We woke up in our beautiful small house in a garden near a small pond on one of the islands on Maine's south coast. For some reason we all slept late. We didn't do much today, which was my plan, but I'm having trouble trying to convince the kids that doing nothing is a good plan; they prefer to do something.
We shored up on goods at the nearest Shaw's, which did not, in fact, have kosher meat, except for Hebrew National salami [1] and, surprisingly, some kosher cheddar cheese. Saarya noticed an entire aisle filled with nothing but beer. He also now believes that humus is the U.S. national dip, since he keeps seeing it everywhere (sometimes spelled HooMoos). Shaw's has several dozen varieties, including some infused with artichokes or avocados, and one that claims to have 40 spices.
In the afternoon we took a 45 minute drive to Reid State Park. Since there is an entry fee, it would have made more sense to go tomorrow and spend more time, but we're not always sensible. We found a beautiful spot to BBQ on the rocky/sandy shore with water streaming around us. The weather continues to be perfect, even a little chilly.
Yehuda
[1] I am aware that many religious Jews consider Hebrew National products to be not
kosher. Some of these people may not know that their manufacturing was reduced to a single site and their kashrut was upgraded to triangle-K in 2000. Their
parent company ConAgra was the subject of a lawsuit regarding their
kashrut status a few years ago, in that it did not meet the "highest quality of kashrut standards", which was dismissed by the court who
refused to rule on kashrut standards. Like all butchers, they may sometimes engage in
questionable cleanliness and ethical practices, but I can't
see that they are different then other kosher butchers (other than that they certify non-glatt meat, while other American kashrut agencies only certify glatt meat), and the tirade
against them has always seemed to me to be more political than factual.
3 comments:
Jon-While Hebrew National upgrading to triangle K is better, triangle K has its own issues, where not everything is reliable, esp in meat things.From what I understood from those in the business, they rely on tpp many kulos and in issues of cheese: last year we asked our Devorah's father, who works in Hasgacha, if any hechsher is totally unreliable and Torch-K was the response, and we saw it on cheeses.
Sounds like you are having a really nice time.
I googled all of that, too, and it doesn't hold up to anything more than hearsay. Rav Ralbag and at least two other Orthodox Rabbis have written extensively to defend the triangle-K and their defenses remain unanswered.
As near as I can tell, the problem is thus: they certify non-glatt meat. As such, no other major kashrut authority can rely on their certification within their own products because they only accept glatt meat. As such the triangle-K is labeled "not acceptable". From there, the words "not acceptable" were interpreted erroneously as "not reliable". In order to try to understand why they are not reliable, people invented all sorts of bull****, much of which is now believed to be true with no supporting basis.
If you can find a reliable article from a real source that establishes otherwise - one that Rav Ralbag has not already responded to - I would like to see it.
Soldiers in Iraq and Afganistan quickly came to love humus, and brought that love back home. Sabra humus was the official dip of the last few Superbowls.
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