. - the OU's kashrut operation in Israel, headquartered in the Israel Center, 10 Struas Street, Jerusalem. Questions for this column'sconsideration should be sent by email to tt@ou.org or phoned in to (02) 500-3333. More on the HEB-ENG Just to report to you, the alert, concerned kosher consumer... There has been a lot of activity in the direction of getting more accurate and matching information on Hebrew and English labels. Ads have been appearing in the newspapers warning people of inconsistancies in labeling. And errors are being corrected. A majorpart of this process is awareness and alterness on the part of the consumer. Keep leting us know about problems you find. With an OU only... Very often the OU will tell us that a product can be considered OU-certified only if there appears an OU on the package. (Much less commonly, they will say that such-and-such is OU even without the OU on the label.) If the product is relatively new to the OU certification, then the warning prevents use of an older sampleof the product from before it came under the OU. More commonly, there is the issue of the same product being produced in different plants, some under the OU's supervision, some not. There is a specific facet of this issue that is very relevant to the Israeli consumer. There are "American" products that have an OU thatare manufactured in Europe, either without hashgacha or with a different hashgacha. Israel often gets the European version of these products, because of lower import/export costs. American Olim, students, and visitors are particularly vulnerable to errors in this regard. Don't assume that a familiar product is OU unlessyou see the symbol on the package. Bishul Yisrael... again Without going into the whole issue again (we'll do it some other time, IY"H), here is a statement made by the Webbe Rebbe in response to a question about sardines. "The OU is very MAKPID when it comes to the dinim of Bishul Acum (non-Jewish cooking). The reason we don't have information about sardines is because the policyof the OU is that sardines are not OLEH AL SHULCHAN M'LACHIM, and therefor exempt." To explain... The Shulchan Aruch forbids us to eat food that was cooked (entirely) by a non-Jew. Among the exceptions is food that is not considered fit for a king's table. Such foods are not considered to have the status that would promptour Sages to place a barrier to impede social camaraderie between Jew and non-Jew. Here the point is not whether Bishul Yisrael is a halachic requirement - it is - but rather whether certain foods are exept from the requirement or not. We'll have more on this topic in the future. Another word about Dairy Equipment There is another aspect of the Dairy Equipment issue that has not been addressed in previous Kosher Kolumns. Remember first that the OU's policy is to label products that contain no dairy ingredients but which were processed on equipment that is also used for dairy products, as OU-D. Was the equipment cleaned between thetwo product runs? How well was it cleaned? Obviously, if the equipment is "kashered" between a dairy product and a parve one, then the product would be completely parve. If the machines are cleaned well, then the status of the "second" food would be "parve food cooked in a dairy pot". But if the cleaning is only cursoryor not at all, then the product with no dairy ingredients is considered actually dairy. Hence the OU's <D policy. Artichoke, Broccoli The OU considers arichokes too difficult to check well for bugs and will therefore usually not recommend their use in OU products. Season brand soaks their artichokes in a strong brine solution. This is acceptable to the OU and that is why those products do have an OU. The OU's policy is that if broccoli is used in a product, it must be diligently checked by a person properly trained to check for infestation. Sorry Charlie... There has been a longish period of time that some tunafish was labeled OU-D. This was due to the ingredient Sodium cassenate, a dairy derivative, which was used to help maintain the color of the tuna. More recently, companies have found an alternative, kosher product to do the same job. This ingredient is parve. If tunafishhas an OU without a D, you can assume that there is no dairy ingredient (or equipment) involved. On another tuna issue... How do we know that only tunafish ends up in the cans of tuna we eat? Is there a mashgi'ach who checks the fish for scales and fins? Or is that not necessary, and why? Some authorities require mashgichim to guarantee that only kosher fish enters the production. Dagim, Season, and Gefen tunas have full-time ever-presentmashgichim. For other OU tunas, there is a different opinion that the OU poskim accept... There is a Talmudic dictum that "an expert or virtuoso will not allow anything to go wrong so as not to ruin his reputation". The factory workers, supervisors, and managers of the processing plants recognize that allowing a different fish to become part of the contents of tuna cans will cause problems, invite investigations,and posibly result in loss of customers. Therefore, they will make sure that only tuna becomes tuna, and other fish are rejected. More on TUNA FISH There are two different Starkist tunas on the market in Israel - one's been around for a good number of years; the other is fairly recent. The former has an OU and an Ishur of the Chief Rabbinate and is prominently labeled BISHUL YISRAEL. The latter has an OU and is the kind that is sold in the States. The latter has anOU by virtue of two opinions in halacha - [1] tuna does not need fulltime, constant supervision; spot-checking and the concept that a professional will not do something to tarnish his reputation, and [2] tuna does not need to be Bishul Yisrael for a combination of reasons, including (but not only) not served in this formon the table of kings, steamed not cooked, factory not home, eaten raw. The "Israeli" version of Starkist has constant supervision of the fish and is made with full rules of Bishul Yisrael according to the stricter view of the Beit Yosef. The OU holds that tuna need not be Bishul Yisrael, but the Rabbanut here insists. [The BaMidbar Homepage]
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