It was with no small amount of dismay that I recently witnessed one of the most troubling things I’ve ever encountered in a frum establishment. I was participating in a business meeting at a high-end kosher establishment in New York City when a woman walked over to our table. We had just sat down and taking one quick look at her, I was appalled. If she hadn’t immediately introduced herself as our waitress, I would have assumed someone had ordered “adult entertainment” for us. I don’t say that as a joke. Without getting into the gory specifics, the woman was dressed beyond inappropriately. Professional, yes, but with an unbelievable lack of modesty, including tight, revealing, and suggestive outerwear. I couldn’t believe it. Here we have an ostensibly frum establishment with a kashrus agency certifying it as kosher and okay to eat at, but what is going on inside is a far cry from anything a frum Jew should be near! Is non-Jewish music blaring on the speakers while Frum people sit there something to ignore? Why is this okay? Why are kashrus agencies content with affixing their certification on a restaurant that isn’t doing the barest minimum to ensure that halacha can be observed when eating there? Why are restaurant owners okay with their employees being a michshol to their patrons? I fear that the reason this is happening at all is because too many of us are so desperate to be seen like the rest of the U.S. We want a restaurant to be indistinguishable from a non-Jewish establishment, with the only difference being that the food happens to be kosher. And that’s a big problem. Food being kosher is wonderful. But the establishment itself has to be kosher too. And if they can’t or won’t be, perhaps they shouldn’t be given kashrus certification in the first place. Yaakov D – Far Rockaway NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN. DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE POSTED ON YWN? SEND IT TO US FOR REVIEW. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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