CHAZAQ's Torah Talks #156 Rabbi Dov Schreier - Kosher Around the Year

if something looks too good to be true it probably is you see and you see that the the certificate is expired we're in 20,24 right if it says 2021 you know you have a problem if it's a month no no if it's a month a week a month even even a little more you know many many places you know we update there two twice a year so June 30th is a big time when when a number of the two so you come to July 4th and and they didn't they didn't get you know so person who was doing the letters was away for July 4th weekend and didn't get it also if you know on July 1st if we we're not going to stop putting out emails this place is no longer under rash that's not you know we're here to Ser this call you sir not not not not not to not to start you know when something happens or something goes on you have to be so careful one word that you say could destroy a person's parasa forever [Music] and welcome to Tor talks kazak Tuesday night programs with special guests we have with us RAB welcome thank you ah what an honor to have the rabbi keeping kosher year round that's the topic we're going to be discussing but before we do that we get a little bit backgound about the rabbi and the great work you're involved with so I I was born in Brooklyn my father was a my father was a rabbi father's was a rabbi for 60 plus years in Brooklyn for for 50 53 years wow um growing up in a rabbi's house I always thought I was going to be a rabbi and uh but I didn't uh I didn't like the uh uh political part of the of the uh of the life that I saw that growing up and as I was going through SM um I had become the gab of the hash in my father SCH and I started giving aor the end of Ding and when I was in my last year of SM I was the rabic intern in the SCH and I gave a par after daving on chabas morning at the has minion and and there were a few few few people used to come over to me with comments after after my D Torah uh I guess my favorite story that I tell is um paros the first the first Rashi in paros tells a story of uh of why Rashi is asking why does the Torah repeat you know they they died in Parini why do I need a repeat that they died again the Rashi says is gives a mush to to a doctor who tells someone not to eat something because he's because it's not healthy versus a doctor who tells someone not to eat something cuz he's going to die like so and like so and so died says this one got him got his attention a lot more than the the original uh diagnosis of the doctor and you know I told the story and after after the after the kidish person comes over me he says I had a person a doctor he diagnosed someone LOL with colon cancer that week uh a few months before and this week they came back for a follow-up uh appointment he told them that they're going to need need to have surgery it's dangerous anyway person comes back for their appointment and says I have um I decided I'm going to try alternate medicine this that you know so he turns to him and he says um you know this uh baseball player Daryl strawberry right you know he had colon cancer at the time forgetting about all the other things he might have had but he had colon cancer if he didn't have surgery he he would have died he said if you don't have surgery you're going to die so the guy scheduled surgery for the next week they said this was you know the Torah coming alive in you know just just with one little Rashi and uh right so that that that got me you know involved in the you know I also my father had been part of the rabbi Board of the OU you know through the rabinal Council of America for many years so he he was always heavily involved in in the kasas so it was something that interested me um when I was finishing SM I was looking for a rabbi position um that just as I was getting married um the OU started a seminar in kis called the esou advanced seminars I knew very well and we worked together with quite a few events so I I was in the first first class and after the pro after the summer I got involved in a certain kous project where I was in speaking to a couple people in the OU a few times a week and when the when the project ended I asked was there anything else anything available for the summer or in the in the office because I hadn't found a a rabbi job and I started working uh in the OU for that summer and I haven't left since I've been there for about next week will be 27 years I'm in the OU and I started working with the rabbi who takes care of the restaurants and Caterers I um after a couple years he moved on to uh to a different location and I took over the catering they hired someone else to do the restaurants after a couple years he left and now I take care of the you know food service restaurant of the pretty impressive in between I was also a rabbi in Jackson Heights and queens for a couple years and then in in North Belmore for 12 years when my oldest oldest son uh was was starting High School the back and forth from North Belmore even though we got busing to the five towns it was uh night or two nights a week was a little difficult so and I had a son in eighth grade also so it was you know a five-year project so we decided to uh to move on and moved to the Five Towns at the time my father Z moved in with us for about four and a half years and then they moved to one of my Brothers we just finished the the avilas for him actually my family's actually dedicating a sa for Torah this Sunday in my parents memory that's you know but you know I've been in the ronus and in call work for for many years and it runs in the family a shout out to your nephew who introduces RAB a dear friend ofak and uh so Rabbi summer is coming up and uh what you want to be aware of when it comes to uh kashu does that anything pop up uh you can so so when when we're when we're at home we have our we have our uh home base we know what's we know what's going on we hopefully trust the local local rabim in our community to take care of what's going on but then we start going out to um family trips or we go on vacations Etc right then we we start getting you know whether it's your Slurpees right what could be wrong with the Slurpees so you have flavors but Through The Years many organizations including the OU have have a list online of the of Slurpees that that the syrups that are Kosher and if the syrup's kosher the ice is not going to be an issue you know the freezing of the Slurpees should not be an issue so so we have a lot of flavors that uh that people can get and and it's fine but there are always those those few flavors that are that are either not Kosher or for someone who's careful with Isel some of them are actually Dairy right the people have to be careful with with the Slurpees um ice cream right as it's uh you know this this week this week yeah this week is started getting very hot you know we're everyone's running for ice cream we have to be careful you know we know packaged ice cream you know the U gives to packages there are ve very few ice cream stores that the U gives to so if you come to an ice cream store and you see an OU OU certificate you probably should check on the OU website u.org to see if that store is actually certified or if you see a letter there purposely don't do ice cream stores well we don't do ice cream stores because it's uh you know most of the ice cream stores are going to be open on Shabbat and the always is not going to give a give a to a retail establishment open on Shabbat and that's the big busiest time for a place to be open if it's not in a in a uh very significant Jewish Community they're not going to realize or or want to uh accommodate by closing early Friday staying closed on Saturday uh whether it's during the summer or any other time of the year when they're open so so you have to be careful that so they might put up a certificate from the OU where the packaged ice cream they're selling is is OU but you're not going to necessarily know if they're switching you right because there it's not a franchise and it's not they could put up the letter and say you know it's ruan's ice cream and they're putting shimon's you know shimon's ice cream today or I don't want to use any names cuz I don't want to disparage any uh any any company specifically but you have to be careful so so you know when you're at home you're not going to go to one such a place but what what what am I doing now if I'm in Middle America and I see and I see that I have that they have the ice cream and I know that this ice cream has and they show me that the that the tub of ice cream has has the on it can can I get it that that that's that's the question so you know you want to make sure that the scoop is clean everything's cold whether you can do that that that's something that you can that you can already discuss with your raim whether it's okay whether it's not but but you know the the this notion that uh oh they're selling this ice cream and it's and everything's okay what about the toppings what about if they're if they're selling fresh fruits as toppings right some of the some of the berries that might be issues for for for infestation right so you have to be careful that even even if you're going to be okay in the ice cream store to get the plain ice cream right and maybe they might have one or two toppings that you know you see it's written Oreo on it so you know that it's an Oreo cookie or an Eminem that you know it's an em if you're not is right but you know some of them are going to have marshmallow marshmallow is always a uh something to be very careful with because there's going to be gelatin in which can be a kashwood concern right and and and any other toppings or there going to be a hot fudge right anything's going to be hot right that's anything that involves heat right already bring brings in a challenge soone has to be careful somehow people still drink coffee even if during the summer maybe it's IC coffee but you have to be careful ice coffee is not just plain coffee and and and and uh and water right regular coffee is your Brew water Shalom you're finished many of the IC coffees add flavorings and because because when it's cold you can't get the same the same time that you know although they have these cold Bru today that you see in the in your refrigerated cases and all but but many of these cold brew are cooked first you know they they think oh it's just coffee and water these cold brew are cooked before they're uh right so you can't just just make it make a blanket assumption that that everything's okay then you're going to come to cotton candy and other other types of popcorns what could be with popcorn I don't know if anyone's allowed to go to movies anymore popcorn in the movie theater but you know there are a lot of lot of ingredients in there that that might be an issue the oil although much of the oil in this country might be certified but what if all it takes us one time for the for them to have a you named the movie that was a popular movie that sold out the sold out the theater for 4 days in a row on a holiday weekend and and they ran out of oil so they're they're not waiting for the delivery guy who's not coming for three more days right they're going to go to the supermarket and get oil and if it happens to be they got oil with without a that's not certified or not or maybe even not Kosher right so um we'll go back to a nursery rhyme you know all the king's horses and All the King's Men won't be able to put my popcorn machine back together again right it's once it becomes not koser time and you don't know that right so you have a you have a challenge on your hand to figure out then then you have the butter right butter that they put in for the that so so so there challes a lot of challenges that that that are are some of them we have locally that that but some of them uh present themselves more you know during the during the summer times wow so if a person is in such a challenge with don't understand the rabbi told me before something that I wasn't even sure about is the fact that the OU has a hotline right and they could call any time right the O hotline is you know generally from 9: to 5: on Monday to Thursday and 9: to 2:30 on on Fridays right you can call 212 613 8241 right and you you'll get a live person uh I mean the general person um big sadic who was very familiar with all all the things I'm going to keep his name out for the moment um but but also you can send an email to kosher Q right the word kosher with the letter Q at ou.org and you'll get a response in a timely fashion there's another Rabbi who who sits and answers those questions on a regular basis and we you know the U is trying to service the consumer as much as they can obviously you know before pesak the the hotline extends its hours and and expands its its reach with CLA is reaching out a lot but the you know that's something that people should be aware of that that the the OU makes themselves available to the to the and right now also a lot of people are going away the kids are going to different camps uh what should they be aware of in such scenario so in the camps we hope that you know that the hanala of the camp is uh is making sure that that all the food that they're serving is okay but you know even when we send our kids to Sleepaway camps right there's that trip day right right so they're going to go to to this amusement park and right so maybe by your local Six Flags they have the the ice cream that's good maybe but maybe right right but but if you go to the you know to Hershey Park or to Dorney Park or to one of these parks that or you know the uh you know some some of the older groups you know go to Niagara Falls or to Boston or to other you know not not everything is is the same as is the same as you're going to find in your local right you know we're sitting here in Queens right now you know you can walk Main Street and find 75 stores within 10 block 10 block radius you're not finding that in Hershey or any other place right so people have to be aware I told the story many years ago in Camp um the the rabbi who was running the kitchen in the Camp was very careful that the milk that they had in Camp even though the milk may may or may not need plain milk you know right he made sure to get a different brand of milk that had a reputable certification because he knew that the the certification for the milk that they were normally getting H they sell sold certain candies at some of these uh Supermarkets near near near the camp and some of the at some of the mement parks and if they said they're going to come and see oh it's the same as that's on the milk and Camp I this should this must be great right he he wanted to make sure that the that the people were were not going to be n not going to make a mistake and and and buy the wrong thing so so the kids are going the kid our kids are going away and and we uh you know we know that uh that the uh non- kosher food has an effect on a person's the Shan right right so so so we want we want to make sure that you know that the same level of care that we have throughout the year we're also going to be able to transfer to the you know to the summer when we're sending our children 100% a lot of people uh throughout the year they go out eating out is is you know there there are certain rabbis they speak kazak Shalom and and classes like that and and I I remember when Rabbi saying that you got to go out twice a week with your wife for Shalom B now people are eating out the restaurants are happening uh what should one be aware of when going out to eat in a local restaurant or in a random restaurant right so so one one of the things that that uh that people have to be aware of the oh you requires to meet in all of our places in all of our restaurants and so so so there are a couple there are a couple reasons that that are that simple simple all the time right from opening to closing right that that one of the things is just the product to come in in in my travels today um one one of the one of our one of our Caterers got a delivery of spring roll which is something they'll make an egg roll a spring roll but but it happen to be the comp the company that they got from has but the one that they that they sent was had had Dairy ingredients in it it wasn't right so so who who's checking that right if you when you when you walk into your local supermarket and they're packing out potato chips right and you know this brand has seven flavors that are Kosher but three that are not Kosher who is the person who's packing that out in your Supermarket who's checking that oh this is the kosher one or this is the non right right so so so you know that happens in a Dairy Restaurant or in a meat restaurant doesn't it doesn't affect right then you have you have the concern of bisham food cooked by non-jew that you know who's turning on the fires of of what's going on so M has to has to monitor that say it's that's an that's a big challenge to to oversee that by by a by a restaurant but you know you also have your vegetables right what vegetables are you using um there there's uh you know the educational system by which consumers have been educated has has grown by Leaps and Bounds I mentioned the OU has their summer seminars other too and the speaking and these type of topics that are discussed publicly help raise raise the bar and raise the level o of what goes on but but the as people become more aware right so we have to be we have to be more careful people have to be observing Jew right right have to observe what's going on and right so so so so we have to be careful that the that someone's taking care of the of the vegetables we have this perception that everyone's using um pre-checked vegetables right maybe maybe some are there're you know listen I I just uh you know we were we were certifying a certain restaurant for a number of Summers and they for business reasons decided you know there are many up in the mountains also they decided to take a for the last many years we've been had someone washing the Roma lettuce and there this you can only use R it's PreCheck we're not going okay okay great that's considered higher that that's that's you know taking taking some of the human element out of the but you know that that's that's a choice that that a company made but but the the fact that it's a that it's a um for sure that someone's doing that is not necessarily always the case right so you so these are just some issues that that people have to have to be aware of that when they're going out to eat you know that the uh you know the you know there's some there's some that will put on sign and that we don't take take responsibility for any the beverages that are in the place they'll certify the restaurant but not the seen thatting well you'll see it some at weddings also of of some of the won't take responsibility for the beverages it's complicated with regards to alcohol or both both so that that that that's something but but it's just just a matter of you know if something looks too good to be true it probably is that's that's your that that that's your number you know if you see you see and you see that the the certificate is expired right it's now no it's expired no we're in we're in 20124 right 20024 right if it says 2021 you know you have a problem if it's a month days no if it's a month a week a month even even a little more you know just many many of the hash feel that they're that they're serving the community and as much as there is a a business element to it right if they started on you know when we're coming up to June 30th so you know many many places you know we update their two twice a year so June 30th is a big time when when a number of the two so you come to July 4th and and they didn't they didn't get you know so could be person who was doing the letters was away for July 4th weekend and didn't get it but also so if if you know on July 1st if we we're not going to startop putting out emails this place is no longer under that's not you know as much as a consumer would probably rather we do that just so they're not confused and right we're we're not we're here to serve this call you so not not not not not to not to start you know because because anything that anything that you write and that's something just people just need to be careful with when something happens or something goes on you have to be so careful one word that you say could destroy a person's parasa forever 100% and sometimes even when someone was there right and right I remember growing up to a story there was there was a r who was involved to be marar people and there was a certain person he was marar and one day um one chabas they this so this person happened to see um this Rabbi driving a car on chabas right and they just cut off complete didn't have anything to do with with them for 20 years one day they got they saw the they saw the not notifications we unfortunately get bombarded with notifications when while know someone passes away right you get so many shiver notices and then Etc so the person funerals today okay you know what they I still have a I'm going to go to I recognize the good that he did for me even though I had a falling out I'm going to go to the funeral at the funeral a daughter spoke about that chabis when she was when she heard herself and S NE he was in danger in life he drove me to the hospital and right so so so you know some sometimes you know sometimes there there's there's the you know well there are a number of books out there the other side of the story you know you saw everything you knew every every specific point what happened you missed that point so so so you know when when when when you're inclined to start quote unquote hacking about something that happen just just remember you're dealing with a person's parosa a person's life and and you know it's all it's all together so that and that's that that that's something we have to be careful with you know it it's it's good um you know stuff to talk about to kidish right we don't talk in SCH so it has to be talking to kidish right but but it's it's not it's not you know it's not so Gish when when you're when you might be the recipient the next day of of of this conversation so just when you hear something happen verify double verify right if you didn't see that the pulled it then maybe it's not maybe there's a you know there's other sides there other other things that went on 100% R very very informative enjoying every single moment um we have a Minag custum which is a final message on T so I think you know we're uh we're in between uh and right we were just talking about the the whole concept of right from Miriam andon to the right you know well you put a plug to to our wives before so I'll put a plug you know the theak as a famous comment on the on the right right right so she said that that was the first mistake if you would have sent women you would have had any problems right they would they would have said great about and we would have gone right right into just but now talking about talking about we we've spent so much time through the years Heritage Foundation and others not right amazing raising awareness of of what's going on right and you know so so we you know we've always said that everyone's so careful what they put in their mouth be careful what's coming out of their mouth now we've we've elevated ourselves we we're getting to the point we being more and more careful of what's coming out of our mouth now we have to go back we have to be extra go back to be careful of what's going into very nice RAB amazing inspiration how important it is Kash uh keeping kosher year round and uh we appreciate your time and all that you do for CLA with Jewish people kazak Tor talks Tuesday nights 8:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time k.org chq.org live and a special thank you to all of our podcast players and platforms with a shout out to our friends at Tor anytime and special shout out to daily giving as well a dollar day goes a very far away we encourage everyone to check that out and to all the amazing staff at kazak not and bear behind the camera and all the amazing volunteers and board members and and donors we're forever grateful great things are happening uh right now the summer is the busiest time of the year for the organization placing kids from public schools Ina for the September new school year if you know a family my friend neighbor coworker anybody you know needs help make sure to reach out to kazak czq at 7 8 285 9132 and once again Tuesday nights 8:30 p.m. kazak Tor talks really appreciate everyone's amazing feedback keep on sending it and once again thank you rabie Shire for joining us my pleasure [Music]