What is kosher? Rabbi explains it to shoppers on a Winn-Dixie tour

What is kosher?

That is what Rabbi Shmuel Novack asked the 10 shoppers assembled before him March 19 at the Winn-Dixie supermarket at 9866 Baymeadows Road, only a few weeks before the Jewish holy days of Passover begin.

Working with the supermarket chain, Novack and Chabad Southside set up walking tours of this Winn-Dixie to help explain what fits their religion's dietary laws. So as they stood around a table full of kosher sodas, snacks, salad dressings, cookies and other foods, Novack reminded them first that kosher doesn't mean food blessed by a rabbi.

"Kosher is actually a Hebrew word that means 'fit,' " Novack said. "These are foods God determined in the Old Testament that he wants his people to eat. So kosher represents a godly diet."

Then the rabbi led his group up and down the aisles.

Southside resident Aviva Krause said she thought the tour was a good idea.

"Keeping kosher is basically not hard, but getting anything good is difficult - more than just some dry goods," she said. "If you live in the Mandarin area, it's a lot better. But in other parts of town, you can't really get a lot."

Fruit Cove's 19-year-old Arthur Omran had another reason to attend - he's part of the University of North Florida's Interfaith Council.

"We want to keep kosher if we hold any meal days, especially during Passover," he said.

Passover is an eight-day remembrance of the Israeli's exodus from Egyptian slavery. It begins at sundown Tuesday, with a traditional seder meal.

Since many of the Jewish faith are looking for the correct foods to serve at those seders, Chabad decided it was time to remind people what is and isn't kosher. Winn-Dixie agreed to beef up its supplies of kosher foods.

"A lot of people I meet on a regular basis are not familiar with all the rules," Novack said. "I am not sure if it is worse now than it was 10 or 20 years ago. But this program's goal is to increase kosher awareness."

Monday's tour started in the supermarket's produce section, where Novack said everything grown fresh is kosher. But watch out for insects.

"Those critters are not kosher," he said. "Rinse them out."

Fish with scales and fins are kosher, but sharks and gars are not because they have plate- or armor-like scales. Neither is shellfish. But the Bible says meat is kosher if the animal chews its cud and has split hooves.

"So now you are stuck on your little island and lo and behold, there comes a little sheep. It chews its cud and has split hooves. Can you roast that? No," the rabbi said.

The butchering process has to be kosher, using a special knife and draining all blood. Milk and meat aren't mixed in preparation or cooking either.

When the group got to the snack aisle, Novack asked them to close their eyes and grab something. A quick check showed about half of what they grabbed was kosher, so it isn't "some crazy concept from the Bible from thousands of years ago."

"Kosher is something that we can all keep in our lives. It is not that challenging," he said.

@ For more information, go to www.southsidechabad.com

Chabad of Southside Rabbi Shmuel Novack began his kosher food education tour of a Southsie supermarket with a table displaying all of the popular foods that do fall under Jewish dietary law. DAN SCANLAN/Staff