Kosher for a Week
and other related activities

Summary of activities: (you may choose to do any or all of these)

• Do a bit of research to learn what a kosher diet entails (be sure to include a list of sources you used in your written report).
• You might also visit your local grocery store and survey their kosher foods area (see below).
• Compile a list of kosher restaurants in your area
• Learn what to look for on food packages to assure that the products are kosher (there are symbols to look for, here is a list to help you). See activity below.
• Compile a list of basic guidelines (do's and don'ts) for maintaining such a diet. In conjunction with this, you might like to make a poster (see below) of kosher and non-kosher foods, separating meat and dairy (if you are visually or artistically inclined).
• Try to follow such a diet for a week, maintaining a diet journal that notes the things you eat and the things you would have ordinarily eaten but did not because of the diet.
• At the end of the week, reflect on the experience: How difficult was it to maintain the diet? Where did you fall short? Were you able to maintain it the entire week? If not, why not? Do you think you will continue the diet on an ongoing basis? Why or why not? Why do you think such a diet is part of a religious lifestyle? Do you think a spiritual life should impact on what and how we eat? Why or why not?

Web resources for research: (also search the Web for other resources)

• Kashrut: Jewish Dietary Rules (from Judaism 101)

• Kashrut: Jewish Dietary Laws (from My Jewish Learning)

• Learn About Kosher (from the Orthodox Union)

• Kosher Basics and Kosher in Depth (from Star-K)

• A "practical step-by-step approach" to keeping kosher

• Recommended Kosher Symbols (from KosherQuest)

• Kosher Certification includes an online video and links to other useful resources

• Here's one resource for finding kosher restaurants (there are likely other resources you might find on your own)

Other activities related to kosher foods:

Kosher foods in your local grocery store: a survey

• Visit your local grocery store and see if they have a kosher foods section. If you need to visit several stores before you locate such, make note of this. (you may ask the store manager to direct you, it is usually found in the ethnic foods aisle). You might also want to see if there are any kosher food stores near you (where would Jews have to go to get their kosher food?).

• Where was the store located and how many did you have to check before finding what you were looking for?
• Did you locate any specially shops near you where these foods can be found? How many? How far away is the nearest one?

• Make note of how large this special foods section is:

• how many feet wide is the section? (not how wide the aisle is, how wide the shelves are, end to end, as you are facing them)
• how many shelves high is the section?
• What kinds of foods are on the shelves (no need to list every single item, simply the general kinds of foods and any non-food products in the section)

• Compile an informal report on your findings to share with your classmates (in class or on the discussion board)

Poster I: The Guidelines

• Begin with a piece of paper (9X12 construction or craft paper should suffice).

• Divide the paper in half so it looks like this:

• Locate images of different kinds of food (several examples of kosher and non-kosher).

• Paste each image in the appropriate section of the paper (refer to your research findings). Include examples of different kinds of Kosher restrictions (e.g., kinds of meat that are and are not kosher).

• Label each image as well as each side of the paper accordingly (example: "cheeseburger" on the "non-kosher" side)

Poster II: The Symbols

• Look for kosher symbols on packages of food you buy at the store or have in your kitchen cabinets or refrigerator (you can use some of the online resources as a guide). Beware of unofficial and deceptive labeling (see Judaism 101 resource for the warning)

• Collect empty packages and containers that do and do not indicate a kosher symbol.

• Bring some examples into class to share with the rest of us (make it a game, see if others can distinguish between the kosher and non-kosher items you bring in) and/or:

• Compile a poster with examples of the kosher packaging you have collected:

• Cut out the fronts of the packages or remove labels, showing the kosher symbol

• Circle or otherwise clearly indicate the symbols (watch out, don't include any of those deceptive symbols)

• Paste the kosher package fronts and labels on your poster. Look for distinctions between general kosher products, specifically dairy kosher products, and those that indicate that they can be used with either meat or dairy ("parve"). You might group these on your poster: