Our Purpose
The Yoshon Network Inc. (TYNI) fills a much-needed niche of providing an easy way to find the status and relevant Date Code information on thousands of products, as well as educating people on how to properly observe the mitzvah of keeping yoshon in an easy-to-understand format. TYNI is here to help those observing the mitzvah of “chadash” (also spelled “chodosh”) or more commonly referred to as, “keeping yashan” (also spelled “yoshon”). This particular law is based on Vayikra [Leviticus] 23:14 in the Torah [Bible.] It is very detailed in its observance, and our organization has helped many people start to observe this mitzvah. (For more details on this, see our various informative articles.)
Yoshon.com was also one of the first websites to offer the public a pdf download (with permission) of “A Guide to Chodosh” by Rabbi Yoseph Herman zt”l, upon which the majority of our information was originally based. lthough we were unaffiliated with his Project Chodosh, we endeavored to provide information on all things Yoshon. TYNI lauds Rabbi Herman and Project Chodosh for their excellent and indispensable work that spanned over 4 decades. BE”H, we hope to continue the tradition of providing accurate and timely information to all.
How We Operate
Our Information: Information on Yoshon.com and our newsletter/alert updates is derived from reports coming from reliable kashrut agencies throughout the USA, Canada, and around the world.
Recently, TYNI became a Media Member of AKO (Association of Kashrus Organizations). With the Guide to Chodosh no longer being available, TYNI now derives all of its information from our contacts at all the major Kashrus Agencies. This change will BE”H, provide consumers with even more accuracy than the previous system which relied on estimates and crop data, since it is provided directly from the kashrus agencies and their Mashgichim who work and are familiar with each specific company.
Some product information such as yoshon status and lot code cutoff dates are often provided to us directly, by trusted mashgichim (overseeing rabbis) from reliable kashrut agencies. (The source of reported information can be viewed under the Additional Information tab in each product entry.)
It is important to note that we act as yoshon “news reporters” only. We do not answer Halachic questions and our policy is to never give any kind of p’sak. Any questions of that nature should be directed to one’s own Rav.
Our Funding: We exist from private donations. All work done on the site and Newsletter Alerts, question answering via email, WhatsApp individual chats, and our WhatsApp Groups, which are all volunteer-only. All of the tax-deductible donations go entirely towards expenses of running TYNI and the website Yoshon.com. This keeps Yoshon.com self-sufficient.
The Yoshon.com App is solely funded directly from all purchases of the app. This goes toward the expenses for ongoing maintenance, security, updates, and anything else needed for the continued operations of the app. These funds go directly to the app designer’s company, in order to be available when needed. This system is structured to be able to support the app without tapping into any of TYNI’s public donations.
Our Reliability: As our information is derived from reliable kashrut agencies, so there is really no question as to our reliability. We generally adhere to the strictest opinion, so that anyone can use our site.
On the rare occasion that there are vastly differing views on a product’s dates or status due to ingredients, we post the variance in dates accordingly in the notes on that product’s entry, asking that every person ask their own Rav which way to hold.
B”H, we have a good, solid reputation, and are trusted and recommended by many kashrut agencies and local kosher stores alike.
Our History
Read just how far we have come!
August 15, 2010- Plans for The Yoshon Network Inc. were created by the original founder. All ideas were recorded.
October 4, 2010– The basic website for Yoshon Network was created, but not yet implemented.
June 19, 2011– The Yoshon.com domain was purchased by another non-profit co-created by the founder, and the website was started. Originally, the site offered only a download of “A Guide to Chodosh” and the Chodosh Bulletin Updates.
December 2012– Yoshon.com added a revolutionary way that consumers could find Date Code information, making it portable to use in grocery stores directly on smart phones. It consisted of static tables. The home page had a simple table of links to pages A-Z. Each page had all the brands starting with that specific letter, each brand containing a table with its products and the current status or date code information. One had to scroll though the lengthy alphabetical list to find the product. This system was in place for 4 and a half years, until gradually phasing out during February 2016.
October 11, 2013- The Yoshon Network Inc. organization was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio and created the YoshonNetwork.org website.
July 2014- Over the next month, papers were drawn up, the Directors were instituted, our Registered Agent contacted, and forms were signed. Local people made donations, and we were on our way to achieving the dream.
August 15, 2014- The Yoshon Network Inc. became incorporated in the State of Ohio. Ironically, this was exactly 4 years after the original date of inception.
August 18, 2014- Yoshon.com domain ownership was transferred to its permanent home at TYNI.
September 15, 2014- TYNI becomes a 501(3)(c) accredited public charity. Incredibly, this occurred within only 3 weeks of our original application to the IRS. All donations to TYNI are now tax-deductible.
September 30, 2014- The Yoshon Network Inc. is approved for PayPal service.
December 1, 2015- The Yoshon Network Inc. moves its Headquarters of major operations to Scottsdale, Arizona, yet still remains an Ohio non-profit organization.
February 2016- Plans for a new Yoshon.com website overhaul were implemented, and the basic structure was made. The site went live in March, but access to the old site was made as products and relevant information was added to the new site in “Maintenance Mode”.
March 6, 2016- The Yoshon.com site graduates from the old system of links and tables to a new easy-to-use dynamic searchable database. The new system now offered pictures of products for easy identification in the store, applicable grain ingredients, hechsherim as well as other information found in the Guide.
Mid-March 2016- TYNI added a Flag Counter, which keeps record of how many visitors and from what country. Within 4 months, page views topped over 13,000!
May 6, 2016- The Yoshon Network Inc. signed up with AmazonSmile to help make it even easier for people to make donations.
May 14, 2016– TYNI added a new email account (Yoshon.com @ gmail.com) and acquires a Lakewood, New Jersey phone number (7325-YOSHON) for added convenience.
June 4, 2016- Yoshon.com incorporates “Tawk.to”, an Online Chat feature where visitors can make comments or ask questions directly, in addition to email and phone calls.
August 19, 2016- Tu B’Av 5776, Yoshon.com’s Date Code Database is completed with all current products, and the link to the old site is disbanded.
September 6, 2016- Yoshon.com institutes Tawk.To chat service. If nobody is manning the chat (which is most of the time), it will say “Offline”, and visitors with questions can email directly from this chat window found in the lower right corner.
January 30, 2017- The Yoshon Network Inc. was awarded the seal for being a Gold Level Participant in Guide Star, a registry that provides legal, purpose, and financial information on non-profit organizations.
March 2017- Yoshon.com gets a news banner to display the latest yoshon news without having to change the whole slider on the Home page. It offers a close and reopen option so that visitors can get it out of the way when done reading it.
July 16, 2017- The page views top 100,000, having over 25,000 in the US alone!
August 15, 2017- On our 3rd Anniversary of Incorporation, TYNI’s “Y” logo is published in the United States “Trademark Official Gazette”.
October 31, 2017- TYNI’s “Y” logo becomes a registered trademark.
December 3, 2017- The TYNI Board members unanimously vote in favor of several exciting projects. The first was a forum for yoshon-keepers, another was an email-based subscription newsletter that would offer updates, news on products and selected manufacturer’s coupons. Perhaps the most exciting project the Board approved was to start working on a mobile app that would enable people to scan a product’s UPC and have all of the product’s information come up from Yoshon.com’s database.
December 4, 2017- Work immediately begins to start obtaining UPCs for the Yoshon.com app , and Tovim Media, LLC is contracted to do the app, and work on the forum’s design begins.
December 28, 2017- Yoshon.com debuts its new “Forum of Yoshon Information”, where yoshon-keepers can share tips, info, questions, associate and become friends all over the world with others who keep the mitzvah.
March 2018- Yoshon.com disbands the FYI forum due to lack of interest, and repeated hacking attempts. Sadly, in order to protect the few forum members and the security of the website, this step was deemed necessary.
July 23, 2018- A new system is implemented on Yoshon.com in which the Date Code and Yoshon Status are listed directly underneath the name of the product.
July 23, 2018- A new system is implemented on Yoshon.com in which the Date Code and Yoshon Status are listed directly underneath the name of the product.
The date of update (“Updated on [Date]”) still appears in green below the Date Code. The old status information is removed from Additional Info”, and replaced under the product name.
The place of origin is added in parenthesis after the name when there are different countries having the same company, ensuring Date Code accuracy for our visitors from all countries. For example, General Mills has divisions in not only the USA, but in Canada, South Africa, the UK, and it imports to Israel. If one is in Israel and the item is imported, they can tell the proper Date Code by seeing where it originated from. If there is no country listed, it has been made in the USA.
September 12, 2018- Another new system is implemented on Yoshon.com in which the source of updates is added in “Additional Info”. This compliments the green “Updated on Date”. Now visitors can know exactly when a product has last been updated, and where the information source came from. Sources include the Guide to Chodosh and most of the major kosher certifying agencies for the USA, COR and MK for Canada, Kedassia for the UK, and the UOS for South Africa. Occasionally other products are researched by the TYNI staff, usually based on previous entries from the sources mentioned. Work continues on the enormous task of creating the thorough and properly-working Yoshon.com app.
December 11, 2018- After months of preparation, Tovim Media LLC (the web agency that designed Yoshon.com) was officially hired to create the forthcoming Yoshon.com app.
December 30, 2018- The TYNI Board of Directors unanimously voted in favor of having a Yoshon.com Newsletter, which would offer information on yoshon product updates, bulletin links, product recalls and bug infestations, promotional and discount coupons. This would be a free subscription to anyone who signed up, and would also offers immediate News Alerts on updates, recalls and any other important or noteworthy yoshon news.
March 19, 2019- The Yoshon.com Newsletter and News Alerts was started. Upon email subscription, they are available instantly when they are posted, or can be accessed via the Yoshon.com Newsletter and Alert Archive page.
July 16, 2019- The Yoshon Network Inc. created a WhatsApp Business account with their New Jersey 7325-YOSHON number.
July 23, 2019- TYNI officially launched its Yoshon.com WhatsApp Group, and offers one-on-one WhatsApp texting, for secure questions and info. See the Contact Us page for more details, and links to get started.
February 26, 2020- This was Yoshon.com’s debut of the “Yoshon Videos” page with four videos, two each from Rabbi Yitzchok Israeli and Rabbi Dovid Cohen. Eventually we hope to feature short videos of our own from one to five minutes with tips and training.
March 24, 2020- The Yoshon Network Inc. official Headquarters moves from Scottsdale, Arizona to Phoenix, AZ.
July 23, 2020- TYNI gets a new “volunteer”- YAIR, (the “Yoshon.com Artificial Intelligence Robot”).
Since there is so much work to be done, YAIR is a chatbot programmed to answer questions and direct people to different services or articles through links
Designed to be fun and interactive for everyone, it should ideally help take some of the load off of staff replying to so many questions. Yoshon.com has so many ways to be easily contacted for help with yoshon questions for those who need help. Increasingly, a great many inquiries are not yoshon-related, but are concerning purchasing goods and distribution, locating products, or product complaints. YAIR can spend the time to address these issues, while the volunteer staff can do more important work, like updating Yoshon.com, working on new programs, and tending to the Yoshon.com What’sApp Groups.
August 7, 2020- TYNI adds Yoshon.com WhatsApp Group 3, as Groups 1 and 2 got to capacity.
January 17, 2021 – Patterned after the “Yoshon Videos page, a new page is added for yoshon audio shiurim.
August 3, 2021- Almost 1 year later, TYNI adds Yoshon.com WhatsApp Group 4, as the other 3 Groups all were at capacity.
September 12, 2021 – After many months of planning, design, and testing, the newly revamped Yoshon.com site is launched and live.
Many positive changes have taken place. Since we always endeavor to have the most current yoshon information available, we decided to remove the old archives of Guides and other updates from prior seasons.
The new site was designed for extra speed and added functionality.
Search boxes in the header and footer appear on every page, and make it even easier to find your products. The Home and “Updates & Downloads” pages have the Yoshon.com News banner, which now scroll with the page to be out of view when needed, yet still accessible.
Date codes and status are now in orange, and the “Updated As Of” date in green is lowered, for less confusion.
The “Hechsher” and “Additional Information” tabs are horizontal and larger for ease of use.
Our chat robot YAIR returns, as the positive feedback was very good, and he appears on every page.
October 1, 2021- After an unsavory post on our WhatsApp Group 4 during Chol HaMoed Sukkot several days earlier, we realized that our groups were vulnerable to spammers via our links that appeared on the internet. All of our links to join were reset, so the groups could not be accessed with the old links. We knew we had to do something more to keep our groups safe from potentially harmful posts, so we came up with a solution- A member pre-screening “WAPBot” (WhatsApp Police Bot) on its own page.
The WAPBot gives a short quiz that only members would be able to answer, and rewards the recipients with the links to join the groups. These links remain private, and are not indexed by search engines, so they can never appear online. Instead of posting our group invite links, the link to the WAPBot’s page is presented. Our WAPBot safely guards the links, to help keep our groups safe.
December 8, 2021- We introduced a special page called “Hechsher Info” with contact information for the most commonly found agencies on the product entries on our site. Each features “Click-to-Call” links, where a person merely has to touch the number link on their phone to call the agency. This is useful for finding out information on products that are not on our site. They are grouped together by their policies on yoshon.
March 2-8, 2022- TYNI held a survey to find out more what people needed in our app’s feature, plus what they would ideally pay for it, and how many people had kosher phones. It helped us greatly to see just hpw many people were interested. The results are still listed on the app’s page with a desciption of it and its features.
March 19-21, 2022- On Motza’ei Shabbat, TYNI held its first Fundraiser, to help pay for development costs of the Official App. B”H, we raised the required $3K for our bill, and a bit extra to go to help lower the purchase price of the app, which goes toward lifelong maintenance and updates expenses. This will BE”H, keep the app self-sufficiently-funded for all time.
April 3, 2022- After much work and anticipation, the Android version of the Official Yoshon.com App is available live on the Google Play Store! The app features a lightning-fast scanner for UPCs and brings up the current information on the scanned product.
April 4, 2022- The iPhone version of the Official Yoshon.com App becomes available on the App Store!
November 30, 2022- TYNI becomes an approved Media Member of the AKO (Association of Kashrus Organizations), in an effort to gain access to additional yoshon information and contacts.
We are honored to be associated with so many reliable kashrut agencies around the world.
July 3, 2023- TYNI adds Stripe as a Donation payment alternative.
October 31, 2023- TYNI introduces its new Tools page for calculating and converting date codes.
December 5, 2023- TYNI announces the debut of the new TYNI Product Man
ual in cooperation with AKO (Association of Kashrus Organizations). It is a printable yoshon product lookup, that is also a searchable pdf. It has navigational links throughout the document. The Manual gets updated shortly after the site does.
August 15, 2024- TYNI held its first annual fundraiser on its 10th Anniversary. With Project Chodosh announcing its final discontinuation, TYNI is tasked by AKO to take up the need of providing yoshon information to those without internet access. Due to requests for attached documents to email Newsletters and Alerts, we had to switch email service providers and import our nearly 600 members over to the new system. Within 4 months, the amount of Newsletter subscribers doubled!
The additional workload and expenses proved that we finally had to bite the bullet and start asking for donations on a regular basis to cover our annual expenses. B”H, the yoshon-keeping community came through to support us, and we reached our goal.
December 4, 2024- STAR-K becomes the 
printing sponsor for the TYNI Product Manual, printing and distributing the Manual in seven different locations in three states. The printed version becomes a popular item with those who cannot access our site. As of December 5, 2024, we have been offering the Manual for one year, with very good feedback.
Presently, work continues to update Yoshon.com product entries and their pertinent information, as well as the TYNI Product Manual. It is an ongoing process that never ends, as new products are added and old discontinued ones are deleted. (If there are any discrepancies, please feel free to contact us and let us know!)
Meet Our Directors
What We Do
- The Yoshon Network Inc. is multifaceted in reaching out to help other Jews who keep yoshon. We run our educational website “Yoshon.com”, and provide many free services for those who keep yoshon.
- The website has many educational articles that are helpful for those who are new, and/or want to take this mitzvah upon themselves. It also features a “Yoshon Videos” page. This site contains anything one could possibly ever need for keeping yoshon!
- Its most popular feature is the Search Function that allows one to find the status or date codes on specific products to determine which ones are yoshon and which are the forbidden “chodosh”. This also enables people to look up the information on their smart phones right in the store as they shop, and is an invaluable service!
- We also provide a way in which people can network with others on our “Yoshon Contacts” page so that those who are traveling can find people to stay with who also keep yoshon, or where they can find yoshon food.
- In some cities, there may be a Yoshon Gemach or Yoshon Exchange- a kind of “charitable storehouse”. Most often, it will provide yoshon products to synagogues for special events or guest speakers from Israel and large cities who keep yoshon, and of course, provide products to those who keep yoshon if they run out. People can donate unopened packaged products, exchange newer items for like-kind (with the proper date), or buy things that they have run out of or need. Due to the strict Biblical laws of not taking interest, The Yoshon Network and other Gemachs that provide this service can not make any extra money on these items. The exact price is recorded on the item as soon as it has been purchased, or may be given out for free if it was a donation. See the Yoshon Contacts list for Gemachs in your area or where you plan to travel to.
- The “Yoshon.com Newsletter” features News and Alerts for those who subscribe, and the Yoshon.com WhatsApp Groups allow people to ask questions, exchange information, and also get news in a very timely manner.
What We Do NOT Do
- The Yoshon Network Inc. will not answer Halachic questions.
- We do not post any products without having prior information on them from a reliable source.
- We do not sell or manufacture any products listed on our site. For information on a particular product, contact the manufacturer or store of purchase.
- We do not know and cannot give information on where a product is sold. Please contact the product’s manufacturer, as they sometimes have this information. You can click on a brand logo in each product entry to go to that company’s website.
- We are not affiliated with The Guide, Rabbi Herman, or Project Chodosh- we are two separate entities. Therefore we cannot add people to their mailing list for Bulletin Updates.
- Similarly, we cannot subscribe people to “A Guide to Chodosh”. However, we do offer an order form for copies of the Guide for the convenience of our visitors on our Uploads & Downloads page, but we have nothing to do with the actual mailing of the Guide.
Donations
Our organization is largely seasonally-based, and monetary donations are accepted all year round to help cover the costs of web hosting and domain fees. Our Directors and Officers are volunteer only and never get paid. The website takes considerable time and research to maintain. Being a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, we offer people the opportunity to make tax-deductible donations, which will help us fund our needs.
We earned Gold Participant status with Guidestar, a directory charting legitimacy of non-profit charities. Help support The Yoshon Network Inc., and enable us to help others who are keeping yoshon!
Questions, Comments or Feedback
We are always looking for new tips and others to network with for having a yoshon group or gemach. If you would like to become part of the Yoshon Network, please send us a reference from a rabbi and your contact info. Please let us know how you would like to participate, whether providing a yashan gemach or exchange, or hosting other traveling “Yashanite” families or singles for a Shabbat meal or lodging.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us. We only provide information on our site from reliable sources and research. We do not answer Halachic questions. You must contact your Rav, or a rabbi who is connected with a reliable kashrut agency. There are plenty to choose from on our Hechsher Info page.