Food prepared in accordance with Jewish dietary laws. Despite urban legends, it is not blessed by a rabbi. It is supervised by a rabbi to ensure that only kosher ingredients and production equipment are used.
A kosher servery is available in the Sherman dining hall. Some packaged kosher food is available in the Usdan dining hall. The Colombo frozen yogurt dispensed on campus is also kosher (click for details), as is all Colombo frozen yogurt dispensed anywhere. Java City is not under kosher supervision.
Please see KosherQuest.com for a list of reliable kosher certification symbols. Exclusion from that list does not necessarily imply unreliability; please ask if you have a question about a specific symbol.
The most basic issue is separating milk and meat items. You should set up an orderly system by which they are cooked with separate utensils. Assuming you have only one sink, you should use it for only milk or meat dishes at the same time, and clean it thoroughy with soap in between. It is also good to put a different rack or basin in the sink when washing milk or meat dishes.
You may use the same oven for both milk and meat, but not for both at the same time. Some wait 24 hours between cooking milk and meat in the same oven. In any event you should make sure to clean the oven thoroughly of any spilled or splattered food before using for food of the opposite persuasion.
Toaster ovens should be used only for meat or only for dairy, not for both.
You may use the same microwave oven for both milk and meat, but not for both at the same time. You should wrap your food in a plastic bag or container when heating in a microwave used for both milk and meat. You should also make sure to clean the microwave (especially the glass tray) thoroughly of any spilled or splattered food before using for food of the opposite persuasion. Similarly, one may heat kosher food in a non-kosher microwave, provided the kosher food is wrapped in a plastic bag and the microwave is physically clean. If it is difficult to clean the tray, one may place a disposable plate on it, and then place the food, in a bag, on top of that plate. After heating, the plate should be regarded as non-kosher and discarded, and a different plate should be used to eat on.
You may use the same range-top burners for both milk and meat, assuming there is no splattered food on the burners. To ensure this, it is good to preheat the burners for a moment before cooking on them. This also applies to burners where non-kosher food is cooked.
You can cook kosher food in a non-kosher oven if the kosher food is wrapped in 2 layers of aluminum foil.
Any new (never used before) metal or glass utensils that you buy should be immersed in a Mikveh before use. You can use the Charles River for this purpose. All labels and dirt should be removed from the dishes before immersion. Each item must be completely immersed in the water, and should be held loosely during the immersion so that water can circulate inside your hand. Just before dipping the dishes in the Mikveh, recite the following blessing:
ברוך אתה ה' א-להינו מלך העולם אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו על טבילת כלים.
Baruch ata adonai elohenu melech ha'olam asher kideshanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu al tevilat kelim.
Blessed are you Lord our God King of the universe, who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us regarding the immersion of utensils.
New glazed china should also be immersed in the mikveh according to many opinions, but because this is not a unanymously accepted rule, no blessing should be recited.
Ovens that have been used for non-kosher food should be self-cleaned. Non self-cleaning ovens should be cleaned thoroughly with oven cleaner, then run full blast for 2 hours.
For other questions, and especially if you have cooking equipment that was used for non-kosher food and needs to be kosherized, please contact Rabbi Frazer.