Seven SAR Academy students took a memorable trip to the Orthodox Union (OU). The winners of the grades three to five Bracha Bee, along with the school winners from Ramaz, had the opportunity to do three meaningful presentations at the OU. The students were greeted by Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of the Orthodox Union and father of two SAR Academy faculty members. Rabbi Genack congratulated the students on their study of brachot and their wonderful accomplishments. The first presentation was by Rabbi Eli Eleff, director of Kashrut Education, and learned about the history of the OU. It was fascinating to hear that Heinz baked beans were the first product certified kosher by the OU.

Students also learned that plain Oreo cookies are pareve and made on dairy equipment; and that it is important to always look for the OU because certain products such as Gatorade have products that are kosher, as well as not kosher. They then watched a video about kashering factories and discovered that there are many parts of a food factory that require supervision. Finally, they met with Rabbi Chaim Loike who is an expert in avian kashrut. They reviewed the fact that the non-kosher birds are mentioned in the Torah and discussed that they are all predators. They were surprised to find out that there is only one type of kosher quail and many types of non-kosher quail. They were able to meet a live rooster and closely study the parts of his feet. Students wowed the OU rabbis with their incredible questions such as: “Why are the non-kosher birds listed in the Torah, but on the other hand, the Torah teaches us the signs for kosher animals?” or “What is the status of the babies if a non-kosher quail mates with a chicken?” This trip was a very special learning experience.