Welcome to the Kosher Recipes group - almost.


Two groups, now, actually - some of the time. There was an additional group at Flickr for a while, and there might be a new one replacing that one in the not so distant future, now that Flickr has become undesirable for reasons of navigability. Before we continue on, there are a few rules that you need to read, understand and promise to respect. These are absolutely nonnegotiable, and I don't give warnings.

1. In the past, when Multiply.com still existed and Googlegroups still had pages, I would have told you this:
   
   "If you wish to join the Multiply group, you will need to get an invitation from me. They're easily obtained if you have a website and I give them out liberally. This is necessary, as explained in this post on the Multiply group's blog, in which I specify the procedure for getting that invitation, because Multiply has failed to provide the owners of the groups hosted on its server with the option to moderate posts in their groups. So, I was presented with a choice of either making an effort to screen applicants, or accept that my members would be periodically harassed by anti-semitic trolls, which the Internet has in sad abundance. That is not really the sort of experience that I wished to inflict on the membership, so I took necessary action, however reluctantly.
   
   Part of that necessary action, in my view, was expanding my site so that there would still be a place where one could post without the need for an invitation. Unlike Multiply, Googlegroups does provide group owners with moderation as an option, so no invitation is needed to join the Googlegroup. Just sign up for that moderated group, but please remember - if you want to post any photos, you need to use the Multiply group, at least for now."
   
   Because of the loss of the pages feature, I eliminated the old Google group, and the old Multiply group is no more, but if I ever do business with another network with policies similar to those adopted by the old Multiply.com, after I have my head examined, I'll probably adopt a policy like the one mentioned above.





2. Stay on topic. There are places for political discussions, but this is not one of them, no, not even if the subject is Israel and yes, I am serious. Thank you for asking.





3. Kashrut is not subject to negotiation. Yes, there are points of dispute - what sort of washing of some edible green must one do given the presence of very small insects upon its leaves - and discussion of such points is welcome here. No, I'm not saying that all are required to adopt the absolutely most demanding interpretation, but if, for example, you are pouring cream over a veal chop or stuffing prosciutto into your kishke, while mumbling some vague excuse about the need to live in the modern age? Anybody who does that in a recipe posted to a kosher recipe group knows better. What you do elsewhere is not my concern, but here we meet for a specific purpose and when that purpose is not honored
   
   
   
   

   1. One is posting off-topic material.
      
      
   2. "Thou shalt not place a stumbling block before the blind" - One is acting to deceive the would-be observant about what constitutes observance, and this is not acceptable.

   
   
   Live and let live applies only when we are in a grey area, and some things simply are not controversial, except among the terminally argumentative. If your Reform rabbi tells you that blood pudding is kosher as long as the blood came from a free range animal that had a folk singer serenading it to sleep every night and you feel comfortable with that, I'm happy for you, but there is a fairly strong consensus reaching back through the millennia that this is not the case, and as much as some might like to pretend otherwise, I think that we all know this. Where the Law is well known and not in reasonable doubt, I will not be patient.





4. In this group, every day is Shabbes. No matter how angry you may be, and no matter how good your reasons for that anger are, always write as if your nieces and nephews were reading this. Know that while I don't log in every day, and the trolls may be left to wander freely for longer than they should, when I do log in, they'll be gone with no discussion, no debate, no appeal and no warning, and so will be anybody who spoke in support of their trolling, even if that should mean that I will lose almost all of my membership.
   
   Never forget that we meet here for a religious purpose. What you write elsewhere is your own concern, and I don't generally want to know about it, but here let's keep it G rated and unconditionally civil. "Silence indicates assent" is an Anglo-Saxon tradition, not a Jewish one; you need not rebut the trolls just to avoid confessing to whatever outrageous thing of which they are accusing you.





5. "Judaism" for the purposes of this group is the mainstream Rabbinical variety; "Messianic Judaism" is off-topic here, not being considered Jewish for our purposes, as is anything that could not be sensibly called "Ethical Monotheism". Evangelism on behalf of other religions will not be accepted on this group.





6. As one all of my other groups, common sense trumps any rule, but remember, as the owner of the group, I am the sole and final arbirtrer of what constitutes common sense. This is not a democracy, this is a benevolent dictatorship. If you feel that it is a mismanaged dictatorship, you are urged to create a competing group of your own.