2008 Woodie Awards
More (matzah ball) soup, please
For students observing the eight day-long holiday, the cafeteria's sole box of matzah isn't enough
By: Matt Won, Opinion Editor
Issue date: 4/21/06 Section: News
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Zach Teicher '07 is frustrated, and he's not alone. He is one of several students who couldn't find matzah at Café Mac during Passover this year.
“I'm angry at Café Mac because they didn't have matzah out,” Teicher said. “You have to always have matzah over Passover.”
Passover is a Jewish holiday that commemorates Moses leading the Jewish people through the desert to escape slavery in Egypt. It calls for religious Jews to abstain from yeast products for eight days, leaving matzah, unleavened bread, a staple for the holiday.
Café Mac does not offer any alternative meal plan options for students who observe Passover. The menu for students observing Passover is one item long: matzah bread, and whatever ingenious students can spice it up with. Teicher called the Passover offerings “a form of religious exclusion.”
“They're sending the message that this is not a school for that population,” said Gretchen Solomon '06, co-chair of Mac Jewish Organization.
The potential meal recipes for students observing Passover are plentiful and inexpensive, as many meals such as matzah ball soup and matzah meal cookies break up the monotony of the dry crackers.
“Cafá Mac is different from at home, where my mom would make Passover meals,” Gelder said. “There are kosher-for-Passover entrée options, it would be nice to have those for Passover.”
The issue, of course, will not go away.
According to General Manager Lori Hartzell, Café Mac generally tries to accommodate students' religious needs. Though, she says, “They understand that we're not a kosher kitchen.”
Hartzell and Executive Chef Michael Delcambre note that Café Mac provides meals outside of traditional meal times for Muslim students who fast for Ramadan. Still, many students see Café Mac's efforts to cook a wide range of cuisines as either half-hearted or naíve. Kosher hot dogs, for example, are no longer kosher when they are served from a non-kosher dish.
“I'm angry at Café Mac because they didn't have matzah out,” Teicher said. “You have to always have matzah over Passover.”
Passover is a Jewish holiday that commemorates Moses leading the Jewish people through the desert to escape slavery in Egypt. It calls for religious Jews to abstain from yeast products for eight days, leaving matzah, unleavened bread, a staple for the holiday.
Café Mac does not offer any alternative meal plan options for students who observe Passover. The menu for students observing Passover is one item long: matzah bread, and whatever ingenious students can spice it up with. Teicher called the Passover offerings “a form of religious exclusion.”
“They're sending the message that this is not a school for that population,” said Gretchen Solomon '06, co-chair of Mac Jewish Organization.
The potential meal recipes for students observing Passover are plentiful and inexpensive, as many meals such as matzah ball soup and matzah meal cookies break up the monotony of the dry crackers.
“Cafá Mac is different from at home, where my mom would make Passover meals,” Gelder said. “There are kosher-for-Passover entrée options, it would be nice to have those for Passover.”
The issue, of course, will not go away.
According to General Manager Lori Hartzell, Café Mac generally tries to accommodate students' religious needs. Though, she says, “They understand that we're not a kosher kitchen.”
Hartzell and Executive Chef Michael Delcambre note that Café Mac provides meals outside of traditional meal times for Muslim students who fast for Ramadan. Still, many students see Café Mac's efforts to cook a wide range of cuisines as either half-hearted or naíve. Kosher hot dogs, for example, are no longer kosher when they are served from a non-kosher dish.
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