These items were written by Edyta Bracik, a teacher trainer from Radom, and Małgorzata Wojcieszuk, who teaches English at the School of Journalism in Lublin

Do you really know what Kosher means? These items will introduce you to this aspect of the orthodox Jewish way of life and may surprise you. What does Kashrut mean? Does kosher-style food exist? What is treyf?

To find out the answers and learn more about the general rules on kosher food click on Kashrut as well as reading the interviews with Henryk Halkowski, a well-known Kraków Jewish historian, and Alberto Mizrahi, the world famous Hazzan (Cantor) of the Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago. To test your understanding try What did the interviewees actually say?, and for your knowledge of Jewish vocabulary try the matching exercise and follow it up with the crossword.

In addition you can read an eye witness account of the eating habits of an orthodox Jewish family in London in Working as an au pair in an orthodox Jewish family. To find out more about Kazimierz in Kraków a good account in English can be found in the Jewish Virtual Library www.us-israel.org/jsource/vjw/Cracow.html

Ariel Jewish restaurant in Kazimierz		Menu in Yiddish and Polish

The Jewish philosophy of life

“The dietary laws are designed as a call to holiness. The ability to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, pure and defiled, the sacred and the profane, is very important in Judaism. Imposing rules on what you can and cannot eat ingrains that kind of self-control, requiring us to learn to control even our most basic primal instincts”. (‘To Be a Jew’ by Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin)

Kashrut law: is it still alive?

“Everyone who keeps kosher will tell you that his version is the only correct version. Everyone else is either a fanatic or a heretic”. (‘Growing Up Jewish’ by Rabbi Jack Moline)

Finally there is How to … conduct a successful ‘in-depth’ interview for those interested in preparing one for use in the classroom or for advising your students, and also The interviewers’ story describing how the ones in this item were obtained.

Teacher’s note: appropriate for intermediate level and older school students