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Kashrut: Dairy/Meat: Spills: Food onto Opposite Gender Utensil: Flow Chart
WERE BOTH FOOD AND UTENSIL LESS THAN 120° F?
YES
What to Do Wash off with cold water and soap.
Status Everything is kosher and may be used immediately.
 
NO
WAS THE UTENSIL CLEAN AND UNUSED at 120° F or more FOR MORE THAN 24 HOURS?
Note Clean means no residual food, including pareve; this IS essential since the food or utensil or both were hot! If used at 120° F or more for pareve within 24 hours, ask a rabbi.
YES
Status
  • Food is kosher
  • Utensil requires kashering. 
What to Do
  • Wash utensil with cold water and soap.
  • Wait 24 hours after the spill occurred before kashering it.
Note If you wash off the utensil with hot (above 120° F) water, you must wait 24 hours after cleaning the utensil before kashering it.
 
NO
IS THE SPILLED FOOD LESS THAN 1/60th of the volume of the commonly used capacity of the utensil (if the utensil is empty) OR less than 1/60th of the actual volume of food contained within the utensil?
YES
Status
  • Food is non-kosher.
  • Utensil is kosher.
What to Do Wash utensil with cold water and soap and wait 24 hours before using the utensil.
Note If utensil had food in it and the spilled food was less than 1/60th of the volume of the food in the utensil, you may use the utensil immediately after cleaning it and you need not wait 24 hours.
 
NO (Spilled food was 120° F or more, utensil not clean, utensil used within 24 hours, spilled food is more than 1/60th of the utensil's volume)
Status
  • Food is non-kosher.
  • Utensil is non-kosher.
What to Do Utensil must be kashered.  See Hag'ala/Boiling or Libun/Direct Heat for instructions on how to kasher each material.



Note In this section, meat spilled onto a dairy utensil and dairy spilled onto a meat utensil are treated the same.
Introduction to Omer
Omer is counted for 49 days, from the second day of Passover to the day before Shavuot.  Omer connects the two holidays both physically and spiritually.  In Biblical times, an omer (a specific measure of volume) of barley was brought as an offering to the Temple in Jerusalem on the second day of Passover.  Once the barley offering had been brought, all grain changed status from “chadash” to “yashan” and could be eaten.
Due to tragedies that occurred during the omer period, especially the death of 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva during the second century, we observe a semi-mourning period during 33 days of the 49 days of the omer.
Shabbat Ends at Dark
You may not end Shabbat before dark (appearance of three medium-size stars--tzeit ha'kochavim).
When Is Dark
Shabbat (and Jewish festivals) ends at “dark”: when three medium-sized stars are visible overhead.
Note To find medium-sized stars, look for stars to appear in the west—those will be large stars. When large stars appear in the west, medium-sized stars should be visible overhead.
If you are in a place where the sun sets but the sky will not get dark any time that evening, ask a rabbi what to do.
Baking COVERED/UNCOVERED Dairy and Meat Consecutively
Situation You cooked food of both genders:
  • In a clean oven,
  • In separate utensils,
  • UNCOVERED but consecutively (even within 24 hours).
    Note The first food must be removed before the second one is put into the oven.
Status
  • If one or both are solid (non-liquid) at either the beginning OR end of the cooking OR both beginning and end:
They are both kosher; both food and pan.
  • If they were both liquid:
The second one is probably not kosher (both food and pan), but consult a rabbi.
Note
  • If both are covered, they are both kosher.
  • If the first one to be cooked was covered, they are both kosher. 
  • If the first one was uncovered, they may both have become non-kosher--consult a rabbi.
Baking Non-Liquid Neutral/Pareve and Non-Liquid Dairy (or Meat) at Same Time
Situation You bake non-liquid dairy food and non-liquid neutral/pareve food in one oven at the same time.
Status
  • You may not eat the pareve food with meat food (and certainly not dairy food with the meat!), but
  • The utensil (pan) of the pareve food does not become dairy.
Note The same applies if you cook non-liquid meat with non-liquid pareve food.
Note If one or both of the foods were liquid, the utensil might be non-kosher. Consult a rabbi.

Shabbat: Water Heater below 120° F
If you keep your water heater permanently set to less than 120° F (49° C) and if you turn off the heater before Shabbat, you may use that hot water on Shabbat. But you may not lower the setting just before Shabbat and then use hot water from that heater, since the water in the tank will still be hotter than 120° F for many hours (or even a day or more) after lowering the heater temperature.
Note If you will be using a large volume of hot water during Shabbat, consult a rabbi since the heating element might inevitably be turned on and that would be forbidden on Shabbat.
 
Onen Restrictions
An onen is prohibited from doing positive mitzvot so as not to be distracted from taking care of the dead body.
An onen may not:
  • Do any positive commandment (no blessings, prayers, shema…).
  • Eat meat or drink wine (until after the burial).
  • Work or operate a business.
Note Before the relative dies, if possible, the onen should sell his business for whatever days he or she will be an onen and in shiv'a. Otherwise, the owner may have to close the business until shiv'a is over.
Note If there will be a large financial loss, consult a rabbi.  A large loss is subjective to the individual's actual wealth and also to that person's perception of what is a large loss. Consult a rabbi for how much constitutes a large loss.
Introduction to Fast Days
Introduction to Fast Days
The purpose of Jewish fast days is to make us reflect on our behavior and improve it by:
  • Eliminating negative actions and thoughts, and
  • Taking more care in our observance of the commandments.
God told the Jewish people on many occasions that He did not want their pointless sacrifices or fast days but rather wanted the Jews to improve their behavior. If people fast but still have reprehensible behavior, the people have missed the point and purpose of bringing sacrifices and having fast days.
All fast days may be circumvented for health reasons. Consult a rabbi.
Fast days come in several varieties:
  • Major fast days: Yom Kippur and the Ninth of Av (Tish'a B'Av). 
  • Minor fast days: There are four minor fast days; see below.
  • Fast for First-Born
  • Individual Fasts

The Major Fasts
Yom Kippur and the Ninth of Av begin before sunset and are both slightly longer than 24 hours. Yom Kippur is a festive day while, on the Ninth of Av, Jews mourn for the destruction of both Jerusalem Temples (the first was destroyed by Babylonians; the second, by the Romans). On both fasts, it is forbidden to:
  • Eat or drink.
  • Wear leather shoes (but you may wear any other clothing made of leather).
  • Bathe (or even to wash anything more than fingers; you may not use a deodorant--not even a spray type--since it is similar to washing).
  • Have marital relations.
  • Use cosmetics or body scents.

The Minor Fasts
The four minor fasts begin 72 minutes before local sunrise. They technically end at dark but functionally end after ma'ariv (and for the Fast of Esther, after hearing the megila). Unlike most times in the Jewish calendar, this 72 minutes is normal time and NOT based on the current length of the day (sha'a zmanit):
  • Fast of Esther (Ta'anit Esther): Day preceding Purim (or sometimes earlier).
  • Fast of Gedalia (Tzom Gedalia): Usually the day after Rosh Hashana.
  • Tenth of Tevet (Asara b' Tevet):
  • Seventeenth of Tamuz (Shiv'asar b'Tamuz): Beginning of the Three Weeks of semi-mourning beforeTish'a b'Av.
On all fast days, eating and drinking are forbidden. The Tenth of Tevet and the Seventeenth of Tamuz additionally have the same restrictions as the Nine Days. So you may wash or bathe on the Fast of Esther and on Tzom Gedalia but not on the Tenth of Tevet and the Seventeenth of Tamuz. (See Nine Days: Restrictions).
Note On a fast day that has been delayed for Shabbat, there may be leniencies for:
  • The mohel, sandak, and father of a baby getting a brit mila to eat after mincha.
  • Pregnant or nursing women (this leniency applies to eating throughout the day).
Fast for First Born
Fast for first-born males 13 years old and older, on the day before Passover. This includes first-born cohanim and Levites (levi'im). The fast begins 72 normal minutes before sunrise and ends with kiddush at the seder. However, the widespread custom is to attend a siyum on the day before the first seder so that the first-born men do not need to fast on that day.
 
Personal Fasts
Fast by a groom and bride on their wedding day is an example of personal fasts. This fast begins 72 normal minutes before sunrise and ends with drinking wine under the chuppa.
Brit Mila: Who Should Perform: Preference
A father should circumcise his male children (if he knows how to do to the circumcision!) or appoint someone to do so. Order of preference for who should do the circumcision, if competent:
  • Father
  • Other shomer-Shabbat male
  • Shomer-Shabbat woman (if no male is available).
Note A father (or anyone else) may not perform the brit mila--even just the incision--on Shabbat if it is his first time.
Note A non-Jew may not perform a brit mila.
Note If a child was circumcised in the hospital or by anyone who is not shomer Shabbat, consult a rabbi.
Introduction to Shabbat and Medicines
Health or Life-Threatening Condition
On Shabbat, you may not take medicine used to promote health. Whenever there is any question of a life-threatening disease or condition, you must take medicine.

Categories of Sick People
There are several categories of sick people:
  • Entire Body Is Affected
    Example Fever.
    Status You may take medicines for this category; pills, such as aspirin, are OK to take.
    Exception You may not smear substances on skin UNLESS the fever is life-threatening, in which case even smearing is permitted.
  • Only Part of the Body Is Affected
    Status Some medicines may be used--consult a rabbi.
  • Discomfort
    Status Medicine generally may not be used.
Kashrut: Open, Uncooked Wine: Drinking or Benefiting From
You may not DRINK or DERIVE ANY BENEFIT FROM open (unsealed), non-mevushal (uncooked, previously kosher) wine or grape juice that has been handled by:
  • A non-Jew, or
  • Any Jew who intentionally does not observe the laws of Shabbat.
Note Even though some people are not stringent about this, they should be since the prohibition is from the Talmud.
Note “Deriving benefit” includes that you may not sell it, feed it to an animal, etc.
Note There may be exceptions for cases involving large losses. A large loss is subjective to the individual's actual wealth and also to that person's perception of what is a large loss. Consult a rabbi.
Introduction to Shabbat and Selecting/Boreir
Selecting Good from Bad and Bad from Good
Boreir Principle #1: You may eat anything in the manner in which it is normally eaten.
ExamplePeeling an orange.
 
Boreir Principle #2: You may not use a specialized tool.
 
Boreir Principle #3: You may not remove “bad” from “good.”
What To Do  Take good (edible or desired food) from the undesired (bad) components.
Note You may do this only when you are ready to eat it or when you are preparing the food to be eaten soon afterward.
 
Note Boreir is a complicated area of halacha. Because issues of boreir are almost always from the Torah (d'oraita, not d'rabanan), we are stringent in applying restrictions concerning boreir. Consult a rabbi for specific questions.
 
Selecting Undesired from Desired Food
On Shabbat, you may not usually separate totally undesired from totally desired food in a standard way, even without a specialized tool.
 
Undesired Mixed with Desired Food 
However, you may separate undesired elements from desired food—even with a specialized tool--if the undesired food is mixed with some desired food (any amount that you would use or eat is enough). This is called “taking some good with the bad.” 
Situation You want to remove fat on gravy.
What To Do You may remove fat along with some gravy.
Reason Boreir is separating bad from good. Here, the junction area is still intact, so separating fat from gravy is like separating good from good (gravy from gravy, not fat from gravy).
 
Removing Easily Removable Food in a Non-Standard Way
Situation The undesired food is easily distinguishable and easily removable from the desired food.
What To Do You may separate totally undesired food elements from desired food in a non-standard way--using only your hand, fingers, or implement that is not designed for separation.  That is, you may not use a utensil that is designed to separate food from other foods, substances, or parts of foods, such as a slotted spoon, peeler, or sieve. But you may pick a lemon seed off a serving of fish, for example.
NOTE As on Jewish festivals, an action needed to eat a food normally (derech achila) does not violate the prohibition of boreir on Shabbat. So you may peel a food that is normally separated from its peel or shell in order to be eaten, as long as you do not use a specialized instrument to do so. For example, on Shabbat, you may do the following by hand without a shinu'i:
  • Peel an orange
  • Remove the shell of a hard-boiled egg
  • Separate peanuts from their shells.
NOTE If peanut shells are then put into a container that also has unshelled peanuts, you may not remove the empty shells from that mixture!
SITUATION You want remove dirt from a carrot's surface on a Shabbat.
WHAT TO DO You may remove the dirt with an altered method (shinu'i), such as scraping the peel with a knife (which is a tool not specialized for separating food)-- but not by using a peeler.
REASON The normal way to eat the carrot is to peel it.
 Selecting Desired from Undesired Food
 
While eating food (and some time before--within the amount of time you would normally need to prepare a meal), you may select desired food from undesired (or inedible) substances by hand or non-specialized tool. You may not use a specialized implement.
EXAMPLE You may remove fish from its skeleton even before eating it, but you may not remove the skeleton from the fish (because you have removed bad from good).
NOTE Once Shabbat has begun:
  • You may remove fish bones from fish while you are eating the fish, but not before you are eating the fish.
  • You may cut open a melon such as a cantaloupe and shake the seeds out (this is because some of the seeds remain), or take a bite of the melon and spit out the seeds. But you may not remove any remaining seeds using your hand or an implement.
EXCEPTION If you take undesired elements along with the desired food, it is not considered to be separating:  you may use a specialized tool and it does not have to be eaten soon (within the normal food-preparation time).
Taste (Ta'am) Transfer: Spicy/Charif: Pressure: Food Absorbing Taste of Utensils
When a spicy/charif food takes on the gender of the cutting/squeezing utensil:
  • You may not cook or eat that food with food of the opposite gender.
  • However, you MAY eat the opposite-gender food immediately after eating the gendered spicy food without waiting.
Situation An onion is cut with a meat knife, on a meat cutting board:
  • The onion acquires meat status.
  • You MAY NOT later cut this onion with a dairy knife or on a dairy cutting board. (If you do, the onion, the dairy knife, and the dairy cutting board will all become non-kosher.) 
Exception If the knife and cutting board had not been used (even for cold items) for at least 24 hours, consult a rabbi.
Exception If you can sand off the surface to below the level of any knife cuts, the board might be kosher. Consult a rabbi. 
  • You MAY NOT cook this onion in a dairy utensil.
  • You MAY NOT eat this onion with dairy food.
  • You MAY eat dairy immediately after eating this onion (as long as there is no actual meat mixed into the onion).
  • You MAY cook this onion with fish (even though you may not cook meat and fish together) but the fish may not be eaten with dairy food.
Situation You cut an onion with a meat knife and fry it in a neutral/pareve pan.
StatusThe pan becomes meat, but consult a rabbi for possible leniencies.

Situation You cut an onion with a meat knife and fry it in a dairy pan.
StatusThe pan becomes non-kosher.  If you cook a neutral/pareve food in that pan after 24 hours have passed since the onion was cooked in it, and you ate the pareve food with milk, it is OK b'di'avad but you may not do that l'chatchila.
When Right Side Takes Precedence

In general, the right side is given priority in our actions. This is considered to be proper behavior and not just good advice; however, it is a custom, not a halacha.

Examples
  • A talmid chacham walks on the right of another person. (If there are two or more other people, the talmid chacham walks in the middle of the others);
  • Put on your right shirtsleeve, sock, or shoe first (but tie your left shoe before your right shoe);
  • Hold the lulav in your right hand;
  • Wash your right hand first.
Note In all cases, if you reversed these, or if it your custom to reverse them, there is no problem.
Note Left-handed men must put tefilin on their right arm. For other practices, left-handed people should consult a rabbi.

Jewish Festivals: Turning Off Electrical Devices
You may not turn off or disconnect an operating electrical device (such as an alarm, appliance, light, oven, or any machinery) on Jewish festivals, even using a shinui and even if the noise will prevent you from sleeping. You may ask a non-Jew to turn it off, but you may not ask a Jew, not even a child below bar/bat mitzva age.
Note If the device catches on fire, you may call the fire department or unplug it. However, there must be an actual danger or actual fire in order for you to disconnect it yourself.  You may not disconnect the device if there is only a chance that it will catch fire, unless an indirect means (grama) is possible (in which case, it would be permissible; consult a rabbi).