The thread on Kosher pickles was so interesting, I thought I’d ask this one.
Yesterday while using a liquid handsoap, I noticed that it had a “U” with a circle around it on the label. Do they actually certify handsoap as Kosher? I understand the waxpaper and food containers and stuff like that but the handsoap has me wondering.
Just curious, because if they do, I’m going to start looking for Kosher soap. Being allergic to pork, I’d prefer soap not made from lard.
Look for soaps without sodium tallowate. A lot of soaps will say on the label that they’re made with 100% vegetable products. Stay with those and you’re clear of any animal in your soap.
I used to work in a drug store in a very Jewish part of Brooklyn. We stocked all sorts of Kosher products, including liquid dish soap, baby lotion, baby powder, toothpaste, vitamins, painkillers, and ladies make-up. Most of these were in demand for Passover, when apparently, the Kosher rules were at their most strict. For Passover, the patrons would buy new toothbrushes and baby bottles. We also carried a handbook which listed all the things that were Kosher for Passover. It has been a few years since I worked there, but from what I remember, things that are Kosher aren’t always Kosher for Passover.
There were also one or two hoildays when they would have to fast, so we stocked Tylenol suppositories (in case someone had a headache from not eating) and caffeine suppositories (to replace morning coffee).
Shalom!
“Kosher for Passover” involves many rules that may not directly relate to substances intended to be eaten.
The short course: any item containing chametz must be removed from the household during Passover. Chametz is essentially any leavened grain product: anything containing barley, wheat, rye, or oats that has been allowed to rise prior to or during cooking by the action of yeast and water. Not only can it not be in the household – an Observant Jew may not own anything with leaven in it, derive any economic benefit from it, or feed it to his animals.
So for observant Jews, it’s important to know if a item is “Kosher for Passover,” because if it’s not, you have to either throw it away or sell it to a non-Jew prior to the start of Passover. (You are permitted to buy it back after Passover).
Of course, all the standard kasruth rules apply also (see the pickle thread for details.)
Don’t forget spelt!
Actually, I don’t believe added yeast is required. It is assumed that grain that has been wet will begin to ferment quickly from naturally occuring yeast. The rule, IIRC, is that matzah must be fully baked within 18 minutes from the time water is added to the flour. I’ve seen video of people making the traditional, handmade, round matzah (like eating wood, but surprisingly good dipped in melted chocolate for the dessert course of a seder), and they are working extremely fast.
Rick
Yes, I knew that – I should have said, “yeast OR water.” But you’re exactly right – the rule is eighteen minutes.
Huh. Learn something new every day. For some reason, I either never knew or completely forgot there was a wheat grain called “spelt,” which is, in fact, chametz… Good catch!
And in hauling out my old book, which had just gotten put back away after the pickle thread, I discover that Ashkenazic Orthodox Jews also treat corn, rice, and legumes (to include peanuts) as if they were chametz.
Now I’m going to be humming “Mah nish ta nah” for the rest of the day… a little out of season, but not too far. 
Check it out in Cecil’s Mailbag: Why can’t you put cornstarch in your Passover cheesecake?
Also, like leaven on Passover, Jews are forbidden to derive any benefit from a meat/milk mixture. So certifying that a non-food item is kosher also includes that advantage.
Chaim Mattis Keller
ckeller@kozmo.com
“Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be
the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible.
The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks.”
– Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective
Getting back to the OP…
Are you sure that was a hand soap? There are are many kosher-certified liquid dishwashing detergents, but I do not recall any kosher hand soaps. Do you recall the brand name?
Sure, it’s Clean & Smooth Moisturizing Liquid Hand Soap distributed by Benckiser Consumer Products, Inc in Greenwich, CT
Wow, you learn something new every day. Thanks.