SANTA MONICA, CA—The Loews Hotel in Santa Monica features one of an estimated 40 designated kosher kitchens in the U.S. As many as 10 hotels have responded to a program by the Rabbinical Council of California (RCC) to open designated kosher kitchens. In some cities, the designated kitchen is not an automatic hechsher for rabbis as the kitchen is only as kosher as the last caterer who worked there, and so the policy is to kasher the kitchens before use.

According to Rabbi Mayer Kurcfeld, Kashrus Administrator for Star-K Certification based in Baltimore, “This is not an issue for the Star-K, being that our [designated] hotel kosher-certified kitchens are exclusively used only by Star-K Caterers.” Rabbi Kurcfeld explained that there is one facility, primarily used by Star-K Caterers, which on occasion has been used by other kosher-certified caterers.

Regardless of which kosher certification is used, Rabbi Moshe Heinemann of the Star-K does not pass judgment on any caterer and requires his rabbis to kosher the kitchen after each use. This is not a problem for organizations like the RCC, which is used almost exclusively by caterers it certifies. Rabbi Sholem Fishbane of the Chicago Rabbinical Council (cRc) also does not have a problem since “almost every caterer is cRc, so we know what the last caterer did, plus many caterers have exclusives with the hotels.”

Rabbi Don Joel Levy of the OK Kosher Certification states plainly: “If we do not know who the last caterer was then the designated kosher kitchen label does not help.” They clearly kasher the kitchens before use.

The policy of koshering kitchens that have multiple caterers appears to be the universal standard for all kosher certification agencies, including the Orthodox Union.

By Staff Reporters Printed with permission from Kosher Today