Do the Rosenberg's keep kosher

[dragonyphoenix]

We know that WIllow had to sneak over to Xander's to watch Christmas specials and that her Dad would have been less than thrilled to find crucifixes nailed to her wall. Do we think that season one WIllow follows the kosher food restrictions?

This actually is for a story.

Comments

[niki1988.livejournal.com]

Dont all jewish people do kosher

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

No, a lot of Jewish people do not keep kosher. It depends on whether you are Orthodox or not.


Gabrielle

[niki1988.livejournal.com]

Ah thank you, I wasnt sure

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

I never saw any references to it and we do learn later that she eats in the cafeteria, so I would say probably not.

Oh! I also recall references to her eating dinner at Xander's house, which I think also puts the kibosh on kosher!Willow.


Gabrielle

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Hmm, it does seem unlikely that Mrs. Harris would serve kosher for Willow. On the other hand, the reference I recall is something about ordering Chinese take-out, which I think could work as kosher.

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

Actually no it doesn't. If she was keeping strict kosher, she would be eating off special dishes and if she did order from a restaurant it would have to have gone through kosher certification.


Gabrielle

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

I had a friend who told me Jewish people know good Chinese places because they can eat kosher there. I'm not up on the rules so I'll have to take your word for it.

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

Here's a link:

http://www.jewfaq.org/kashrut.htm

Yes, some Chinese places, probably in areas with a strong Jewish population, do conform, but we don't hear much about Sunnydale having a lot of Jewish residents, so I am not confident they have any restaurants which are compliant with kashrut law.


Gabrielle

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I can now see how eating the cafeteria food would definitely be not kosher. That's a totally helpful link.

Do you think the Rosenberg's might not keep strict kosher but still might be influenced by it. For example, at home or even in restaurants they wouldn't mix meat and dairy but they would eat at restaurants that didn't keep kosher rules.

Oh, my roommate, Lesile, well she considers herself Pagan now but she's Jewish by birth. I could ask her although that'll have to wait. She's out of town at a ballroom dancing competition until late this evening.

we don't hear much about Sunnydale having a lot of Jewish residents. Yeah, we don't. You know, I used to think Joss Whedon was Jewish. I'm originally from New York - I grew up on Long Island - and the geekier boys in my classes were Jewish. I think I have an association that says geeky New York boys are Jewish. ;-)

[baudown.livejournal.com]

Re geeky jewish boys: Jake Gyllenhaal. Andrew Garfield. Adam Levine. Paul Rudd. David Duchovny. Adam Brody. Joseph Gordon-Levitt. John Stewart. Liev Schreiber. Ben Foster. Michale Vartan. Zac Efron. Hank Azaria. Paul Rudd. Josh Radnor. Jason Segal. Eric Dane. Jason Segal. Gabriel Macht.

And that's off the top of my head.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

David Duchovny? Huh, didn't know that.

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

You know what's really sad? I just looked it up and there is not a single kosher restaurant in all of Idaho. NOT ONE. The local Chabad center offers help to kosher travelers, but nope - no restaurants.


Gabrielle

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

It looks like I'd have to go into DC or Maryland to find a kosher restaurant. That is surprising.

[baudown.livejournal.com]

There is no way she or her family kept kosher. Not a chance. I'm Jewish (non-practicing, but culturally) and I've lived in NYC all my life, surrounded by Jews. Growing up, I knew one family that kept kosher, and as an adult, I have one former co-worker who kept kosher. That's it. It isn't that common - I think the statistic is that around 13% of US Jews keep kosher.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Excellent. Thank you.

So, even if the family didn't keep kosher, do you think Willow might, say, not eat pork? Would it be something she might consider vaguely taboo-like?

[baudown.livejournal.com]

No. She eats whatever anyone else eats. Period. It would never cross my mind nor the min d of anyone I know to even think about this stuff.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Okay. Thank you. That is very helpful.

[punch-kicker15.livejournal.com]

Wild-ass guess based on observing my Jewish friends' and relatives' dietary habits: I would say that Willow does not keep strictly kosher.

Keeping strictly kosher is really a pain in the ass, and something I associate with the stay-at-home mom who cooks every meal from scratch. Sheila's the kind of busy, distant mom whose family would subsist mostly on microwave dinners and/or takeout. (Yeah, theoretically Ira could do the cooking, but the vast majority of meal-prep seems to fall on the woman of the household).

I think there could be lingering hangups over some issues--my husband was raised Jewish, never came close to keeping strictly Kosher except when he lived in Israel as an infant (my MIL is a Sheila-type), but was a bit reticent about ordering pork. It wasn't that he was scared or grossed out by it, it just wasn't on his radar as something to order. But Asian BBQ in Seattle and Vancouver pretty much made that reticence disappear.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Pork would be perfect. I've been convinced that the family doesn't keep strict kosher. I basically want something that she'd consider maybe not a strict taboo but something she's never eaten for taboo-like reasons. If that made any sense at all.