Lakewood schools officials spent millions in questionable deals

 http://www.app.com/viewart/20121028/NJNEWS2003/310280019/lakewood-schools

The Lakewood Board of Education’s dealings with some of its largest vendors have been plagued by lax oversight and questionable contracts over the years, an Asbury Park Press investigation has found.

In one case, the school board paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for grounds-keeping and school custodial services — before work was done.

In another instance, the district paid $10,000 to Michael I. Inzelbuch, the school board attorney, for an unspecified reason as part of the sale of a former public school building used for the district’s administrative offices to Beth Medrash Govoha, a prestigious rabbinical college in Lakewood, according to the settlement statement.

In addition, it appears that the school board paid tens of millions of dollars to an educational company that provides nonpublic students with a wide variety of services without anyone in the district verifying the accuracy of the company’s bills, according to the current school board attorney, Stephen J. Edelstein.

Don't get mad

Some people don't get mad, they get even,
Getting even, takes patience.

ALL Pearled Barley requires checking for infestation

ALL Pearled Barley requires checking for infestation regardless of the season or date codes.

Checkin in cold water does NOT work.

You can do a 1 lb bag at one time, by soaking in tap hot water for 5 minutes and stiring once or twice.

Barley should be stored in the freezer.

Don't let "KROHN" do the BRIS-see krohn videos

Krohn is not the one in this article- see the following article "Krohn's butchered brisim".

Not Kosher- Brit milah- Hundreds in north may undergo circumcision corrections

Chief Rabbinate to hold hearing on rabbi from Haifa area suspected of not removing entire foreskin during brit ceremony. Following discovery, dozens of concerned parents contact experts to check if their children's circumcision was performed thoroughly. No concern for medical complications

“A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality.”

Court punts on kosher ministerial exception:by The HR Specialist: Florida Employment Law on October 21, 2012 1:00am

 Human Resources,Overtime Labor Laws -Under Title VII, religious institutions that employ workers to engage in religious activities are exempt from complying with anti-discrimination laws under the so-called ministerial exception.

That is, employees performing religious services such as preaching or teaching religious doctrine aren’t covered by Title VII. Employees who perform nonreligious work are protected. But what about minimum wage and overtime? Are ministerial employees entitled to protection under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)? A federal court in Florida recently sidestepped the issue.

Lomdei Daf Yomi

http://www.lomdeihadaf.org/

A true Rebbi "Threw him out of yeshiva"

YES, THE ONE WHO "THREW HIM OUT" OF YESHIVA

In response to the dilemma regarding throwing boys out of a yeshiva, I have a story to relate.

After completing 11th grade, my son, Yanky, was not invited back to attend his well-known Yeshiva for the 12th grade year. It is now five years years later, and I stiil think that he doesn't even know that he was "kicked out."

"Oi Vei"- All N. American blueberries (including Canadian) are infested

All blueberries (including Canadian) are infested. Evn after soaking & rinsing 4 times, they still had infestation.

“ Some of us will do our jobs well and some will not, but we will be judged by only one thing-the result. ”

The sad part is she's so right.

http://thelakewoodview.com/Impact/watch-obamacare-summed-up-in-one-sentence/#comment-166514

UPDATE: Lice on farmed Salmon issue was taken care of "4 years ago"

Did "Mivakshei Kashrus" miss the boat?

ALERT: Does the שליח ציבור consume cholov stam / akum (treif)?

ALERT: Does the שליח ציבור consume cholov stam / akum (treif)?

According to most prominent Poiskim the vet operated cows are Treif & their milk products are therefore Treif. Poiskim include Rav Shmuel Wosner, Shlita, Rav Sholom Eliyashev, Z"L, etc

Olives from Italy without a good hashgocha, may be dairy, treif, wine vinegar, etc

A "U-TURN" on a double yellow line in NJ "PERMITTED"

Vegetable oils "OU-Mehadrin" standard

In Vegetable oil what would be considered Mehadrin?

What are the other standards available?

Mehadrin= Produced in an all kosher facility. Processed from the crush of the bean through the complete refining, processing, & packaging all in the same plant-That's a mehadrin product.

The Nature Valley brand "vegetable oil" (soybean) [not their other oils, e.g. corn] sold by Dollar General stores.
The Carlini brand "vegetable oil" (soybean) [not their other oils, e.g. corn] sold in the Aldis stores.
The Carlini & the Nature Valley brands are the MEHADRIN brands. BTW- Both are OU Mehadrin certified brands.

Other oils with a lower standard would include the ones processed in an AV plant (Animal/Vegetable), or transported by tank, tanker, rail car, etc for further processing & packaging.

The Heimish fall under this lower standard category. A certain heimish brand "special production". They took the processed oil from an OU facility, trucked it in an OU kashered tanker, bottled it in a facility with a heimish mashgiach and it became a Heimish "special production". The mashgiach was in the "HEIM" for production & came for the bottling.

Why would one pay a premium for the Heimish brand, when you could buy an OU oil with less transpotation kashrus issues? I give up!

The CONCORD grape is in season, so what?

The CONCORD grape is in season, so what?
Due to the infestation on the skin of grapes, it was not practical to wash each grape separately.

The Concord grape has a thick skin, and one can "POP" out the grape inside & not eat the skin.

בית יוסף Who's Bais Yosef beef to use?

בית יוסף

Who's Bais Yosef beef to use?

Solomon's, Fishel's,
Kiras Joel (even when not marked as Bais yosef) 

Every parent should listen to the entire video from Reb Yaakov Bender, shlita

http://www.vosizneias.com/112417/2012/08/27/new-york-renowned-educator-rabbi-yaakov-bender-in-powerful-speech-on-parenting-and-at-risk-teens-video

Schools list of Heimish nosh only

Waxes on fruits & vegetables is more of a serious problem than first thought.

Certain fruits and vegetables are coated with waxes etc to prevent dehydration. Some of the coatings may not be kosher e.g. "lac-resin", which is a secretion from an insect.

REB MOSHE's "psak" was based on not correct information.

To the best of our current information tomatoes do not use the lac-resin, apples do use lac-resin
(applied warm), peppers may use it but there may not be "shishim" & or a "Poigim", cucumbers should be peeled. Sour pickles do not have coatings prior to their use as sour pickles.

Apples even when washed with soap some residue remains. Peppers can be washed with soap.

KASHRUS: Checking for infestation-The blind leading the blind.

The mashgichim & their certifiers don't know how to check for insects properly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVddVIpTH6M&featur

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1fRkTvL9fk&feature=relatede=related

KASHRUS ALERT: Many kosher published recipes contain "treif" ingredients" !

Rabonim should ban all published recipes unless they have a kashrus approval from a kashrus expert, who is up to date especially in the area of  INFESTATION.

Many of the recipe books from well meaning authors contain numerous non-kosher recipes.
Many of the Newspapers & Jewish magazines contain recipes with non-kosher ingredients.

The "baala'buste" may be fooled in thinking that it's kosher, especially regarding infestation.

Checking for infestation requires experts or to be taught by an expert.

All herbs are infested. Corn on the cob, strawberries, raspberries, most blueberries from the 2012 crop, etc are infested.

The Rebbe by Rabbi Berel Wein

Why date codes on products are important?

Why are date codes on products are important?

How old is the wine, grape juice, other grocery items, etc.

   1st                                                  2nd &3rd                    4th

Month                                    day of month                             year

A - K                                                                                            A  -   M

"A"   = Jan-                                                                                                        "A" being 2000 (or 01)

"K"    = Dec                                                                                  "L" or "M"  =2012

Now check the dated on your Kedem wine & Grape Juice & see if it's fresh or how old. 

Of course Yoshon, you must know how to read the date codes.

The status of Milk, Cholov akum, Stam, Akum, Treif !

The status of Milk, Cholov akum, Stam, Akum, Treif !
Cholov Yisroel is more than just that a Shomer Shabbos that observes cholov yisroel was present at the milking. They also now (past 15 years) have to institute a system to remove all of the "vet procedured cows" as they are treif.

Reb Moshe Feinstein's heter of Cholov stam in the USA (when cholov yisroel is not readily available) was prior to us becoming aware of the "vet procedures" that render the cows (4-8%+-) treif.

The Heimish hashgochas only use the cholov yisroel even before to "treif" that was discovered some 15 years ago. The Maryland based International wanted their Hashgochas to be accepted by the yeshivish type crowd so they only certified cholov yisroel products. When the profits that were being lost to cholov stam / akum was too much, they teamed up with another Organization & developed the Star-D.

The Orginazational certifiers that are relying on the Heter of one the poiskim at the major NY based kosher certifier that procedures do not render the cows treif is not to be relied upon, per all major poiskim including Rav Eliyashev, Z"L.

For Non-Dairy item, the Orginizational hashgochas may have certain advantages, i.e. mashgiach temidi, trained mashgichim, do not rely on the owner or management, etc

Fish sticks & Sarimi

All Fish sticks & Sarimi are made from "minced" pollock fish, which is an infested fish. Therefore no fish sticks or Sarimi should be used. This includes no califonia roll at the sushi station, no imitation crab, etc.

The Gerorges flounder is supposed to be one flounder that is clean, so the fish mongers tell you oh we only have (or also cary) the Georges flounder-it's a catch all for fraud-Why should you believe them?

"Green House grown"

Inspections were made be experts of greenhouses growing crops that are insect free. They found that all greenhouse grown crops are indeed infested, al beit under some control. When one sees "greenhouse grown" don't be misled to thing there aren't insects. It would depend on the quality of of the individulas checking & the system of cleaning the product

Radicchio lettuce infested

Radicchio lettuce is infested, contrary to the claims of kosher certifiers

Blueberries Grade A are infested

Generally all Blueberries even Grade A are infested.

Wash the in a bucket of water, strain the water through a coffee filter, put on a light box and you'll see them infested.

Don't try putting the water in a glass bowl on a light box, as you can'y fins all of the insects.

It's been proven the in a glass bowl on a light box that so many mashgichim have been doing turned out to be completly unreliable, confirmed by Reb Moshe Via, Shlita (International insect expert".

kosher certified "olive-oil-adulterated?"

http://foodintegritynow.org/2012/07/25/tom-mueller-extra-virginity-the-sublime-and-scandalous-world-of-olive-oil/

New chicken virus spreading Internationally

http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/Australia-discovers-new-chicken-virus/?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%2BDaily&c=P%2BxdiblPOxd3PevkaIxCuQ%3D%3D

The Brick!!!!

The Brick!!!!

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something.

Cauliflower, Raisins, Blackberries, Grapes

Cauliflower? Out of luck.

Raisins? Make wine & filter.

Blackberries? Out of luck.

Grapes? Wash & rub well very carefully being careful not to push any of the insects into the grape stem area.

Infestation: Strawberries are worse than Romaine

Strawberries are worse than Romaine to check for infestation. Romaine lettuce can be checked if one is expert and has the required equipment. Strawberries are infested with thrips that hide under the seeds & it's impossible to see them till they come out.

Therefore fresh strawberries must be peeled completely.

All of the frozen strawberries with a hashgocha or Ishur must be cooked, pureed, etc prior to use.

Brocolli-What's the solutions?

Brocolli Solutions-

Buy fresh, remove all florets....For soup you don't have to peel, for other uses it's suggested to peel.

Buy the chopped or whole stems "100% floret free-only".

Sweet cherries infested

Sweet cherries were found to be infested even though there were no visible signs from the outside.

The Recipe "Treif" disclaimers

Most recipe books & published recipes in Hamodia, Yated, Shopper, The Voice etc are of the non-Torah opinion that when their recipes contain non-kosher ingredients e.g. fresh herbs, Vegies, strawberries, etc (which a consumer is not qualified at all to check-hence treif) -

-they write a disclaimer "Ask your local Rav re: checking & cleaning for infestation". You know that there are NO Rabonim that know how to check let alone clean...see Chasam sofer O/C 132.

It's actually a treif "EXCLAIMER ! ! !"

Even though all Rabonim know that the herbs, vegies, fruits in the recipe are ossur because of infestation that you can't clean ..,

USE IT ANYWAYS.

Celery is infested with leaf miners at this time

Celery is infested with leaf miners at this time. The leaf miners is found in the leaves which are normally discarded. They are also found in the green stalks. It looks like a wiggly translucent trail.

"Scales" are insects, common on citrus.

"Scales" are insects, common on citrus. Commercial Orange juices do sometimes contain "scales". Home, kiosk or store squezzed orange juice may also contain scales & must be filtered through a coffee filter.
NOTE: Pictures are for demonstration purposes only.

Blind leading the blind? (kashrus)

A prominent Kashrus Organization contracted out their food-service hashgochas to another smaller certifier, to monitor & set standards. The smaller certifier knows the "buzz" words, but not reliable in foodservice operations. The dollar is the guideline. 

A foodservice operator that has lost at least 3 hashgochas due to violations of kashrus is now being certified by this large certifier. A dollar is a dollar.

Garden State Parkway "rest stop" tickets.

Garden State Parkway "rest stop" areas have interior road STOP signs. Many are receving tickets for rolling stops, evan at 1:00 AM in the middle of the night.

House flies lay their eggs on "protein"

House flies lay their eggs on "protein", e.g. meat poultry tuna salad, etc. Always keep meat, poultry, tuna covered as the house fly may lay as many as 150 cream colored eggs at a time. They will do it in a flash.

Can one be acceptable as a mashgiach- if ?.........

Can one be acceptable as a mashgiach for a cholov yisroel production- if  the prospective mashgiach consumes cholv stam / akum etc?......... The major Gedoilei Haposkim concluded that the operated cows, e.g. LDA, Bloat, C-Section, etc make the cow a "treifa" therefore, when one is of the illusion that he's drinking cholv stam / akum, etc it's actually "treif".

A Mashgiach that consumes treif on a constant basis shouldn't be used for any kosher production.

Are some supermarkets scamming the consumer?

Check the prices in the supermarket that's being rung up they may not be the price displayed on the shelf. At times they don't even have a posted price (illegal) and charge an inflated price.  When you bring the discrepancy to the cashiers attention they refuse to change it to the posted price.

Kashrus wise, should one rely on their repacked meat, poultry or anything else for that matter.