Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ulysses.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!smb From: smb@ulysses.UUCP (Steven Bellovin) Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish Subject: Re: Kosher Meals Message-ID: <784@ulysses.UUCP> Date: Thu, 23-Feb-84 21:26:44 EST Article-I.D.: ulysses.784 Posted: Thu Feb 23 21:26:44 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 24-Feb-84 03:10:01 EST References: <1359@hlexa.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill Lines: 21 The word "kosher" is an adjective; "kashruth" is a noun form referring to the practice of keeping kosher. (When comparing Hebrew words, one should generally disregard vowels (vowels are usually not letters in Hebrew; rather, they're punctuation symbols attached to consonants); also, remember that 'sh' and 'ch' are single letters. So is 'th', but it's not the English 'th' sound; it's simply a symbol for a letter that is pronounced either 's' or 't', depending on your ancestry. (The 'ch' is the same as the German 'ch', not the English 'ch'.)) As for 'kosher' vs. 'kosher for Passover' -- Robert Block gave an accurate and succinct summary of what makes an item kosher (the part about fish and meat is accurate, incidentally), though there are a few more rules (for some folks) about wine and cheese. But a much stricter set of require- ments applies during Passover. During this entire week, no grain or grain product, with the exception of specially-prepared matzoh (an unleavened bread) may be eaten. Thus, any food that is "kosher for Passover" is by definition kosher, but there may be oddities in the ingredient list compared with a similar product for use during the rest of the year -- for example, margarine may be made with cottonseed oil instead of corn oil. --Steve