Craig: It is exciting to hear that you’ve opened your restaurant and I encourage you to find a topic-appropriate thread to post it under. In fact, I’d be happy to initiate a new post about if if you want to send me the content. B’Shalom.

Speaking as a leper with a perfectly clean house and freshly washed clothing, I’m not sure I quite understand your analogy.

I’d elaborate but it has suddenly become far harder to type with my arm falling off.

Hashem gives even an individual as evil as Bilaam every opportunity to repent. Hashem even sent him a special “messenger,” a talking donkey, to convince him that it would be prudent to repent. Bilaam, of course, ignored it all, because that is the pattern of evil: to repudiate any stimulus for positive action, to eschew any efforts that would spur our repentance. To delve further into the matter, Rav Shteinman notes that the “talking donkey” was one of the creations that took place during bein ha’shmashos, after sundown prior to nightfall. It is almost as if Hashem wanted to “squeeze” in one more opportunity to catalyze Bilaam’s repentance.

Imagine, the entire universe was already in place. Everything was ready to go forward. Hashem still was not ready. The opportunity to “bring back” Bilaam was not yet in place. One more chance, one more opportunity. It seems, perhaps, a bit unusual, a bit extreme - especially for such an evil man. Just think: we now understand how much teshuvah means to Hashem, how much He waits for it, to what lengths He will go to avail us the opportunity to return. Let us learn from Bilaam and the “talking donkey” how valuable teshuvah is. Let us also learn to give others the chance to return - and to accept their sincere contrition. Let us learn from Hashem’s model.

The 17th of Tammuz is rapidly approaching us followed up by another day that is even more auspicious 9 AV, so take heed.

DeisCane, thanks, I’m learning that the restaurant business is really hard, especially when the kids don’t want to be involved. I’m also learning that people really love BBQ, that 1/2 lb servings of brisket are unnecessarily large for the normal Jew, though he’ll clean his plate (Goyim seem to value large portions, stacked high, and may not frequent an establishment with smaller portions), and maybe it’s the visual arrangement on the plate that means more than the actual quantity of food. I’m learning that Jews value a clean establishment, possibly even more than the quality of food, and don’t want to eat from a real dive. Jews like to be served and waited on, even with relatively fast food. More ramblings to come… but now, Shacharis.

#2 Even though I did infer who the gentleman was I did not mention him by name but since you did so be it. For a number of years the OU did not trust Rabbi Heineman’s hashgacha either even though he has grown at present to what was supposed to be a local organization into a international one. They OU used to send people into the agency’s plants as they didn’t trust him.

#3 After the supposed KP plum alcohol fiasco of the OK which caused the demise of Berel Levy, the OU again placed a doubt in many people’s mind about the reliability of the OK.

#4 The RCC (mainly YU people that have been indoctrinated by the OU during their schooling) couldn’t find jobs on the East Coast so they went to the west to ply their trade. These people are NOT professionals in kashrut, you might think they are but people on the East Coast that come out to chatunot don’t eat any of the food that is served and they ask for airplane meals. The RCC do not have shoctim, the cRc does. The last Gadol B’Yisrael that was on the West Coast was Rav Simcha Wasserman, zt”l and he then moved. Anyone that wants to get a true Torah education does not stay in California. They head to Lakewood, Brooklyn . The RCC has no on-board food technologist, chemist actively involved in the food industry or anyone that is an expert in the food industry. Rabbi G.B. is supposedly a nice person but he is not a chemist, nor a pharmacologist nor did he take post graduate studies at any university or technical school. He is a good research person in asking question but there is more to kashrut than what meets the naked eye.

#5 Since you seem to have learned something somewhere then you must be familiar with the term “Ma’asay Gevul.” If you are familiar, then that is what you should tell the kashrus agency that is trying to enter into the back door into a place that already has an established “orthodox” hashgacha. The person should really search out Igrot Moshe as he is a major violator of halacha. By his entering also causes a shadow of doubt on the Shield Star K’s authenticity as well; was that ever thought out? Religious people jump and look out for themselves and their cause right or wrong and in this case wrong. They never think that the end result will be cause grave harm to another in this case the Shield Star K. You should advise this religious individual he is treading on ice and that the Shield Star K has the right to take him to Bet Din and to civil court.

#6 I purposely posted an e-mail address at the end of my initial response and further corrected where all of this could be discussed off line but you have made this a public spectacle not a forum.

#7 Rabbi Gabai who used to live in N. Hollywood & now lives in the city where his brother also lives does not buy his Bet Yosef from the U.S.; do you know why? Doubtful. The U.S. Bet Yosef meat is another drumed up thing of the Rubaskin family. I found this out by asking Rabbi Silver who is in constant contact with Eretz Yisrael as that is where his poskim are located. People in the Bet Yosef shechita told him the whole story with the supposed Bet Yosef meat in the U.S. . It is truly a shame that you and others that think you know everything know nothing except heresay and are bad mouthing Rabbi Silver (cousin to Rabbi Eliezer Silver, zt”l if you know your American Jewish history).

Kashrut is the dirtiest busniness in the world and eveyone is a self-proclaimed Tzadik. Even you seem to know it all. I am not reaching lows your negative comments which are baseless are the lowest.

No, what I said was “Nobody I trust” holds by this hechsher, which is different than saying “Nobody” holds by this hechsher. For instance, the RCC will not allow it, but will allow the KF Sriracha. The star-shield-K has been around a long time, at least a decade, and that’s been long enough for it to come to peoples’ attention. And I’ve asked about it before. Most of my inquiries usually took the form of questions to Reuven Nathanson, West Coast director of OU kashrus (a Lubavitcher, by the way), because he was frequently up at my winery. I rarely, if ever, consulted Rabbi Eidlitz, because I didn’t know him and had other contacts in kashrus, but since he’s local now, I can ask him, if you desire. By the way, the shield star k srirachi is evidently really good, so much so that it’s likely a special batch will come out under another hechsher for use in LA kosher establishments (this according to someone “in the know”, the director of the kashrus agency which is working to do this).

As to Beis Yosef meat, who doesn’t consider it kosher? Nobody I know. Frankly, the opposite is true. There’s little enough of it that it goes mostly to Sephardic places- they have first dibs in LA.

As far as meat, I don’t know about Rubashkin, but as of now none of the meat in my BBQ place (yes, we opened for 4th of July weekend) is Rubashkin, mostly because it’s unavailable. Everything is Alle or RCC/CRC Shechita so far.

Avraham, you presume to much, and your presumptions are largely incorrect, as far as your presumptions about me. And as far as Rav Heineman is concerned, so what if he’s a daas yachid on changing temperatures of electronic ovens on Yom Tov. I don’t really care what Rav Eliashiv says about him. I only care what my own rav says about the matter (fact is he holds like Rav Eliashiv). Really, Avraham, your rants are reaching new lows.

Well, Avraham, I would say that most in kashrus don’t hold by the shield star k. But do what you want, by all means. I just know that nobody I trust holds by that hechsher. Now that I have my Sriracha sauce under KF supervision (packed by Homhual Foods Industry Company), I don’t really lust after any of the Shield Star K products.