Hechsher

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The hechsher of the Orthodox Union is the most widely known hechsher in the United States

A hechsher (Hebrew: הכשר‎ [ˈhɛxʃəʁ] "kosher approval"; plural: hechsherim) is the special certification marking found on the packages of products (usually foods) that have been certified as kosher (meaning "fit" for consumption). In Halakha (Jewish law), the dietary laws of kashrut specify food items that may be eaten and others that are prohibited as set out in the commandments of the Torah. Observant Jews generally will only eat permitted foods. To assist Jewish consumers, rabbinic authorities produce and regulate their own hechsherim. It is usually Orthodox rabbis who assume the jobs of mashgichim (singular: mashgiach, "supervisor"). This means that they will "supervise" the products and processes that manufacture kosher food to ensure compliance with the required standards. The mashgiach will allow the manufacturer to apply a hechsher to the packaging of the product only if found to contain only kosher ingredients and produced in accordance with Halakha. The rabbi may also apply additional words or letters after the hechsher to denote whether the product contains meat (often denoted "Meat"), dairy (D or Dairy), neither meat nor dairy (Pareve), whether the product is Kosher for Passover because it contains no chametz (P), whether the product is pas yisroel (bread baked at least in part by a Jew), cholov yisroel (any dairy products came from Jewish owned farms), or whether the product is yoshon (lit. "old": all grain contents took root before the previous Passover).

The marking is also commonly found on items not meant for consumption, such a cleaning products.

Specific authorities

Logo of the South African Beth Din

In America, one of the best known hechsher symbols is the "OU" of the Orthodox Union based in New York City in the United States. Outside of the United States, they are less well known. They employ hundreds of rabbis as mashgichim and are generally accepted.

There are many other respected hechsher logos; examples include: Star-K based in Baltimore, Maryland, the logo of both the Johannesburg and Cape Town Beth Din used in South Africa, MK Va'ad Ha'ir^[1] based in Montreal, Canada, and Kosher Australia^[2] based in Melbourne, Australia.

The largest number of agencies are in the U.S.A. Kashrus Magazine publishes an annual guide of almost all kosher supervision agencies worldwide; its 2007 Kosher supervision Guide features 921 agencies.

Unreliable Hechshers in Israel

Owing to the large number of Jews in Israel, certain organisations have realised that good money can be made by selling Kosher certificates stating that the Kashrut of a place is of the highest standards. These organisations do few or no checks to ensure the Kashrut of the restaurants, cafés etc which they certify.^[3] Because many people are unaware of this they eat in these places thinking that they are eating kosher food when, in fact, it is likely that there are major problems in the Kashrut of these places, so much so that the Chief Rabbinate of Israel has published many times in their Kashrut updates that they take no responsibility for Kashrut standards in places certified by these organisations. Many people are unaware of the Rabbinate's updates and of these problems.

Many restaurants in the centre of Jerusalem as well as many other places display these certificates. Examples of these unauthorised agencies include:

• Keter HaKashrut ^[4]
• Nezr HaHidur ^[5]
• Nachalt Yitzchak ^[6]

Spelling

• At the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee, contestant Saryn Hooks correctly spelled "hechsher," but her spelling was ruled incorrect. A few minutes later, the judges realized their printed spelling of "hechscher" was incorrect and reinstated Hooks, thanks to 7th grader Lucas Brown, who noticed the error and called it to the attention of his father. The transliteration from Hebrew into German is "Hechscher".

See also

• Civil laws regarding Kashrut
• Hechsher Tzedek
• Kosher foods
• Taboo food and drink
• Unclean animals
• Kashrut
• Heckscher

References

External links

• Kashrut Agencies