Liquid Logistics: In It For The Long Haul
Most commercial products nowadays have some sort of liquid in their ingredient panel. The complexities of transporting liquids and keeping them kosher while being transported, falls directly under the watchful eye of Rabbi Yochanan Schnall – a Rabbinic Coordinator at the cRc in charge of their transportation industry. Let’s listen in as he takes us on a tour behind the scenes of the tanker trucking industry.
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View it in its entirety at https://www.kashrusawareness.com/post/liquid-logistics
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By Rabbi Berach Steinfeld
The laws of Shabbos are reviewed in Parshas Vayakhel; especially the laws of making a fire. An interesting question arises regarding the following scenario. Reuven sees a Jew driving a car on Shabbos. The driver forgot to put his car’s lights on. He is driving in the dark and is at risk of killing someone by accident. May Reuven tell him to put on his lights?
Reb Chaim Kanievsky answers this question by saying that one should find a goy to tell the driver to put on his lights.
Reb Shlomo Zalman Auerbach was of the opinion that one should tell the driver the following, “I don’t feel it is right for you to travel on Shabbos, but since you are not listening to me in any case, I am just letting you know that your lights are off.”

Hydroponic Quest: To Eradicate The Pests
Hydroponics. Aeroponics. Vertical farming. These are just a few of the terms of recent innovations in the world of agriculture. How do these various methods of planting produce affect the levels of infestation? Let’s listen to Rabbi Sholom Tendler – Kashrus Administrator at the STAR-K as he addresses these timely issues and more.
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View it in its entirety at https://www.kashrusawareness.com/post/hydroponic-quest
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By Rabbi Berach Steinfeld
In Shmos 34:1 Hashem tells Moshe to cut out two new tablets similar to the first ones and, “I will write on these tablets “asher shibarta” (that you broke.)” The gemara in Shabbos 87a says from the above posuk we see that Hashem was happy that Moshe broke the luchos. Moshe used a kal vachomer to explain. We know that the Torah forbade a ben nechar from eating the korban Pesach. If this is so for one mitzvah; kal vachomer it is for all of the Torah. All the Yidden became meshumadim with the eigel so of course they don’t deserve the luchos. Hashem agreed with him and said the word “asher” as  “Yasher Koach.”

By Rabbi Berach Steinfeld
The Gemara in Megillah 6b says that it is forbidden to eulogize and fast on the fourteenth and fifteenth of the first Adar.
The Rosh in Megillah in Perek 1, siman 7 says that this halacha applies only in the following scenario: Klal Yisroel already read the Megillah on the fourteenth of Adar and in the middle of the day Bais Din decides to make it a leap year. In such an instance one is not allowed to fast or eulogize. In the event that the Megillah was not read when they announce the leap year, then one would be able to fast or eulogize someone.

Technology has come a long way since the refrigerator has been invented. Together with the advancements in technology come many complications in Halacha. Whether it involves sensors, compressors, defrosters, or the good old shaila of the light bulb, a group of Rabbonim have strived to find a heter to all of these shailos that is 100% lechatchila to use. Let’s listen to Rabbi Tzvi Ortner – Director of the Technology Department at the OU as he provides us with a detailed background on the various shailos and their solutions.
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By Rabbi Berach Steinfeld
HaGaon Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l (Halichos Shlomo, ch. 23) considers flying on an airplane a sakana (dangerous situation), and therefore one must always recite Birchas Hagomel after flying (even if the plane did not fly over an ocean or desert).
However, most poskim disagree with this opinion, as statistics now show that it is more dan­gerous to drive in a car than fly on an airplane. Using this line of rea­soning, some poskim rule that one should never recite Birchas Hagomel after a plane trip, even if the plane flew over an ocean or desert. (HaRav Dovid Zucker, shlita, quoting HaGaon Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky zt”l).

Some topics need to be revisited as technology evolves. Food delivery service apps such as door-dash and Uber-eats definitely fall in that category. So even though we already covered the basics last year, let’s find out what’s new in this field with Rabbi Sholom Tendler, a Kashrus Administrator at the STAR-K.
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View it in its entirety at https://www.kashrusawareness.com/post/there-s-an-app-for-that
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By Rabbi Berach Steinfeld
In Shmos 22:24 the posuk discusses the concept of lending money. The Mechilta writes that whenever the Torah uses the word “im” it is optional, except in this posuk about lending money where it is a mitzvah.
We can kler whether it is a mitzvah that applies only for money, or does it apply to lending objects as well?
The Panim Yafos says that the posuk is referring davka to lending money being a mitzvah and not lending objects. The reason for this is that since a person may not charge interest when lending money, he should know that he does not lose out. However, objects may be rented and can also get used up, so one would not be mechuyav to lend it.

By Rabbi Yosef Wikler, Editor, KASHRUS Magazine
Many and complex are the ways of kashering, but the common denominator is heat, intense heat. However, intense heat can produce (unwanted) fires – a serious problem for the mashgiach who is being called to kasher and for the kashrus agency which sends him out to do so.
One fire caused by kashering resulted in fire damage was over $2,000,000. The company was able to collect from their insurance company, but the cause of the fire was never divulged. That is “a bit of a problem.”