Metro Reese: No longer an Islander
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JULY 19, 2012 tammuz 29, 5772
Vol. 56, No. 10
Pittsburgh, PA
One, two, three, ’Dice
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Conservative heksher can expand kosher market, rabbis say BY TOBY TABACHNICK Staff Writer
the Israeli team who played shortstop the entire game, was equally impressed by his team and encouraged about how they performed. “We did very well today; I think that if we keep it up we can win a lot of games in the tournament,” Cogan said. Cogan helped his team by getting on base four times. He singled, was hit by a pitch and walked twice. The victory came just hours after the Israeli team arrived in Pittsburgh. For much of the team, it was their first time in the city. “We just arrived like three hours ago
When Avi Olitzky, a Conservative rabbi, moved from New York to Minneapolis in 2008, he quickly became frustrated with the relative dearth of kosher offerings in the Twin Cities. The options he did find — a dairy café, a meat deli, a kosher market and a couple bakeries — were costly and limited. “I began to explore the scenario here,” said Olitzky, who is the junior rabbi at the 1200-family Beth El congregation in St. Louis Park, Minn. “I came to the conclusion there was no move to expand the kosher options in town. There was a split between those thinking it was unnecessary, and those thinking we don’t have a community to support it.” What Olitzky found, though, was that both opinions were “erroneous,” he said. The proof is the success of Olitzky’s MSP Kosher, a free of charge, kosher certification organization that the rabbi founded in 2010 as an alternative to the Orthodox-run Twin Cities Community Kashruth Council. Olitzky launched MSP Kosher, “not with the goal of breaking the Orthodox monopoly [on kosher supervision],” but to lower the cost of kosher food, to increase the quantity of kosher food, and to create transparency in kosher certification in the Twin Cities, he said. While historically, local kosher certification agencies in most cities have been run by Orthodox rabbis, more and more Conservative rabbis are stepping up to the plate in order to expand kosher dining options for their communities.
Please see Baseball, page 13.
Please see Kosher, page 5.
Chronicle photo by Ohad Cadji
Yehuda Joffe, age 16, from Bet Shemesh, Israel
Israeli baseball team plays exhibition game against Allderdice ‘BY ANDREW GOLDSTEIN Staff Writer
Before the start of the baseball game on a muggy Sunday afternoon, a chant of “One, two, three, ’Dice” was heard when the Pittsburgh Allderdice baseball team ran onto the field. But one of the Allderdice players shouted “Yisrael!” instead, as his team ran onto the field. That’s because his team was getting ready to play the Israeli National High School baseball team in an exhibition game at the Allderdice field in Squirrel Hill. The Israeli National team is in
Pittsburgh this week for a tournament in Freeport. They will travel to Georgetown, Del., to play in another tournament next week. The Israeli team, who all received green and white Allderdice T-shirts as a gift from the Allderdice team, won 15-9, behind a four run second inning and a six run fifth inning. “I was very impressed with how they performed; they played good fundamental baseball,” said Aryeh Klein, head coach of the Israeli team. “[Allderdice is] a very good hitting team and we kept them for the most part in the park, so I was very happy with that.” Sam Cogan, a 15-year-old member of
B USINES S 12/C L AS SIFIED 11/O BITUARIES 14 O PINION 6/R EAL E STATE 13/S IMCHAS 10
Times To Remember
KINDLE SABBATH CANDLES: 8:27 p.m. DST. SABBATH ENDS: 9:32 p.m. DST.