Kosher Overview

By Rabbi Pam Frydman

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(This Kashrut Overview is available in the above pdf as a 12 page photo ready pamphlet that may be printed on two sides of 8 1/2" x 11" paper, then folded in half, and stapled -- saddle stitched -- in the middle.)

Kashrut is a Jewish practice usually referred to as being kosher or keeping kosher.

Below is a pronunciation key, definitions, and an overview of kosher symbols, cookware, cooking and eating, as well as eco kashrut, and recommended resources.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

For a fuller and more detailed explanation about keeping kosher, it is recommended to speak with one’s rabbi or the rabbi of a local Jewish congregation.

For fuller and more detailed explanations about kosher catering, it is recommended to confer with an organization in your area that provides kosher catering oversight.

For fuller and more detailed explanations about stocking packaged kosher products, it is recommended to speak with kosher suppliers. Because the Jewish calendar varies from year to year, seasonal timing varies for meat consumption in the spring and fall, and consumption of Passover products in the spring. To enhance your business model, it is therefore recommended to confer with a kosher supplier or kosher certification organization to learn which days and seasons are best for stocking perishables, such as when it is likely to sell the most kosher challah, kosher meat and poultry, and the most Passover products.

PRONUNCIATION

Basar – pronounced bah-sar. Accent on second syllable.

Basari – pronounced bah-sah-ree. Accent on last syllable.

Ch – pronounced like the last name of the well-known musician and composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

Chalavi – pronounced chah-lah-vee. Accent on last syllable.

Fleishig - pronounced flay-shik. Accent on first syllable.

Hashgacha – pronounced hah-sh-gah-cha. Accent in Yiddish on “ga” and in Hebrew on “cha.”

Hechsher – pronounced hech-sher. Accent on first syllable.

Kashrut - pronounced kosh-root. Accent on first or second syllable. Also pronounced kosh-roos with accent on first or second syllable.

Kosher – pronounced koh-sher. Accent on first syllable.

Mashgiach – pronounced mah-sh-gee-ach. Accent on gee.

Mashgichim – pronounced mah-sh-gee-cheem in Hebrew; accent on “cheem”; and mah-sh’gee-chim in Yiddish; accent on gee.

Milchig - pronounced mill-chik. Accent on first syllable.

Parva – pronounced pahr-vah. Accent may be on first or second syllable.

Pareve - pronounced pah-rev. Accent on first syllable.

Parve – pronounced pahrv.

DEFINITIONS AND TYPES OF FOODS

Kashrut in General

Kashrut is the name of a Jewish dietary practice. Kashrut also refers to the laws and principles of keeping kosher.

Keeping kosher – adhering to the laws and principles of kashrut.

Mashgiach – Refers to a Jewish person who is ritually observant and who is also trained and certified to oversee the production, preparation, consumption, and storage of kosher foods and the disposal of relevant waste.

Mashgichim – Mashgichim is the plural of mashgiach.

Hashgacha – Refers to oversight of kashrut by a mashgiach.

Pareve, Parve, Parva

Pareve, Parve, and Parva are three pronunciations that refer to the same thing.

In relation to food, pareve means neutral in Yiddish and parva means neutral in Hebrew.

Pareve - A term referring to foods, pots and pans and cooking utensils, dishes and cutlery, surfaces, and other items used in preparing, eating, and storing food. 

Pareve Foods - Pareve foods include fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, water, salt, pepper, herbs, spices, sugar and other sweeteners, kosher fish, kosher fish eggs, and the eggs of kosher birds.

Eggs of kosher birds include the eggs of chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, doves, and pigeons. The eggs of all kosher birds may be kosher. However, fertilized eggs from kosher birds are not considered kosher as they contain a drop of blood.

Kosher fish are fish that have fins and scales. This is discussed in the Biblical Book of Leviticus (Leviticus 11:12).

Certain species of grasshoppers and locusts are also kosher and are eaten in some Yemini and Moroccan communities. [See A Kosher Curiosity toward the end of this handout.)

Meat / Fleishig / Basari

Meat - In terms of keeping kosher, in English, we say “meat” to refer to the meat of kosher mammals. In the context of keeping kosher, we sometimes also say “meat” when referring to kosher poultry.

Fleishig - In Yiddish, fleish means meat and fleishig means meat related.

Basari - In Hebrew, basar means meat and basari means meat related.

Meat - A term referring to foods, pots and pans, cooking utensils, dishes and cutlery, surfaces, and other items used in preparing, eating, and storing food and drinks. 

Meat Foods- Meat foods are foods that contain kosher meat. Kosher meat includes meat and byproducts of kosher mammals and kosher birds. 

Kosher Mammals - Kosher mammals are those who have cleft hooves and chew their cud. This is discussed in the Biblical Book of Leviticus (Leviticus 11:1-11). Examples of kosher mammals are cows, sheep, goats, buffalo, deer, elk, moose, and gazelle. 

Kosher Poultry - Kosher birds include those who are not carnivores such as chicken, turkey, duck, and geese. As noted above, the term “kosher meat” refers to both the meat of kosher mammals and the meat of kosher birds. Forbidden birds are listed in the Biblical Book of Leviticus (Leviticus 11:13-19).

Dairy – Milchig - Besari

Dairy - In English, we use the words milk and dairy.

Milchig - In Yiddish, Milich means milk and milchig means dairy or related to dairy.

Chalavi - In Hebrew, chalav is milk and chalavi means dairy or related dairy.

Dairy – “Dairy,” “milchig,” and “chalavi” refer to food and drink, pots and pans, cooking utensils, dishes and cutlery, surfaces, and other items used in preparing, eating, and storing food and drink. 

Dairy foods include the milk of kosher mammals and products made from the milk of kosher mammals, such as butter, yogurt, cheese, sour cream, whipped cream, and ice cream.

Dairy foods may be eaten with other milchig foods and with all pareve foods. 

KOSHER SYMBOLS

Hechsher – A hechsher is a kosher symbol. Hechshers are printed on the packaging of a very large variety of foods and drinks verifying that the product is kosher.

Different Hechshers - Different kosher symbols are used by different organizations whose mashgichim oversee the production of kosher products. Different Jewish communities adhere to different kosher standards. An item considered kosher by some Jewish communities may, therefore, not be considered sufficiently kosher in other Jewish communities.

Learning the Kosher Symbols Used in Your Area: If you are new to keeping kosher or if you are living in a new place where the kosher symbols are different than the symbols to which you were accustom, it is advisable to consult with your rabbi or with the rabbi of a local congregation to learn about the kosher symbols that appear on foods in your area.

For Those Running or Working in Stores, Restaurants, and Catering: If you are involved in kosher catering or other forms of kosher food service, it is imperative to consult with the mashgiach who oversees and verifies kashrut for your organization to learn which kosher symbols are considered acceptable.

Symbols on Kosher Drinks

Drinking water is kosher. Bottled water does not need a kosher symbol. However, water mixed with another item, such as flavored water, vitamin water, etc. must bear a kosher symbol.

Juice of all kinds must bear a kosher symbol.

Liquor and beer do not need kosher symbols.

Wine requires a kosher symbol. Kosher wine is mevushal, which means that boiling was involved in the wine making process.

Symbols on Kosher Foods

Fresh uncut fruits, vegetables, legumes, herbs, and spices are considered kosher and do not require a kosher symbol on the label. However, packages fruit, vegetable, Legumes, herbs, and spices require a kosher symbol when purchased in the United States.

Those in other countries who keep kosher may have different standards for determining which packaged food products require a kosher symbol.

Fish and eggs require a kosher symbol on the package to be considered kosher.

Meat and poultry require a kosher symbol on the package to be considered kosher.

Dairy products require a kosher symbol on the package to be considered kosher.

Kosher Symbol Exception: If you purchase fresh meat, poultry, or fish in a kosher butcher shop or kosher market, it is sufficient to have a certificate of kosher certification hanging in the shop for the fresh meat, poultry and fish to be considered kosher. However, all packaged products, including meat, poultry and fish sold in a kosher market or butcher shop must have a kosher symbol.

Kosher Symbols for Passover

Some kosher products are deemed kosher for Passover if purchased prior to the start of Passover. For example, kosher milk may be used on Passover if purchased prior to the start of Passover. However, milk purchased during Passover must bear a regular kosher symbol and an additional “P” or the explicit wording “kosher for Passover” or “may be used on Passover.”

P – Many products bear kosher symbols with an additional “P” next to its kosher symbol to denote that it is kosher for Passover. Some products bear the additional “P” when sold around the time of Passover, while other products bear the additional “P” when sold year-round.

KOSHER COOKWARE

Meat pots and pans, dishes and cutlery, surfaces, and other items may be used when cooking and preparing foods and drinks containing meat and/or poultry.

Dairy pots and pans, dishes and cutlery, surfaces, and other items may be used when cooking and preparing foods and drinks containing dairy.

Pareve pots and pans, dishes and cutlery, surfaces, and other items may be used when cooking and preparing pareve foods and drinks.

Kosher vegetarian households might have one set of dishes, pots and pans, etc. for dairy and pareve.

Optional Pareve Ware – Some people who keep kosher have meat dishes, pots and pans, etc. and dairy dishes, pots and pans, etc. and do not have separate pareve dishes, pots and pans, etc. Others keep

pareve items for preparing dishes that can then be served with either meat foods or dairy foods. Such pareve items might include bread, rice, pasta, veggies, veggie soups, and pareve desserts.

Optional Glass – Glass used for serving and eating and not for cooking and baking may be considered pareve and are used by some Jewish people who keep kosher.

Glass used for baking or cooking is only pareve if the items cooked and baked in them are always pareve. Glass item used for cooking or baking items that contain dairy are considered dairy cookware. Similarly, glass items used for cooking or baking items that contain meat or poultry are considered meat cookware. 

KOSHER COOKING AND EATING

Dairy / Milchig / Chalavi

Dairy foods may be prepared with and eaten with other dairy foods and with pareve foods.

Dairy foods may not be prepared with or eaten with meat foods.

Pareve, Parve, Parva

Pareve foods may be prepared with and eaten with all types of kosher meat foods and kosher dairy foods except for the “Meat and Fish / Poultry and Fish Exception” described below.

Salt, pepper, herbs, and spices may be added to, and enjoyed with, every type of kosher food. Similarly, fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts in the shell may be added to and/or eaten with every type of kosher food. Similarly, packages of kosher fruit, vegetables, legumes, grains, eggs, fish, and nuts may be eaten with every type of kosher food.

Meat / Fleishig / Basari

Meat foods may be prepared with and eaten with other meat foods and with pareve foods, with the exception of fish. (See Meat and Fish / Poultry and Fish Exception below.) 

Meat foods may not be prepared with or eaten with dairy foods.

Meat and Fish / Poultry and Fish Exception

Kosher meat and kosher fish are to be cooked separately and served on separate plates, though one may eat kosher meat and kosher fish side by side. Similarly, kosher poultry and kosher fish are to be cooked separately and served on separate plates, though one may eat kosher poultry and kosher fish side by side.

This is because the blood of kosher fish may be eaten. However, the blood of kosher mammals and kosher birds must be removed or cooked out before meat or poultry is consumed.

ECO KASHRUT

“Eco” stands for ecology. Eco Kashrut is the practice of keeping kosher while adhering to ecological principles of being shomrei ha’adama, guardians of our planet. These are examples of eco kashrut:

• Composting regularly or whenever possible.

• Recycling food and drink related containers.

• Conserving water, cooking gas, cooking electricity and other resources used in cooking.

• Purchasing organic fresh fruits and vegetables, herbs and spices whenever possible.

• Purchasing organic kosher packaged products.

• Purchasing kosher fair trade products and avoiding kosher products known to have been grown, harvested, and/or processed using slave labor.

A KOSHER CURIOSITY

Grasshoppers and Locusts

Most kosher foods are everyday foods, and many kosher delicacies are enjoyed by people of many faiths and cultures such as matzo ball soup, brisket, bagels, lox, and French toast made from challah.

There are, however, two very unusual and unlikely foods deemed kosher in the Biblical Book of Leviticus, namely grasshoppers and locusts. See Leviticus 11:22.

Per articles published by Chabad.org and Aish.com, some Yemini and Moroccan communities eat grasshoppers and locusts. See,

• “Why Are Grasshoppers (Locusts) Kosher for Some Jews?” by Rabbi Yehuda Shurpin. <https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4624319/jewish/Why-Are-Grasshoppers-Locusts-Kosher-for-Some-Jews.htm>;

and

• “Grasshoppers, Checking for Insects,” In the “Ask the Rabbi” section on Mitzvot, Kashrut, Insects. <https://aish.com/grasshoppers/>. For a teaching on kosher locusts being pareve, also see Shulchan Arukh YD 87:3.

Most people who keep kosher do not eat grasshoppers or locusts. On the one hand, this is because there are types of grasshoppers and locusts, only a small number are kosher, and finding kosher grasshoppers and locusts outside certain Yemini and Moroccan communities is unlikely. On the other hand, most people feel repulsed by the thought of eating grasshoppers and locusts.