Comments on: Looking Back, Looking Forward

By: startfresh.com

startfresh.com — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:47:30 +0000

Jessica, I felt the same way. I was going to buy the book and then I saw an excerpt that featured a recipe from another one of her books. So i resisted. But as you say I do enjoy her books and I have used many of her recipes and food decorating ideas. I do cut the fat and sugat content of most of the recipes and the results are usually perfect.

By: Jessica Y

Jessica Y — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:38:11 +0000

I am from Australia, and when my husband ordered the new Fishbein book for me, I was probably the first in Australia to get it. Whilst I always enjoy looking at her books because they are simply beautiful, I felt a little cheated that I had seen most of the recipes in her other books (which also include pesach conversion guides). All in all though, I always enjoy the books because they are art works in themselves.

By: sp

sp — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:00:46 +0000

I wasn’t denigrating, I was being serious. There’s a concept that we are supposed to crazy w/ humras on pesach. There doesn’t have to be a logical reason beyond that it makes us feel good on some level and we’ve created a tradition of doing it.

hence the craziness w/ quinoa (which I’d have no issue eating either).

By: sweinberger

sweinberger — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:37:19 +0000

sp: There’s no need to debate or denigrate the validity of Pesach chumros. If you feel that a stringency doesn’t or shouldn’t apply, don’t follow it – I won’t throw rocks at you. I eat quinoa on Pesach, so you can take my advice with a grain of (kosher) salt.

As I stated, I repeated the answer I was given, verbatim. In truth, this is more of a kula (leniency) than a chumra. I’m eating a packaged food-item without a KFP hechsher. Buying it before Pesach is a small measure of insurance that I’m avoiding chametz on Pesach. It’s a small price to pay.

I don’t think we need to discuss this any further.

By: sp

sp — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:17:53 +0000

Deis, its a chumra of the sort “we go crazy on pesach with chumras”.

It could be washed, wrapped, dried, stored… with chametzy things, does this matter in reality? Not so much. Is it consistent with general practice in regards to pesach things? yes.

By: sweinberger

sweinberger — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:19:37 +0000

I can’t argue with you there. It’s a chumra (stringency), for sure. If you buy it before Pesach, any unintentional or accidental chametz present is batel b’shishim – nullified if the chametz is 1/60th or less of the mixture. On Pesach, chametz isn’t nullified at all.

That was the answer from a competent Rabbinic source, and I would be negligent if I didn’t repeat it verbatim.

By: DeisCane

DeisCane — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:53:34 +0000

But nori doesn’t eat chametz. It’s a vegetable.

By: sweinberger

sweinberger — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:45:03 +0000

GilaB: Before Pesach, Chametz in miniscule amounts is battel - insignificant to the point of not existing. Not so on Pesach, where we avoid even the tiniest amount of Chametz. We are not talking about visible Chametz. As an example, many people buy all their eggs for Pesach before the holiday, for fear that chickens may be fed Chametz on the holiday, and the eggs would be a "product" of that Chametz. Would those chickens have possibly been fed Chametz before the holiday? Of course, but before the holiday, a MahSheHu (literally "something", an insignificant amount) of Chametz is nullified, and doesn't exist in the eyes of Halacha. I am not a halachic authority by any means, and I may have misstated some of that. Consult an Orthodox Rabbi for clarification.

By: GilaB

GilaB — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:33:18 +0000

Why would buying it before Pesach make a difference? Either it’s KFP or not, no?

By: sweinberger

sweinberger — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:14:55 +0000

HealthyShabbat: I was surprised about that one too. I emailed the Star-K, asking if KFP nori existed. They told me "The nori sheets are just seaweed. If purchased before Pesach they are OK for use on Pesach". So I did. Ari H: Water, caramel coloring and MSG, primarily.