This past week, students in MTA’s unique Yeshiva Fellowship Program took a trip to Mike’s Bistro, the upscale 54th street kosher restaurant, to learn about some hands-on applications of the laws of Kashrus. The students had prepared for the trip by studying some of the basic halachos of Kashrus, and some boys went so far as to cut down on breakfast to “save room.” The discussion began with a broad exploration of Kashrus, and continued with an overview of the the halachos of Kosher animals, such as how and why an animal has to have healthy lungs in order to be deemed fit for Kosher consumption.
When the boys arrived at Mike’s Bistro, they met Rabbi Dov Schreier, the Rabbinic Coordinator of the OU Kashrus Division. He showed them an informative slideshow that pointed out all the halachos that one should know when going to a weekend simchah at a hotel, a Shul kiddush, or even an ordinary restaurant. The boys then proceeded downstairs with Rabbi Fuchs, an OU Rabbinic field representative, who took them to the meat refrigerator. He showed them how all of the meat is completely verified as Kosher by double bagging and double-checking the meat.
The boys then toured the kitchen, which was filled with dividers between milchig and fleishig areas, in addition to color-coded utensils and cutting boards. After the tour of the kitchen, the boys went to Amsterdam Burger for lunch, in order to put into practice the permissions granted by Kashrus. Over delicious burgers, the boys were truly able to appreciate the complexities and minute details of kashrus.
