Rabbi Tzvi Rosen, Star-K Kashrus Administrator; Editor, Kashrus Kurrents
The Star-K Hotline is constantly abuzz with kashrus inquiries. Over 13,100 consumer calls were logged during the week before Pesach 5772. Questions ranged from product information to complex kitchen shailos , from reliable kosher airline caterers to wines whose kosher certification symbols are so small you need a high powered magnifying glass to read the rav hamachshir ’s name.
Published Spring 2009
Updated Fall 2018
A person visiting a hospital patient is performing the great mitzvah of bikur cholim . It is one of the mitzvos for which a person reaps benefits in this world, while the principal reward is saved for the next world. While visiting the sick, some halachic issues may arise. This article addresses these issues from the visitor’s point of view. Questions affecting the patient (such as adjusting the bed, using the call button, and asking the staff to perform tasks on Shabbos ) are important issues that should be posed to one’s rabbi.
Published Winter 2012
On Wednesday, September 7, at 8 p.m. EST, STAR-K made history by hosting the world’s first Eruv-inar. The inaugural long distance interactive presentation allowed participants from around the globe to experience a live workshop highlighting eruv shaylos through the use of pictures of eruvim, which were submitted. STAR-K’s Rabbinic Administrator, Rabbi Moshe Heinemann, shlit”a, has always been on the cutting edge of the juxtaposition of advanced technology and halacha; the Eruv-inar featured Rav Heinemann discussing hilchos eruv.
Published Winter 2010
For those of you who think that all colleges are “treif”, STAR-K Certification knows that is not the case. STAR-K certifies eight kosher restaurants, take-outs, and concession stands on seven college campuses on the northeast coast.
Those who are clueless but curious about kosher, have the opportunity to access the
only formal, online, interactive introductory classes about kosher on the web. Star-K’s
Virtual Kosher University will allow the kosher novice to learn the basics from Star-K’s
expert Kashrus Administrators—whether they live in Calabasas, California, or Caracas,
Venezuela! Regardless of one’s schedule, the world of kosher is now open as never before,
at one’s own pace, in the comfort of one’s own home.
“All of us grew up believing that if we ate a reasonable diet, that would take care of our vitamin needs,” says Harvard University’s Dr. Robert Fletcher. That may be good enough to ward off such vitamin-deficiency disorders as scurvy, beriberi and pellagra, but the latest evidence, he notes, is that supplementing our diets with multi-vitamins may be able to prevent the usual diseases we deal with every day – heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis and birth defects.
Star-K is proud to certify the new kosher consumer-friendly Connect Io™ Refrigerated, Internet-Controlled Electric Double Wall Oven, which includes separate Sabbath and Holiday modes, programmable prior to Shabbos and Yom Tov. Each of the two ovens may be programmed separately.
Please Note : Effective March 2011 this program has been discontinued.
Long before the news of the first official “Star-K engagement” circulated, Baltimore’s Star-K headquarters tasted success. The actual distribution of the $2,500 cash “gift” incentive, on top of the customary shadchanus for the successful matches made for Baltimore’s Orthodox women, was not the sole measure of accomplishment.
Star-K’s novel attempt at remedying the universal singles problem locally was made with the twin hope of inspiring the launching of similar programs by organizations and individuals in other “out-of-town” communities. As soon as the news hit the press, Star-K was flooded with telephone calls, letters and e-mails from around the world.
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