I was sad to hear the news a week ago at my job that, as of yesterday, there would be no further rabbinic supervision of the kosher kitchen. And, indeed, yesterday turned out to be the first day in the nearly quarter-century history of where I work that there was no rabbinic supervision of the kosher kitchen. Moreover, since one of the institutions that merged to form where I work now was the Orthodox Jewish Home for the Aged, which was always kosher, this might be the first time in over a century that Cincinnati has no senior living facilities with rabbinic supervision of kosher food.
In any event, I share here the statement that was shared by work with residents last week:
Message Concerning the Kosher Kitchen
Due to the extraordinary challenges posed by the pandemic and the local worker shortage, Cedar Village’s kosher kitchen will no longer have rabbinic supervision as of February 1, 2022. As you may know, the procedures which regulate the issuing of formal kashrut supervision require a continuous presence of specially-trained rabbinic staff.
Despite the best efforts of everyone involved, and with consultation from Jewish Home of Cincinnati, it has become clear that this model is not sustainable. We deeply appreciate Cincinnati Kosher’s commitment to providing kosher supervision to Cedar Village over the past several years, and want to thank them for being a part of our Cedar Village community.
The management of Cedar Village wants to reassure you that we will continue to offer kosher meals and we will do everything we can to maintain the highest level of integrity of kosher food. “We respect your religious needs and look forward to continuing to provide you with kosher food,” said Mike Mobley, Cedar Village Administrator.
He added, “We have discussed this with Jewish Home of Cincinnati, which will continue to provide funding in order to enable Cedar Village to provide a kosher menu to all residents who request kosher meals. It is our intention to provide this service seamlessly, with no disruption to residents.”
What does this mean?
Cedar Village Residents will still be able to opt for kosher meals. Kosher meals:
- Will be served with meat purchased from a kosher butcher/supplier.
- Will not contain milk and meat in the same meal.
- Will not contain pork.
- Will not contain shellfish.
- Will be prepared in a kitchen which is separated from the kitchen where non-kosher meals are prepared.
- There will not be a rabbi present during meal preparation, cooking, nor serving.