And for employees, it’s goodbye to brown-bagging it with ham sandwiches, pepperoni pizza and crab salad.
“This policy makes a clear statement about the Jewishness of the JCC,” Nate Levine, the center’s executive director, said last week.
Until now, the center had no overall policy on kashrut observance.
The JCC already had a kosher kitchen used almost exclusively for its Kosher Nutrition Program, which serves 450 meals to seniors each day. But no other edibles have been regulated.
The new policy, which takes effect Sept. 1, also asks that individual employees, contractors and center users not bring in pork or shellfish — or bread during Passover.
In addition, anyone who strictly observes kashrut will be provided with kosher food if they call ahead of time about an event that would otherwise follow only the dairy-vegetable-fish standard.
Orthodox Rabbi Malcolm Sparer, who supervises the JCC’s kosher kitchen, was thrilled to learn about the new policy — even though it doesn’t meet the guidelines followed by strictly observant Jews. He considers the policy a “big turnaround” for the center.
“I think anything that brings people in any way closer to Jewish tradition is very good,” he said. “It is important to create a ruach — a Jewish spirit — in the entirety of the center…Let’s not kid ourselves, kashrut is very important in Jewish tradition.”
Enforcement is under the honor system. No one will be standing at the JCC’s entrance inspecting lunch bags in case someone tries to sneak in shrimp stir-fry.
“Some people will respect the policy, and some people won’t,” acknowledged Susie Crumpler, the center’s marketing director.
Still, Crumpler said, center leaders believe the policy will work for the largest possible number of individuals.
“It provides the opportunity for Jews at different levels of kosher [observance] to feel comfortable in the center. They can come and enjoy and be provided for,” she said.
The idea for a food policy came from staff and lay leader discussions about creating more ways for people to explore Judaism at the JCC, Levine noted.
A board subcommittee spent months discussing and researching possible policies. It even surveyed other JCCs across the country. Though most had no formal policy, one Baltimore JCC in an Orthodox neighborhood maintains a glatt kosher policy. That means it follows the most stringent standards of kashrut.
The JCC of S.F.’s board passed its policy in June.
To get the word out, the JCC will publish the food rules in its fall catalogue and will hand out fliers for potlucks. At staff meetings, center officials are discussing the philosophy and rules of kashrut.
Levine asserts that the food policy is part of a broader trend toward reinforcing the center’s Jewish sensibilities.
“I really think there is something significant going on,” he said.
In addition to the new food policy, this fall will bring other changes to the center:
*More Jewish adult education classes and lectures, including “Introduction to Kabbalah,” “Entry Level Mysticism: Key Concepts and Ideas,” “Getting High on the Holidays” and “Judaism and Buddhism.”
*An outreach program to Jews who aren’t affiliated with a synagogue.
*A new teen program that will include Jewish learning and socializing.
*A performing arts workshop for Russian emigre and American-born Jewish youth.