64 Friday, November 26, 1982
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
A New Booklet by Conservative Units Aids Kashrut Observance
NEW YORK — Jewish
dietary laws permit the in-
dividual to eat 661 different
species of fish as opposed to
52 that are forbidden, ac-
cording to a new 110-page
booklet just published by
the Rabbinical Assembly
and the United Synagogue
of America, the rabbinic
and congregational arms of
Conservative Judaism.
The volume serves as a
guideline for those keeping
kosher homes and advo-
cates that others consider
this observance as part of
their daily living habits.
The booklet emphasizes
that kosher doctrines are
not prescribed for health
reasons but "to intensify the
reality of holiness in daily
life and the religious com-
mitment of the individual."
The basic rules for
keeping kosher are bibli-
cally rooted. The dietary
laws demand that meat
and dairy dishes be sepa-
rated, best accomplished
by maintaining two sets
of dishes and utensils.
The basis for such a sep-
aration comes from
Exodus 23:19:
You shall not boil a kid in
its mother's milk.
"The Jewish Dietary
Laws" is divided into two
sections. Rabbi Samuel H.
Dresner, Deerfield Park, Ill.
writes on "The Meaning for
Our Times," and Prof.
Seymour Siegel of the
Jewish Theological Semi-
nary and David M. Pollock
outline "A Guide to Kosher
Observance."
According to Siegel and
Pollock, the modern
technological age, in utiliz-
ing new chemical and food
processing and preserving
techniques, presents one of
the greatest problems to the
religious interpreter of
kosher laws.
The booklet cites 42
additives from a list pre-
pared by Herman Friedman
and Gerald Greber of the
General Foods Corp., which
are acceptable as kosher.
These include casein, cream
of tartar, dextrose, glucose,
lactose, monosodium
glutamate, pepsin, vegeta-
ble gums and shortenings,
caragheen, mono and di-
glycerides.
In listing permissible
foods which can be eaten
with meat, the Siegel-
Pollock section cautions
that the user must care-
fully check the ingre-
dients of canned and fro-
zen products to make cer-
tain that milk or milk-
derivative products have
not been used.
Acceptable foods include
all fresh fruits and vegeta-
bles; all unprocessed grains
and cereals; milk and dairy
products, including cheese;
all fish that have fins and
scales except shellfish; eggs
from kosher fowl are per-
mitted, but any egg contain-
ing a speck of blood cannot
be used.
Regarding meat, the To-
rah, according to Siegel and
Pollock, clearly defines that
cud-chewing and hooved
animals are kosher. There-
fore beef, veal, lamb and
mutton may be eaten, but
the meat of swine and rab-
bits is prohibited.
The volume further states
that most domestic fowl are
acceptable, including ca-
pon, duck, goose, chicken,
turkey, partridge, pheas-
ant, Cornish hen, quail,
squab and turtle dove.
— The rules for the
kashering of meat are
carefully noted. The book
mentions that because
liver is filled with an ex-
cessive quantity of blood
it must be broiled, and
that ground meat must be
kashered, prior to grind-
ing.
Kashering meat requires
thorough washing, soaking
for at least 30 minutes to
make certain all of it is
covered, proper draining,
and finally an application of
medium-coarse salt to
eliminate any vestige of
remaining blood.
For a person on a salt-
restricted diet the book
prescribes a minimum use
of salt in kashering, fol-
lowed by boiling the meat
and subsequently discard-
ing the liquid: "If a physi-
cian determines the re-
sidual sodium even in this
instance is excessive, am-
monium chloride or potas-
slum chloride may be used
in the kashering process."
In his section, Rabbi
Dresner cites these biblical
passages as the basis for the
dietary laws:
• Ye shall not eat any-
thing that dieth of itself . . .
Thou shalt not seethe a kid
in its mother's milk.
(Deuteronomy 14:21).
• Ye shall not eat any flesh
that is torn of the beasts of
the field. (Exodus 22:30).
Rabbi Dresner concedes
that fewer kosher homes
exist today than in past
generations. He cites two
reasons, "the lack of knowl-
edge about keeping kosher
and the lack of will to do it."
The religious leader cites
recent gains made by the
Jewish religious commu-
nity, especially Conserva-
tive Judaism, in advancing
Jewish education and Sab-
bath observance, yet he be-
moans that "kashrut has
TAU Makes Oil Compatible With Water
TEL AVIV — Tel Aviv
University microbiologists
have developed a new
biotechnological product,
called emulsan, that can
alter the properties of oil,
rendering oil compatible
with water. The potential
applications of this find in-
clude fuel thinning, fuel
enhancenient, environ-
mental improvement and
industrial uses in such
fields as cosmetics, phar-
maceutics, textiles, deter-
gents and cleaning prod-
ucts, paints and agricul-
ture.
This is the continuation of
an initial discovery several
years ago by Tel Aviv Uni-
versity Professors Eugene
Rosenberg and David Gut-
nick of "oil-eating bacteria"
that could be used as an
environmental "oil-
mopper" to break down re-
sidual oil in oil tankers and
prevent the damage of oil
spills.
Tei Aviv University mic-
robiologists further de-
veloped a method of isolat-
ing the emulsan emitted by
these bacteria, so that the
results of the bacteria's
work could be achieved
without having to introduce
the bacteria themselves
into oil. This oil tank flush
has been developed to the
commercial production and
applications level by Pet-
Dr. Zinaida. Zosim and Profs. David Gutnick and
Eugene Rosenberg at Tel Aviv University's Mic-
robiology Laboratory.
roferm USA.
In developing this
method of flushing out oil
tankers with the emulsan
preparation, the Tel Aviv
University team, Profs. .
Gutnick and Rosenberg,
with Dr. Zinaida Zosim,
further discovered that
the result of the flush
combination created by
emulsan creates a stable
oil-water mix called
Emulsanosol, which is
capable of burning. One
of the potential applica-
tions being explored is
the possibility of using
the mix, which contains
up to 25 percent water, as
a new fuel source.
Fuel-water mixes are
known to burn more effi-
ciently and to be less pollut-
ant, and are used in some
racing cars and aircraft by
means of mechanical injec-
tion systems, as no biochem-
ical method has thus 'far
been developed to stabilize
the , mix. Emulsan sur-
rounds and coats oil drop-
lets and is water soluble,
thus stabilizing a compati-
ble mix of oil in water.
Emulsan action can also
reduce the viscosity of
heavy oil, making it readily
transportable through
pipelines. The Tel Aviv
University microbiologists
also discovered that emul-
san can be used to remove
oil from tar sands. The oil in
tar sands has remained
largely untapped due to
technological difficulties in
extracting the oil.
Petroferm USA, which
has brought the initial dis-
covery of the stage of com-
mercial application for
cleaning oil transport ves-
sels and storage facilities,
has provided a substantial
research grant to the Tel
Aviv University petroleum
microbiologists for further
development of its findings,
as well as incorporating
additional consultants from
MIT, Harvard, the Univer-
sity of Texas, the University
of Georgia, and the Norwe-
gian Institute of Technol-
ogy, in addition to its own
staff in Florida. They have
been instrumental in scal-
ing tip the initial findings
and brought them to a
commercial production
level for a variety of indus-
trial applications.
Beyond the use of
emulsan to clean out oil
tanks and aid in the pre-
vention of oil pollution, it
also has other
environmental protec-
tion potentials. Emulsan
has the property of bind-
ing metals, and thus
could potentially be used
to purify waste water and
remove toxic metallic
substances from bodies
of water near factories.
Emulsan, as a new
biotechnological emulsifier
of unique versatility and ef-
ficiency, is likely to make its
way into a broad variety of
industrial applications.
been consistently over-
looked."
Rabbi Dresner believes
that kashrut observance
can become part of the re-
newed interest on the part
of many Jews in Judaism
and religious values. He
stressed, "We deepen this
religious consciousness,
make them aware of Jewish
teachings and thus lead
these individuals back on
the path towards Jewish ob-
•
servance."
"American Jews have
been told that they must
belong to a synagogue,
but as yet they have not
been told what belonging
to a synagogue means,"
Rabbi Dresner stated.
"The Jewish Dietary
Laws" is available from the
United Synagogue Book
Service, 155 Fifth Ave.,
New York, N.Y. 10010.
There is a charge.
Bar-Ilan Shilo Temple Dig
Is Making Significant Finds
At left are storage jars found at the archeological
Shilo. At right is a black seal found at Shilo, and
its imprint.
RAMAT GAN — Ar- Bar-Ilan and members of
tifacts from the storehouse the Bnei Akiva, partici-
of the sanctuary at Shilo — pated in the Shilo dig.
where the prophets Eli and
Persons wishing to volun-
Samuel worshipped more teer for the 1983 dig can
than 3,000 years ago — write the Office of Academic
have been unearthed by an Affairs, Bar-Ilan Univer-
archeological team from sity, 527 Madison Ave.,
Bar-Ilan University.
New York, N.Y. 10022.
The discovery by the
* * *
team, headed by Israel Fin-
IQ,
Environment
kelstein of Bar-Ilan's De-
Links Dismissed
partment of Land-of-Israel
New attention is being
Studies, shed additional
light upon Jewish life in Is- devoted to the work of an
rael at the time of the Israeli psychologist who
Judges — about 1250-1050 dismisses the importance of
BCE. Shilo was the reli- IQ tests and rejects the idea
gious and political center of that a child who is vic-
Jewish life before timized by a poor environ-
Jerusalem became the capi- ment in early life can never
tal of the Jewish state dur- overcome it.
ing the monarchy of David.
Dr. Reuven Feuerstein, a
The city was destroyed by member of the psychology
the Philistines after a fierce department at Bar-Ilan
battle in 1050 BCE.
University, contends that
Included among the finds intellectual ability can be
were 20 pithoi (storage improved — but not by a
jars), each more than three
simple change of environ-
feet high, and a unique ment alone.
black seal.
According to Dr.
At the Shilo site, the Feuerstein, the human
Bar-Ilan research team, organism is "very plas-
completing the second
tic" and can indeed be
year of a five-year dig,
changed and modified.
also uncovered a lower
But many children do not
stratum dating back to learn merely from expo-
the Middle Bronze era —
sure to an altered
the time of the Hebrew
environment, or simply
Patriarchs, Abraham,
by observation. Such
Isaac and Jacob.
youngsters require what
"We are now close to the
he calls a "mediated
location of the sanctuary learning experience," in
where the Ark of the Cove-
which an experienced
nant rested after Joshua's
adult helps explain the
conquest of Canaan," said
change in environmental
Dr. Aaron Demsky, profes-
stimulus, and even helps
sor of biblical history of change the stimulus it-
Bar-Ilan and a member of self, if necessary.
the Shilo dig. Six years ago,
Most adults, including
when the Bar-Ilan ar-
many teachers, are not
cheological project began at
aware of the importance of
the Philistine farming vil-
active intervention and
lage of Izbet Sartah, Dr.
serve merely as passive —
Demsky discovered the
and often unsuccessful —
world's oldest version of the
dispensers of information,
Hebrew alphabet, a clay
the
Bar-Ilan University
potsherd dating back to
psychologist points out.
1200 BCE.
Culturally deprived chil-
"The discoveries at Shilo
dren, in particular, need
will greatly enhance our
understanding of life during more than mere exposure to
a new environment, Dr.
biblical times in the Holy
Feuerstein says. They are
Land," Dr. Demsky added.
Last summer, a team of often alienated from their
own culture and desper-
15 professional ar-
ately require mediated
cheologists, augmented by
learning.
student volunteers from
Cvi ■ I