Second in a series of articles on the 40th anniversary year of the worldwide kosher campaign launched by the Rebbe in 1975.
In the summer of 1975, the Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—called for a new mitzvah campaign: to encourage Jewish people to kosher their kitchens and consume kosher food. At the time, Chassidim immediately mobilized for the effort. The Rebbe quoted the teaching in Tanya that a person is affected by the food he or she eats, on both physical and spiritual levels. The Rebbe went on to explain that consuming nonkosher food can cloud the natural purity and innocence that a person is born with, allowing a person to potentially adopt views that are in opposition to Torah.
At the launch of the campaign—officially termed “the campaign for kosher food and drink”—the Rebbe announced that a special fund would be set up by his office to offset up to 50 percent of the expenses incurred by anyone converting their kitchen to a kosher one (capped at a $200 rebate, then enough to cover half of an average kitchen changeover).
Chassidim and Jewish activists immediately sprang into action, printing brochures, arranging educational lectures, organizing kosher-meal plans in colleges and koshering kitchens in homes all over the world.
Under the auspices of the Lubavitch Women’s Organization (Nshei Chabad), the Lubavitch Women’s Kosher Committee was formed to coordinate the operation in the New York area and beyond. Originally spearheaded by Mrs. Yehudis Groner and Mrs. Chashie Lev, the organization became the responsibility of Mrs. Laya Klein and Mrs. Shterna Zirkind in the early 1980s.
The women reflect on the campaign—now well into its 40th year—its impact, and how it has matured over the decades.
Q: Can you share a bit about your organization? Where are you located, and what type of infrastructure is there?
Mrs. Klein: What infrastructure? What office? Everything has been running out of our kitchens!
Mrs. Zirkind: Mrs. Klein stores the literature and supplies in her basement, and everything else happens over the phone. We have always been a volunteer-based organization running almost entirely on donations.
Q: What’s the process when a person calls and asks for their kitchen to be koshered?
Mrs. Zirkind: First of all, we send over a volunteer to meet them and guide them in the practical aspects of keeping kosher, helping them with the logistics of shopping for kosher food, keeping two sets of dishes and keeping everything kosher in the long run. After they have been practicing for a while, we send over another team of volunteers to actually kosher the kitchen.
Originally, they were ladies as well. But at a certain point, we had some very dedicated young men take over that part since it really entails a lot of physical exertion. Despite the schlepping, they went cheerfully and devotedly. Periodically, we held training sessions for the men, teaching them the halachic and logistical aspects of koshering a kitchen. Many of them went on to become Chabad rabbis all over the world, and they came back to thank us for the skills that they still use on a regular basis.
In time, Rabbi Nisan Dovid Dubov and Rabbi Levi Garelik put together a guidebook on koshering, and we distribute those to anyone looking to learn how to kosher a kitchen.
Of course, we offered everyone a rebate for half of their expenses as per the Rebbe’s directive. Many people took advantage of that, though many were also happy to refuse it, gladly shouldering the expense that this mitzvah entails. All rebates were issued from the Rebbe’s office through Machne Israel [the social-service arm of Chabad-Lubavitch].
Over the years, the operation has changed. These days, when a person calls, we try to connect them to their closest Chabad Center and see if the local rabbi can do the koshering for them. That way, they can develop a long-term connection, which is always the best.
Q: Other than koshering kitchens, what other services do you provide?
Mrs. Klein: We have many brochures and educational materials that we distribute to Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries (shluchim) all over the world, as well as directly to people interested in learning about kosher.
About 20 years ago, Jerry Levine produced a video called “G‑d’s Diet,” which was cutting-edge at the time. Shluchim would use it to start educational seminars on keeping kosher.
One of our early projects still going on is “Kosher Week,” where we set up a stand in supermarkets, stocked with information on kosher. Directed by Mrs. Tzippy Simpson and Mrs. Goldy Gansburg, a big part of it is to show people just how easy it is to shop for kosher food; it’s so readily available. We often schedule them around Jewish holidays, so that the volunteers staffing the booth also spread awareness about them as well.
Mrs. Zirkind: Another one of our early activities was regular educational seminars for women who were getting married and setting up their kosher kitchen for the first time. In fact, I was first involved as an organizer for these classes, given by community rabbis. Today, this is also done by many other organizations.
Another thing we did was distribute pushkes (charity boxes) that people could affix to their kitchen walls. It was something the Rebbe requested in a talk to women, and we distributed many of them specially designed to be fastened to the kitchen walls, making the very home a place of sanctity and giving. In fact, the Rebbe even said that the pushke’s presence would enhance the kosher status of the food, so it was extra-special for us to get them out there.
Q: What was the Rebbe’s involvement in your activities?
Mrs. Klein: Everything we were doing was the result of the Rebbe’s request. Whenever we had a new project or publication, we would inform the Rebbe. He would respond with blessings and sometimes even symbolic monetary participation.
Mrs. Zirkind: Whenever we took out ads or published articles, we would show them to the Rebbe. I recall one particular time when we showed the Rebbe an ad we were taking out in a Jewish paper, and the Rebbe pointed out that we had neglected to place the Hebrew letters bais samach dalet [an acronym for Aramaic words recognizing G‑d’s constant assistance] on the top. Since then, I’ve been very careful about it.
Q: What type of effect did you see the experience having on the people for whom you’ve koshered their kitchens?
Mrs. Klein: Often, they would forge a connection with the women who guided them along. I remember one time that a woman came to us years after we koshered her kitchen, telling us that her child was getting married and requesting that we kosher her in-laws’ kitchen as well. She’d kept in touch all along. So you never know where the connection may lead.
Mrs. Zirkind: Going kosher is often a major stepping stone on people’s path to embracing Jewish observance. First of all, eating kosher helps their souls become more sensitive to Jewish concepts and that makes a big difference; they become open to so much more. On a practical level, it is a major statement and commitment. When you keep kosher, Shabbat and holiday observance is a natural follow-up.
The first article in the series, “How One Purple Book Revolutionized Kosher Cooking,” can be read here.
Join the Discussion