(IsraelNN.com) One of the miracles of Chanukah 2,000 years ago was the discovery of a container of pure olive oil prepared according to Jewish law and which could be used to light the menorah in the Holy Temple. Despite the available of kosher olive oil today, there still are “fakes” on the market, warns Rabbi Rafi Yochai, the Israeli Chief Rabbinate’s supervisor for keeping kosher.
There are at least two simple acid "tests” for the layman to know if the olive oil really is kosher. “If it is cheap, it probably is not fit for use and includes soya oil or other additives. Good olive oil is a function of price,” Rabbi Yosef Zaritsky told the B’chadrei Charedim website. “It should cost at least 35-40 shekels [$9.25-$10.60] a liter, and if not, it is not olive oil.” However, some brands of kosher oil sell for less.
Another test is simply to spread the oil on the hand, wait five minutes and then smell it. “If after five minutes, the smell remains, then it isn’t olive oil. The smell of olive oil dissipates,” he explained.
“Fraudulent kosher seals and fraudulent olive oil often go together,” according to Rabbi Yochai. “Oil fraud has been carried out on a vast scale in the past but we are fighting the phenomenon and raising public awareness of it.”
Jews usually prefer to use olive oil because of the direct link with the eight-day holiday of Chanukah, which begins Friday night, but candles, which are a lot cheaper, are a cheap and 'kosher' alternative.
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Topic: Beware Fake Olive Oil for Chanukah (Read 662 times)