Orthodox Union (NCSY)

That has been around now.

The Orthodox Union has made a major push to create awareness and resources so that the Jewish community isn't hiding anymore around money, but talking about it openly.

And I recommend Living Smarter Jewish for other questions that come up budgeting, debt management, other things that people that are just starting out that can use some guidance.

I would recommend that part.

I'm your host, Rabbi Ezra Sarna.

Today, we're sitting down in the OU kitchen with Rabbi Dov Schreier.

He oversees the hidden infrastructure of kosher restaurants, manages a massive network of mashkichim, and is an expert in the intense operational and halachic realities of the food service industry.

Rabbi Schreier, thank you for joining us today.

My pleasure.

So a lot of people know that the OU gives hashkacha to food companies, factories, but I think a lot of people don't realize that the OU is also involved in restaurants and food service.

I wanna ask you, what is the difference between giving hashkacha to a factory and giving hashkacha to a restaurant?

So the first big difference is the daily operation.

Jewish organizations across the spectrum condemned them.

The Orthodox Union and Agudath Israel stressed that Orthodox Judaism rejected both Holocaust denial and the delegation's politics.

Satmar leaders also denounced the visit.

Why would Netareh Karta meet leaders hostile to Israel? Members argue that Zionism falsely claims to represent every Jew, so visibly religious Jews must demonstrate that Judaism and the Israeli state are not identical.

It also recently introduced a chatbot to help users navigate its texts.

The Orthodox Union, meanwhile, has an AI-powered personalized Torah study app, but they don't claim to be a replacement for Havruta learning.

Rabbi Hollander's own misadventures with an AI Havruta left him with a big takeaway.

So if we start using Chachi BT as like the arbiter of truth, we lose that beauty of the tapestry of Jewish tradition.

Okay, we'll stop here.

Everybody there, IANJ should be up, uh, ou.org.

At a School Choice conference that year, Howie Bagelman sat on a panel that discussed the strategy.

At the time, he was deputy director of public policy for the advocacy arm of the Orthodox Union, a prominent Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization.

He offered guidance to those who might want to get into vouchers.

Special needs is a very easy way to get into this business, Bagelman said.

And he's amazing.

He now just became the head of the Orthodox Union t- together with, uh, another, a friend of mine named Josh Joseph.

And there were people out there who were saying to him, "Hey, listen, don't do it.

Like, you were just, you were just, like you're the head rabbi of this synagogue.

Don't, don't become the head of the Orthodox Union" which is a major national organization.

Like, do what you're doing and for lots of good reasons and this and that.

But I think a part of it was, I think a part of it is this kind of allergy to seeing religious leaders be ambitious.

Go for it.

And let's even maybe, uh, email them and say thank you to Jacob Horowitz is at the OU.

I think it's jack@ou.org. And, uh, I can't remember David Hochhauser's email right now, but, uh, maybe we should start an email campaign thanking them for putting this stuff online and making it available to you.

Today, we're gonna talk about Shmita issues.

And the question that was facing Rav Shlomo Zalman was the Kedushei Sheviit, whether there's a-- we have to treat as produce of Sheviit cotton fibers.

And you can watch it happen in the numbers.

OU Kosher is founded in nineteen twenty-three.

Its director leaves in nineteen thirty-five and founds OK Laboratories, so you already have a competitor within twelve years.

Coca-Cola seeks certification in the nineteen thirties, which tells you the demand had reached mass market consumer goods.

When a soft drink company is asking for a hechsher, you're no longer in a niche.

Give me the growth curve, because I think this is the number that makes the whole argument.

By nineteen fifty, the OU has about forty mashgichim, the supervisors.

They're certifying one hundred and eighty-four products for thirty-seven companies.