What the hell is kosher ?

Question

I saw a sign for kosher coffee . Don't get that. How do you know which end of the bean is the rear end ? Kosher chinese food , just wonder what distinguishes what as kosher .

Answer 1

Kosher food is not blessed by a Rabbi; that's a myth. If a food is certified kosher, it means that a knowledgable rabbi has inspected the ingredients and the processing to ensure that the food has not come into contact with anything that is not kosher. In the case of coffee that's generally easy: in most places the equipment used for making coffee is not used for making anything else. But if you start adding flavors and dairy products to it, it becomes much more complex (most flavorings, for example, are meat based).

What's "not-kosher"? Any mixing of meat and milk products in even the most minute quantities. So if the place serves milk, it cannot have any meat based products on the premises. Similarly for a place that serves meat (no milk-based products on premises). If the place serves meat, the meat must be a kosher animal, and must have been killed in the manner described in the torah. Also, most bread is not kosher.

Kosher chinese food is common. As above, it just means that the restaurant has decided to spend a little extra in order to get certified by a rabbi. When any restaurant becomes certified kosher, the rabbi inspects the restaurant thoroughly. Anything wooden, plastic, or made of china, is replaced. Metal items are rendered kosher by being heated to an extent that any non-kosher food that had been on the item is guaranteed to be burned away. This often involves steam or a blow torch.

One note about signs indicating that something is kosher: anyone can put up a sign saying "kosher coffee here." That doesn't mean anything (some non-kosher hotdogs say "kosher" on the front). Why would someone do this? maybe because they don't understand the laws of kosher well enough to realize their own ignorance; and maybe because being kosher generally increases sales by 10%-20%. To be dependably kosher, it requires a specific symbol (hechsher) from a known and reliable rabbi. Examples are the OU, OK, Kuf-K, etc. To my knowledge the only coffee shops that are certified kosher (with the probable exception of places in Israel and New York) are Starbucks and Coffee, Bean, & Tea Leaf.

There is one best place for questions on kashrus (the science of kosher):

www.askmoses.com

There is a live rabbi available for chat-questions 24/6 (not on shabbes).

Answer 2

Kosher coffee just means that it has not come in contact with anything that is not kosher. YEAH! sometimes they do go to far but the rabbis also have to make a living

Answer 3

Kashrut or "keeping kosher" is the name of the Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed kosher in English, from the Hebrew term kashér, meaning "fit" (in this context, fit for consumption by observant Jews).

In its strictest meaning it means only "suitable according to Jewish law", but as slang it generally means legitimate, acceptable, permissible, genuine or authentic in a broader sense.

Foods are kosher when they meet all criteria that Jewish law applies to food. Invalidating characteristics may range from the presence of a mixture of meat and milk, to the use of produce from Israel that has not been tithed properly, or even the use of cooking utensils which had previously been used for non-kosher food.

Answer 4

It supposed to be Food blessed by a Jewish Rabbi.
Some Jews only eat Kosher food.

Answer 5

it is not blessed by a rabbi

and unfortunatly many Jews do not keep Kosher

this is what it is

http://www.jewfaq.org/kashrut.htm...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/kosher

Answer 6

Blessed by a Rabbi, prosessed by strict rules.

Answer 7

I asked that same question. It means its been bleesed by a rabbi.

Answer 8

It's this [meat?] in the cow, they put those at hot dogs alot.