Mashgiach
Encyclopedia
- This article is about someone who supervises the production of kosher food. For the article on the yeshivaYeshivaYeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
supervisor, see Mashgiach ruchaniMashgiach ruchaniMashgiach ruchani or mashgiach for short, means a spiritual supervisor or guide. It is a title which usually refers to a rabbi who has an official position within a yeshiva and is responsible for the non-academic areas of yeshiva students' lives.The position of mashgiach ruchani arose with the...
.
In Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, a Mashgiach is a person who supervises the kashrut
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
status of a kosher establishment.
A mashgiah may supervise any type of food service establishment, including slaughterhouse
Slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
s, food manufacturers
Food industry
The food production is a complex, global collective of diverse businesses that together supply much of the food energy consumed by the world population...
, hotels, caterers
Catering
Catering is the business of providing foodservice at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, public house , or other location.-Mobile catering:A mobile caterer serves food directly from a vehicle or cart that is designed for the purpose...
, nursing home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
s, restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s, butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
s, groceries, or cooperatives. The mashgiach usually works as the on-site supervisor and inspector, representing the kashrut organization or a local rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, who actually makes the policy decisions for what is or is not acceptably kosher. Sometimes the certifying rabbi (Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
: רב המכשיר, rav hamachshir) acts as his own mashgiach; such is the case in many small communities.
Requirements
The usual requirements for becoming a mashgiach are being Jewish, observing the sabbath (shomer ShabbatShomer Shabbat
A shomer Shabbat or shomer Shabbos is a person who observes the mitzvot associated with Judaism's Shabbat...
), observing the laws of kashrut (shomer kashrut), and doing mitzvot
613 mitzvot
The 613 commandments is a numbering of the statements and principles of law, ethics, and spiritual practice contained in the Torah or Five Books of Moses...
, the commandments of the Torah (shomer mitzvot). Different rabbis will have different requirements. Even the same rabbi may have different requirements, depending on the type of establishment being supervised (for example, supervision of a slaughterhouse will be very different from supervision of a grocery). Sometimes the only requirement is that the person is Jewish and knowledgeable of the laws of kashrut. The observant Jew can be a man or a woman.
Regardless of specific eligibility requirements for a mashgiach, they take on a great responsibility and the burden of a community. The mashgiach puts their good name and the name of the community on everything done on their watch.
Responsibilities
A mashgiach is required whenever meatMeat
Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
or fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
is prepared or cooked. They check fresh eggs for blood spots before they are used in cooking, and must inspect all vegetables for forbidden insects before use.
The mashgiach is responsible for performing the The Mitzvah of Challah
The Mitzvah of Challah
The dough offering is a positive commandment requiring the owner of a bread dough to give a part of the kneaded dough to a priest...
, the tithe of dough set aside for consumption by a Kohen
Kohen
A Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
(some perform this in the diaspora whereas in Israel it is always burnt).
The mashgiach must also light pilot lights and turn on cooking and heating equipment to satisfy minimum requirements of Bishul Yisroel (food cooked by a Jew) and Pas Yisroel
Pas Yisroel
Pas Yisroel or Pat Yisrael products are grain-products that were cooked or baked with the participation of an observant Jew. This must be, at minimum, the ignition of the flame used to prepare, cook, or bake the grain product...
(bread baked by a Jew), in a way that a Jew must be involved in the cooking of any kosher food "fit for a king's table." To satisfy requirements for Sephardic Jews, the mashgiah may be required to play an even more active role in the cooking process.
One of the most pressing and often difficult jobs of a mashgiach, however, is the checking in and verification of shipments. The mashgiach must ensure that every food product that arrives at the facility has a reliable hekhsher before it is used. Suppliers often substitute products that are out of stock with non-kosher products. Non-kosher establishments would generally not mind these substitutions. For a kosher establishment, however, these substitutions can cause major problems. If a product arrives without a hekhsher, the mashgiach must make sure the product is clearly marked as non-kosher and is not used, but returned to the supplier. Sometimes a product arrives that is purportedly kosher, but no hekhsher can be found. In this case, the mashgiach obtains a valid letter of certification from the certifying rabbi or kashrut agency, usually by contacting the manufacturer. In addition to checking hekhsherim, the mashgiach must also check that all meat products that arrive are double sealed, usually by inner and outer plastic bags or an inner plastic bag and a sealed box, and that all wine is kosher wine
Kosher wine
Kosher wine is grape wine produced according to Judaism's religious law, specifically, Jewish dietary laws .To be considered kosher, Sabbath-observant Jews must be involved in the entire winemaking process and any ingredients used, including finings, must be kosher...
.
Great strides, in the last several years, have been made towards ensuring that kosher products are transported only in kosher approved tanker trucks.
(In many settings the mashgiach is merely responsible for making sure that the above tasks are performed by responsible, knowledgeable, and well-trained persons.)
A mashgiach plays social as well as technical roles in explaining kosher rules to the Jewish and non-Jewish community and forging close relationships with employees and customers.