t THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS New Plastic Aids. Harvest I REHOVOT — An im- 1•• proved plastic covering for greenhouses, recently in- troduced on the market, is proving highly effective in producing earlier and more bountiful harvests than I have ever been possible be- fore. The new polyethylene film, developed by Israel's Weizmann Institute in con- junction with Israel Pet- rochemical Enterprises, is manufactured and mar- keted by Kibutz Ginegar under the name "Infrasol- 266." It demonstrated its superiority over the standard product during ex- tensive field tests recently conducted on Israeli ag- ricultural settlements. I Not only did the modified polyethylene yield heavy crops of strawberries, cucumbers, grapes and other hothouse specialties several weeks before nor- mal harvesting times, but also proved itself as an energy saver. "We wanted to combine the excellent heat barrier properties_of glass with the low cost of polyethylene," said Prof. David Vofsi, head of the Weizmann Institute's Harry Levine Center for Industrial Research, who directed the project to- gether with Yael Allin-. gham of the institute's Department of Plastics I I Research. After several trials, the institute scientists dis- covered that a simple -salt (sodium metaphosphate) is a good absorber of infrared radiation. Indeed, sheeting containing this ingredient was found to trap 50 percent more heat than ordinary polyethylene, thus provid- ing warmer" temperatures at night and substantially cutting heating costs. In addition, Prof. Vofsi and Ms. Allingham ob- served that the infrared ab- sorber diffuses light throughout the _hothouse, eliminating the shadows that interfere with photo- synthetic activity. Thus farmers can benefit from healthier and more abun- dant crops, savings on energy and a substantial head-start in the mar- ketplace where early crops fetch higher prices. Produced in continuous sheets of plastic up to 16 meters wide, the new polyethylene contains an anti-fogging ingredient that prevents water drop- lets from forming on its sur- face. This is of particular importance since water drops block light as well as damage plants. Licensing arrangements for the new plastic covering were handled by the Yeda Research ane Developinent Co. Theater Season. in Israel These posters advertised the 1982 theater season 11 in Israel. The advertised plays included, clockwise from top left, "Six Characters in Search of an Author" by Luigi Tirandello, "Pitty She's a Whore" by John - Ford, 'Me Maids" by Jean Jenet and "The Wars of the Jews" by Yehoshua Sobol. Age of Bar Mitzva Defined I By RABBI SAMUEL FOX (Copyright 1982, JTA, Inc.) The age of 13 is chosen as the age in which a boy be- comes Bar Mitzva. This age is mentioned in the Mishna (Tractate Avoth I. 5:21) as the age in which a male is first held responsi- ■ •• ble for the fulfillment of the , commandments of the Jewish faith. _ The talmudic literature derives this from a biblical - reference to Levi, the son of the Patriach Jacob, who was referred to as a man (Genesis 34:25) when, ac- cording to the talmudic comments, he was 13 years of age (Tractate Nazir 29b). The full expression of the term Bar Mitzva is found in the Talmud (Baba Metzia 96a) and means to refer to a boy who is considered as "subject to the rule of the commandments." An Independence Celebration Friday, October 1, 1982 45 Europe Racked by Anti-Semitism NEW YORK — Some 55 in Italy, two each in Great incidents of anti-Semitism 'Britain, Holland, Ireland — ranging from anti- and Sweden, and one each Jewish graffiti to the bomb- in Denmark, . Germany, ing and machine-gunning of Norway and Spain. Jews — occurred in 13 - — European countries during M ack Pitt the summer, the Anti- Defamation League of Bnai and his Brith reported. Orchestra According to a survey plus prepared by the-league's paris-based European Disco office, there were 15 inci- Music just for you dents reported in France; 13 in Greece; six each in Au- 358-3642 stria and Switzerland; three mils ■ _ g ood cSeLtzvz. Watt" New York Seltzer Water Co. One of the major annual events of Israel's Inde- pendence Day in the spring is the march in Jerusalem passing the Old City walls. • No Salt • No Sugar • No Calories Call Us For Your Nearest Distributor TOWNSEND 7-2524 12227 TWELFTH Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Kosher. Poultry . But Didn't Know Who to Ask By Murray L. Katz, President, Empire Kosher Foods, Inc. Those of us involved in the kosher food business are, naturally enough, constantly. asked the question, "What exactly is kosher?" Kosher refers to the style and tech- _ pique of processing a product or group of products through means which are in accordance with the Jewish Dietary Laws, created thousands of years ago and passed down from generation to generation. The beginning of the real commer- cial processing of frozen kosher poul- try in this country began in 1935 with the invention of a dry chicken pluck- ing machine by an Englishman. While that machine was incredibly noisy, it conformed to the Mosaic law that chickens should not be soaked in hot water before plucking. And the ma- chine allowed mass production of the kosher product. Kosher poultry processing involves constant, intense. inspection during all phases, including ritual hand-slaughter- ing of each bird. The result is unques- tionably a very high quality product. In most cases, it is more so than a simi- lar, non-kosher product. Processing of kosher poultry is quite different from any other form of processing, and more costly, I might add. For example, we do not use hot or warm water in defeathering or at any time in the processing of kosher poul- try products. Rabbinical law dictates that only cold water shall be used. And, as is often the case, there is valid hygienic logic behind this religious regulation. Hot water processing opens the pores of the poultry and permits the entry of, any undesirable matter and bacteria floating in the heated water. Non-kosher chickens and turkeys are processed with water heated be- tween 125 degrees and 132 degrees, • which is when bacterial growth i's at its highest level. And since chickens at that stage may absorb the bloody, heated. water into their internal sys- tem, the threat exists with those chickens_ of possible contamination in a communal bath. The cold water processing of poul- try, then, is the most desirable for health reasons, and while it is a more costly proceSs, it results in a superior product.' At Enipire, let me note, our ice-cold, deep-well mountain water is constantly held at temperatures that retard bacterial growth. All kosher poultry is soaked and submerged completely in running tap water for no less than one-half hour to loosen all blood particles, and then is hung on a drip line to free it of water prior to salting, which is also required by the Jewish Dietary Laws. The birds are now hand-salted inter- nally and externally, and stacked .cor- rectly to drain for no less than one hour so that the salt loosens and ab- sorbs any remaining blood. After salting, the birds are rinsed through three separate vats of run- ning cold water so as to remove the salt and cleanse the bird. At Empire, all poultry is chilled to under 40 degrees -before packing in order to longer retain its freshness and quality. All Empire poultry and the entire plant and equipment are under the supervision of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, which accounts for the (U) you notice on kosher poultry products and which symbol denotes the fact that the products are indeed in accordance with the dietary laws. Among our employees are rabbis who serve on the line as full-time in- speCtors. The rabbis, -uniformed in hard hats, white smocks, plastic aprons and rubber boots — stringently supervise the entire processing through the plant. They are all mem- bers, of course, of the aforementioned Union. Each and every Empire bird is checked for wholesomeness by United States Government inspectors. However, many birds which may pass this Government inspection arc still found to be unacceptable EMPIRE KOSHER FOODS IS PROUDLY DISTRIBUTED BY: under Jewish Dietary Laws when checked by the Rabbinical super- visors who are looking for the slightest imperfections all along the line.,—arrd who, I guarantee you, are critical. Finally, a wing tag is put on the bird to certify that it's kosher — the Rab- binical seal of approval, and the customer's guarantee to the fact. In short,, kosher processing requires additional processing techniques and procedures, as well as carefully con- trolled inspections throughout the en- tire production system. The result is .a product of higher quality, and unfortunately, higher cost as well. However, it is not necessarily an ethnic product: There is nothing par- ticularly 'Jewish' about an Empire kosher chicken. Aside from the fact that the processing is in accordance with the dietary laws, it is not spiced or sea- soned in any particular way. It is sim- ply processed differently, and we feel in a,better way. Anyone who thinks about it will re- member that when you eat Empire kosher poultry, you're getting a really fine, clean taste to the meat which is extremely tender. There's never a gamy flavor or stringy texture to our chickens and turkeys. If the frozen food industry is the backbone of the American feeding system today, certainly the frozen kosher food producers are depended on to an ever greater extent by the hun- dreds of thousands of people who maintain the kashruth strict adher- ence to the Jewish Dietary Laws. The frozen kosher food industry continues to seek new and improved frozen products for the quality con- scious consumer. We continue to ex- pand and plan for future products and • markets. CITY FOOD SERVICES, INC. DETROIT 894-3000 Call Empire Toll Free 1-800-233-7177 Telex: 84-2538 •