STAR-K Kosher Certification’s educational mission is as robust as ever during COVID, as evidenced by the nonprofit agency’s eclectic spring and summer seminars and programs. Target audiences ranged from food processors/exporters and mashgichim to consumers including adults with special needs.

STAR-K’s Rav Hamachshir, HaRav Moshe Heinemann, delivered a shiur on COVID shaylos in his capacity as the Morah D’Asra of Agudath Israel of Baltimore. The Rav also gave a virtual shiur watched around the world on Erev Tisha B’Av, “Being B’Shalom with Everyone”. It was part of Yeshivat Hakotel’s worldwide achdus Torah learning program featuring nine of the world’s chief rabbis and over 100 senior roshei yeshiva, poskim and leading mechanchim and mechanchos from around the globe

Approximately 60 companies in the Dominican Republic participated in STAR-K’s first virtual Zoom seminar. The successful two-hour-plus seminar was conducted entirely in Spanish, introducing the world of Kosher and the advantage of reliable Kosher certification […]

The importance of pairing a Jewish nursemaid with a Jewish baby can be found in Parshas Shmos. After baby Moshe was saved from the Nile River by his rescuer – ironically, Batya, the daughter of Pharoah, who mandated that all Jewish newborn males be killed – he cried profusely, refusing to be nursed by her gentile Egyptian maids. Thanks to his sister, Miriam, who happened to witness this scene by the river’s edge, Moshe ended up serendipitously receiving the nursemaid services of his own mother, Yocheved.

The Gemara [Sotah 12b] notes that Baby Moshe refused to nurse from a gentile woman, asking, “Shall a mouth that will speak with the Divine Presence nurse impure milk?” The Rama [Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 81:7] rules that a child should always avoid nursing from a gentile woman when it is possible to nurse from a Jewish woman, quoting the Rashba’s reasoning that the nature […]

Baltimore, MD – June 10, 2020 –Torah teaches us the importance of hakaras hatov – expressing our gratitude to others. To show our appreciation and support of just some of the first responders who put their lives on the line for us daily, representatives of STAR-K Kosher Certification paid a lunchtime visit to its neighbor, the Pikesville precinct of the Baltimore County Police Department (BCPD), on Tuesday, June 9.

Armed with nothing but piled up boxes of pizza and a large tray of sushi from Caramel’s – and a framed letter of appreciation – STAR-K President Dr. Avrom Pollak and STAR-K Kashrus Administrator Rabbi Sholom Tendler made the presentation on behalf of the organization to a very grateful BCPD Precinct Commander, Captain Brandon Rogers.

The letter read:

Dear Captain Rogers and the entire BCPD Precinct 4 Staff,

Please accept this token of our appreciation, admiration and respect for the essential work that BCPD Precinct […]

What better way to make kashrus and other halachic concepts come to life than to experience them hands-on? That is exactly what the bochurim of Mesivta Kesser Torah of Baltimore did when STAR-K Kashrus Administrators were invited to the yeshiva to present an array of topics.

The four-part STAR-K Educational Series kicked off in January with Rabbi Emanuel Goldfeiz’s Shatnez Lab practicum, in which the bochurim learned about modern-day shailos of shatnez. After the class, students expressed their excitement about the opportunity that they were afforded.  Students specifically were fascinated by the degree to which we go to avoid wearing shatnez. One student also remarked, “Knowing that VBC [Vitale Barberis Canonico] suits can be shatnez is very useful to know when suit shopping.”

The following week, Rabbi Sholom Tendler taught the students how to meticulously check vegetables for tolaim.  Students had a great time searching for bugs using the STAR-K’s thrip cloth […]

Samy Weill, who has been in the kashrus field for 26 years, traveled the farthest – 3808 miles from Amsterdam – to attend the 16th Annual STAR-K Training Program held July 22-25 in the kashrus agency’s Baltimore offices. As an administrator for the Chief Rabbinate of Holland, he oversees the initial inspections and annual visits of hundreds of companies in Holland, Belgium. Germany, France, and Spain. “I came to the training program to make contacts and bring back new ideas for improving our agency,” mentions Mr. Weill.

David Eshkenazi traveled only 2103 miles from Panama City, where he learns in kollel, to attend the program. He signed up because he aspires to work in the booming field of Kashrus in Panama.

“It’s one thing to learn about Kashrus in the Shulchan Aruch, and another thing to learn it, hands-on,” notes Mr. Eshkenazi. “Having experienced mashgichim and rabbis – who have seen things […]