Security Cameras on Shabbos

By: Rabbi Mordechai Frankel

Kashrus Kurrents Winter 2015

Q: It has become common for businesses and stores to have security video cameras which monitor the foot traffic in front of their properties. Similarly, many apartment buildings have video cameras which record anything that enters or exits the building. Is a Jew allowed to walk in front of such a video camera on Shabbos? Can a Jew operate a video camera knowing that other Jews will walk in front of it on Shabbos?

A: In order to answer this question, we need to address four issues.

(1) The video camera may be connected to a monitor that displays the recorded image. May a person walk in front of a video camera on Shabbos if it will cause his image to be displayed on a monitor?

One of the forbidden melachos on Shabbos is kesiva, writing. Drawing a picture is also considered to be kesiva mideoraissa (writing which is forbidden by the Torah). 1However, […]

Inspections In All Directions

By: Rabbi Dovid Heber

Published Winter 2015

The STAR-K certifies tens of thousands of products manufactured across the globe. There are well over a million ingredients and products certified by hundreds of kashrus agencies worldwide. The following example may provide an idea of how many products are kosher certified.One million different products that are in containers measuring 6 inches in diameter lined up side by side (with no space between them) would stretch from Manhattan to Philadelphia. Since there are considerably more than a million kosher certified products, and industrial products are often sold in wider containers (e.g., 55 gallon drums), this line of products would most likely continue all the way to Baltimore. Furthermore, every kosher certified item (i.e., every container of every kosher product certified by every reliable kashrus agency) would easily stretch from the earth to the moon.To certify all of these products, kashrus agencies must adequately communicate with companies and mashgichim […]

Sushi L’Mehadrin

By: Rabbi Tzvi Rosen

Published Winter 2015

For time immemorial, our sojourns throughout galus, the Diaspora, have not only defined and influenced the minhagim, laws and customs, emerging from those foreign lands, they have also rejuvenated our Jewish cuisine with a burst of ethnic diversity – holopshkes (stuffed cabbage),borsht, and falafel, to name a few. As our migration advanced to the shores of the ‘goldine medina’, a whole new ‘Yiddishe’ repertoire of American delicacies was bestowed upon us. Who among us didn’t grow up with Sunday morning whitefish, bagels, and lox? Not long after, there emerged a proliferation of pizza shops in practically every Jewish neighborhood and community. The most recent food trend that has been introduced to the Jewish palate is Sushi.

Sushi, that unique combination of rice, rice vinegar, raw fish, and vegetables rolled in black seaweed sheets called ‘nori’ has found its place of prominence in virtually every kosher restaurant, smorgasbord and pizza shop. Furthermore, we are fortunate in […]