Educating Yeshivos and Bais Yaakovs - Keeping the Kitchens Kosher

Keeping the Kitchens Kosher “It was learned in the Beis Medrash of Rabi Yishmael: Sin obstructs the heart of man, as it is written, ‘V’lo sitamu bahem, v’nitmeisem bam — Do not defile yourself with them lest you become defiled through them’ (Vayikra 11:43). Do not read it ‘v’nitmeisem,’ but rather [read it] ‘v’nitamtem — and you will become obstructed’” (Yoma 39a). The Ramban and others explain that this is mainly referring to the prohibition of eating forbidden foods, which will result in a spiritual clogging of the mind and prevent the person from gaining a clear understanding of Torah. Stories are told of how children who consumed forbidden food struggled in their limud haTorah. The impurity that results from the forbidden food ultimately blocks the mind from grasping the profundity of the holy Torah (Rashi ibid.). While over the past three quarters of a century, a high level of kashrus has been attained in many circles, there remain some areas where improvement is warranted. In previous installments, Inyan reported on initiatives to enhance the kashrus in summer camps and shuls. With the new school year just around the corner, Inyan concentrates on a third area — our precious children’s educational institutions. They, too, are striving to upgrade the hashgachah in their kitchens to ensure that the food entering our children’s mouths remains untainted, and what still needs to be done to safeguard the purity of our future generations. 26 Av 5785 13 The blue milchige trays. Keeping the Mind Clear “While the words of Chazal must surely be taken at face value, I recently heard a story that proves the point about tumah directly affecting one’s spiritual level,” Rabbi Sholem Yehuda Fishbane, Kashrus Administrator of the Chicago Rabbinical Council (cRc) and Executive Director of Association Kashrus Organizations (AKO) shares as we begin our discussion concerning kashrus in yeshivah and Bais Yaakov kitchens. “At the shivah for Harav Yechezkel Munk, zt”l, a longtime Maggid Shiur in the mechinah of Telshe Yeshiva, his children related a story. Their father had verified its veracity. “‘A certain Jew had, lo aleinu, converted to Catholicism and became a priest. He remained uncomfortable in his new position, bothered constantly by guilt,’ Rabbi Munk’s son related to those who came to be menachem the family. ‘When this priest consulted with his superior, who had also abandoned his Jewish faith, the superior told him that he had experienced the same feelings and had discovered a simple solution. “For 30 days, each morning, you should wash negel vasser, and then drink the water,” the bishop said. “The tumah of the water will destroy any vestige of connection to Yiddishkeit and kedushah, and you will no longer feel any guilt for your transgressions.”’ “If Chazal say that eating nonkosher food is metamtem the lev, then we certainly must be extra vigilant regarding what we feed our children in their younger years, while they are receiving their chinuch,” Rabbi Fishbane noted. The Unattended-To Problem “Unfortunately, there is sort of a built-in trap that has prevented this area from receiving the attention it deserves,” Rabbi Fishbane expounds. “The Gemara in Bava Basra (24b) uses an expression ‘kidra d’vei shutfi lo chamimi v’lo keriri, a pot that belongs to partners is neither hot nor cold.’ It basically means that when there are numerous people involved, no one takes achrayus, responsibility, to make sure things get done. In our situation, when there are many ehrlicher members on the staff and in the administration, each individual may think that surely someone undertook to arrange proper supervision of the kitchen and dining room. Unfortunately, it falls through the cracks.” To rectify the situation, Rabbi Fishbane strongly recommends that every mossed have someone specifically assigned to be responsible for the supervision of food. Rabbi Sholem Yehuda Fishbane “Otherwise,” Rabbi Fishbane laments, “no one takes care of it and it does not happen. Unfortunately, a restaurant owned by nonreligious Jews or even gentiles that has a strict hashgachah may have a better system than a yeshivah which has not implemented one.” The Necessary Rectification “Forward-thinking Roshei Yeshivah understand that they must appoint one or two staff members to study both the halachos and the practical aspects of kashrus. This involves connecting them with someone in the field of kashrus supervision who has hands-on experience in overseeing commercial kitchens. Such a professional will pick up on everything that might go wrong in the setup of the kitchen and will suggest ways to implement improvements. Finally, it is important to compensate these staff members, so that they will take their responsibilities seriously and ensure that the system is adhered to. “In Chicago, where I live during the year between trips for my work, Harav Shmuel Yehudah Levin, zt”l, the Rosh Yeshivah of Telshe-Chicago, would constantly contact me about various details of the yeshivah kitchen. He understood very well the importance of having a system and following it.” Is It As Kosher As a Restaurant? Rabbi Chaim Tuvia Hanson, Executive Kashrus Administrator of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, repeats an interesting idea a Rosh Yeshivah in New York shared with him. One of the most common problems in yeshivos is that too many people have access to the kitchen. The red f leishige pots. 14 “I often speak with my talmidim about avoiding restaurants. I feel that generally, they aren’t places where yeshivah bachurim should hang around,” the Rosh Yeshivah said. “However, I thought, If I demand that they eat the food we provide for them in yeshivah, isn’t it incumbent on me to make sure that the food I serve is at least as kosher as the food I am telling them to avoid? I realized that the standards in my own yeshivah kitchen, which serves my bachurim three meals a day, day in and day out, may be lower than those of a restaurant. The yeshivah kitchen must be, at the very least, as structured and as kosher as a restaurant.” Rabbi Hanson tells how he entered that yeshivah’s kitchen, sat there for about two hours and compiled a list of some 30 items in need of improvement — some minor and some major. “I identified most of these things only because I’m experienced in the field, and we have come across them numerous times in the past.” The List Rabbi Chaim Tuvia Hanson One of the most common problems in yeshivos is that too many people have access to the kitchen. “Truthfully, no one not working in the kitchen belongs there; that includes Rebbeim and bachurim alike,” Rabbi Hanson emphasizes. “Even the workers should never have keys to the kitchen. When the setup is structured properly, there is no need for any worker, whether an assistant cook or even a janitor, to have a key. They can come in and clean while the kitchen is open for food preparation, or the yeshivah can pay a trustworthy bachur some pocket money to be there when there is a need. In restaurants, it is unheard of for the staff to enter the premises before the mashgiach opens the doors for them.” Another area of concern is the intermingling of milchigs and fleishigs. “Almost every restaurant is exclusively one or the other. Having both raises the risk of mixing them up,” Rabbi Hanson says. “While caterers sometimes prepare both, they only serve one at a time. In some yeshivos, milchigs and f leishigs are offered at the same meal, and the talmidim have a choice. They may be served from different ends of the kitchen, and one side of the dining room may have tablecloths for fleishigs and the other side for milchigs. But it is insufficient. We know bachurim. While Reuven may prefer fleishigs, his buddy Shimon wants milchigs. Although they took their food separately, they want to shmooze during their meal. So Shimon pushes aside the tablecloth that was 15 August 20, 2025 26 Av 5785 placed there for fleishigs and puts his plate with the milchigs on the table itself. This is a disaster waiting to happen. “I visited a yeshivah kitchen, which, in addition to milchige and fleishige sections, had a section for pareve. I begged them to do away with the pareve, because inevitably the pareve pots were washed in the milchige sink, causing a problem that should be avoided by having only milchigs or fleishigs.” In a Bais Yaakov he visited, Rabbi Hanson was told that the kitchen used by the school was also used by the caterer who rented the hall. “The gentile who worked for the caterer had the keys, so he could let in the workers who took care of the kiddush on Shabbos. That itself was a major problem,” he relates. “Even when we were there, a delivery came into the kitchen for the school, and nothing was sealed. It seems that there are some schools that pool resources and order their food from one central provider, which then delivers it to the individual schools through a car service. This requires the food to be sealed. This was not happening, and the food was the type that needs simanim if sent with a non-Jew. It is also used by the local shul for their kiddush on Shabbos. Both fleishigs and milchigs are prepared in a relatively small space. That is more common in a small city where you have a shared kitchen. On the other hand, because it is part of a small local community, many of the students are the children of the Rebbeim and Menahalim. This makes it more personal for them and gives them both the time and opportunity to be actively involved in the kitchen — especially with everything located so close together. Cameras strategically placed to help keep an eye on things. Shteiging in Kashrus as Well Rabbi Don Kenan “For some reason, the yeshivos and Bais Yaakov schools slip through the cracks. While the general public has raised the level of kashrus, and people are quite vigilant in seeking out a proper hashgachah, the lack of supervision in some yeshivos needs to be addressed.” Rabbi Hanson deferentially says that these Roshei Yeshivah would be able to grasp in a month or two what it took him 10 years to learn. However, without hands-on experience in a commercial kitchen, it is most likely that despite their halachic knowledge, they would not pick up on the potential problems and the best solutions that a kashrus professional can offer them. Small Town With Big Challenges While Rabbi Hanson focuses mainly on yeshivos and Bais Yaakov schools in a big city like New York, Rabbi Don Kenan, Kashrut Administrator of Hartford Kashrut Commission, deals with schools in a small setting, which presents its own set of challenges. “In some ways, it’s better, and in some ways, it’s worse,” Rabbi Kenan says. “The kitchen I am involved with cooks for approximately 200 children per day, serving in the Cheder, Mesivta and in catering halls. “In this yeshivah located in a nearby town, the workers are all non-Jewish, and the bachurim help supervise the kashrus. As an example, one bachur was responsible to come each morning at 7 to light the pilots and the ovens to avoid problems with bishul akum. Lo and behold, when I davened with the baalei battim at the early minyan, they told me that that there were occasions when the bachur was not around on time, and the kitchen workers drafted one of the mispallelim to light the fires. Although this technically takes care of the problem, the concern is that if the workers become comfortable asking someone other than the mashgiach to light the fires — and the mashgiach, in turn, trusts their word that they did so — it opens the door to a dangerous possibility. One day, if the mashgiach is running late, and the workers are pressed with many tasks, they might decide to light the fires themselves and simply claim they asked someone else. They must have a sense of mirasas (awe and fear of being caught) and follow clear, established systems. Without this, it can quickly become a slippery slope.” Another problem of sharing a kitchen with the community is the lack of coordination between the two groups. “The shul uses the kitchen to keep their cholent warm for the kiddush,” Rabbi Kenan mentions, “but they were warming their fleishige cholent on the side that the school used for milchigs. Although they tried to be careful, the Menahel told me that often on Shabbos, they had problems like milchige trays being used to transport Over three decades ago, Harav Yisroel Belsky, zt”l, Rosh Yeshivah in Torah Vodaas, who was also involved in kashrus certification, instituted a hashgachah system in Yeshiva Torah Vodaas. It was an idea ahead of its time. He recruited Rabbi Yoni Levinson, then a yungerman in the kollel, to act as mashgiach for the yeshivah’s kitchen. Rabbi Levinson would check all incoming deliveries to ensure the products were up to standard and drop in as necessary to make sure the standards were upheld. “As time went on, under the guidance of the Roshei Yeshivah, Harav Yisroel Reisman, shlita, and Harav Yitzchak Lichtenstein, shlita, we upgraded the level of supervision,” Rabbi Yitzchak Gottdiener, executive director of the yeshivah, says. “We now pay someone who arrives early in the morning to be there before the kitchen opens and remains there until the cook arrives. In addition, we installed cameras to help keep an eye on what is transpiring at all times. Someone spot checks throughout the day. We implemented a system where all products and utensils are under lock and key. The outlay for the extra supervision is substantial, but we feel that a makom Torah, which caters to bnei Torah, requires the highest standard of kashrus. “This standard is kept up during the summer months as well, and the new camp Torah Vodaas where our bachurim spend the summer months maintains the same high level of supervision.” August 20, 2025 f leishige food out to the kiddush!” To their credit, even before the yeshivah employed Rabbi Kenan to set up the system for their kitchen, the yeshivah did consult with a kashrus professional and instituted several guidelines: They minimized the use of leafy vegetables; they had someone whose task it was to light the fires; and they installed cameras in the kitchen to observe what was going on there. “However, because the staff are constantly busy, they preferred to hire someone to take full charge. They understood that there’s a big difference between having a general kashrus system and having a local kashrus authority to provide professional oversight,” Rabbi Kenan says. Certification vs Guidance While not every school has the financial ability to hire a mashgiach, it is still important for them to consult with a kashrus professional to set up proper protocols and standards. “Having kashrus certification requires everything to be fully set up and perfect. Ideally, when someone walks into a restaurant, they can rely 100% on the certifying agency for every aspect of the kashrus with many details and inspections taken into account,” Rabbi Kenan points out. “Not every school has the ability to take on that expense. Nevertheless, it is vital to seek out professional kashrus guidance… A yeshiva kitchen might not qualify for certification — for example, if it regularly produces both milchigs and fleishigs, it’s very hard and rare to be kosher-certified — but it can still maintain solid kashrus standards. “Because yeshivos operate on a larger scale, along with changing staff and schedules and frequent events, this type of guidance is crucial even without official kashrus certification. It helps establish clear protocols, such as proper vegetable checking procedures, and a sense of accountability for the staff.” Raising Awareness “At the AKO, besides facilitating cooperation and interaction between the many kashrus agencies, we also constantly work to increase public awareness of kashrus vigilance,” Rabbi Fishbane tells Inyan. “So far, the feedback regarding this summer’s information campaign shows that it has already resulted in heightened awareness. It’s bolstered the public’s desire to raise the level of supervision in camps and shul. We stand ready to help yeshivos as well. We are confident that here, too, the olam will respond positively, allowing the yeshivos to maximize the harbotzas haTorah of the pure minds and neshamos of our most precious commodity: our children.” 