Kashrus Kurrents, Winter 2023

Kashrus has come a long way over the
past fifty years. Agencies ensure the highest standards of kashrus in factories
and food establishments worldwide, with experts in halacha, food technology, equipment,
and ingredients. Consumers have been trained to know which products are acceptable
and how to maintain a kosher kitchen l’mehadrin.

However, one area of kashrus that
has received far less attention – even throughout the past several decades of unprecedented
kashrus growth – is kashrus in our schools. This is due to several inaccurate reasons,
including the following:

Myth #1: “Religious teachers are in
the building all day and they oversee kashrus and everyone is careful.” Realistically, this is not the case.
Unless a teacher is told to “be on top” of the situation, only minimal oversight
will typically occur. Unfortunately, not everyone is familiar with the intricacies
of kashrus, and without guidelines a lot can go wrong.

Myth #2: “Unlike a for-profit eating
establishment, which obviously needs oversight […]