It’s Kosher Temple Beth Shalom Prepares Annual Feast

(From For the Record, February 21, 1997:) According to Jewish laws, in order for food to be kosher, it must be inspected by a rabbi. A Wednesday article incorrectly reported kosher regulations.

Not even Costco could satisfy this grocery list: 144 dozen eggs, 1,300 pounds of beef brisket, 75 pounds of pitted prunes.

Food-shopping grew to colossal proportions this month at Spokane’s Temple Beth Shalom - all in preparation to feed 3,000 guests for the 57th annual Kosher Dinner.

“This is one of the biggest dinners in town,” said Ethel Grossman, one of the head cooks in the temple’s kitchen. “For a meal this size, everything is ordered in mass quantities.”

For the last three Wednesdays, bowls beneath the kitchen mixers spun nonstop as seven women finished baking the last 50 of 210 apricot kuchens.

All five ovens were always full. Bundt pans needed to be washed every half-hour. Tables were covered with cake mix.

But the kitchen was hardly chaotic. In fact, it looked more like a factory line as each volunteer focused on a specific task, such as cracking eggs or mixing apricot preserves.

“This is a community and family preparation,” said Marla Antonio, one of the cooks at Wednesday’s bake-off. “We want to give Spokane a chance to try our food. We want to show them a piece of Judaism.”

The meal, which includes potato knishes and carrot tzimmes, also helps preserve tradition, said Grossman, one of the few kitchen veterans.

The 61-year-old woman remembers when Temple Beth Shalom served only 200 guests for the dinner. The temple, built in 1968, was designed to accommodate the restaurant-sized kitchen, she recalled.

“The old generation keeps doing it so we don’t lose continuity,” she said. “But now, the younger generation has the power. They’re taking responsibility for the cooking.”

During the baking, volunteers have to be careful to keep everything “kosher” - fit to be eaten based on Jewish laws.

Because the Torah forbids the mixing of milk products and meat, kitchen utensils at the temple are marked with blue for milk or red for meat. Since the cake will be eaten with beef, the women baked with red utensils Wednesday.

For food to be kosher, it also must be blessed by a rabbi, said Suzanne Rubens, a woman they affectionately call the “kosher police.”

Pork and shellfish aren’t kosher, she said. Neither is a chicken that wasn’t killed instantly and “humanely.”

Keeping kosher is a way of living, Grossman said.

“You can’t sit at a table and throw food in your face,” she said. “You have to think of what you eat and how you live, how you treat animals and fellow humans.”

Although the kosher part of the meal hasn’t changed, Grossman, who has helped cook the annual kosher dinner since 1960, has witnessed several changes.

The most significant, perhaps, are the take-out dinners and delivery.

The Saturday evening before the feast, “as soon as the sun sets and the rabbi sees three stars,” volunteers will quickly prepare the rest of the dinner, including 700 meals in Styrofoam to-go boxes. Volunteers also will deliver to the elderly and those who can’t drive to the temple.

“As far as Jewish communities are concerned, we are the hub,” said publicity chairman Mike Swain. “Many people have never been exposed to Judaism, so this is an opportunity to see authentic Jewish culture.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: TEMPLE DINNER Temple Beth Shalom’s 57th annual Kosher Dinner takes place 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 9. The dinner at 1322 E. 30th Ave. features traditional Jewish food and an authentic klezmer band. Admission costs $10 for adults and $5 for children 11 and under. To order tickets call 448-7422.