The Art of Traveling Kosher: Understanding the Challenges and Solutions

When traveling, especially on long-haul flights, ensuring that one's food is prepared according to kosher standards can be a daunting task. For travelers who follow the kosher diet, the pressure to find reliable and authentic kosher options can be overwhelming. In this article, we will delve into two crucial issues that kosher travelers face when flying on airlines: the preparation of kosher meals and the use of non-kosher dishes.

The Preparation of Kosher Meals

One of the primary concerns for kosher travelers is the preparation of their meals. When traveling by air, it can be difficult to determine whether a meal has been prepared in a kosher manner. For instance, if a meal is served unwrapped, it may not be possible to guarantee that it was prepared according to kosher standards. Moreover, if the oven used to prepare the meal was non-kosher, it could compromise the status of the food. As Rabbi Eliezer pointed out, "if you warm up any kosher food in a non-kosher oven, it's like you're putting a different label on a wine bottle – it's not the same."

To address this issue, many airlines offer special kosher meals that are prepared and served according to kosher standards. These meals are often double-wrapped or placed on new dishes to ensure that they remain kosher throughout the flight. However, not all airlines provide these services, and some may only offer kosher meal options for passengers traveling from Israel to the United States or other countries.

The Use of Non-Kosher Dishes

Another challenge faced by kosher travelers is the use of non-kosher dishes. When flying on a non-Jewish airline, such as El Al, it can be difficult to ensure that the same dish is not used for both kosher and non-kosher meals. In fact, many airlines do not certify their dishes for use with kosher food, which means that even if they are made of pure silver or stainless steel, they may still contain residual flavors or contaminants.

Rabbi Eliezer explained that this issue is particularly pressing when traveling on business class or first class flights, where the airline provides disposable utensils and plates. "If you're in the world of cautious," he said, "everything is your fault." However, in reality, the use of non-kosher dishes can be a result of human error or oversight rather than malice.

The Mahaja Meal on El Al

One specific issue that kosher travelers face when flying on El Al is the preparation of their meals. According to Rabbi Eliezer, if a kosher traveler orders the mahaja meal, which is served in business class and first class, they can expect to have double-wrapped dishes. However, this does not necessarily guarantee that the food was prepared according to kosher standards.

In fact, many passengers who order the mahaja meal may find that their wine is not kosher or that the dish has been contaminated with non-kosher ingredients. Rabbi Eliezer attributed these issues to human error rather than any fault on the part of the airline staff. "It's a big challenge," he said, "but we have to be vigilant and ensure that our standards are met."

The Importance of Certification

To address these challenges, kosher certification bodies such as the OU (Oholei Torah) play a crucial role in ensuring that kosher food is prepared and served according to Jewish law. The OU certifies commissaries around the world that prepare kosher meals for airlines, but it does not certify individual dishes or utensils.

As Rabbi Eliezer pointed out, this means that even if an airline provides kosher meal options, it cannot be guaranteed that all of their dishes are safe for consumption according to kosher standards. Therefore, it is essential for kosher travelers to take extra precautions when traveling on non-Jewish airlines and to ensure that their meals are prepared by reputable kosher sources.

In conclusion, the challenges faced by kosher travelers when flying on airlines can be significant. From the preparation of kosher meals to the use of non-kosher dishes, there are many factors that can compromise the safety and quality of kosher food in flight. By understanding these issues and taking extra precautions, kosher travelers can ensure that their meal is prepared according to Jewish law and meets their dietary needs.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthank you so another interesting question something that was submitted by one of our viewers a very common question people go on an airline and they order a kosher meal they get the kosher meal to their seat and they see a kosher designation so they know that the meal is kosher does that designation also go on how the meal was prepared or should they just assume that the meal was double wrapped when it was warmed up on the plane shed some light on on that issue so that's a very very important issue and again it has many layers and levels to the question for those of us who travel economy like me it's not much of a question because if your travel economy the meal the kosher meal that is received on the airline is double wrapped it's warmed up in the microwave or whatever online on the air on the airplane double wrapped you get it and you get the opportunity to open it up and make a mess with all the wrapping and try to get it open but that's a practical issue but for her perspective it's fantastic the everything is disposable so you don't have to be concerned about any kalim you don't have to be concerned about about dishes and about silverware it's fantastic but then there are people who are lucky enough to travel in business class in first class so there they give you a much more significant and sophisticated service so now the issue starts the meal comes to the plane typically double wrapped but if they're going to open it and serve it to you unwrapped then it becomes you don't know what was what wasn't this meal before it was served to you and moreover you don't the oven in which they put it in was a non-kosher oven and it wasn't wrapped so no different than if I warm up any kosher food in a non-kosher oven it compromises the status of the food so it's important that the food be served to you double wrapped or be warmed up double wrap but then this is an issue and on allowed versus other Airlines and other airlines when you're traveling business class or first class they're not serving go on disposable not the dishes are not disposable nor a silverware is disposable and what they're doing is that the airline is giving the kosher caterer new dishes really yeah it's not that much because how many kosher how many glad kosher Travelers do you have on airlines besides LL so and they anyway constantly need to have new silverware and new dishes to replenish breakage and lost allow has a much different situation because they have everything kosher and the OU out of New York and out of Los Angeles certifies the commissary that prepares those meals we don't certify the dishes because those dishes travel around the world would allow and allow that serving food from different commissaries around the world are using the same dishes now the only time we could be comfortable is something served on a dish was something used with silverware is if we were certifying all of those kitchens but we don't certify all of those kitchens so we're not taking responsibility for the service so if you want to be confident that when you're traveling on allowed even if you're traveling business class of first class you have to order the mahogram meal at a special kosher meal we're there we're taking responsibility not just for the food but for the service as well so what happens with the mahaja meal on El Al so the material we're talking about in business class so first class so either they're going to be using disposable on the mahedron meal or if they're not using disposal they double wrap it and everything's double wrapped and if they're not using if they're not using disposable those dishes don't go back into the mahedron service they stay in the non-mahagrance so they're but they're brand new dishes so they actually warm up the food right and then take it out and put it on brand new dishes right and services right and that dish will never be used again from a hat from 100 because you can't concentrate not what you need to think about a number of issues the oh you the meals that you're getting on allow when you're traveling from the United States to Israel is a Glock meal and all services the meal that you get from Israel to the United States or from Israel to anywhere is not necessarily a Glock meal isn't it isn't that ironic I mean it is you know and many times when I travel and I see people who are people who would want to only eat a Glock meal and they were eating the regular meal on the assuming well it's manufactured it's produced in Israel it must be glad it's not the meat is not necessarily got the fruits and vegetables are not necessarily understanded that everybody would want to use regarding Mississippi and another very very important issue again in on and allow um particularly in business class of first class I'll tell you an interesting story with it I was not to throw once and I was standing at the castle davening chakras kavasikan and somebody comes to the council who used to be a tomoderman used to come to one of my sure and he's so angry at me I don't remember what I did that he should be so angry with me so I approached him what's the matter he said I just arrived from Israel just arrived from the United States Texas roll this morning and I traveled business class and they served me wine and then I discovered that the wine was not my voice and was served by non-sham shaba students now why that was my fault I'll never figure out but if you're in the world of cautious everything is your fault you know if you didn't have a good dinner last night it's my fault right so it was my fault that the wine that was served was not Movoto and you know people when they travel on a non-jewish airline they understand that the wine that's being served is not Kosher they understand there may be issues with stamina but when they're traveling in the wild they don't think that those issues may be there and and they're real issues and we have to be very careful well Rabbi elf and thank you for clarifying these two important issues and uh thank you for all you've done for the world of caution thank you nice to see you appreciate it thank youthank you so another interesting question something that was submitted by one of our viewers a very common question people go on an airline and they order a kosher meal they get the kosher meal to their seat and they see a kosher designation so they know that the meal is kosher does that designation also go on how the meal was prepared or should they just assume that the meal was double wrapped when it was warmed up on the plane shed some light on on that issue so that's a very very important issue and again it has many layers and levels to the question for those of us who travel economy like me it's not much of a question because if your travel economy the meal the kosher meal that is received on the airline is double wrapped it's warmed up in the microwave or whatever online on the air on the airplane double wrapped you get it and you get the opportunity to open it up and make a mess with all the wrapping and try to get it open but that's a practical issue but for her perspective it's fantastic the everything is disposable so you don't have to be concerned about any kalim you don't have to be concerned about about dishes and about silverware it's fantastic but then there are people who are lucky enough to travel in business class in first class so there they give you a much more significant and sophisticated service so now the issue starts the meal comes to the plane typically double wrapped but if they're going to open it and serve it to you unwrapped then it becomes you don't know what was what wasn't this meal before it was served to you and moreover you don't the oven in which they put it in was a non-kosher oven and it wasn't wrapped so no different than if I warm up any kosher food in a non-kosher oven it compromises the status of the food so it's important that the food be served to you double wrapped or be warmed up double wrap but then this is an issue and on allowed versus other Airlines and other airlines when you're traveling business class or first class they're not serving go on disposable not the dishes are not disposable nor a silverware is disposable and what they're doing is that the airline is giving the kosher caterer new dishes really yeah it's not that much because how many kosher how many glad kosher Travelers do you have on airlines besides LL so and they anyway constantly need to have new silverware and new dishes to replenish breakage and lost allow has a much different situation because they have everything kosher and the OU out of New York and out of Los Angeles certifies the commissary that prepares those meals we don't certify the dishes because those dishes travel around the world would allow and allow that serving food from different commissaries around the world are using the same dishes now the only time we could be comfortable is something served on a dish was something used with silverware is if we were certifying all of those kitchens but we don't certify all of those kitchens so we're not taking responsibility for the service so if you want to be confident that when you're traveling on allowed even if you're traveling business class of first class you have to order the mahogram meal at a special kosher meal we're there we're taking responsibility not just for the food but for the service as well so what happens with the mahaja meal on El Al so the material we're talking about in business class so first class so either they're going to be using disposable on the mahedron meal or if they're not using disposal they double wrap it and everything's double wrapped and if they're not using if they're not using disposable those dishes don't go back into the mahedron service they stay in the non-mahagrance so they're but they're brand new dishes so they actually warm up the food right and then take it out and put it on brand new dishes right and services right and that dish will never be used again from a hat from 100 because you can't concentrate not what you need to think about a number of issues the oh you the meals that you're getting on allow when you're traveling from the United States to Israel is a Glock meal and all services the meal that you get from Israel to the United States or from Israel to anywhere is not necessarily a Glock meal isn't it isn't that ironic I mean it is you know and many times when I travel and I see people who are people who would want to only eat a Glock meal and they were eating the regular meal on the assuming well it's manufactured it's produced in Israel it must be glad it's not the meat is not necessarily got the fruits and vegetables are not necessarily understanded that everybody would want to use regarding Mississippi and another very very important issue again in on and allow um particularly in business class of first class I'll tell you an interesting story with it I was not to throw once and I was standing at the castle davening chakras kavasikan and somebody comes to the council who used to be a tomoderman used to come to one of my sure and he's so angry at me I don't remember what I did that he should be so angry with me so I approached him what's the matter he said I just arrived from Israel just arrived from the United States Texas roll this morning and I traveled business class and they served me wine and then I discovered that the wine was not my voice and was served by non-sham shaba students now why that was my fault I'll never figure out but if you're in the world of cautious everything is your fault you know if you didn't have a good dinner last night it's my fault right so it was my fault that the wine that was served was not Movoto and you know people when they travel on a non-jewish airline they understand that the wine that's being served is not Kosher they understand there may be issues with stamina but when they're traveling in the wild they don't think that those issues may be there and and they're real issues and we have to be very careful well Rabbi elf and thank you for clarifying these two important issues and uh thank you for all you've done for the world of caution thank you nice to see you appreciate it thank you\n"