Spring 2011

What are the responsibilities of the certifying agency? Is the kashrus agency only responsible for the kashrus of the food, or is it the agency’s responsibility to ensure a kosher atmosphere as well?

Readers share their thoughts about the last issue…

Dear OK, Do I have to wait until we take challah from the new dough in order to mix it in, or can I mix it in before I take challah?

Potatoes, with Benefits

What makes a young woman agree to move to a place where there is no shul, no school, no mikvah, kashrus is a struggle, and the language is totally different from any she has ever heard or seen?

There is a revolution taking place in the Israeli wine industry—a kosher revolution. Suddenly, shopping for kosher wines has become that much more complicated…how can you decide between such a variety of high-quality, top-notch wines?

Superb Schlissel (Key) Challah

In a rather poignant section of the Haggadah, we read about Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya and his struggle to find a source requiring one to recite the third paragraph of Shema in the evening. It is therefore appropriate to review some of the basic laws of tzitzis during the Pesach season, as tzitzis appear to be intrinsically related to our Exodus from Egypt.

Rabbi Berel Levy, ob”m, was the Rav HaMachshir of OK Kosher Certification (then known as Organized Kashrus Laboratories) for over twenty years. He singlehandedly raised the OK from a small kosher certification agency to a global agency impacting and shaping kashrus worldwide.

Who’s Behind the OK
Rabbi Yakov Perlov

The Splitting of the Sea

Kabbalah of the Kaira (Seder Plate)