UOS Congregations

Tomato pesto – grab those that are still kosher

Feb 28, 2016 Go comment!

The kashrut department of the Johannesburg Beth Din announced this week that all newly-made batches of “Ina Paarman’s Sundried Tomato Pesto" will no longer carry a hechsher on their label as they are no longer kosher.
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Young Jews make waves in the Mother City

Feb 24, 2016 Go comment!

A yacht party on the bobbing waves of Table Bay, last Sunday, brought together close to 150 of Cape Town's young Jewish students for the "Chabad on Campus" official launch. The Sea Princess, South Africa's largest day passenger boat, was commissioned to accommodate a sold out crowd for cocktails, live music and vibrant Jewish socialising.
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Good news follows latest BD printing error

Feb 10, 2016 Go comment!

Jewish Report has bad tidings for kosher consumers who may have thought new variety had entered their households: Fruitree Grape Juice is NOT KOSHER! But this story should have a quick and successful conclusion as the kashrut department are on top of it and - while the misunderstanding is the result of yet another hechsher “printing error” gremlin - the supplier who incorrectly printed the diamond logo on their packaging are busily visiting sales-points around SA to rectify their error.
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Two baddies and a goodie from the Beth Din

Feb 02, 2016 Go comment!

The kashrut department of the Johannesburg Beth Din has issued three announcements over the past week. Two are alerts that involve Woolworths and one is a nice new item for Kashniks, Jewish Report Online’s name for kosher consumers.
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Lighting up that smoke may not be halachic

Jan 27, 2016 Go comment!

Those Batei Din that have ruled, say it is not halachic to smoke (it used to be but now that we now it ruins out bodies it is not). Many Batei Din, like our own in SA, do not rule on it but prefer to take the politically correct route and simply make no ruling. Why? Probably as so many rabbonim and congregants smoke. Rabbi Aharon Rose, previously of the Waverley shul in Joburg, says however that “smoking tobacco cigarettes is forbidden by every halachic authority I have ever heard of”. Read who, how and why this has been decided as being so…
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Timeous kashrut alerts a big challenge to BD

Jan 20, 2016 3 Comments

The Johannesburg Beth Din answers comments like: “Excuse me, but what good will it do to send an alert? What about a person who doesn't have e-mail? Or who missed this e-mail? Or who forgot this e-mail? This is outrageous. As long as (these) products remain available, the BD UOS/SA is 'placing a stumbling block before the blind'. Why have they not insisted on a total recall? What can we trust anymore?” Read what kashrut head Greg Bloch has to say and how YOU can keep up to date...
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Emmarentia Shul enters a new ‘young’ era

Jan 20, 2016 6 Comments

Popular chazzan, Rev Rodney Richard, has been appointed spiritual leader of the Emmarentia Hebrew Congregation from February 1.
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Enjoy kosher G&T while you can

Jan 15, 2016 1 Comment

Beth Din just announced that popular ‘Tanqueray Gin’ will no longer be kosher. Check with them about existing stock and lay in your supplies if you can…
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BD warns on non-kosher Kee Wings product

Jan 13, 2016 7 Comments

The kashrut division of the Beth Din issued another kashrut alert this week blaming wrongly-marked packaging for the fact that although "Kee Wings" cheeses contain “an unauthorised Beth Din logo” on their packaging, they are not kosher and “cannot be eaten”. There have been a spate of similar packaging issues over the past few months, with Jewish Report readers either posting comments online or writing letters. “We are working to resolve this issue as soon as possible,” says the notice.
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Botched bris led to 2015's most viral story

Jan 06, 2016 Go comment!

The most viral story of the year had 1 229 reads within 24 hours of its November 11 publication (and 2 199 in the week) and was also retold by international Jewish publications and the Sunday Times in South Africa. “Bris findings leave unanswered questions” was about the outcome of a commission of inquiry following a serious injury to a local baby at his brith milah in Sandton in June 2014.
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Unauthorised hechsher, these are NOT kosher

Dec 17, 2015 1 Comment

Kosher consumers take note - the kashrut division of the Johannesburg Beth Din has issued an urgent kosher alert about a “Fresh Earth Gluten Free Bakehouse” product.
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UOS issues special prayer for rain

Dec 15, 2015 3 Comments

The Union of Orthodox Synagogues of South Africa (UOS) today issued a special prayer for rain which can be inserted into the Shema Koleinu section of the Amidah. Below are the English and Hebrew texts as provided by the UOS.
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Halachic attitudes towards secular studies revisited

Dec 13, 2015 4 Comments

Local Rabbi Gavin Michal has become an international hit as a blogger and on Twitter with his Kotzk Blogs and, now, with #shortkotzkvorts, he reaches an audience approaching 10 000 a week. Sometimes considered controversial, Rabbi Michal is anything-but. His work is carefully considered and his references are always quoted. Actually Rabbi Michal’s teachings are the good, old-fashioned views of some of the most revered Litvak rabbis.
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The life and times of Rabbi Bernard Casper

Dec 09, 2015 Go comment!

This year marks the 27th yarzheit of Rabbi Bernard Moses Casper z.tl on the 10th of Tevet (Fast of Tevet) 5776, which corresponds to December 22.
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Pretoria Shul: small in numbers, big in Yiddishkeit

Dec 02, 2015 4 Comments

The Pretoria Shul is not just a shul in a community, but the core from which everything branches out, Rabbi Gidon Fox, spiritual leader of the Pretoria Hebrew Congregation, told the SA Jewish Report.
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Bris findings leave unanswered questions

Nov 11, 2015 13 Comments

The commission of inquiry following the serious injury to a local baby at his brith milah in Sandton in June last year has recommended the mohel no longer perform circumcisions.
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Shabbos Project spanning the globe

Nov 11, 2015 Go comment!

Stories poured in from around the world in the aftermath of last month’s second international Shabbos Project, in which more than a million Jews in 918 cities and 84 countries, took part.
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175 Years of Marriage at Gardens Shul

Nov 11, 2015 3 Comments

SEE FULL PICTURE INSIDE: As a beaming Rabbi Osher Feldman ascended the pulpit last Shabbat to deliver his sermon, he welcomed worshippers with a hearty “Good Yontiff!” The laughter with which he was met by the capacity congregation confirmed that, while this was not a festival, the occasion was indeed a festive one.
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More kashrut alerts from the Beth Din

Nov 06, 2015 4 Comments

Last week readers had a lot to say about the four kashrut alerts issued by the kashrut division of the Union of Orthodox Synagogues. (An “alert” generally signified a danger, while a “notice” is usually good news). Last week’s products mainly related to packaging either incorrectly not signifying products were milchik, or non-kosher products erroneously carrying the SA Beth Din’s hechsher – while, in fact, not being kosher. Now, in less than a week, a third Kashrut Alert has been issued.
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Our magical Shabbat in Vilnius

Nov 04, 2015 1 Comment

In line with Lita Lives’ vision of bringing life to Lithuanian Jewry, a group of about 15 Jewish men and women recently travelled to Vilna for the last weekend in October. The aim of the trip was for guests to experience a five-star, Glatt Kosher Shabbat in Vilnius - or as it used to be more commonly known in English as Vilna - once the vibrant home to the ancestors of the majority of South African Jews.
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