As a community, we pray together, discuss and do a whole lot of eating. By providing food,
we nurture and nourish each other. When you come to the synagogue, come with food: for the
Shabbat potluck dinners, events on Saturday (Bagels and Torah, S'uda Shlishit, etc.), such special
events as Hanukkah and Purim. The only exceptions are the onegs after the Friday night service
when we only need a few volunteers to bring desserts, the High Holidays when volunteers are
sought for specific dates, and the Passover Seder.
The food at synagogue-sponsored events, whether held at Temple Sholom or another location, must
satisfy Jewish dietary rules.
At all events except the Seder, we limit the menu to vegetarian or dairy so we don't have to deal
with the much greater complexity that serving meat entails. Purchased, prepared food does not
require a hekhsher (graphic illustration that it is strictly kosher), but the ingredients must not
be treif. The main things to look for are what are termed "natural flavors", which may well be beef
or pork fat and mono- or diglycerides. These are unacceptable unless they are specifically labeled
as vegetable mono- or diglycerides. If you purchase baked goods, make sure that they were prepared
with vegetable shortening rather than lard.
