WHEN DID THE RULES CHANGE?

More and more, it seems as if the rules of kashruth have less and less to do with what it says in the Shulchan Aruch and more to do with some notion of how much can we assur (forbid).

We wonder how come non-glatt meat is readily available in Florida, but not in NYC? It can’t be that all the people here want to buy glatt. We know far too many people who would buy non glatt if the option were available up here in the Northeast Megalopolis. It really rankles us to read that the yield of glatt animals is now, on average, thirty percent of the shechita. We must note that statistically that is quite extraordinary. Could it be that we have dumbed down the definition of glatt so much that we now get such a huge yield on each shechita? When did glatt meat cease to be glatt as defined by the Shulchan Aruch?

Recently, we read a statement from a vaad (not here in the Metro NYC area) outlining all of the forbidden veggies, including those of bodek and other kosher companies. As we quoted in an article by Editor Deborah Wenger, she met an OU field rep who stressed that the mitzvah is to search for bugs. There is no mitzvah that says you have to find them. The Shulchan Aruch says if you can not see them they are not there. When did we over ride the Shulchan Aruch?

A rabbi took us to task about our comments concerning copepods. He felt that a concerned Jewish person living in NYC would want to filter his water all year round. When pressed to explain why that is so if there are no copepods in the winter, he had no answer. Apparently, it was just his opinion, one not very well grounded in anything scientific, by the way.

So, again we ask: when did they throw out the old rule book? When did Daas Toirah become a valid approach to kashruth?