Jewish Herald Voice • October 24, 2013 Pg. 11
By Menachem Posner
Naomi Bier says she was surprised to learn that hot stones can sometimes be used in the koshering process, whereby a kitchen is purged of traces of unkosher food.
“I always knew that I wanted to have a kosher home myself when I grow up, so I decided that I might as well start living the future now,” says 24-year-old Bier, who is studying for her PhD in microbiology and molecular genetics at University of Texas. Since she is a regular attendee at Chabad of Uptown functions, asking Rabbi Chaim Lazaroff to kosher her kitchen was the natural step for the Baltimore native.
“Basically, the unkosher residue is purged from the utensil in the same manner that it entered,” explains Lazaroff who has koshered dozens of kitchens in the Houston area over the years. “So a pot that absorbed liquid traces of non-kosher is purged through dipping it in boiling water. There are some instances however where it is hard to get super-boiling hot water to every surface that needs it, and we heat up the already hot water through running a hot stone over it. Other items need direct dry heat. Oven racks, for example, need a stronger form of cleansing with the application of direct flame heat.”
Rabbi Chaim Lazaroff and Yigal Rappeport pause for a lighthearted moment in the koshering dipping process.
Lazaroff says that he regularly helps young people take the plunge to go kosher. “There are so many kosher items out there, that it is really a much smaller sacrifice than they often think at first, “says Lazaroff. “Kosher is a great way to keep a constant connection to your Jewish identity and it’s really good for your soul.”
It was just a few weeks later that 21-year-old Moshe Stein and three friends arrived in Houston from Israel in September. Since kitchen in the apartment that was arranged for him and his coworkers was stocked with non-kosher dishes and appliances, they contacted Lazaroff.
On their day off, under Lazaroff’s guidance, and Stein and his friends spent the morning scouring the kitchen appliances and boiling a gargantuan kettle of water. Once the utensils were clean and the water was boiled, the dishes were immersed one by one. Others were heated with a blowtorch until they glowed.
Additionally, dishes that are purchased from a non-Jew must be immersed in the waters of a mikveh, a ritual bath. “Rabbi Chaim was really awesome,” says Stein, “he took us to the mikveh and helped us make sure that everything in the kitchen was kosher to the highest standard.”
“There is technique here as well as halachic know how, so don’t try this if you don’t have experience and the right equipment,” Lazaroff cautions, “but the good news is that I am happy to come over and kosher anyone’s kitchen—it’s what Chabad rabbis do!”
As part of the Mehadrin Kashrus of Texas Kosher awareness campaign, you may have someone help you kasher your home and guide you through the entire kashrus and kashering process. Contact the MKT kashrus administrator, Rabbi Betzalel Marinovsky at 713-777-2000 for more details.