Free Online Lectures This Fall
Join Penn’s Katz Center for fascinating talks on Jewish history, texts, cultures,
and ideas. These events are free and open to all on Zoom.

SERIES: Canon in Context
Who composed the works that changed the
Jewish legal landscape, and what were these
codifiers trying to achieve? This series explores
the historical context of halakhic compilations
and codes.

H EADLINES
Impossible Pork
Won’t Be Certifi ed
as Kosher
N AT I O N AL
SERIES: Critical Race Studies
Looking at the premodern world, the early
modern Atlantic, and this American century, we
ask two central questions: How is race a helpful
lens for understanding the Jewish historical
experience? And, how does Jewish history inform
large-scale questions about racial thinking and
systemic racism?
Plus, a special panel on the implications of “community” and “continuity” as they relate
to Jewish belonging, institution-bulding, and academic study.

Visit us online to register.

katz.sas.upenn.edu KAISERMAN JCC RESOLUTION
Let it be resolved on September 23, 2021, that the Board of Directors
of the Kaiserman JCC on the occasion of the passing of
Shirley M. Conston,
past president of the Jewish Community Centers of Greater
Philadelphia, celebrate and honor the memory of Shirley’s
leadership, generosity, and vision. Walking into the Kaiserman JCC
over the past years, countless individuals, families, and community
members have benefi ted from the institution she and her husband
Charles (of blessed memory) helped so fundamentally and literally
shape and build. The embodiment of Jewish vision, and our value of
L’dor V’dor, while we mourn with her family, including her children
Elisabeth, Cynthia, Stuart, and their many grandchildren and great-
grandchildren, we more so memorialize her tremendous impact and
passion. May her memory be for a blessing.

8 SEPTEMBER 30, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
JACOB GURVIS | JTA.ORG
IMPOSSIBLE FOODS, the
plant-based meat company, is
releasing a long-awaited new
product — but unlike the wildly
popular Impossible Burger, it
won’t be certifi ed kosher.

The largest and most
infl uential certifi er of kosher
products in the world has
declined to endorse Impossible
Pork, even though nothing
about its ingredients or prepa-
ration confl icts with Jewish
dietary laws.

“Th e Impossible Pork, we
didn’t give an ‘OU’ to it, not
because it wasn’t kosher per se,”
said Rabbi Menachem Genack,
the CEO of the Orthodox
Union’s kosher division. “It may
indeed be completely in terms of
its ingredients: If it’s completely
plant-derived, it’s kosher. Just
in terms of sensitivities to the
consumer ... it didn’t get it.”
For Jews who keep kosher, the
Impossible Burger has allowed
some food experiences that
would otherwise be off -limits
because of the prohibition in
dietary law on mixing milk and
meat. For the last fi ve years, Jews
and kosher restaurants have been
able to serve up cheese-topped
chili, greasy cheeseburgers, and
that quintessential American
diner pairing: a hamburger
with a milkshake.

“Th e Impossible Burger itself
is a huge, huge success and people
really, really like it,” Genack said.

“It’s a really excellent, excellent
product in every respect.”
With the new product,
Impossible Foods wanted to
give that same experience to
Jews and Muslims who do not
eat pork, along with others
who are seeking to avoid
animal products or reduce
their environmental impact.

But Genack said he and
others at the OU recalled what
happened when they once
certifi ed “bacon” that wasn’t
made of pig.

“We still get deluged with
calls from consumers who
either don’t get it or they’re
uncomfortable with it,” he said.

The OU certifies other
products that might seem to
confl ict with Jewish dietary
law, explaining on its website
that “a fi sh sauce may display
a picture of a non‐kosher fi sh,
the OU may appear on artifi -
cial crab or pork, or there may
be a recipe for a non‐kosher
food item on the label.” It
even certifi es other products
that aim to replicate the pork
experience, such as Trader Joe’s
“spicy porkless plant-based
snack rinds.”
But ultimately agency
offi cials decided that a product
called “pork” just wouldn’t fl y,
Genack said.

“We, of course, discussed
it with the company and they
understood,” he said.

For Impossible Foods, the
word “pork” is here to stay.

“While Impossible Pork was
originally designed for Halal
and Kosher certifi cation, we
aren’t moving forward with
those certifi cations as we wish
to continue to use the term
‘Pork’ in our product name,”
an Impossible Foods spokes-
person told JTA in an email.

The decision
means Impossible Pork won’t be on
the menu at kosher restau-
rants, which must use only
kosher-certified products
in order to retain their own
kosher certification. That
includes kosher
and/or vegan Asian restaurants with
mainstay dishes that would
typically include pork, such as
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H eadlines
the dumplings and dim sum
that marked Impossible Pork’s
first outings this week in New
York and Hong Kong.

It also means that Jews
who seek to follow traditional
dietary rules will have to make
their own freighted decisions
about Impossible Pork —
including whether to follow the
OU’s ruling.

“I don’t think the OU
labeling on it has a huge impact
Honors Continued from Page 4
wants to know where dollars
are going,” he said. “Maybe it’s
getting people involved through
volunteering and keeping them
informed.” Jan Kushner
Kushner, a CPA, spent the
early years of her career working
in consulting and traveling.

But in 2017, she left consulting
and got a job as head of tax for a
not-for-profit organization. She
also took a trip to Israel through
the Jewish Federations of North
America. Afterward, Kushner wanted
to get more involved where she
lived. National Jewish Federation
leaders told the Lawrenceville,
New Jersey, resident to join the
local branch, and she did.

Kushner joined Partnership
Together, the Jewish Federation
group that provides support to
the Netivot region in Israel. As
an accountant, she felt she could
add to a process designed to
create economic opportunities.

Later, the CPA also became
part of the Jewish Federation’s
finance committee, which
provides financial oversight of
the organization’s activities.

Last year during COVID, she
helped the JFNA assist rabbis,
Hebrew school principals and
other Jewish organization
leaders in applying for federal
government loans through the
Paycheck Protection Program.

“Wherever my talents could
best be used,” Kushner said.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM on me,” said Rabbi Justin Held,
the director of Jewish educa-
tion at Herzl Camp and the
University of Minnesota Hillel,
who described himself as a
“huge Impossible fan.”
But he said he was concerned
about marit ayin, or appear-
ance to the eye, a concept
in Jewish law that prohibits
actions which appear to violate
Jewish law, even if they techni-
cally do not. l
Moving forward, Kushner
will try to use her talents to
galvanize other young Jews.

“What do they need from
the [Jewish]
Federation? What do they need from their
synagogues?” she said. “Those
are the questions that should be
asked.” Tamar Silberberg Shiffman
Between 2016-18, Silberberg
Shiffman had her last of four
children and started a new
insurance company, Concierge
Insurance Solutions.

The Wynnewood resident had
dug deep roots in her commu-
nity, and now she wanted to
contribute to it, too. So, she got
more involved with the Jewish
Federation. Silberberg described herself
as “a passive supporter” of the
Jewish Federation before; but
around 2018, she became active
in leadership roles. In 2021, she is
on the Jewish Federation’s young
leadership cabinet and executive
team. She is also serving as its
engagement chair.

“The [Jewish] Federation is a
staple within the Jewish commu-
nity,” Silberberg Shiffman said.

It’s also important to preserve
that staple through a difficult
time, she said.

With the recent rise in antisem-
itism, Silberberg Shiffman believes
that young Jews need to maintain
a strong community with signifi-
cant financial backing. She views
the Jewish Federation as essential
to that effort. l
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JEWISH EXPONENT
SEPTEMBER 30, 2021
9