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| DOC defends kosher food program |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/12/2004 |
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Jewish groups are criticizing the Florida Department of Corrections' new program that serves kosher food to prisoners who request it, saying the food isn't prepared according to the religion's guidelines. Rabbi Menachem Katz of the Aleph Institute in Surfside, a nonprofit group affiliated with Chabad Lubavitch that works with Jewish prisoners, said the department's kitchens aren't kosher. Katz said it would be better to not even offer the appearance of kosher food than to serve food that does not meet the standards of Jewish law. "This is a mockery of the Jewish religion. It is a slap in the face," Katz said. "It is a total farce." But corrections Secretary James V. Crosby Jr. said last Friday that the program is an earnest attempt to allow inmates to practice their faith. The program began last Thursday, four days before the start of Passover. At issue is whether such communal prison kitchens should be held to the lower standards of family kitchens, which the DOC maintains, or the higher standards required of restaurants, hotels and other institutions. Jewish law requires institutional kitchens to be "kosherized," a purification process that uses flame and boiling water, and supervised by a reputable rabbinic authority. Family kitchens do not need the rabbinical supervision. Crosby said the DOC is treating the kosher meal preparation as if were of family unit. Crosby said he believes critics were being unfair since the program is new. "We do not consider it to be a joke or a farce," Crosby said. "We put a lot of thought into it and it will be done right." |
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