I PURELY COMMENTARY

Kashering Lettuce And Testing Ceremonials

cquisition of knowledge about
Jewish laws and ceremonials is
attained in the manner of
shealot u-teshuvot — the raising of ques-
tions and providing answers. A question
now raised is whether vegetables, the
products of Mother Earth, are kosher in
accordance with our dietary laws.
This question is now raised and in-
troduced by a report from Jerusalem. In
a report credited to the Jerusalem Post
Foreign Service, thereby giving it
special connotation, Larry Derfner
reported this story under the title, "Cos,
it's kosher cuisine":

Every precept, every new problem,
might raise questions of adequacy or ap-
proval. Dietary laws frequently call for
defining. The current one about lettuce
and certain grains arouses perplexity.
Will it be a cause for dispute?
There is much in Jewish obser-
vances that needs explaining and the
regulations have not always resulted in
total acceptance.
Take as an example shlogen kapores.
Yom Kippur is already many days in the
past; yet a reference to a disputable
practice is not measured by time.
The definition for shlogen kapores
appears in Gateway to Judaism under
the heading of "The Ceremony of Kap-
parot . . ." as follows:

The age-old halachic dilem-
ma — how to make lettuce
kosher — appears to have been
resolved by a religious Gaza
Strip moshay.
Lettuces are a problem
because many microscopic bugs
find a home in them.
At Moshav Gadid, farmers
have discovered a way of grow-
ing bug-free lettuce and have
gained an official kashrut
certificate.
The moshav grows the let-
tuce in greenhouses, protected
from insects by spraying
insecticides.
The lettuce was a godsend
for kosher eaters, because as
one farmer said: "According to
the halachah, eating one tiny
bug is as bad as eating five
pigs."
Since its introduction last
month, more than 10,000 heads
of letuce have been sold, with
most going to El Al, yeshivot,
hotels and restaurants.

The idea behind this
ceremony is that of vicarious
atonement, whereby an animal
may be substituted for a person.
In Leviticus 12:23, the scapegoat
of Azazel was sent to the
wilderness carrying the sins of
the people. The custom of Kap-
parot developed after the fall of
the Temple when the sins of the
individual were transferred to a
fowl which was swung three
times around his head with the
following prayer: "This fowl is
my substitute and my ransom
and shall be killed that I may
survive for a long and peaceful
life." It was customary to use a
chicken for women and a
rooster for men. After the
ceremony the fowl was given to
a needy family.
The ceremony of Kapparot
has all but disappeared among
the Jewish people. Where it is
still being practiced, money is
substituted for the fowl and is
usually given to charity.

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Editor Emeritus

A

Now comes the intriguing current
approach to shlogen kappores and the
advocacy of it in a largely populated
Jewish area of New York, and some in
New Jersey. The Orthodox oriented
weekly Jewish Press carried this adver-
tisement with a picture of a chicken:
"Come Shlog Kappores — the Tradi-
tional Atonement Service using a Live
Chicken . . . All Kapores and proceeds
are donated to Tzedaka ."
A location apparently for the ser-
vice and a list of synagogues was pro-
vided for the fulfillment of this mitzvah.
This is where the adherence to
shlogen kappores invites knowledge of

The aim is to learn and
respect differing
opinions, even on
practices that have been
disputed.

the treatment of the practice by the
learned and rabbinical authorities.
The practice of it has been both ap-
proved and ridiculed. Even Joseph Caro,
the author of the Shulhan Arukh, The
Code of Jewish Law, 1488-1575) called
it foolish. But the famous scholar Moses
Isserles (1510-1572) approved it.

The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia

has an interesting explanation of
kapporot. Another historically famous
scholar, Rabbi Moses ben Naham, per-
petuated as Nahmanides — 1195-1270
— went so far as to call the practice
pagan. The Universal Encyclopedia ar-
ticle lists the approving as well as disap-
proving scholars. The article states:

The origin of the custom is
unknown, but it can be traced
back as early as the Gaonic
period. Hai Gaon abolished it,

and Nahmanides forbade it as
pagan. Certain German Jewish
authorities of the Middle Ages,
such as Mordecai ben Hillel
(13th cent.), and Asher ben
Jehiel and his son Jacob (4th
cent.), author of the Arbaah
Turim, approved of it. Solomon
ibn Adret (13th cent.) and
Joseph Caro, author of the
Shulhan Aruch, rejected it as
foolish. On the other hand,
Polish rabbis, especially Moses
Isserles (16th cent.), and later on,
Isaiah Horowitz, defended it.
The custom represents a
relapse into the old idea of
sacrifice as a means of atone-
ment; the relapse is all the more
remarkable since, according to
Jewish laws, sacrifices may be
offered in the Temple only, and
nowhere else. It is not observed
by Reform or Conservative
Jews.
In Encyclopedia Judaica there is

another definition. In that article
several scholars called the practice "a
stupid custom:' There are many other
elements to this topic and the En-
cyclopedia Judaica article emphasized
the following:

The custom is practiced in
certain Orthodox circles on the
day before the Day of Atone-
ment (in some congregations
also on the day before Rosh
Hashanah or on Hoshana Rab-
ba). Psalms 107:10, 14, 17-21, and
Job 33:23-24 are recited; then a
cock (for a male) or a hen (for a
female) is swung around the
head three times while the
following is pronounced:
"This is my substitute, my

Continued on Page 44

Realism Mend In Children's Narratives

T

here has been a normalcy in nar-
rating children's stories. They are
either about the holidays or about
our heroes in history. Authors drew upon
the legendary.
One popular publishing group has
become realistic in tackling problems.
Karben Copies apparently has under-
taken to tell the very young about the
newest problems confronting them and
all of us. One of its newest stories tells
about Grandma who has lost her

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
(US PS 275-520) is published every Friday
with additional supplements the fourth
week of March, the fourth week of August
and the second week of November at
27676 Franklin Road, Southfield,
Michigan.

Second class postage paid at Southfield,
Michigan and additional mailing offices.

Postmaster: Send changes to:
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS,
27676 Franklin Road,
Southfield, Michigan 48034

$26 per year
$33 per year out of state
60' single copy

Vol. XCVI No. 12

2

November 17, 1989

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1989

memory. From that story the author and
illustrator undertook to alert the very
young about the Alzheimer illness. In
one of our recent issues attention was
called to that story under the heading
Grandma's Soup authored by Nancy
Kartowsky and illustrated by Shelly 0.
Haas. It tells how Grandma's ailment
was accepted as a lesson for the grand-
children she no longer recognized. My
comment was that this story proved that
"selecting reading material for children,
even the very young, needs explanatory
guidance!"
Now comes another approach to
realism, the treatment by Karben
Copies of the problem of mixed mar-
riages. It is a way of telling the young
readers that the problem exists, and the
description of it with respect for what I
treat as realism. It is told in the new
book by Mindy Avra Portnoy, illustrated
by Shelly 0. Hass, and entitled Mommy

school and celebrated Christmas as a
child.
That's when David learned, as the
publishers advocate about the book, that
"Daddies and children can become Jews
by choice also."
Then there is the revealing nar-
rative written by a female rabbi. Author
Portnoy draws upon the story of Ruth to
give her tale a scriptual annotation.
The story describes the steps to con-
version. David's mother's life story is an
account of how a girl born into a Chris-
tian environment becomes a devout and
observant Jewess.
Many books have been written about
mixed marriages. This is a story alerting
children to what is happening increas-
ingly in the Jewish experience.
The trend in this direction, which I
describe as realism, is worth serious con-
sideration. ❑

Never Went to Hebrew School.

Anticipating
Chanukah

The story is about David who, when
he was 6, found a photo in a family
album showing his mother next to a
Christmas tree. That's when he learn-
ed that his mother was not born a
Jewess, had not studied in Hebrew

T

he concerned publishers of
children's books are certain to
come forth with attractive stories

intended to inspire the Chanukah
theme. Karben Copies has already done
it with Malke's Secret Recipe — A
Chanukah Story by David A. Adler, il-
lustrated by Joan Halpern. Basing the
story on a Chelm fable, the reader is
guided humorously toward utilizing
latkes.
It is the manner in which the Chelm
theme is emphasized, as a reminder that
it is the name of a town with people
selected for ridicule, that the young
reader learns about the application of
common sense to foolhardiness.
Karben Copies supplements this
story with a book Let's Play Dreidel by
Gladys Gerwirtz and Roz Grossman. It
explains the traditional Chanukah
game with the Hebrew letters. It is il-
lustrated by Sally Springer.
Sheet music is provided along with
other games to be played with a spinn-
ing top — the dreidel.
Five dreidel songs, sung by Frances
T. Goldman and with an enthusiastic
chorus of children, are on tape. The
taped songs accompany this classic
undertaking.
Thus additional progress is made in
the publishing of children's books.

❑

