Kosher dining is returning to campus in a new form this year after one-and-a half years without the option in Foggy Bottom.
The Colonial Kosher Café will begin serving kosher lunches in the next two weeks every weekday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. out of a newly refurbished kitchen in Hillel's basement. In addition to lunch, the new venue will serve kosher steak dinners on Thursday nights, Shabbat dinner on Friday nights and holiday meals, said Robert Fishman, executive director of GW Hillel.
"For a long time, both observant students and parents … have expressed the fact that both locally, and especially at GW, the kosher food options were extremely limited," Fishman said. "Students who keep kosher have had a great deal of difficulty eating on campus."
Rabbi Josh Ginsberg, assistant director of Hillel, said keeping kosher is the "Jewish spiritual discipline of eating" and that kosher dietary laws come from the Hebrew Bible and are elaborated on by Jewish tradition.
Kosher guidelines are extensive. Animals eaten must not be carnivores and must be killed in a humane way. In addition, Ginsberg said dairy and meat products must be kept separate and requires a kitchen and set of utensils for each.
The café will be open to the public, will accept GWorld and will offer take-out service. Fishman said he hopes the café will attract not only students but will also attract community residents and area workers from the Medical Center and the World Bank.
The first Shabbat dinner is scheduled for Friday night and Fishman said he hopes the café will be ready for business by the following Monday. He said Hillel is waiting on certification of the center's new kitchen.
"One of the challenges on campus is that it was possible to keep kosher in past years, but it was either expensive or extremely difficult," said Ben Balter, president of the Jewish Student Association. "There are not many options for the more observant students."
J Street will also have food prepared by a kosher caterer on sale for students, Balter said. He added, however, that since this food will have no supervision by experts in kosher dietary laws, the food will not be strictly kosher.
The Colonial Kosher Café will begin serving kosher lunches in the next two weeks every weekday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. out of a newly refurbished kitchen in Hillel's basement. In addition to lunch, the new venue will serve kosher steak dinners on Thursday nights, Shabbat dinner on Friday nights and holiday meals, said Robert Fishman, executive director of GW Hillel.
"For a long time, both observant students and parents … have expressed the fact that both locally, and especially at GW, the kosher food options were extremely limited," Fishman said. "Students who keep kosher have had a great deal of difficulty eating on campus."
Rabbi Josh Ginsberg, assistant director of Hillel, said keeping kosher is the "Jewish spiritual discipline of eating" and that kosher dietary laws come from the Hebrew Bible and are elaborated on by Jewish tradition.
Kosher guidelines are extensive. Animals eaten must not be carnivores and must be killed in a humane way. In addition, Ginsberg said dairy and meat products must be kept separate and requires a kitchen and set of utensils for each.
The café will be open to the public, will accept GWorld and will offer take-out service. Fishman said he hopes the café will attract not only students but will also attract community residents and area workers from the Medical Center and the World Bank.
The first Shabbat dinner is scheduled for Friday night and Fishman said he hopes the café will be ready for business by the following Monday. He said Hillel is waiting on certification of the center's new kitchen.
"One of the challenges on campus is that it was possible to keep kosher in past years, but it was either expensive or extremely difficult," said Ben Balter, president of the Jewish Student Association. "There are not many options for the more observant students."
J Street will also have food prepared by a kosher caterer on sale for students, Balter said. He added, however, that since this food will have no supervision by experts in kosher dietary laws, the food will not be strictly kosher.
