You are arranging a bar mitzvah, bat mitzvah or wedding at Bais Abe. Mazal Tov! Or you've volunteered to organize a special event with food here. Our thanks to you. Either way, we ask that you follow our guidelines so that there will be no unexpected surprises and so that we can make sure that all our food is kosher. Please read the following and don't hesitate to contact us or Rabbi Shafner to answer your questions. If e-mail is not convenient please call the shul office at 314-721-3030 for help in reaching us. We like to eat good food at Bais Abe and will work with you to make your interesting ideas work in a kosher way.

• Eva Ozarowski
• Lilly Canel-Katz
• Gabe Douek
• Bais Abe Kitchen Committee

Checklist

Please:

• Check that your date is available and reserve it
• Notify the kitchen committee of:
  • your menu
  • the name of your approved kosher caterer (or talk to the kitchen committee about other ideas-see Do it Yourself)
  • whether your menu is meat or dairy
  • whether you need to warm food
  • whether you need Bais Abe utensils (coffee urn, platters, what else?)
• Arrange that the kitchen and tablecloths have been changed to meat or dairy, as you require (or bring your own tablecloths)
• Arrange for acceptance of food delivery at the shul--our secretary may be able to help
• Arrange for setting up of blech or turning on of ovens if food is to be warmed
• Arrange for setting up hot water for tea or coffee
• Arrange for clean-up after your event

Notes

• Dates: Please check the Bais Abe on-line calendar and with the office to see if the date is taken. Please note that the on-line calendar is just a guide. Many events are in the planning stage before they appear on this calendar, so you should not rely on a date being free just because it seems so when you look at the calendar.
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• Meat and Dairy: At present we have one kitchen for both meat and dairy food. To keep it kosher, we have developed the following procedures. Before your event make sure that the kitchen is in appropriate "meat" or "dairy" mode:
  • We have large plastic sink inserts clearly marked "meat" and "dairy." The correct inserts need to be put in the sinks. The sinks themselves are not kosher and no utensils are to touch them. Put dirty utensils in the correct inserts and our janitor will wash them.
  • Make sure the correct meat or dairy drying racks are in place and that any clean utensils in racks of the wrong "flavor" (meat or dairy) have been put away before converting to the other "flavor."
  • We have a special dairy top that fits over our center kitchen table. The table is used for meat food preparation when without its dairy top. Please make sure the top is off or on depending on whether your food is meat or dairy.
  • We have drawers with serving utensils that are meat or dairy and can be locked. Please make sure that the correct drawers are locked or unlocked. This avoids errors on the day of the event when many people may be in the kitchen.
  • We have plastic meat and dairy tablecloths. If you use these please be sure the correct "flavor" is on the tables in the auditorium before your event. Alternatively, you may use your own previously unused plastic tablecloths or freshly laundered cloth tablecloths.
  • Our utensils are color-coded: red for meat, green for pareve and blue for dairy. A few utensils may instead be marked "fleischig" (or "F") for meat, "P" for pareve, or "milchig" for dairy. (Please note "M" does not mean milchig!) If you find an item that is not marked please do not use it unless given approval by the kitchen committee.
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• Hot Food on Shabbat: We have two ways of preparing hot food on Shabbat or Yom Tov.
  • You may (under supervision) put food in the hot ovens either just before Shabbat or several hours before (enough hours to render it edible before Shabbat). You may then leave it in the ovens until you wish to take it out. The same procedure may be used for the slow cookers (crockpots) the shul owns. This allows us to eat hot cholents and food with sauces for Shabbat lunch. No adjustments of any sort may be made to the controls on Shabbat. On holidays that are not Shabbat we also can put food in the ovens during the day and remove as needed.
  • We warm dry food on our blech, with some small trays placed on top of the blech under the food pans and sheets of aluminum foil on the trays to catch spills. Please be careful that food you order that is to be warmed this way does not have sauces or gravies. The flames under the blech must be put on before Shabbat starts, so please make sure that you arrange for this. (We can help!)
  Please contact the kitchen committee well before your event for help.
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• Vaad Hoeir Hechsher: All food produced by a St Louis Vaad Hoeir approved caterer should have the Vaad's certification symbol or hechsher (the "OV") attached. This also applies to cakes and breads bought from St. Louis kosher bakeries.
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• Cakes: If you order a cake to be eaten on Shabbat or Yom Tov (Jewish holiday) with writing on it please ask the bakery to do the writing on an almost invisible plastic sheet that is placed in the correct position on the cake but can be removed before the cake is cut. They know how to do this! Note also that kosher cakes from Schnucks and Dierbergs may be dairy, so please plan accordingly.
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• Do it Yourself: It is possible to bring food and drinks that have not been supplied by a kosher caterer into the shul if the following guidelines are followed.
  • All prepared or manufactured food (in boxes, cans etc.) and wines and drinks must have acceptable rabbinic certification. Since at present (09/07/2005) the St. Louis Vaad Hoeir, which oversees kashrut in St. Louis, does not have a list of "acceptable" certifications available on the internet we ask that you use the Chicago Rabbinical Council's lists for kosher symbols (hechshers) and beverages, liquors and juices.
  • Absolutely no home-cooked food may be be brought into the shul. Similarly, please don't bring utensils from home (though your kosher caterer may bring his or hers.)
  • Under some circumstances it may be possible for you to cook a meal or parts of a meal at the shul under our supervision. This requires some planning beforehand and strict attention to the rabbinic certification of the ingredients (see above) but may lead to very interesting and tasty food. Please contact the kitchen committee to discuss this.
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• Clean-up: Please remember that we are volunteers. We all clean up after ourselves as a routine and leave the kitchen in an orderly state. In the case of a big party however you may need to arrange with the office for special cleaning both before and after the event. There may be a charge if our janitor has to do extra cleaning.
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We want to help make your event a success and will be happy to help you in many ways. Please contact the kitchen committee or Rabbi Shafner. Ask us questions and ask for help!