Potlucks & Onegs at Shir Hadash

Reconstructionist dietary practices vary widely. Our commitment has always been to be as inclusive as possible and, for that reason, we do not allow meat or meat byproducts of any kind at our events. As guests of Congregation Beth El Ner Tamid, we also follow that congregation’s kashrut policies at all programs in its building. For programs at members’ homes, please consult the host or program chair.

Guidelines for food preparation

As everyone keeps different levels of Kashrut at home, I would like to suggest several guidelines that we could put in practice here at Beth El Ner Tamid for future pot luck dinners. Please keep these standards for everyone’s benefit.

1. No meat, no fowl.  This is the hardest aspect of kashrut to guarantee, so let’s leave it out.  
2. All fish need fins and scales.  No shellfish.  
3. Grape juice, wine and vinegar from grapes all need a hechsher. Even if a touch of wine or vinegar goes into food it must be kosher. All juice with grape concentrate needs a hechsher. Apple cider or rice vinegar is fine.  
4. Lettuce and leafy vegetables must be checked for insects. I recommend using prewashed lettuce only. There are bags of it in the supermarket. This solves the problem. No organic broccoli. I have stopped using organic broccoli because it is routinely loaded with insects.  
5. Hard cheese restrictions. Many in the Conservative world fear for the Rennet (Animal Enzyme used as a catalyst) in cheese. Therefore, only the following kinds of hard cheeses should be used:
   
     - Soy cheese
     - Cheese with a Hechsher (like Millers or Ha-Olam)  
     - Cheese without Rennet.  Easily available at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Outpost, Sendik's, and perhaps at Pick and Save. Brands include Horizon and Amy’s. I think also Cedar Lane and some of  Roundy’s Organic line. Check the ingredients carefully, if it says “non-animal rennet” it should be okay.

As a reminder, no dishes or silverware or serving utensils should come out of our kitchen. It is in BENT’s best interest to keep our kitchen strictly kosher.  So all potlucks should be eaten on kitchenware provided by the host or on plastic and paper ware. 

Marc Hurwitz
Shir Hadash President

If you have any questions about these policies, please contact Marc Hurwitz or Rabbi David Brusin.

Note: As a consideration to those who are helping to prepare the meal for the potlucks, bring only those foods that can be assembled and cooked within a 45- to 60-minute time period. This will help to ensure the meal is ready when services are over. And please remember that the kitchen and oven have limited capacities. The potlucks are meant to be an enjoyable and community-building experience for all.

Kosher Komments

It has come to our attention that there are questions about the availability of Kosher items that are appropriate to bring for an oneg or a potluck. While the CSH “Guidelines for Food Preparation,” which you will receive when you volunteer, provide important information, the question remains, “What is out there and where can I buy it?” So we did a little research and will pass it on to you. While we are certainly not experts on all things Kosher, we hope that this will be helpful.

The obvious places to look would be the Kosher Meat Klub Supermarket on Burleigh Ave.; North Shore Bakery, based in Chicago (with products available at some Pick ‘n Save stores), and any of the Kosher sections in the larger grocery stores, usually near the Hispanic and Asian foods. Brands and items found elsewhere on the shelves would include Entenmann’s, Archway, Pepperidge Farm, Rippin’ Good, Chips Ahoy, Oreo, Keebler, Nabisco Saltines and Ritz, Old Orchard juices, LaCroix , Graf’s soda, powdered Kool-Aid and Countrytime, Dannon and Stoneyfield.

For rennet-free Kosher cheese, brands include Ha’olam (at several Pick ‘n Save stores); Amy’s, Oneg, Mt. Sterling, Sugar River and Apple Smoked (all at Sendik’s on Port Washington Road in Mequon); Chippewa Valley, Horizon, Pasture Pride, Wisconsin Organics and Organic Valley (all at the Outpost on Capitol Drive); and Cedar Grove (at both the Outpost and Sendik’s in Mequon).

It is very important to read labels, however, because not all of a company’s products may be Kosher. So look for the Kosher symbols on the product. Some also add “D,” for Dairy, or Parve. During Pesach, you will also find Kosher for Passover cans of Coke and Sprite.

While the larger stores may carry Kosher dairy products in a separate refrigerated section, several stores on the North Shore have an expanded inventory of Kosher food items, including the Pick ‘n Save stores on Port Washington Road in Mequon and on Green Tree Road in Glendale, and Trader Joe’s at Bayshore Town Center. They carry numerous items, including Kosher challah. Please remember that in all these stores, items that are Kosher may also be found on the regular food shelves.

So enjoy your shopping, and read those labels!

-- Ellen Blankenship, congregational assistant, and Marc Hurwitz, president

Top of page | Previous page | Site map

© 2004 All rights reserved.