Posted March 3 2008
Kosher Cheeseburgers: The Controversy
Talia’s Steak House, an Upper West Side kosher eatery made news this week when they updated their menu and began serving a kosher “Cheeseburger.” The burger, which uses tofu cheese, has raised a controversy in the Jewish community over the issue of maras iyen the act of doing something which is permissible according to Jewish law but could give the impression of halachic impropriety.
The controversy over this faux cheese burger is so heated that the New York Post as well as several television news programs picked up on the story. In the article the Post quotes Rabbi Basil Herring (arguably the most comically named Rabbi in the history of rabbinics), the Executive Vice President of the Rabbinical Council of America as saying “Jewish law is very concerned for appearances. Not only should you always do the right thing, but it should be seen as the right thing.”
The post also reached out onto the blogosphere to quote one very disgruntled yid who said “I think the idea of it is atrocious . . . You could find a way to kosherize everything, but if it wasn’t created kosher, leave it alone. You managed without it for the past 5,768 years. Don’t start now.”
Now I have to tell you that the quote from the blogger above might actually be one of the single dumbest statements ever put into writing. It implies that we should never evolve kosher food within the limits of halacha.
The truth is that many kosher restaurants have been serving faux treif (fake not kosher) without the moral outrage for years. A pastrami burger, for instance, is meant to be a kosher substitute for a burger with bacon. These burgers are served at dozens of kosher restaurants all over the country and there has never been an outcry about the way they appear to the outside world.
I live in Chicago where we have the greatest kosher burger place to grace G-ds green earth. It’s called Ken’s Diner and on their menu they feature a Bay-Ken Burger with Cheese. They have served this for years using beef fry and soy cheese and yet the Chicago community has never felt that it was necessary to denounce the restaurant because they are putting forth a bad appearance. Why? Because Ken’s Diner is certified kosher by the CRC (Chicago Rabbinical Council) and if they were selling anything treif then the CRC wouldn’t be certifying them. That’s why we have kashrus organizations, to assure the kosher keeping public that what they are eating is safe.
Talia’s (which I am sorry to say is a mediocre steak house) is certified by the OU. Any patron who goes there young or old will know this because the OU logo is emblazoned in several locations throughout the restaurant. To doubt the propriety of their menu shows a profound lack of faith in the OU.
Maybe Chicagoans just have more faith in the city rabbinate then New Yorkers. On the issue, Ken from Ken’s Diner said, “Every community dictates how far you can push and [restaurant owners] need to know what their community will and will not allow.”
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2 Comments currently posted. 
junger says:
sarahzeldman says:
There was the same contreversy when margarine first came out and that blew over as well.
It says in the talmud that for everything that is not kosher, there is something that is kosher that tastes exactly like it and they give examples. It is also said that when we die and go to shamyim we will be called to answer for every pleasure that we could have had (according to Jewish law) and did not partake in. I figure that this, in part, refers to food that IS KOSHER but resembles non-kosher food (but then again I’m no rabbi)
Anyway, I’d love to know what kind of tofu cheese these resturants are serving. I’ve always found that the tofutti brand has a nasty aftertaste. Are they using the Tofutti cheese or making the cheese themselves or is there another brand? Please let me know. Send an email to sarah@solutionsforbusymoms.com and come visit my blog at healthyshabbat.com!
I hate the fake shrimp stuff, but my wife loves it. It sure looks treif, shouldn’t they stop making it?