Sixth Sense

It isn’t often that an article on kosher in a secular Jewish publication catches my attention. But when The Forward (April 16, 2018) featured an article with the heading “The Curse of The Dairy Kosher Restaurant in Manhattan,” it gave me reason for pause. While it is true that many in my generation miss Ratner’s on

By the end of next week, America will know that Jews are celebrating Passover. Many luxury hotels will be off limits as they will host an exclusive Passover crowd. Try to book a flight in a host of US cities next week and the price is likely to be exorbitant, especially since Easter week this year coincides with Passover.

Just when I thought that I had categorized every type of kosher consumer, a conversation with an owner of a supermarket down South gave me a new one, the “why not” kosher consumer. Here was his proof: A customer we’ll call Irv is in his mid 40’s and is by no stretch of the imagination a practicing Jew. He does not

I got a really good laugh from an ad by a local retailer in Brooklyn depicting the scene in Megilat Esther where the wicked Haman leads the pious Mordechai through the streets of Shushan yelling “Take me to _____with its Lower Prices.” With the hectic Passover season looming, any retailer could use a bit of levity.

For students enrolled in yeshivas, the customary mid-winter vacation has been renamed “Yeshiva Week.” For several days in Miami Beach, it very much looked like the winter Catskills with entire families vacationing in the warmer (perhaps not as warm and as sunny as they would have liked but certainly warmer than back

This is crunch time for kosher in Miami Beach. Tens of thousands of snowbirds will be heading for the warmer climate in South Florida as school break goes into full swing. This, in addition to the customary winter vacationers. Kosher restaurants will be overflowing and in fact are already turning away patrons. Many

It seemed surreal to watch the euphoria in many communities in the hours after the commutation of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin’s 27-year sentence by President Donald Trump. The community, and a host of legal, political and business leaders, rightfully felt that Mr. Rubashkin was the victim of an unjust and disproportionate

I met two kinds of people at Kosherfest. Those who are deeply embedded in the kosher food industry and those desperately seeking to grab a piece of the action. Those who are “in” were simply trying to figure out how to claim a bigger share and those who “wanted in” were looking for a foothold in what they perceive

It is hard to believe that it has been 29 years since I launched Kosherfest with just 69 booths and 600 visitors. Contrast that with the 400 booths and 6000 visitors of Kosherfest 2017. It was most gratifying to walk the aisles, see the magnificent exhibits and the innovative kosher foods. I remember the provincial small