Skokie Valley Community Hosting Guidelines
Draft Policies as of 7/1/2023
Shabbat is a key force that binds our community to God and to one another, in shul and beyond.
The davening, learning and socializing that happen in our building each and every Shabbat are central, but what happens in our homes is just as important.
Shabbat gives us the opportunity to host and be hosted by diverse members of our community, fulfilling the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim (welcoming guests), and deepening our connections.
In order to welcome and include everyone in both hosting and being hosted, we are sharing these Shabbat hosting guidelines with the community. These guidelines are based on the work done by the Anshe Shalom Bnai Israel community in Lakeview, by Rabbi Asher Lopatin and Rabbi David Wolkenfeld, which has now become a model for creating inclusive hosting communities across the country.
We are blessed with a diverse membership from all kinds of backgrounds. We celebrate our diversity and respect the religious choices and journeys of all our members, and are always there to support members in deepening their connection to mitzvot.
The goal of these guidelines is to set a clear, accessible standard that allows all individuals in the community to both host and be hosted with confidence that the Shabbat meal meets a community standard for kashrut and is in accordance with the laws of Shabbat.
Rav Ari is available to clarify or explain anything that may not be clear and also to support anyone who wishes to take new strides in their observance of kashrut or the laws of Shabbat.
Included in these guidelines are:
Part I. Kosher Kitchens
Food should be cooked, prepared, and served using only cooking utensils, appliances, serving utensils, cutting boards and cutlery that have been exclusively used for kosher food, or in a kitchen that has been made kosher according to the procedures listed below, or that are new or disposable. If your kitchen does not meet the guidelines below but you wish to host members of the community who might be uncomfortable eating in a home that does not meet these guidelines, you may purchase food at any number of our local, certified kosher institutions and serve it on disposable dishes.
Kitchen appliances and utensils can be made kosher (“kashered”) in the following ways:
Self-Cleaning Ovens: Follow the instructions for your oven’s self-cleaning cycle, running the self-clean cycle once. Note: Anything which is in the oven during self-cleaning, such as the oven racks or stove-top burners that have been placed inside the oven, can be simultaneously made kosher by being inside the oven during the self-clean cycle.
Non Self-Cleaning Ovens: Oven interiors should be cleaned to remove any food residue that may have become stuck to the oven walls. (Black or brown staining that may remain on the oven walls is merely carbon and is not considered food residue.) Then, after waiting 24 hours from the oven’s previous use, run the oven at its hottest setting on bake mode (using upper and lower heating elements). Let the oven reach the hottest temperature and remain there for a minimum of 40 minutes. Oven racks can be left inside the oven and are made kosher along with the oven itself.
Gas or Electric Stove-Top Burners: Leave unused for 24 hours, clean off any food residue from the burners and the area beneath them. Turn each burner on to the highest setting, in succession or at the same time, for 15 minutes.
Glass Stove Tops: Clean the glass, removing any food residue, and leave unused for 24 hours. Turn on all the burners, at the same time, for 20 minutes.
Microwaves: Remove food residue from the interior of the microwave. Let the microwave sit unused for 24 hours, and then boil an uncovered bowl of water in the microwave for 4 minutes.
Dishwashers: Wipe down the interior of the dishwasher and remove any food residue from the dishwasher filters. Run the dishwasher once, with soap. Let the dishwasher wait unused for 24 hours, and then run the dishwasher again, without soap, on its hottest/highest setting. Older dishwashers with porcelain interiors cannot be kashered.
Refrigerator and Freezer Shelves: There is no need to kasher a fridge or a freezer.
Sinks: Stainless steel or granite sinks can be kashered by first thoroughly cleaning the sink, and then after 24 hours have elapsed since the last time anything hot was in the sink, pouring boiling water over the entire sink. Sinks can be used for cleaning dairy and meat dishes by using separate sink racks that are designated for dairy and meat utensils. Porcelain sinks cannot be made kosher and must be used with sink racks or dishpans, separate ones for dairy and meat dishes.
Metal Pots and Cutlery: These items should be unused for 24 hours, thoroughly cleaned, and then immersed in boiling water. To kasher a large pot, place it into an even larger pot, or fill it with boiling water and then place a stone--or any other item--into the pot of boiling water. The displacement will cause a bit of boiling water to overflow the edge of the pot, thereby kashering the exterior surface of the pot.
Part II: Kosher Ingredients
Kosher food can only be made with kosher ingredients. Packaged foods must have a reliable kosher certification. See here for a list of many reliable kashrut organizations. However, this list is not all-encompassing and new kashrut organizations emerge all the time. If a certification does not appear on this list, the major Kashrut organizations (OU, OK, Star-K, and cRc) maintain excellent websites which are excellent resources. Rav Ari is also available for inquiries about certifications. In addition, Rabbi Eidlitz--a kashrut expert from California--maintains kosherquest.org which is an invaluable resource for learning about kashrut including a very comprehensive list of ingredients and basic foods that do not require special kosher certification.
The following list of food and ingredients are kosher and can be used without further need for certification:
Liquor: All unflavored beer, ale, whiskey, rye, gin, tequila (without worm), and sake are kosher with no need for certification as they all have standardized traditional methods of brewing and distilling. Flavored beers and other liquors require kosher certification.
Wine, port, vermouth, brandy, or any liquor made from grapes requires kashrut certification and must also be marked mevushal.
Part III: Serving Warm Food on Shabbat
The Shabbat restrictions on heating food on Shabbat are derived from the Torah which prohibits cooking and manipulating fire (adjusting the temperature) on Shabbat. One easy way to host a Shabbat meal is to serve all the food cold or at room temperature. Food prep that only involves washing and cutting and chopping (e.g., salads) is permitted on Shabbat for meals that will be eaten on Shabbat. All food must be cooked before Shabbat. Warm food can be served by:
Reminder: cooking and heating foods on a weekday Yom Tov (Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot, and Rosh Hashana) is generally permitted. Please speak to Rav Ari with questions about Yom Tov.
Shabbat Guidelines
1. No uncooked food or beverages may be placed on a hot burner, in a heated oven, in a crockpot that is on, on a warming tray, or in a heated urn on Shabbat.
2. No liquids may be heated on Shabbat. This includes water for making tea, soup, stew with a lot of liquid, or any dish with lots of liquid sauce. An “instant hot” faucet cannot be used on Shabbat.
3. Dry, already-cooked food can be reheated on Shabbat in the following ways:
A. Placing food on an electric warming tray (sometimes referred to as a “platta”) that is plugged in before Shabbat. A warming tray is not designed for cooking and has no knob or switch to adjust its temperature. An electric warming tray can be used with an electric timer. Be sure to use an “appliance timer” that can safely accommodate the voltage of the warming tray.
B. Using a “kedeirah blekh” which is placed on top of a stove burner that is left on for the duration of Shabbat. A kedeirah blekh is a special metal tray that can be purchased, and is filled with water and set on the heat before Shabbat.
C. Placing food in a “warming drawer” that is not designed for cooking. The warming drawer must be turned on before Shabbat.
4. Stew, soup or cholent placed in a crock-pot or slow-cooker before Shabbat can be left to simmer and cook during Shabbat so long as either the food is minimally edible when Shabbat begins or, the knobs and switches on the crock-pot or slow-cooker are covered before Shabbat begins.
5. Hot water that was heated in an urn before the onset of Shabbat can be used to make instant hot drinks, including coffee and cocoa. Brewing tea is considered cooking, and so must be done in one of two ways:
A. Before Shabbat, brew a concentrate of tea by placing several tea bags in one tea pot. This “essence” can be poured into a cup of hot water to produce tea of normal strength.
B. Hot water can be poured into a mug or tea-pot from the urn, and then poured into another mug which functions as a “third vessel.” (The urn is the primary vessel where the water was heated, the teapot or mug is the secondary vessel, and the final mug is the third vessel). It is permissible to place a tea bag into a cup that is a “third vessel” of hot water.
Part IV: Making Our Homes Friendly for Shabbat-Observant and Non-Observant Guests
These guidelines help us perform the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim, welcoming guests into our home and making them feel comfortable.
1. Please de-activate the light in your refrigerator (and freezer if you plan to serve something frozen) so the door can be opened and closed on Shabbat without the light going on and off. Even if your guests will not be using the refrigerator, keeping the light off will reassure them that their host is sensitive to Shabbat. Some refrigerator lights can be easily unscrewed. Sometimes the button that turns the light on and off can be taped in the off position before Shabbat. Many modern refrigerators have “Shabbat modes” that can be activated before Shabbat and which prevent the light from going on and off. You can Google your refrigerator model to find the owner’s manual to see if your refrigerator has a Shabbat mode.
2. Many Shabbat observant Jews refrain from tearing toilet paper on Shabbat. While there are alternative lenient positions--and certainly one can rely on those lenient positions if one finds oneself without any other option--it is easy enough to stock a bathroom with a box of tissues.
3. Place liquid soap in the bathroom that your guests will use. Using bar-soap is considered a violation of Shabbat by many influential halakhic scholars (because the rubbing changes the shape of a solid object.)
4. Tape the light switch in the bathroom that your guests will use in the on position so that each and every guest will be able to use the bathroom without the need to switch on the light.
5. Remember that your guests may not be familiar with Shabbat home rituals (like kiddush, motzi, and birkat ha-mazon.) Distribute benchers with English translations or instructions and announce the pages of any songs you may sing to include more of your guests in the singing.