Rabbi,

Hello. My name is Neili Eggert and I am a female Jewish student at UNCCharlotte. I am in a class and we are working on a group project about
bringing Kosher food onto campus. My group came up with three questions
to ask a local Rabbi and I was hoping you could please answer them for my
group. We would truly appreciate any help you and Chabad can give us.
Thank you so very much for your time and understanding.
1. When students come to you about eating Kosher food on campus what do you tell
them? Some colleges have a Kosher dining program. Otherwise we try to arrange
meals for them.
2. What is the process for getting food labeled Kosher? It would need to be produced in
a kosher kitchen under Rabbinic supervision. There are two places in Charlotte that
we recommend. Kosher Charlotte and Gleibermans Kosher.
3. How important is eating Kosher to the people in your congregation? It is an absolute
requirement as it is Biblically mandated. So its very important.

Dr. Thiede,
Below are the interview questions about the class project for trying to get
Kosher food on campus. If you have any questions or concerns about them
please let me know. Thank you so very much for willing to answer these
questions. It really means a lot to me and my group.
1. When students come to you about eating Kosher food on campus what do you tell
them? No one has ever asked me about this.
2. What is the process for getting food labeled Kosher? There is no one single process
worldwide because there are different expectations around kashrut according to
country and even denomination. Ashkenazic traditions can differ from Sephardic
ones; some rabbis will make a ruling in one denominational setting that is not
accepted in other. Example: A medieval rabbi, Jacob ben Meir, ruled that all cheese
was kosher. Other rabbis did and do not agree. Another example: For the
Ashkenazim, any blood found in an egg makes it unkosher. For Sephardim, the
blood has to be in the yolk itself to be a problem and if the blood is removed, you can
eat it. Kashrut is extremely complicated and diverse.
3. How important is eating Kosher to the people in your congregation? I think that many
are more concerned with eating practices that foster environmentally sustainable
practice. When the garbage output has been measured and compared in Jewish
families that kept kashrut laws over those that did not, the results have shown
demonstrably eco-unfriendly results (mostly in the form of trash). Many in my
congregation are therefore interested in a recent movement around eco-kashrut:
Adopting eating practices that foster and care for environmental health. This
sometimes means a strong interest in vegetarianism.