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KEEPING KOSHER IN CORAL SPRINGS

By
Real Estate Sales Representative with 1st Choice Real Estate Team, LLC

Did you know that at last count there were over 2,500 Jewish families in and around Coral Springs, Florida?  I was amazed when a local Rabbi Aaron Bartfield gave me those statistics.  The big question I have to ask is how many of them keep Kosher?

Many people don't know or understand what it means to keep Kosher and how important it is as a Realtor to have this knowledge and information.  For a prospective buyer that keeps Kosher, it is very important that they can shop close to their new home.  So I'm going to share with you my colleagues and community what I know about keeping Kosher (Kashrut) and a few details that many in the Coral Springs area may not know.

Keeping Kosher deals with the Jewish law of what foods the Jewish people that observe can and cannot eat and more specifically how that food must be prepared.  As with any religion, the laws, customs and traditions are all handed down from generation to generation.

Contrary to popular misconception, rabbis or other religious officials do not "bless" food to make it kosher.  Food can be kosher without a rabbi ever becoming involved with it: the vegetables from your garden are undoubtedly kosher (as long as they don't have any bugs, which are not kosher!). However, in our modern world of processed foods, it is difficult to know what ingredients are in your food and how they were processed, so it is helpful to have a rabbi examine the food and its processing and assure kosher consumers that the food is kosher.  Many companies produce Kosher foods and on the packaging they put a symbol that tells the world that this product is Kosher.  These are the most commonly recognized symbols  that Kosher Symbolsindicate that a product is Kosher. 
In addition to these symbols, often you will see a D for dairy, Meat for Meat, P for Passover or Pareve which means it is not meat or dairy and can be added to either meal.  An important rule of keeping Kosher is not to mix meat and dairy.  Therefore you will not see a person that keeps kosher eat a "cheeseburger" or a "cheese steak" or a pepperoni pizza.

How Difficult is it to Keep Kosher?

People who do not keep Kosher often tell me how difficult it is. Actually, keeping Kosher is not particularly difficult in and of itself.  The basic underlying rules are fairly simple. If you buy your meat at a Kosher butcher and buy only Kosher certified products at the market, the only thing you need to think about is the separation of meat and dairy.

Keeping Kosher becomes difficult when you try to eat in a non-kosher restaurant, or at the home of a person who does not keep Kosher.  Coral Springs, Florida is becoming more and more easy an area to live in if you choose to keep Kosher. We are very fortunate to have in Coral Springs a Kosher market named Stefano's located at 9321 West Sample Rd in Coral Springs. FL 33065 954-752-0008.  Why the owner did not change the name when he bought the store I'll never know but the fact of the matter it is a great place to shop close to home.  Stefano's has a nice variety of fresh foods, prepared foods, frozen foods and fresh cold cuts.  They also make a delicious Kosher Pizza sorry no pepperoni, ham or sausage. LOL  This is an excellent pizza even if you don't keep Kosher.  At $12.99 for a large pizza it is less than some of the Italian pizzerias in the area.  In addition to this store, Publix, Wal-Mart, Winn Dixie and Albertson's are all expanding their Kosher food selections everyday.  Recently the Winn Dixie in Tamarac (a city 20 minutes away) opened up full service Kosher meat, deli and bakery departments.  The Albertson's supermarket in Boca Raton which is 20 minutes in the other direction has had the same facilities for years.  We had an Albertson Supermarket with a Kosher bakery in Coral Springs but they shut it down.  It is surprising that with so many Jewish families in and around Coral Springs that we do not have more Kosher Markets and Restaurants.  In Boca Raton as well as Miami there are far more Kosher Restaurants and super-Markets.

CORAL SPRINGS, FLORIDA A great place to live, raise a family and keep Kosher.   

To buy, sell or rent a home in South Florida Call Marvin Kessler your neighborhood expert.My Signature

 

 

Comments (2)

Michelle Minch
Moving Mountains Design Home Staging, Pasadena, CA - Los Angeles, CA
Home Staging Los Angeles and Orange County, CA
Marvin: Thank you for this very interesting post. Your post is very enlightening and explains some important facts about Kosher dietary laws in a clear, easy to understand manner. The more we understand about others' belief systems, the less intimidated we are by them.
Oct 15, 2007 02:41 PM
Marvin Kessler
1st Choice Real Estate Team, LLC - Kissimmee, FL
Real Estate Foreclosure Trainer

Thank you Michelle

My research taught me that several other religions follow the laws of keeping Kosher.  Like the Hebrew National commercial...We answer to a higher authority.

Oct 15, 2007 03:20 PM