Roth Center Food Policies

The Roth Center strives to maintain a strict standard of kashrut so that all of our congregants can enjoy Shabbat dinners prepared in our kitchen, regardless of their level of observance of kashrut. As such, we ask that anyone who brings food into the building is careful to follow these policies.

We cannot guarantee that this will be enough to meet everyone’s requirements. If you have questions, please contact the Kol Ha’Emek rabbi at rabbi@uvjc.org or the Hillel rabbi at rabbi@dartmouth.edu/

Building Policies

The Roth Center maintains a kosher kitchen and facility both to uphold the mitzvah of kashrut and, also, to maintain a community center where everyone can feel at home and break bread together. Therefore, all prepared food and food products must entering the Roth Center kitchen must have a hechsher (certification of kashrut).

Additional values are at play in the way we eat together. Due to the paucity of local kosher food options and our wish to avoid being a tircha d’tzibura (undue burden on the community) we have stipulated the following leniency:

For dairy and pareve meals, prepared food may be brought into Roth as long as
- it is not brought into the kitchen and
- no plates, pots, or pans are used from the kitchen.
Please be aware that this leniency does not extend to meat products. Only hechshered meat products should enter the building.

So, for example, if you want to bring in sandwiches from Lou’s Restaurant/Bakery (non-kosher), you may serve egg salad or tuna–but not chicken or roast beef–in the dining room. However, if you make a dairy kugel at home for a pot-luck and you use Coop brand (non-hechshered) milk, you may still bring that into the dining room. Neither the Lou’s sandwiches nor the dairy kugel may enter the kitchen.

Kitchen Policies

In order to be stored or prepared in the Roth Center kitchen, all prepackaged or processed foods must have a hechsher (certification of kashrut) clearly visible on the label.

Foods without a hechsher that were not prepared in the Roth Center Kitchen (e.g., leftover food from potluck or other functions) may not be taken into the kitchen for any reason. Glass plates, glassware, utensils, pots, pans and flatware from the kitchen must not be used with such prepared food. Instead, please use disposable plates and utensils for meals prepared outside of this kitchen.

Fresh produce or unprocessed foods are permitted even without a clearly visible hechsher.

Only certified kosher meat can be prepared, served, eaten, or stored in the Roth Center.

Dairy and meat dishes, utensils, cutlery, pots, pans, counter space, ovens, and dishwashers must be kept separate. All kitchen utensils are either labeled or marked in blue for dairy and red for meat. All meals prepared in the kitchen must keep dairy and meat separate. Dairy and meat products may both be kept in the refrigerator and the freezer, but please put them on separate shelves.

Caterers

If you would like to use a kosher caterer, the business must be certified as such and the owner must meet with one of the Rabbis. Only then may a kosher caterer use our kitchen for food preparation.

Caterers must also be bonded for Dartmouth College.

The caterers below may not use the Roth Center Kitchen but they are familiar with our policies and understand which foods they may bring in, where their food may be placed, and how to respect the level of kashrut maintained in the building. We do not endorse any specific caterer, but we know that the following companies have worked with the Roth Center in the past.

Local Caterers:

Coventry Catering Lynn or Daniel Caple (603) 252-5605

Maple Street Catering (802) 296-2400

Lou’s (603) 643-3321

Delicata (802) 373-9255

Kosher Caterers:

Tova’s Catering (508) 286-2242

Vermont Kosher (802) 658-0119

The Perfect Platter, LLC (603) 765-7350