JewsByChoice.Org

A week or two ago I flew off a Kashrut question to USCJ via their Ask a Conservative Rabbi Program and have too admit, that I’m impressed with the answer not to mention the turn around time on my inquiry. It took less than a week to get my actual answer and within a day I got an email letting me know that my question had been received.

What’s “Ask a Conservative Rabbi” you wonder? Well let me tell you or rather let me share with you what the USCJ has to say about it.

Have you been wondering about some fine point of Jewish law? Do you want to know why you do something, or how you should do something, or whether you should do something? A group of Conservative rabbis, each a specialist in some aspect of halakha, can answer your emailed question. These rabbis should not be seen as replacements for your own rabbi, whose opinion is definitive in his or her own synagogue, but they can provide in-depth explanations to a whole range of questions.

I think this is a great resource for those of you who have questions about Halacha and/or are looking for some guidance in terms of daily observance.

Anyhow I thought that I would post my question along with the response I received.

Here is my question.

Hello Rabbi

Over the last year or so my wife and I have been working hard at increasing our level of observance.  We’ve agreed to set Conservative/Masorti halachick standards as our own and in general we are doing quite well.  However we are running into confusing areas here and there, especially when it comes to Kashrut.

For example whenever possible, we try to only buy Heckscherd items however, sometimes when there’s something we want/need that isn’t Heckscherd we purchase it, provided we are certain that it is ingredient kosher.  I’m talking about supermarket products here not eating out in nonkosher restaurants.

Recently we’ve been doing a lot of shopping at Trader Joe’s which has a great selection of Heckschered food but unfortunately not everything is. This brings me to my question. Would according to Conservative standards the following be considered kosher or not.

Trader Joe’s brand foods that appear to be made of all kosher ingredients. However, according to the label this product is made on equipment that is shared with eggs, tree nuts and soy. Also what if it is manufactured/made in a facility that also processes milk, peanuts and shellfish.  Is this product considered kosher?

While I’m asking this question there are other products such as frozen vegetarian Thai rice dishes, that are not Heckscherd in but appear to be made from kosher ingredients. If it is made on equipment shared with dairy and shellfish is it rendered nonkosher and therefore not suitable for consumption?

Thanks in advance for your assistance with these questions.

Here is the Rabbi’s response (with his permission to post of course):

Dear Avi,
If we take the designation “manufactured/made in a facility that also processes milk, peanuts and shellfish” at face value, then there is no problem, because “treyfness” cannot be transferred through the air of a building. The problem with something’s being processed in a facility that also processes non-kosher food is that perhaps there was some real contact between the two food products. The designation “made on equipment shared with eggs, tree nuts and soy”points to this possible real contact. If the amount of contamination is less than 1/60 of the product that you are considering, then that latter product is still kosher. Based on conversations with food chemists in my congregation, I would say that good manufacturing practice would generally prevent more than 1/60 contamination, but I can’t make an absolute blanket statement on the subject.
I also am inclined to say that, since there are two different warning designations, “made in a facility” and “made on equipment,” if a package says only “made in a facility,” that should mean that it was not made on the same equipment as problematic foods. However, once again, I can’t be absolutely certain. On the one hand, avoiding foods whose packages have either of those warnings will increase the probability that all the food that you eat is kosher. On the other hand, even if you buy only hekhshered foods, you cannot be 100% certain of their kashrut, because sometimes there are mistakes, and
sometimes there is corruption in the industry. So it comes down a question of whether you are satisfied with 95% certainty or you want 99% certainty. You should talk to your rabbi to see how he or she feels about the matter.

Rabbi George (Gershom) Barnard
Northern Hills Synagogue-Cong. B’nai Avraham

What can I say, I’m really impressed with both the quality and detail of the response I received from Rabbi Beranrd. Anyhow if the above is any indication of the norm, then this is indeed a valuable resource and one I highly recommend.

As usual feel free to share your thoughts.

Be well