Ask the Rabbi

Some mitzvot are directed primarily towards women. Separating challah from dough is a beautiful example of such a mitzvah. The Torah tells us(Bamidbar 15:20) “From the first of your dough you shall set apart challah.” Originally this portion of the dough went to the cohen. A possible reason this mitzvah is directed towards the woman is because the talmud calls Adam the “Challah of the world” (the portion of the world separated for serving Hashem.) Just as Hashem formed man from the dust of the earth, we separate challah from dough. Since Eve caused Adam to sin by giving him fruit from the tree of knowledge, this mitzvah may be coming to rectify that original sin.

If a woman makes dough from one of the five grains, (wheat, barley, spelt, oats or rye) and she uses more than 2.64 pounds, she must separate a small piece. The bracha however can only be said if she separates more than 4.95 pounds of flour, according to the Chazon Ish. Some opinions are more lenient as converting talmudic measures to modern day measurements, are not an exact science. Rabbi Chaim Naeh permits the blessing said over 3.66 pounds. Some sephardim who follow the Ben Ish Chai will only make a blessing when using 5.47 pounds! As always check with your LOR (local orthodox rabbi) to find your own custom.

This mitzvah brings great merit to the people who perform it. It is not uncommon for women to make separting challah “bracha parties” where they come together and separate the challah in unison and recite the blessing so all can respond. On a recent trip to Israel I was at the kever of the Rambam, my wife told me that about twenty women arrived early friday morning with their own dough, and each one separated the dough to the chorus of a loud ‘amen’ from all those in attendence! The talmud says “the one who answers amen to a bracha, receives more merit than the one who makes the bracha”, this may be how this custom began.

You first make the blessing “Baruch Ata Adonoi Eloheinu Melech Haolam Asher K’dishanu B’mitzvotav V’tzivanu L’hafrish Challah. Then seprate a portion of about a k’zayit (a shot glass amount). You then burn the piece in the oven with aluminum foil, so the oven does not absorb the flavor of the challah.

The first nine days of the Jewish month of Av are days of acute mourning. The nine days, as they are known in the Jewish calendar are so sad, that Jewish people historically have refrained from eating meat (or chicken) and drinking wine during this time. These nine days lead us into the height of our mourning with a fast day on the ninth of Av, which commemorates the destruction of the second temple, by the Romans, in 70 CE.

If this tragedy happened thousands of years ago, why do we not eat meat or wine during these days? The reason is that eating meat and wine has traditionally always been done on days of Jewish celebrations. As the old saying goes, “every Jewish holiday is the same – they came to kill us, we won, let’s eat!” in this case however we did not win, and the temple still lays in ruins in Jerusalem till this day. To still feel the pain of that on going tragedy, we don’t eat meat and wine, which signify happiness and success. We hope and pray that the third and final temple be built in Jerusalem very soon.

Some recipes to guide you through:

Avocado Stuffed Salmon with Wild Rice

Parmesan and Sun-Dried Tomato Crusted Tilapia

Creamy Ziti

Stir Fried Tofu with Soba Noodles

Crispy Seitan Stir Fry

Smothered Tempeh Sandwiches

Polenta Casserole Au Gratin

At most of my appearances, I talk about my life. Talk about my food.  Talk about my friends.  So if you’ve seen any of my presentations, you’ve heard me rave about Rabbi Lawrence.  As I morphed from non-religious TV producer to sheitel-wearing kosher cookbook author, Rabbi L. and his fab wife Anita were right there for me.

C’mon. You’ve heard of Anita — my terrific friend, neighbor, and inspiration for girls who grill. I talk about her all the time.  Anyway, after I became engaged, I dragged Hubby-to-be to Monsey to meet them. Been like one big happy family ever since.

Now that I’m doing the kosher food scene full time — questions about kosher food and holiday customs always come up. Hey, I got religious, but I’m no rabbi! I have no problem admitting that I don’t always have all the answers. (According to Hubby this is such a rare confession that he wants to frame it.)  I thought about it – who do I know who is qualified, accessible (and fun)? I was stumped for a while.  So I closed my eyes and clicked my heels together. Before I could say, “There’s no place like home,” it hit me!  He’s been there all the time. Why not go for the best of the best?

Ladies and gents, allow me to introduce the Official Rabbi of Joy of Kosher: Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff.

Funniest rabbi on the planet. And his humor gets the perfect umph from his British accent, which you won’t be able to hear when you read his answers, but which you will be able to hear when you see him on my cooking videos.  I guess it’s a British thing, but he often says “darling” – and you’ve got to love a rabbi who can say darling to everybody and get away with it. He calls his wife Princess, and while I’m spilling stuff, I’ll mention that he is Sephardic and took a lot of ribbing from neighbors when he and Anita had four girls one after the other. Finally had their boy, and not a minute too soon. (It’s a Sephardi thing.)

Not to mention that he has a wicked laugh, can impersonate Austin Powers pretty well, dressed up as Ali G a few purims ago, interned at MTV and wears a Hermes with a big H that he insists stands for Hashem (or Hajioff).

Now for his official stats… Rabbi Lawrence has smicha from Ohr Someyach in Monsey NY, is the Educational Director aka Chief Spiritual Officer at the Jewish Enrichment Center in NYC and is the Rabbi for Birthright Israel in NY (and now here with us at Jok.com!).

Originally from London, England, Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff graduated with honors in political science from Manchester University. After working for two years for MTV in news production, and winning the national competition ‘Jewish Stand-Up Comedian of the Year’, Rabbi Hajioff traveled to study in Israel and then Monsey to receive his rabbinical smicha ordination from Yeshiva Ohr Somayach.

He’s already warned me that he loathes to lift a finger in the kitchen (“Princess” does it all), but he does love great food. Good enough for me. I’ll be shooting a few videos with him soon so you can get to know him.  He will be writing for us regularly about all things kosher and is here to answer all your Qs, day and night.

Well, rather you can submit them day and night by emailing info@joyofkosher.com with the subject: Ask the Rabbi and he will answer them as soon as he can, ok?

So excited – can’t wait to watch our resident rabbi in action!  Now there’s nothing that JoK can’t handle. Bring it on, people…

Here are some links to help you get to know Rabbi Lawrence a little better including some fantastic classes.

http://jeconline.com/

“The Jewish Home: Where Kindness Begins” http://jeconline.com/media/video/jewishhomekindnessflv-0

“Health and Healing in Judaism” on eating right http://jeconline.com/media/video/health-and-healingflv

A video on Tisha be’av…really on Shalom Bayit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ZOjb0FKfQ