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From Rabbi Chaim Goldberg of the OU:
Q: Besides shellfish, which are some common non-kosher fish to be aware of?
A: Catfish – (family Ictaluridae) lack scales entirely. Interesting for the kosher consumer to note, non-kosher catfish is reported to have a similar taste to the increasingly popular (and kosher variety of) tilapia. Catfish and tilapia fillets look almost identical, though catfish is notably cheaper. It is quite possible that an unscrupulous fish retailer might switch the two.
Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) does not seem to have scales when one looks at a sample. Some say that it has scales that are embedded to such an extent that it is impossible to remove them without making a hole. Others say that it has kosher scales on parts of its body which fall off during its development. Still others claim that it may have some kosher scales even at the time of harvest.
I admit my general far religious right views have a bit of a boy who cried wolf effect; I’ll own up to that. However, I am sure I’m not alone when I say this: those of you defending Conservative rabbis and even Conservative positions tooth and nail are ruining any credibility you had in halachic matters. Also, if you think being against the Conservative movement makes you “extreme chareidi,” you’re posting in the wrong forum.
NevilleChaimberlin: I never defended “tooth and nail” Conservative positions or ever mentioned Conservative rabbis.
Abraham Joshua Heschel ,as far as I know, was fully orthodox, in spite of teaching at non-orthodox institutions.
My reference was to your forbidding certain foods although here are Poskim that allow them.
ubiquitin posted a hyperlink to a document produced in 1933. I am not sure who the person was who produced the list. There maybe a fish on that list that we no longer consider kosher. I have not seen any kosher fish stores selling swordfish or sturgeon.
Supposedly the founder of the Reconstructionist movement lived an Orthodox lifestyle. Nonetheless, he and Heschel alike, are considered non-Orthodox Rabbis. He himself was openly a part of the Conservative movement; if you like him and want to honor him, how about you identify him as he identified himself instead of trying to claim him as one of “our” own?
And you did defend their positions. You and I both know well that the Conservative “nusach” is not comparable to the changes made in Nusach Sephard. Getting rid of the sh’lo asani’s just to be more politically correct has no halachic basis.
As for the food, yes the authors of the Conservative Responsa books also cited old, traditional sources that brought up the points. We have a concept of majority opinion that keeps our religion together. You can’t just hold like Shammai or whoever you want whenever you like it. Multiple posters have shown that the halachah was NOT decided in favor of those leniencies, and please, just use common sense. Look where the halachic anarchism has gotten the Conservative movement: it’s dying off, baruch hashem.
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