Guidelines for Having a Kosher Event at a Supervised Facility

By Rabbi Reuven Stein

Mazel Tov!  A kosher event can be as elegant and exotic as you want.  Kosher menus can be found at similar price ranges to non-kosher events.  Below are some guidelines to planning your special event: 

1. Check a Jewish calendar.  Make sure the event is not on a Jewish holiday (like Yom Kippur!).  Chanukah would be acceptable.  Friday night and Saturday night events are limited by the Sabbath laws.  Saturday night events usually need a later start time.

2. Most kosher event kitchens are meat and no dairy products (even kosher) will be allowed.  This means that items on the menu that usually contain real dairy will substitute non-dairy substitutes, e.g. lox with cream cheese at the shmorg will probably have soy cream cheese.  Coffee will have non-dairy creamer.  Any condiments given out will have to be parve.  We once had a Bar Mitzvah where kosher milk chocolate bars were ordered with the Bar Mitzvah boy’s name and picture on them.  They had to be changed to dark chocolate parve bars. 

3. No food or utensils from a private home can be used.  As this is a communal event and the kashruth agency cannot guarantee the level of kashruth in a private home (even if kosher), nothing can be brought in.  Occasionally special arrangements can be made to kosherize a special Kiddush cup or Challah knife from someone’s home.  We have had accommodating hotels allow the bubbes and aunts to come in and bake their famous recipes in the hotels’ kosher kitchens.

4. All items brought to or served at this event need to be checked ahead of time with the Mashgiach (Kosher Supervisor).  This is especially true of the bar which has many items that may not be approved.  (AKC publishes a kosher liquor list.)  Wine (even kosher wine) needs to be approved, as only wine that is kosher and mevushal (pasteurized) can be used at kosher events.  Candy and party favors also need to be checked.

5. Not all kosher consumers eat all types of meat and chicken.  Sometimes Chasidic or Sephardic Jews require special kosher brands.  Most caterers have fish or vegetable dishes as a back-up as well as special products that can meet consumers’ needs.  Sometimes people require Yoshon and Pas Yisroel baked goods. If you require a certain type of kosher meat or specific bread products, remember to request them when you plan the event.

6. If you are doing a tasting for a kosher event you need to tell the hotel that the tasting must be kosher. One should always confirm that an event or tasting is kosher by verifying the Mashgiach’s presence.

7. Every kosher event has a Mashgiach or Kosher Supervisor.  All kosher questions should be addressed to him (or her). The Mashgiach can usually be found in the kosher kitchen or hallway where the event is being set up (sometimes when the event is large, or taking place a distance from the kitchen, several Mashgichim or Supervisors are used.  The Supervisor is there from the beginning prep, usually several days earlier, to the washing and returning of all equipment to the kitchen.  The supervisor not only checks in all ingredients, washes and inspects all herbs, lettuces, vegetables and berries, kashers equipment with boiling water and blow torch, but also must supervise hotel staff (sometimes well over 50 people). 

Kosher Caterers are listed Under Local Establishments.