Ask the OU: Rabbi Elefant on Pesach

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to Druzhba TV. Today we have a very special guest with us. Rabbi Moshe Elefant is the COO of the OU Kosher. He oversees certification and monthly inspection of 13,000 plants in 105 countries, as well as 850 representatives, 60 rabbinic coordinators, and 80 support staff. Wow, amazing operation that the OU runs headed by Rabbi Moshe Elefant. So, thank you very much, Rabbi, for being here with us today. It's just less than a week from Pesach. I know how busy is this for everyone, especially for you, to oversee and to run this major organization, the OU. So, before we going to start, I would like to just mention few resources that we have in the community just before Pesach. Baruch Hashem, for the past 35 years we publish Druzhba magazine. It's published by Or Natan. And basically, and my mom, Dr. Yacubov, thank you. To my mom, for 35 years, you have so much in in Druzhba, and it's all in the Russian language. Basically, it's This issue is dedicated to Pesach. You have so many articles. You have the candle lighting times. You have the brachot, halachot, the minhagim of the holiday. The brachot for for the candles, for the search of the chametz, for biur chametz, translated and transliterated into Russian. So, this is the new edition of Druzhba, available in print and available also online. We also publish for the 15th actually for 15 years, the 15th edition of the Haggadah, Haggadah shel Pesach, published by Or Natan. The Haggadah was translated and transliterated into Russian, also with Hebrew, with halachot. And this been done for the past 15 years. It's a beautiful Haggadah. It's available in all Judaica stores currently before Pesach. I would like to thank also my son, Rav Natan. And basically, Or Natan published the Haggadah shel Pesach um in Hebrew and also translated transliterated into English. And this is an amazing resource, an amazing and beautiful Haggadah that you have You have the Hebrew, you have the translation, you have transliteration, you have insight, halachot. And it was also recommended by the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef. So, it's a beautiful resource in the community. And we have two sizes, the regular size and the bigger size of the Haggadah, also available in all Judaica stores. And I would like to thank my son also for printing a booklet before Pesach with so much insights and so many stories that you can use and it's available free in all the shuls in the community. So again, Rabbi Elefant, thank you very much for taking the time. And can you give us a little bit of an overview of the OU and basically a little bit about Pesach before we start the questions and answers? Well, thank you and thank you for having me. And thank you for the wonderful work that you do for our Russian brothers and sisters who I was thinking as you were speaking that we were born in the United States to grow up here. So, we celebrate Passover every year. We try to do the best we can. But it's I guess not so easy for a person that was born in a free country and lived in a free country their entire lives to really have the feeling that Passover is supposed to bring of going from slavery, from the terrible situations that the Jews were in Egypt to freedom. So, we have to try to make it work. But people who came out of the Soviet Union, the former Soviet Union, and lived under such difficult circumstances and so difficult to be a Jew, and they tried to do everything to take away our religion from us, and yet come out from that background and come and try to do what we are supposed to do and try to celebrate the holiday in the way we're supposed to celebrate the holiday. And you have these Haggadahs and you have these other books that help teach them. You have your program. And people from that community are trying to be and do what's right, you really are the people who are celebrating Passover cuz you know what it means to go from slavery to freedom. We only have to imagine it. And we we are so impressed and salute you and salute your your community for what you're doing. And you should be able to continue to grow in your religious observance. You should be able to continue doing what you have to do. Um You're very much, Rabbi. By the way, the gematria of the former Soviet Union and Egypt is the same gematria. And like you said, 70 years under communism, it wasn't easy. Wherever you have been, if it's a Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, and Georgia, it was right, it was a hardship. And we had our own yetziat mitzrayim, our own exodus from the former Soviet Union. So, yes, thank you very much. >> I meet a Russian Jew and I see him observant and I see trying to bring up nice Jewish families, I think of the words netzach Yisrael lo yishaker. The Jewish people are going to be forever. They tried so hard. They tried so hard to eliminate us, certainly spiritually, take away our religion. And you and your brothers and sisters fought back. Kol hakavod. And that is why the Jewish people will remain forever. Thank you very much. So, as you asked, we're we're coming to Passover. And you know, Passover is the holiday of eating. Truth is, every Jewish holiday is about eating. That's a very big part of who we are because we really believe as we know medically they say, you are what you eat. People who eat the healthy diet are going to be healthier. And people don't eat such healthy foods are unfortunately not going to be so healthy. But it doesn't only apply to the health benefits of the food, the nutritional value of the food. The spiritual value of the food is certainly going to have a very significant influence on who you are spiritually. A person who only eats kosher food is a person who could do mitzvot. A person who only eats kosher food is a person who can learn Torah. A person eats kosher food is a person who could bring up a Jewish family. And if we want our children to grow up to be good Jews, we have to feed them the right diet. And the right diet is kosher food. We at the OU are Baruch Hashem, thank God, very involved, as you said in your introductory remarks, in certifying food around all around the United States, all around the country, all around the world. And our mission is really what you said. Our mission is to serve these kosher food to all these people so they should be able to grow spiritually. If that's our mission and that's what we're busy with literally all of the time, 24/7, it only becomes all the more so during Passover where we have all these rules and restrictions about what we're allowed to have and what we're not allowed to have. And therefore, we're very very focused on Passover. You know, you kept You said in your introductory remarks that that was the busy time. It's really not the busy time. Because all of the food that we certify for Passover was made a while ago. Now we're just answering questions. And now we're giving speeches. But that's a very important part of what we do. And that's very important to our mission. And Passover is a holiday that the basis of the holiday we know is that we're not allowed to eat anything that's leavened. The five grains, um rye, spelt, oats, wheat, barley, we If you leave them in water for 18 minutes, will become chametz, become leavened. And because the Jews, as the Bible tells us, when they left Egypt, they had to make sure that the bread doesn't rise. That's why on Passover we're not allowed to eat anything that's leavened or has that type of an ingredient in it. The most interesting point I can make about that is that the one food, the one food that we have to eat on Passover. I know people eat a lot of food on Passover, but there's only one food we have to eat. And that's the matzah that we ate at the sedarim. And actually, the only food in the entire Torah in nowadays that is a mitzvah to eat. You know, we always think about not eating as being healthy. But on Passover, eating the matzah at the seder is called eating healthy. And at the seder we're supposed to eat the matzah. And the matzah is a very interesting food cuz the matzah is probably the only food that we're going to eat on Passover that could really become chametz. The meat that we're going to eat can't become chametz. The potatoes we're going to eat can't become chametz. But the matzah is made out of flour and water. So, but the Torah tells us that's what we're supposed to eat on Pesach. And of course, make sure that it's made properly and made sure that it does not become chametz, that it doesn't become a dough that rises. So, the first thing that we all have to think about on Pesach is the matzah. Now, we should make sure to have matzah. We should have to have made sure to have matzah that's kosher for Pesach for the nights of Pesach. Besides that, besides that, we also supposed to only eat kosher for Passover food. And any food that has ingredients that could be not kosher for Passover we can't have. Also, because of all these concerns, almost all products that are labeled OUP that are kosher for Passover have a full-time rabbi at that production, when that product is made, to make sure that the equipment is kosher for Passover and that all the ingredients are kosher for Passover that you're going to enjoy on Passover. And the last point I would like to make before you start asking the questions that you or your community have is that Passover is also a holiday of of of customs. And the customs of every community and the customs of every family are a crucial crucial part of the holiday. Customs obviously begin and how you conduct the Seder. What did you see your father do at the Seder? What did you see your grandfather do at the Seder? Are you going to use the Seder I could talk about myself. I am the child of survivors of the Holocaust. So, my father every year at the Seder would take time out during the Seder and talk to us, his children and his grandchildren, about the experiences that he had, the difficulties that they had until they were ultimately liberated and saved at World War II. And every person, you know, has had situations that God has saved them and God has done him and God has been good to him. And God has helped him with a family. And God has listened to our prayers. And the time of the Seder is A, to remember those things. B, to tell them to our family, to our children, to our grandchildren. And C, to pray for more. You know, there's nothing wrong for asking for more in our religion. Just because God was good to us, doesn't mean he has to stop. He should continue. And that was our traditions that I believe, besides the food that we eat, because we're about eating. But besides the food that we eat, take that special moment. Those are very the Seder, the couple hours of the Seder are such precious precious moments. And don't waste them. Use them to teach and [snorts] grow. We will all be the beneficiaries. And your children will look back one day and say, "I remember my father, I remember my mother, I remember my grandfather, I remember my grandmother doing this by the Seder." And they're going to pass it on to their children. And that's what the way we spoke about before will ensure the eternity of the Jewish people. Wow. Yeah, beautiful. Um and Rabbi, I just want to mention that most of our viewers are Bukharian Jews. So, we eat rice. Our minhag was not to eat kitniyot. Although many who immigrated to Israel and here started eating kitniyot. I know that still a vast majority of the community don't eat kitniyot besides rice. So, we're going to ask we're going to start with the first question. Some of the questions been repeated when they been emailed to us. So, we're going to ask only once. We speak about coffee and tea unflavored during the year that don't require certification. What about Pesach coffee and tea unflavored? So, coffee and tea on Pesach, plain plain coffee and plain tea do not need supervision. However, decaffeinated coffee and decaffeinated tea need supervision. During the year, not Passover, yes. And then the other thing is flavored coffee and flavored tea need supervision even on Passover and certainly all year round as well. Why do the decaffeinated coffee and tea need supervision? Well, decaffeinated, as the name implies, is you start with the coffee bean with the caffeinated and you have to take out the caffeinate. The caffeine. And there different methods on how to take out the coffee and tea. And therefore, many one of the ways that it could be done is with alcohol. And whenever you think about alcohol on Passover, you need to be concerned that that alcohol is not kosher for Passover, cuz alcohol could come from grain. That would be very very not kosher for Passover. And because of that, we we don't recommend any decaffeinated coffee or tea decaffeinated coffee or tea without a proper supervision. Thank you. What about salt and sugar? So, salt plain salt is fine. Plain salt is fine. Iodized salt is certainly not acceptable, cuz iodized salt the iodide that they're putting on the salt could be connected to the salt with ingredients that are problem for Passover. But I want to make a very important point. And I think it's a good time to make the point right at the beginning of our conversation. You know, thank God we live in a time and in a place where there's an abundance of kosher for Passover certified food. So, you know, there are certain foods that are not available kosher for Passover and certain people must have it. You know, unfortunately, there are people that are living on these types of formulas and nutritionals. That's a separate conversation. But if you go to the store and there's food that's available with a kosher for Passover supervision, that's what that's what you should buy for Passover. And that that's such an important point. I can't stress it enough. If it's available kosher for Passover, then why are you asking? Just buy it. If it's not available, then we can have a conversation. Great. Um another question we have here, spring water. Uh and unflavored seltzer. Uh So, spring water is fine. Unflavored seltzer, again, if you don't have any other type of seltzer available, then there's room for leniency. But if there's a seltzer with a Passover supervision, that's preferable. Okay, great. Um another question that we got, it's paper goods and plastic goods. We speaking about disposable and paper plates, let's say, utensils, plastic ware, etc. They're all fine. All the paper goods, plastic, plastic silverware, etc. They're all fine. Uh the paper goods as opposed to the plastic goods, with don't we have >> people that are concerned, we have told you it's not a problem. What I do tell people is when they buy the rolls of paper towels, they should not use the first sheet and the last sheet of the roll, cuz they could be glue and that glue could be an issue. So, if we speaking about the the the Rabbi just right now mentioned Bounty or a paper towels, we also have we fry fish and after frying the fish, many of the people put the fish right on a paper towel. Um basically just to to soak the oil from the from the fish. Doesn't it create a problem if it's uh >> First of all, it's not a Russian custom, cuz we do it also. Okay. So, you have that's number one. And number two, it's not a problem. Okay. Uh what about aluminum foils and trays? So, again, cuz we see some of them with O U and some of them with Yeah, so so the reality is, and it's not specifically a Passover issue, they do coat the aluminum foil and the pan, it shouldn't stick. It again, usually what they using is mineral oil, which is not a problem for Passover. If you could get something or not a problem at all, but if it's available with kosher supervision, kosher supervision for Passover, that is preferable. But if not, you could use it anyway. Okay. Another question that we had here, it's about mouthwash and toothpastes. So, in terms of mouthwash and toothpaste, there are these various books that are printed. Rabbi Besser has a book. Rabbi Blumenkrantz has a book that list various toothpaste and mouthwash. At the very minimum, at the very minimum, one should only use those tooth mouths, toothpaste, or mouthwash that are listed in the book. If you really want to do even better, and again, I I I I could tell you I do that, but I can't tell anybody to do to do it, is to buy those that are supervised for Passover. You are putting into your mouth. And it's Passover. But again, if if you want to use a specific brand that you're used to or you think works better for you, if they're in that book and those books are by Basor by Blumenkrantz, then that would be acceptable. As far as I remember reviewing Rabbi Blumenkrantz's book, he said the the major brands like Palmolive and Crest and Aim are okay. Okay. Now >> I just was asked yesterday, so I looked it up. I could tell you that most Listerine brands are also fine for the mouthwash. Okay. Great. Thank you. Vitamins and supplements is another issue that we that basically our viewers raised. So vitamins and supplements is a very is a very hot topic. Very, very hot topic. Why do I say it's a very hot topic? Cuz I I want to first establish something. You know, a lot of people call about medicines. So, let's establish the following. If somebody has a chronic condition, the definition of a chronic condition does not mean that Has v'shalom you're laying in the hospital. That's not what it means. Somebody has a condition which is considered medically a serious condition. Diabetes, heart condition, blood pressure, cancer. I'm not a doctor. So I'm not mentioning all the conditions. And they're taking a medicine for those conditions. They're perfectly fine. They're walking in the street. They're working. They're doing. But they have that condition and they're taking a medicine for those conditions. And the pills that they're taking are pills that you just swallow. I cannot stress I cannot stress enough, emphasize enough, just take the medicine. You're not being religious by not taking the medicine. You're doing the wrong thing if you're not taking the medicine. Number one. Number two. Vitamins is much more complicated because vitamins is not a medicine. It's not like somebody has a condition and the vitamin is something that's the medicine. It's wants to be stronger, wants to be healthier. So, if it's something that's a liquid or chewable pill, unless it's absolutely necessary and the doctor tells you it's absolutely necessary, you shouldn't take it. If it's a pill that you swallow, so again, if your doctor doesn't feel it's that necessary and you could skip a week, just skip the week. If on the other hand your doctor feels that you should be taking it, I remember I'm sure we all remember a couple of years ago this time of the year, a lot of us were think were were not well with COVID. And a lot of doctors was strongly urging people to take vitamin C and vitamin D and zinc. And you're taking them as a pill that you swallow, that's okay. There are many companies that have supervision for the whole year, but not for Passover. And what I recommend is that you could call those companies and say, again, if the doctor tells you that they really want you to take that vitamin and ask them, is it chametz or is it not? Many times they're just kidneys. And certainly people in the in the Bukharian community have less of a problem, but even people in the Ashkenazi community, if it's a pill that you're swallowing and you're taking it because you need to be taking it and it's only kidneys, we will take it as well. So, the short answer is medicine take, preferably a pill that you swallow. Other nutritionals and vitamins, you have to look at each situation individually. Thank you. Um another issue is the the fruits currently, even fresh fruits, they have wax on them sprayed on them. Uh you have the apples that are very shiny, they're very you can feel even, you know, that they do it. Uh the oranges are very, you know, orange in color, etc. Do we have any issue with the fruits No, they're fine. They're fine. There are people, again, there are customs and there are people that any fruit or vegetable that they eat on Passover, they peel because of what you're speaking about, but technically they're fine. Okay. Uh eggs on Pesach that we have there any issues or There are no issues with eggs on Passover. Um you could eat eggs on Passover. There are people that are careful always to wash off on Passover the outside of the egg first, the shell. Okay. Now, we as Bukharian Jews also we eat rice on Pesach. Uh what the Rabbi can tell us about rice? So So, rice is as follows. There's rice that's not enriched, Basmati rice, are perfectly fine for Sefardim. Um enriched rice, most rice sold in the United States by law has to be enriched with different vitamins. Um I think you can eat it without a problem. If you could find a brand that's not enriched, or you could find a brand that's listed as as being checked that it's fine, that's better. But I think a person of Sefardi who's eating rice on Pesach can eat all plain rice, not flavored, but plain rice, Basmati rice, you could have it all. We have also the custom to check the rice before Pesach. Some of the custom to do I would I would love to learn how to do it. Uh yeah. Um another question that we have here that always is a concern of two Bukharian Jews is we have so much dried fruit that come from Uzbekistan. We have the big nice raisins that come from Uzbekistan. Uh and I know that the OU certifies one product from Uzbekistan. If I'm not mistaken, it's a dry apricot. Um so we have dried fruit that come from Uzbekistan. We have the raisins come from Uzbekistan. Um so the issue is first question is throughout the year the raisins and especially on Pesach. The Rabbi I I have to tell you that we believe that dried all dried fruit all year round and especially for Pesach should be certified. Because they use different coatings on the rice on the raisins and on the fruits. They shouldn't stick together. They should get dried properly and they could be oils, they could be all other types of things and it should have a supervision. Mhm. So am I correct Rabbi the OU certifies today one type of dried fruit from Uzbekistan? If If they want more, we'll be happy to do it. Okay. This was my question. Why not more because you have so many items that come. And so basically raisin needs certification. If it's not certified, uh so it's a problem for Pesach. And and there's no reason that we shouldn't be able to give the supervision even in Uzbekistan. We have Rabbis that go there. Right. >> There are Rabbis that are there. We have Rabbis that travel there, too. Right. Right. Correct. Okay. Um so this is most of the questions that we got here. There is a question about mushroom because Rabbi Blumenkrantz mentioned so what is the OU take on mushroom? >> OU's position is that mushrooms that are certified kosher could be used for Pesach. There's a question on what the mushrooms grow. Right. They grow on something that's chametz, but the OU's position is that that what they grow on is completely nifsal m'achilas kelev. It's not edible. It's terrible and therefore doesn't make a difference. Okay. Therefore we recommend that if it's certified, then it's canned mushroom, there is right, there is less of a problem. But if it's a fresh mushroom, The same. The same. What you do have to check, again, this is not a specific Passover issue, it's a all year round issue, is that there's no worms in the mushroom. Correct. Right. Before you eat it, you have to open it up and examine what's going on inside the mushroom. Right. Right. Uh correct. Um okay, this is basically most of the questions that we got. Anything else that should be of a concern? Uh something that is Again, I I like to I like to say one more thing. This is very, very, very important. Um people are going to stores to buy food for Passover. And many stores have a special Passover store or they have a special Passover section. And the assumption is that everything that's in that store in that section is kosher for Passover. Right? So I want to tell you a terrible story. One year erev Pesach before the holiday I got a call from a woman. This woman had bought, I don't know if it was gefilte fish, but women have bought gefilte fish. Rolls of gefilte fish. She bought 24 rolls of gefilte fish. Wow. And she bought it in a Passover store, Passover section. And on erev Pesach she realized that they weren't kosher for Pesach. Wow. So, this is a nightmare. What does she do with the fish? What does she do with the pot? What does she do with it? A lot of problems. And you know what the best >> Especially with the gefilte fish that they add chametz into it. They put chametz into the gefilte fish. >> Right. They put They put breadcrumbs. Right. It's chametz chametz. Chametz chametz, you're right. And you know what the worst part of the story is? It could have been avoided. Because when she got the fish she should have just looked at the bag. She should have seen is there a Passover supervision or not? And if she would have seen that there isn't, we would never have this problem. So, what I what I need to share is that if you're going to the store and it's a Passover store, Passover section and you pick something up don't assume don't assume that it's kosher for Pesach unless you see a Passover certification on it. I can't stress that enough. You know, everybody's so interested and and that's why I guess we're having this discussion. Everybody's so interested in doing what's right. And you only want to buy kosher for Pesach food. And you try to do that and then you could get so disappointed. Just please check. Well, thank you very much. Thank you. Really appreciate Rabbi Elephant. Thank you for your time. Thank you for the knowledge. Thank you for everything that you do. Uh you know, and I it's unbelievable to major operation and we are so lucky in this generation that we have a tens of thousands of products, uh ingredients that are kosher uh and then it's uh it's uh we would like that to thank again the OU uh you Rabbi Elephant uh for heading such a major organization, for being here uh with us um and I would like also to uh see you throughout the year because we have uh many other kosher Okay, we'll try. We'll try. The main thing >> is that everybody should have a happy holiday, a healthy holiday and then we cry a straw here and especially in Israel. We are all our brothers and sisters in Israel. We should already see Yeshua Hashem that Hashem should save us and that we shouldn't have all these terrible terrible situations going on and that Hashem should already listen to our tfilot to our prayers and bring Mashiach and that we'll all be going together. And it doesn't make a difference what type of Jew, Sephardi, Ashkenazi, Bukharan, Hungarian, Polish, they're all the same. And together we'll march to Israel. Shabbat Shalom. Amen. Amen. Amen. Chag kasher vesameach. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.