Hello, I am Earnest Allen and I own Stone Brook Fudge Company. We supply fudge for Candy Bouquet franchisees and many of them need kosher fudge and your blessing. My question is this: I live approximately 2 hours from Little Rock, Arkansas (Mt. View, Arkansas). How do I have a priest bless us and how often do we do this? Can we do this online, since we are so remote? We want to make sure we have things done correctly for our Jewish community of Franchisees. Thank you so much! Earnest Allen.
Dear Mr. Allen,
Thank you for your earnest inquiry and sincere interest in providing kosher Stone Brook Fudge for your Jewish franchisees. First, allow me to orient our readers as to your whereabouts: Mt. View, Arkansas is north of Little Rock, off State Highway 9, just south of Blanchard Springs Caverns, on the western bank of the Buffalo River, in eastern Ozark territory – that's remote.
Now for my response: I have good news and not-so-good news. The good news is that on behalf of all the rabbis here, I bless your success in providing truly kosher fudge for your franchisees. The not-so-good news is that's not enough to make the fudge kosher.
You see, it is not the blessing of a "priest", rabbi or holy man that makes food kosher, but rather the source of the food, its ingredients and the way it's prepared. Since the laws regarding all this are quite involved, it is necessary to have rabbinic supervision throughout all processes of manufacture. Only after the fudge is determined to be kosher by an Orthodox Kashrut Organization can it receive a seal of certification relied upon by kosher consumers.
To get started, you can contact an Orthodox rabbi in Little Rock for details on kashrut organizations. Once you find one, a representative will visit your plant, make a thorough study of your ingredients and determine whether it's possible to make Stone Brook fudge kosher, and under what conditions. You'll have to decide if that's what you want. If it works out, kosher supervision may require the attendance of a rabbi anywhere from periodic visits to full-time presence, according to the discretion of the organization.
Seeing as you want things done correctly, you understand that this can't be done online. It is not a matter of a hocus-pocus pronunciation from a priest, but rather a thorough, cooperative study with a rabbi. May your obvious sensitivity to Jewish law be a source of blessing for the Stone Brook Fudge Company, and if it's ever kosher send us a sample!
