WHAT’S KOSHER FOR PASSOVER? THE OU’S ANNUAL PASSOVER GUIDE IN A COLORFUL NEW FORMAT HAS ALL THE ANSWERS
In a colorful new format and as usual crammed full of information to facilitate Passover preparation and observance, the OU Guide to Passover 5768/2008 is now available. An annual special issue of OU’s Jewish Action magazine, the Guide has been redesigned and filled with color features as well as advertising.
In recognition that this year Passover begins on Saturday night, the Guide includes a section which explains what to do when Passover falls immediately following Shabbat, as it does this year, on April 19.
The heart of the Guide features food and other products that are approved for Passover use. The OU has compiled two basic lists:
• Items that must have an P appear on the label, such as baking mixes, baked products, beverages, candy, condiments, dairy products, matzah products, meat and poultry, olive oil, snack food, wine and liqueurs;
• Items that do not require special Passover certification (although they do need a standard symbol) such as aluminum foil, candles, cleansers, and paper goods.
This year’s edition also includes guidelines concerning the use of medicines on Passover, Passover recipe substitutes, a glossary of common Passover terms, and advice on shopping after Passover.
Additionally, the Guide contains essential information for observing the holiday and articles on making a kitchen kosher for Passover, as well as guidelines for the seder and the counting of the Omer, the 49 days that lead to the Festival of Shavuot. Listed in the Guide are the latest possible times to eat leavened bread (chametz), and for burning chametz, as well as candle lighting times for Passover in various cities across the United States and Canada.
“Very soon we will see crowds of people searching the Passover aisles in the supermarkets with the OU Passover Guide in their hands,” declared Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, OU Executive Vice President.
The Guide, with a press run of more than 100,000 copies, will be available at ShopRite at the customer service desk and at many smaller kosher supermarkets as well. Yeshiva/day schools and OU synagogues have also received copies of the Guide, and it will be directly available through the mail to all OU members and Jewish Action subscribers. It can be accessed on the OU website, www.oupassover.org. To order individual copies for $3 each, contact Roberta Levine at roberta@ou.org or 212-613-8125.