About Asking For A Friend - Timely Issues. Timeless Torah.
Asking For A Friend is a podcast where real life dilemmas meet clear, thoughtful Torah perspective.
Hosted by Mena Reisner, each episode features conversations with Rabbi Zimmerman, Dayan Hool, or Dayan Posen, Rabbonim with decades of experience in mediation, dinei Torah, shidduchim, family dynamics, business disputes, and the complex situations people face every day.
It’s not personal psak and it’s not a shiur.
Just honest, grounded discussion on the issues people grapple with behind closed doors, and how timeless Torah principles guide us through them.
New episodes every two weeks.
Questions or suggestions: podcast@federation.org.uk.
#21: Kosher: What Really Happens Behind the Scenes? With Rabbi Y.M Guttentag
We see a hechsher on a product and rarely stop to think about what it actually took to put it there.
In this episode, Mena Reisner is joined by Rabbi Yisroel Moshe Guttentag, Director of Certification and FedTech at KF Kosher, to go behind the scenes of modern kashrus.
What does a mashgiach really look for when walking through a factory? How do you certify products being manufactured across multiple countries, using complex ingredients, shared machinery and global supply chains? And why can foods that appear completely straightforward turn out to be anything but?
Rabbi Guttentag takes us inside the world of industrial kashrus — from ingredients and production equipment to factory inspections, dedicated machinery and the surprising problems that can emerge along the way. He explains how the level of supervision is determined, what goes into certifying major international food manufacturers, and why understanding how our food is actually made is so important.
We also explore the crucial distinction between a product that is “Certified” and one that is simply “Approved” — and what consumers should understand when relying on either.
A fascinating look at the extraordinary amount of work happening behind the scenes of something we encounter every single day: kosher food.
Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction
02:07 – Today’s topic: What really happens behind a hechsher
03:52 – What does a kosher certification actually certify?
14:08 – Which foods really need a hechsher?
16:43 – Gummy sweets, gelatin and dedicated kosher equipment
25:52 – Steam systems and hidden cross-contamination
33:11 – International ingredients and cooperation between kosher agencies
44:29 – Wrigley’s chewing gum, gum base and factory codes
49:21 – Red Bull and multinational kosher certification
55:55 – Why canned tuna can require supervision
63:14 – Fruit juice, grape juice and shared pasteurizing equipment
71:26 – Certified vs. approved kosher products
77:09 – When approved kosher lists may be relied upon
81:24 – Ice pops and choosing certified products
85:10 – Closing thoughts on modern kashrus
6 Sept 2026
#20: Elul II - Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur - What Should We Actually Be Thinking About? - With Rabbi Zimmerman
We know what we do on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. But what are we actually supposed to be thinking and feeling?In the second part of this special Elul series, Mena Reisner continues his conversation with Rabbi S. F. Zimmerman, exploring the meaning behind the Yamim Noraim.Why do we celebrate on the Day of Judgment? Why is there almost no mention of teshuvah in the Rosh Hashanah tefillos? What is the shofar actually meant to achieve? What changes during Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, and what makes Yom Kippur fundamentally different from every other day?From Rosh Hashanah through Ne’ilah, a thought-provoking conversation about how to approach the most important days of the Jewish year and what we should actually be trying to achieve.
Timestamps:
[00:00] – Introduction; Elul Part 2 and Rosh Hashanah focus
[00:39] – Rosh Hashanah as Yom HaDin and Yom Tov; fear vs simcha
[05:23] – No vidui/confession in Rosh Hashanah davening
[09:08] – Being “Mamluch Hashem” and defining essence as avdei Hashem
[09:40] – Personal requests on Rosh Hashanah and “Hashem’s payroll”
[13:06] – What shofar accomplishes; wake-up call and the Satan
[18:13] – How shofar “confuses” the Satan; teshuva me’ahavah
[19:32] – Why no shofar when Rosh Hashanah is on Shabbos
[23:24] – Zechroinos/Yom Hazikaron – what Hashem is “remembering”
[27:05] – From Rosh Hashanah to Aseres Yemei Teshuva
[28:20] – What’s unique about Aseres Yemei Teshuva and beinonim
[31:07] – What makes Yom Kippur so holy (kedusha)
[34:06] – How Yom Kippur teshuva differs from year-round teshuva
[37:18] – Bein adam lechaveiro: mechilah before Yom Kippur
[42:26] – “I’m mochel everyone” – how that works
[42:48] – Kol Nidrei and the power of speech
[46:41] – Ne’ilah: final opportunity and special status
[51:38] – After Yom Kippur: confidence and simcha
[54:28] – Final message: “Ashreichem Yisrael” and closing
23 Aug 2026
#19: Elul I - Why Do We Keep Making the Same Mistakes? - With Rabbi Zimmerman
Every Elul, we promise ourselves that this year will be different. We’ll change, improve and leave old habits behind. So why do we so often find ourselves back in exactly the same place?In the first of this special Elul series, Mena Reisner sits down with Rabbi S. F. Zimmerman to explore what Elul and teshuvah are actually asking of us.Is Elul meant to be a time of fear or closeness? What does genuine teshuvah look like? Why is lasting change so difficult? And if we keep repeating the same mistakes year after year, does that mean our previous teshuvah failed?A practical and thought-provoking conversation about growth, failure and what Hashem really expects from us as we approach the Yamim Noraim.
Elul opportunity: Join Vayidom’s 5-minutes-a-day Shmiras Halashon cycle and submit a name for Rabbi Zimmerman’s special tefillah at the Chofetz Chaim’s kever on his yahrzeit www.vayidom.com
Time stamps:[00:00:00] – Intro & Elul Questions[00:01:55] – Elul: Melech Basadeh or Din?[00:06:40] – Elul as 30-Day Court Summons[00:12:10] – Avodah of Elul: Honest Self-Investigation[00:17:07] – Getting “Busy” in Ruchniyus: Help or Distraction?[00:21:36] – What Teshuva Really Is (Return vs Repentance)[00:26:57] – Teshuva Me’Ahava, Me’Yirah & How It Changes Sins[00:29:19] – Why We Repeat the Same Sins Every Year[00:36:36] – Is Repeated Teshuva Still Accepted?[00:45:00] – Jewish Teshuva & Turning in the Right Direction
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