{
  "url": "https://staging.thenewjew.org/articles/websites-ouorg-orthodox-union.json",
  "path": "/articles/websites-ouorg-orthodox-union",
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  "type": "article",
  "title": "OU.org (Orthodox Union)",
  "summary": "The Orthodox Union's home — the standard kashrut certification, plus comprehensive Orthodox educational and pastoral resources.",
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      "title": "Tools & Resources",
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      "title": "OU.org (Orthodox Union)",
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  "data": {
    "article": {
      "slug": "websites-ouorg-orthodox-union",
      "title": "OU.org (Orthodox Union)",
      "deck": "The Orthodox Union's home — the standard kashrut certification, plus comprehensive Orthodox educational and pastoral resources.",
      "summary": "Summary. OU.org is the website of the Orthodox Union, the umbrella organization of Modern Orthodox congregations in North America. It is the standard kashrut authority (the OU symbol on packaged food). The website offers extensive holiday guides, halachic Q&A, Torah classes (the OU's Torah Tidbits weekly publication, OU Press books, the All Daf Talmud app), and pastoral resources. The OU is the standard reference for Modern Orthodox practice.",
      "level": "essential",
      "sectionSlug": "websites",
      "tags": [
        "orthodox",
        "kashrut",
        "halacha"
      ],
      "publishedAt": "2026-07-06T02:19:03.001Z",
      "wordCount": 285,
      "readMinutes": 1
    },
    "section": {
      "slug": "library-tools",
      "title": "Tools & Resources"
    },
    "image": null,
    "blocks": [
      {
        "type": "summary",
        "body": "Summary. OU.org is the website of the [Orthodox](/glossary.json#letter-O) Union, the umbrella organization of [Modern Orthodox](/glossary.json#letter-M) congregations in North America. It is the standard [kashrut](/glossary.json#letter-K) authority (the OU symbol on packaged food). The website offers extensive holiday guides, [halachic](/glossary.json#letter-H) Q&A, [Torah](/glossary.json#letter-T) classes (the OU's Torah Tidbits weekly publication, OU Press books, the All Daf [Talmud](/glossary.json#letter-T) app), and pastoral resources. The OU is the standard reference for Modern Orthodox practice.",
        "text": "Summary. OU.org is the website of the Orthodox Union, the umbrella organization of Modern Orthodox congregations in North America. It is the standard kashrut authority (the OU symbol on packaged food). The website offers extensive holiday guides, halachic Q&A, Torah classes (the OU's Torah Tidbits weekly publication, OU Press books, the All Daf Talmud app), and pastoral resources. The OU is the standard reference for Modern Orthodox practice."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Kashrut",
        "text": "Kashrut"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "The OU symbol (a U inside an O) on a packaged food product certifies that food as [kosher](/glossary.json#letter-K) under OU supervision. The OU is the largest of the kashrut agencies and is universally accepted across the Orthodox spectrum (with the exception of some [Haredi](/glossary.json#letter-H) communities that prefer their own certifications). The OU Kosher website (oukosher.org) maintains a searchable database of certified products and an active Q&A service for questions about specific products.",
        "text": "The OU symbol (a U inside an O) on a packaged food product certifies that food as kosher under OU supervision. The OU is the largest of the kashrut agencies and is universally accepted across the Orthodox spectrum (with the exception of some Haredi communities that prefer their own certifications). The OU Kosher website (oukosher.org) maintains a searchable database of certified products and an active Q&A service for questions about specific products."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Halacha Yomit and Educational Programs",
        "text": "Halacha Yomit and Educational Programs"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "The OU runs Halacha Yomit, a daily halacha email; the Torah Tidbits weekly [parshah](/glossary.json#letter-P) publication; the All Daf Talmud companion app for [Daf Yomi](/glossary.json#letter-D) learners; and a substantial library of online classes. The OU's NCSY youth movement runs summer programs, gap year programs in Israel, and the regional [shabbatonim](/glossary.json#letter-S) that have introduced thousands of teenagers to observant Judaism.",
        "text": "The OU runs Halacha Yomit, a daily halacha email; the Torah Tidbits weekly parshah publication; the All Daf Talmud companion app for Daf Yomi learners; and a substantial library of online classes. The OU's NCSY youth movement runs summer programs, gap year programs in Israel, and the regional shabbatonim that have introduced thousands of teenagers to observant Judaism."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Tzedakah and Advocacy",
        "text": "Tzedakah and Advocacy"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "The OU's Advocacy Center represents Orthodox interests in Washington. The OU's Yachad program serves Jews with disabilities; the Department of Community Engagement supports young rabbis and synagogues.",
        "text": "The OU's Advocacy Center represents Orthodox interests in Washington. The OU's Yachad program serves Jews with disabilities; the Department of Community Engagement supports young rabbis and synagogues."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Where Denominations Diverge",
        "text": "Where Denominations Diverge"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Modern Orthodox. The OU's positions are normative for North American Modern Orthodoxy.",
        "text": "Modern Orthodox. The OU's positions are normative for North American Modern Orthodoxy."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Sources",
        "text": "Sources"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[OU Kosher Symbols Explained](https://oukosher.org/blog/industrial-kosher/all-ou-symbols-explained/) — OU Kosher.",
        "text": "OU Kosher Symbols Explained — OU Kosher."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Yachad - Supporting families with special-needs children - Chabad.org](https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1523046/jewish/Yachad.htm) — Chabad.org.",
        "text": "Yachad - Supporting families with special-needs children - Chabad.org — Chabad.org."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "OU.org and OUKosher.org",
        "text": "OU.org and OUKosher.org"
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Further Reading",
        "text": "Further Reading"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "TorahTidbits.com — the OU's weekly parshah publication.",
        "text": "TorahTidbits.com — the OU's weekly parshah publication."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "All Daf Talmud companion app.",
        "text": "All Daf Talmud companion app."
      }
    ],
    "related": [
      {
        "slug": "websites-sefaria",
        "title": "Sefaria",
        "href": "/articles/websites-sefaria.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "websites-chabadorg",
        "title": "Chabad.org",
        "href": "/articles/websites-chabadorg.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "websites-myjewishlearning",
        "title": "MyJewishLearning",
        "href": "/articles/websites-myjewishlearning.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "websites-aleph-beta",
        "title": "Aleph Beta",
        "href": "/articles/websites-aleph-beta.json"
      }
    ],
    "goDeeper": [
      {
        "slug": "going-deeper-deeper-reading-a-going-deeper-library",
        "title": "A Going-Deeper Library",
        "level": "deeper",
        "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-reading-a-going-deeper-library.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "websites-hadar",
        "title": "Hadar",
        "level": "deeper",
        "href": "/articles/websites-hadar.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "websites-pardes",
        "title": "Pardes",
        "level": "deeper",
        "href": "/articles/websites-pardes.json"
      }
    ],
    "glossary": {
      "daf-yomi": {
        "term": "Daf Yomi",
        "hebrew": "דַּף יוֹמִי",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "'The daily page' — the worldwide program of studying one Talmud folio each day, completing the entire Babylonian Talmud in about seven and a half years.",
        "moreSlug": "calendar-daf-yomi-a-page-a-day"
      },
      "halacha": {
        "term": "Halacha",
        "hebrew": "הֲלָכָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Jewish law — literally \"the way one walks\" — the legal system that develops from the Torah's mitzvot through the Mishnah, Talmud, and the great codes; the movements differ on how binding it is, not on its centrality to the tradition.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha"
      },
      "haredi": {
        "term": "Haredi",
        "hebrew": "חֲרֵדִי",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Literally 'trembling' (before God) — describing the strictly Orthodox communities, including the Hasidic and Lithuanian-yeshiva worlds, marked by intensive Torah study and deliberate distance from secular culture.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "kashrut": {
        "term": "Kashrut",
        "hebrew": "כַּשְׁרוּת",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The system of Jewish dietary law — which foods may be eaten, how animals must be slaughtered, and the strict separation of meat and dairy.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-kashrut-the-basics"
      },
      "modern-orthodox": {
        "term": "Modern Orthodox",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Modern Orthodoxy is the stream of Orthodox Judaism that combines full Halachic observance with active engagement in general society, secular education, and often Zionism — distinct from Haredi communities that maintain greater separation from the surrounding culture.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-judaica-kippah"
      },
      "orthodox-judaism": {
        "term": "Orthodox Judaism",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Orthodox Judaism holds Halacha as fully binding and the Shulchan Aruch as its canonical code; it spans Haredi and Hasidic communities as well as Modern Orthodoxy, and is the starting point from which this Field Guide is written, even as it engages seriously with other denominations.",
        "moreSlug": "how-to-use-this-field-guide"
      },
      "talmud": {
        "term": "Talmud",
        "hebrew": "תלמוד",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The vast rabbinic work — the Mishnah together with the Gemara's discussion of it — that develops the Oral Torah into Jewish law and thought. It is the central text of Jewish study after the Bible itself.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-talmud-in-one-article"
      },
      "torah": {
        "term": "Torah",
        "hebrew": "תּוֹרָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Five Books of Moses — the scroll at the center of Jewish life — and, more broadly, the whole of Jewish teaching. 'Learning Torah' can mean anything from Chumash to Talmud.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "kosher": {
        "term": "kosher",
        "hebrew": "כָּשֵׁר",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Fit or proper according to Jewish law — said mostly of food, but equally of a Torah scroll, a sukkah, or anything else that meets halachic requirements.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-kashrut-the-basics"
      },
      "parshah": {
        "term": "parshah",
        "hebrew": "פָּרָשָׁה",
        "translit": "parashah",
        "definition": "The weekly Torah portion — one of 54 divisions of the Torah, one (occasionally two) read each Shabbat so that the whole Torah is completed every year. The plural is parshiyot.",
        "moreSlug": "calendar-the-parshah-cycle"
      },
      "shabbaton": {
        "term": "shabbaton",
        "hebrew": "שַׁבָּתוֹן",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "A Shabbat retreat — a communal weekend of prayer, meals, and learning. The plural is shabbatonim.",
        "moreSlug": null
      }
    }
  },
  "links": [
    {
      "rel": "parent",
      "title": "Tools & Resources",
      "href": "/sections/library-tools.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Sefaria",
      "href": "/articles/websites-sefaria.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Chabad.org",
      "href": "/articles/websites-chabadorg.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "MyJewishLearning",
      "href": "/articles/websites-myjewishlearning.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Aleph Beta",
      "href": "/articles/websites-aleph-beta.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "A Going-Deeper Library",
      "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-reading-a-going-deeper-library.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Hadar",
      "href": "/articles/websites-hadar.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Pardes",
      "href": "/articles/websites-pardes.json"
    }
  ]
}