Kosher, Part III: Real People, Real Food: Rabbi Joel Mosbacher

Joel has served as the rabbi of Beth Haverim Shir Shalom in Mahwah, New Jersey, since 2001. He is the husband of Elyssa and the Abba to Ari and Lev.  Joel and his family have taken on issues of the environment, food, and sustainability in the most serious manner, and in the context of their … Continue reading →

Kosher, Part III: Real People, Real Food: Dan R. Weiss

Dan is the Middle School Judaics Principal extraordinaire at Gross Schechter Day School, in Pepper Pike, Ohio.  On a personal note, Dan has been an amazing teacher and mentor to my son Lev, who will be graduating from Gross Schechter in June (ACK!).  The Wikipedia entry for “mentch” has Dan’s picture on it.  He is … Continue reading →

Kosher, Part III: Real People, Real Food: Christine Weiss

This next post is by Christine Weiss, one of the true leaders of the Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple community, and woman I am proud to call my friend. Christine has done a lot of studying about Judaism in general, and this topic in particular.  She spent several months interviewing older women (14 of them) from … Continue reading →

Blessing for Bacon? So, Yeah, That Happened.

Teaching Hebrew school is always an adventure . . . you just never know what will happen on any given afternoon.  The kids are absolutely adorable – sweet, good children who probably really don’t want to be in Hebrew school on a Tuesday afternoon after a long day of school.  That said, most of them … Continue reading →

Kosher, Part II: Beyond the “No’s” or Why Should I Care if My Grasshopper is Sustainably Farmed?

So, what does Judaism bring to food and eating beyond the “no’s” – no shellfish, no pork, no cheeseburgers . . . ?  It brings a level of ethics that I personally feel is missing in today’s industrialized food production.  Judaism values not just what you eat and how it was killed, but how it … Continue reading →

Stuff Reform Jews “Don’t Do”, but Can, in the Context of Reform Judaism: Kosher, Part I

Whenever I meet new people, and they discover my level of observance, I get this comment: “Wait, you do X?  But you’re not Orthodox!” Which is, of course, true.  However, last I checked, Orthodoxy has not co-opted Jewish ritual and observance. One of the most meaningful mitzvot I observe is kashrut – keeping kosher.  Here … Continue reading →