Hospitality, Pluralism and AC's Kashrut Policy

As a center of Jewish communal life, Ansche Chesed is committed to the mitzvah of Kashrut. And as a caring community, our synagogue is committed to mutual respect and trust.

Consequently, for decades, Ansche Chesed has permitted food cooked in private homes to be brought into the synagogue, although this is forbidden in most other Conservative communities. This policy does not mean we are cavalier about Kashrut requirements. Rather, we affirm Kashrut together with other communal values including hospitality, and unity within pluralism.

Since not everyone within AC understands and practices Kashrut the same way, we must all treat each other with hospitality, respect each other's practices, trust each other and behave reliably. To do that, we need clear standards that apply to everyone. We also need our members to learn these standards, to ask questions when they seem unclear, and commit to following them.

When everyone knows and practices these standards, each Ansche Chesed member and group can use our shared facility, assured of the community Kashrut standards, and each member can contribute to communal life, such as at Kiddush or pot luck meals.

Our long-standing policy, adopted sometime in the 1980s, was unclear on some points and confusingly organized. Also, people do not always consult the document. In my time as rabbi, there have been some cases when people indeed did not conform to our Kashrut policy, bringing food for public consumption that did not match our shared rules.

I decided it was time to reaffirm and to publicize the rules that enable us to share this spiritual home. With consultation and endorsement by the Ritual Committee and the Board of Trustees, I have rewritten the policy, leaving nearly all its specific requirements in place. That new policy  will be posted on our website and will be emailed separately to the congregation. (That version will include an introduction by me, a fuller version of this bulletin article.)

In addition, the Board and Ritual Committee also agreed on one small but meaningful substantive policy change that I would like to explain to the congregation:

When cooking food at home to share with others at AC, please do not generally rely on reading the list of ingredients to determine that an item is kosher. For many foods, though not all, Kashrut certification becomes necessary.

Members who would like to discuss the policy with me or ask further questions, are invited to meet at Ansche Chesed on Thursday, May 15, 7 pm.

Why make this change?

The food industry has changed in recent decades, as was explained to me by Prof. Joseph Regenstein, a Cornell food chemist. Once "kosher-by-ingredient" made more sense, he explained, since one could tell the difference between crackers baked with "shortening" or "all-vegetable shortening." But nowadays, one really cannot tell what is in a food merely by reading its ingredients. (This story will be familiar to readers of Eric Schlosser's best-selling Fast Food Nation.)

Increasingly, commercial products list a bewildering list of additives, including the impenetrable "natural color" or "natural flavorings." By FDA regulations, such "natural" products can be derived from animal sources. Certain FDA-approved flavorings come from beaver, civet, insects, shellfish or shark. Common items on labels like "stearic acid" or "glycerides" may come from animal fats.

Furthermore, the concentration of food production in ever-larger factories means that lines producing a meat product in the morning can produce a non-meat product in the afternoon. From the standpoint of Kashrut, this would render the latter product treyf, even though its label would list no meat ingredients.

Given what we know about industrial food production, it is unnecessary - potentially inhospitable - to serve food whose ingredients are unclear to a Jew at Ansche Chesed who wishes to keep kosher in a stricter fashion.

I believe this policy change will enable those who wish to practice more stringently to feel more at home, while imposing only a minimal burden on those who wish to practice more leniently. This is New York City, after all. Our grocery stores carry hekhshered versions of every canned or cooked product to which this rule would apply. Practically speaking, the new policy asks those who contribute to pot lucks to choose one comparable product over another, like Newman's Own sauces instead of Ragu.

For many products - those without additives - the same "kosher-by-ingredient" standard remains appropriate. No certification would be required for frozen fruits and vegetables, pure juices, uncooked dry goods like beans and lentils, olives and olive oil, to name a few.  The kashrut policy itself lists more foods that require no supervision.

The new policy does not imply that keeping "kosher-by-ingredient" renders one's home non-Kosher. Ex post facto, keeping "kosher-by-ingredient" falls within our communal practice, as explicitly defined in the policy. But while there are lenient grounds to permit many of these products, the more hospitable course is not to make that decision for others sharing food in our communal home. So when bringing food for us all to share - both our stricter and our less strict comrades - please choose products certified kosher.

In general, our communal Kashrut goals should be viewed under the ethical rubric of hakhnassat orchim, or hospitality. In every case, we should ask ourselves whether our actions with respect to Kashrut enhance or diminish our fellow members feeling of being welcomed and at home.

It would be inhospitable to our fellow members to bar them from the joy and the mitzvah of contributing to communal meals; so we create avenues for every person to contribute. This means that certain members sometimes will practice Kashrut more leniently in the synagogue than they would in their own homes.

Similarly, it would be inhospitable to serve food we know our guests would not want to eat. So, members providing communal food should try to meet not only what seems like an appropriate level of Kashrut for themselves, but to meet standards that others choose for themselves. This means some members will practice Kashrut more strictly at AC than they choose to in their own homes.

Do not hesitate to ask about the new policy, or to share your thoughts with me, at RJK@AnscheChesed.org.

YOM HaATZMA'UT CONCERT AT ANSCHE CHESED

"For the Bitter and the Sweet,

Celebrating 60 Years of Israel in Song"

Sunday, May 4, 7:00 p.m.

Celebrate Yom HaAtzma'ut through the story of modern Israel in song with an exciting Israeli group Shorashim and Shirei Chesed, a community chorus on the Upper West Side under the leadership of Hazzan Natasha Hirschhorn at Congregation Ansche Chesed, Sunday, May 4 at 7pm.

The founders of Shorashim, Israeli artists Magda Fishman and Yuval Cohen, along with guitarist and composer Gilad Cohen and percussionist Yaaki Levi, explore their roots through the influences of jazz, musical theatre and world music. Joining them, Hazzan Hirschhorn and Shirei Chesed will add harmonies spiced with the aliyah of many cultures, including Middle Eastern, Eastern European, Sephardic, Greek and Russian. Featuring exquisite settings of native folk tunes, contemporary compositions and pioneer songs, as well as moving solo works and old favorites for sing-along, this captivating show of song, story and joy will appeal to young and old.

Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Children under 13 will be admitted free.

For more information, or to reserve tickets please call 212-865-0600 or visit www.anschechesed.org

GENERAL DONATIONS  
Ilena Baum
Corinne Boren in memory of Ruth Salzman's brother, David Unger
Michael Brochstein in memory of Ruth Salzman's brother, David Unger
Deborah Brodie in memory of Ruth Salzman's brother, David Unger; in memory of Isaac Meyers, son of Bill Meyers and Nahma Sandrow
Carol Lynn Buchman
Ronald Gold
Gila and Edward Lipton in honor of the birth of their grandson, Shmuel Eli Lipton
Russell Miller in memory of Isaac Meyers, son of Bill Meyers and Nahma Sandrow
Yochanan and Yocheved Muffs in memory of Ruth Salzman's brother, David Unger
Gladys Rosen
David Fishman and Mindell Seidlin in memory of Isaac Meyers, son of Bill Meyers and Nahma Sandrow
Herta Shriner in memory of Ruth Salzman's brother, David Unger; in memory of Isaac Meyers, son of Bill Meyers and Nahma Sandrow
Sandy Edelman and Burt Visotzky in honor of Marcia Talmage Schneider's birthday

YAHRZEIT  
Beatrice Blanco in memory of her son, Rodney Lee Blanco
Bernice Boltax in memory of her grandmother, Sarah Unger
Evelyn R Dichek in memory of her parents, Sam and Margaret Rosenberg and her sister, Frances Gross
Howard Eisenberg in memory of his father, Murray Eisenberg
Stephen Fink in memory of his mother, Leona Fink
Stanley Fischler in memory of his mother, Molly Fischler
Albert Gal in memory of his mother, Regina Gal
Mark and Carole Gothelf in memory of their friend, William Lee Fishman
Tamara Green in memory of her mother, Fay Marcus
Joni Greenspan in memory of her father, Philip Greenspan
Walter Hautzig in memory of his friend, Otto Ruebner
Frances DegenHorowitz and Floyd Horowitz in memory of her parents, Elaine (Chava) Moinester Degen and Irving Degen, and her aunt, Dorothy Degen Rosenthal
Marjorie Hort in memory of Jessie M. Cohen
Rabbi Jan Caryl Kaufman in memory of  her grandfather, Abraham Deutch
Louis Klein in memory of his father, Max Klein
William  Meyers in memory of his father, David Meyers
Martin  Miller in memory of his father, David Miller
Shirley Pollak in memory of her mother-in-law, Bertha Pollak
Robert Rosenberg in memory of his mother, Ilona Rosenberg
Barbara Rothenberg in memory of her father, Chester Rothenberg
Nahma Sandrow in memory of her grandfather, Nahum J. Sandrow
Lillian Segal in memory of her father, Aizic Weinberg
Rabbi Marion Shulevitz in memory of her mother, Syd E. Cullen
Irwin Sollinger in memory of his mother, Trudy Kroll Lippmann Saper
Doris Solomon in memory of her father, Louis Solomon
Phyllis Sperling in memory of her parents, Louis and Ruth Aronowitz

RABBI'S FUND  
Bernice Boltax in memory of Irving Barocas, brother of Renee Barocas Hausman
Yakov Epstein
Joel and Carol Greenberg in honor of Eitan Yarmush's Bar Mitzvah
Jacob Kessler in honor of Gary Kessler's 67th Birthday
Abraham Marvin Konopko in memory of his wife, Leah Konopko
Ira Krell
Linda Messing in honor of the Mishloach Manot Committee: Debbie Greenberg, Janet Scharf, Leah Strigler, Gail Mota and Roberta Shapiro with thanks for their hard work and sense of humor
Lisa Sayegh
Noah Shachtman
Ruth Sharfman
Anat and Avi Zloof in honor of the Bar Mitzvah of our son, Mick

PRAYERBOOK FUND  
Stephen E. Gross in memory of his mother, Ray Gross
Ernest Kahn in memory of his sister, Ruth S. Weiss
David C. Kaplan in memory of his parents, Max Kaplan and Ruth Duker Kaplan; in memory of his aunt, Hilda Levine

KIDDUSH FUND  
Nahum and Maron Waxman in memory of Maron's mother, Helen Loeb
Anat and Avi Zloof in honor of Mindy Fischer

MUSIC DONATIONS  
Anat and Avi Zloof in honor of the Bar Mitzvah of their son, Mick

SHELTER FUND  
Benyamin Cirlin
Vicki Brower & Michael Gottsegen in memory ofVicki's father, Edward Brower and friend, Stephanie Rogoff

CHILDREN'S TEFILLAH DONATIONS  
Nan Salamon in memory of her mother, Zita Salamon

Condolences to the following members and their families:
Ruth Salzman on the death of her brother, David Unger.
Iris Korman on the death of her grandmother, Edith Ammer.

Mazal Tov to:
April's b'nai mitzvah and their families:
Steven Siegel
Mick Zloof

Lisa Brunner and Amir Babayoff on the birth of their daughter, Amelia Noa.
Amy and Robert Tuchman on the birth of their daughter, Mia.
Stephen Burdman and Adena Abramson on the birth of their son.
Josie Glausiusz and Larry Kluger on their marriage.
Fred Mogul and Adrienne Teleri on their marriage.

Todah Rabbah to April's Shelter Volunteers:
(Names in bold indicate AC members)
Irwin Abraham, Gayle Adler, Nathan Arnold, Judith Atkinson, Shira Atkinson, Andrew Blank, Rob Blum, Aliza Boim, City Year Volunteers, Naomi Cohen, Carol Cutler, Elise Duggan, Matthew Feigin, Allie Fleder, Ellen Gerber, JTS Students, Kehillat Hadar, Josh Hanft, Sam Jacobs, Dan Kaplan, Kathy Kendall, David Kim, Alex Levine, KOE Minyan, Tatyana Leifman, Hannah Levavi, Reuben Levavi, Naomi Marcus, Aaron Messing, Bill Meyers, Tzvika Nissel, Rachel Obenshain, Jennifer Raider, Anne Rudder, Katherine Schaefer, Marcia Talmage Schneider and Fred Schneider, Dan Schwarzbaum, Kate Sharp, Elizabeth Silberman, Navah Silton, Lauren Stark, David Tabatsky, Michael Wise, Bonnie Zaben  And many thanks to Charlie Davidson, Shelter Coordinator, Michael Bloome, Assistant Coordinator, and Josh Abrams, Volunteer Coordinator.