Rockville Community to Feature OU’s Kosher in the Workplace Symposium, May 21

26 Apr 2006

Melvin J. Berman Academy
13300 Arctic Avenue
Rockville, MD
Sunday, May 21, 10:00 a.m.

The highly popular Orthodox Union’s Kosher in the Workplace Symposium will be held at the Melvin J. Berman Academy on Sunday, May 21 at 10:00 a.m. Admission is free.

The program will feature Rabbi Avrohom Stone, OU Kosher Field Representative; and Rabbi Dovid Cohen, OU Kosher Rabbinic Coordinator. They will answer office related questions for those working in a secular environment, such as:
* Can I use the office microwave and coffee machine?
* How do I attend a meeting in a non-kosher restaurant?
* Can I eat anything at the office party?

Kosher in the Workplace is part of the Harry H. Beren Ask OU Community Lecture Series, in which Orthodox Union experts visit OU synagogues throughout North America. The symposium has been developed to answer questions frequently asked by kosher observant Jews working in a secular workplace and is a joint project of the OU’s Community and Synagogue Services Department, and OU Kosher.

This event is being sponsored by Congregation Beth Joshua, in conjunction with Beth Sholom Congregation & Talmud Torah; Kemp Mill Synagogue; Kesher Israel Synagogue; Ohev Sholom Talmud Torah – Olney Branch; Ohev Sholom – The National Synagogue; Silver Spring Jewish Center; Woodside Synagogue Ahavas Torah; and Young Israel of White Oak.

“Our job at the OU is to service our synagogues by offering them relevant programming,” declared Stephen J. Savitsky, OU President, and Chair of the OU Kashrut (Kosher) Commission. “Our Kosher Division is recognized worldwide as a trusted and reliable certification with years of expertise. Kosher in the Workplace is part of an overall initiative to make this knowledge readily available to the Jewish community.”

“Observant Jews can be found in ever strata of the workplace. The OU wants to empower them with knowledge of how to properly function in this environment,” said program coordinator Rabbi Robert Shur of the Community and Synagogue Services Department.”

According to Rabbi Dovid Cohen, who is coordinating the program for OU Kosher, “We conducted a poll, in which we solicited questions from two Jewish e-mail lists, regarding the keeping of kosher in the workplace. We got an amazing amount of responses, which gave us much insight into the issues and the relevance of this topic.”

To register for this event; for more information about Kosher in the Workplace; or to submit specific questions for the presenter contact Rabbi Shur at 212-613-8329 or roberts@ou.org.