Cholov Yisroel

One of my co-workers asked me for the names of Kosher bakeries. I gave her a list, and then she asked if we could eat Entenmanns. I said, of course, I thought everything of theirs was Kosher. But then my boss tells her that he doesn't eat Entenmanns. So know we're giving conflicting Kosher explanations. My boss told her that there are different levels of Kosher. I thought that would kind of leave my coworker with a flaky not-so-respectful understanding of Kosher, so I set out to explain the difference between Cholov Yisroel and regular dairy Kashrus. And contrary to how I thought an explanation of a fairly complex and little known area of Jewish law wasn't that hard to explain. It actually went pretty well.

And of course understanding Dairy Kashrus is pretty important at the country's largest dairy seller.

Quiet

It's been quiet. Too quiet. Today I was so bored, I went through my Outlook contacts, and started looking for good Shidduchim. Not that I'm a matchmaker. But it seemed to occupy my mind. So I contacted about four people. We'll see if anything comes of it. I guess it's a productive way to use my downtime.

Eating Out

Today my group went out to lunch to celebrate the retirement of one of the guys. Non-kosher style. I was trying to figure out whether to go. I asked my boss if he was going, and he said of course, and I should go to. I guess he didn't pick up on the Halachic question. A religious Jew is forbidden from entering a non-Jewish restaurant because of Maaris Ayin, or Misleading other Jews. The logic goes that people would see the religious Jew going into the restaurant and assume that it is OK for Jews to eat there, thereby possibly causing another Jew to sin. So I wanted to steer clear of this lunch. But now I was not only up against the rest of my group, but my boss as well, who was either unaware of the problem, or thought it was more important for both of us to go.

In the end I didn't go. I didn't discuss it with my boss; I just told my co-workers I wouldn't be able to make it, and explained the dilemma. They understood. I just hope my boss doesn't feel that I'm more frum than him.

Bible Critic

Every Thursday, most of the group goes to a Bible study group. Today, it was just me and one other hold out. So I figure'd the other person must not be into Bible study. But during that time, she calls me over and asks me if I know the Bible well. Hoping my ignorance won't show, I tell her to "try me." She asks me about Jacob and the wrestling match, and wants to know about not eating the leg of an animal. I was able to answer her. Not that I really know it so well, but fortunately, she just wanted the basic story. Passed that test.

A busy week...

As the days get longer, suddenly afternoon services at shul are within reach. With services at 4:50, I only have to leave work at 4:30 to get there. That makes it quite tempting to sneak off a couple of minutes early, although I only made it once this week. On Thursday, I arranged my schedule to cut out early, coming in early in the morning and getting all the vital stuff off my desk. But in late afternoon, a crunch project came across, and I was still working through it as sundown approached. Missing my chance to sneak out, I was saved by a call from my boss tracking me down. It was time to pray. After finishing, I explained to one of my other co-workers that I had been doing. She was understanding.

Of course one of the most popular levels of religous discourse continues to be around Kosher. Not too surprising working for the largest food distributor in America. We had a little Super Bowl Snack event Thursday where the topic of conversation was which of the prepared treats would be kosher. None of them. Even though the base products where, the preparations had made them non-kosher. But the pinnacle was lunch on Friday. In honor of significant work anniversaries of two of my coworkers, our group went out to lunch. At a kosher restaurant. So not only did I get to eat, but I got to play host as well. Because apparently they thought as a Jew I would know what to order. I hoped they realized that there is no difference in the food. That is the true secret of kosher. It's not a different type of food, it just excludes certain types.

The trick remained saying the lengthy blessings after the meal in front of the large company. I debated not eating bread to avoid the conflict, but ultimately, that's what I wanted from the menu. So I basically prayed as people started getting up. Didn't generate any commotion, although somebody did ask me a questions while I was in the middle. Fortunately, I was towards the end, and I was able to finish before answering. It all works out. And I got a free lunch.