Mashgiach

A Mashgiach (Hebrew: משגיח‎‎, pl. משגיחים, mashgichim, lit. "Supervisor") is a Jew who supervises the kashrut status of a kosher establishment. A mashgiach may supervise any type of food service establishment, including slaughterhouses, food manufacturers, hotels, caterers, nursing homes, restaurants, butchers, groceries, or cooperatives. The mashgiach usually works as the on-site supervisor and inspector, representing a kosher certification agency or a local rabbi, who actually makes the policy decisions for what is or is not acceptably kosher. Sometimes the certifying rabbi (Hebrew: רב המכשיר, rav hamachshir) acts as his own mashgiach; such is the case in many small communities.

The requirements for becoming a mashgiach are being Jewish, being Sabbath-observant (shomer Shabbat), being Torah-observant (shomer mitzvot), and personally fulfilling the laws of kashrut (shomer kashrut). According to Rabbi Matisyahu Salomon, a senior Orthodox rabbi in the United States, the most important criteria is yirat Shamayim (fear of Heaven).

A mashgiach takes on a great responsibility and the burden of a community. The mashgiach puts their good name and the name of the community on everything done on their watch.

Depending on the assignment, the mashgiach must be familiar with the halakhas of slaughtering meat, cooking meat and fish, and separating meat and dairy. He must be knowledgeable about the way boilers and shipping vessels work, since high temperatures and long storage times can affect the status of kosher foods. It has been said that in addition to knowledge of Jewish law, a mashgiach must be familiar with "engineering, entomology, metallurgy, boiler treatment, food chemistry, and world market trends".

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