(Dear Readers: Although at the end of last week’s article I
stated that I would delve deeper into the meaning of the Chasam Sofer’s novel
description of the events of Asara B’Teves, and how it is relevant to
unfortunate events occurring all around us, I beg the readers’ indulgence to
wait another week for that, as an event took place last week which highlights
the importance of reading these columns in Chadash and attending the
lectures that are sometimes shamelessly promoted therein.)
Way back when, when we were first getting to know each other, I
wrote a series of articles entitled “Just What Are Mehadrin Standards?”
We discussed that there are different standards for different Hechsheirim,
much as there are different standards for different qualities of anything we
deal with, e.g., washing machines, tape recorders, cars, elevators — the point
being that even if we can point to a bottom-line seeming similarity (at the end
of the day — It’s kosher, isn’t it? It gets the clothes clean, doesn’t it? It
plays music, doesn’t it? It gets you from point A to point B, doesn’t it? It
moves you up and down, doesn’t it?), there are, nevertheless, distinctions in
dependability; in ability to work under less-than-ideal circumstances; in
durability; in extra features which ensure a safer, more confident experience.
And so surely we should understand that different Hechsheirim offer
different standards to confront practical problems which inevitably arise in
the real world, especially given the sophistication and intricate reality
of the food industry and the complex halachic issues that have to be dealt
with. We concluded by making the point that as most laymen (and Talmidei
chachamim) are not up to the task of researching the standards of the
plethora of kashrus organizations, and equally not up to the task of doing the
necessary halachic research (and making halachic decisions) to determine just
what those standards should be, every person must have a rav, or some expert in
the field to be guided by, no less than we are guided by our doctors, our car
mechanics, and our Consumer Reports. To be continued:
2 comments:
Can’t wait for Dr. Yudel to continue.
Agreed. Please hurry. I'm starving.
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