The Brooklyn Museum announced this week that its museum cafeteria, BKM Café, now will be serving a rotating menu of kosher salads, sandwiches and sweets, further gilding it as the first encyclopedic institution in the tri-state area to serve kosher meals.
Kosher foods are those that conform to the regulations of kashrut (Jewish dietary law). According to the laws of the Torah, to be eaten, a kosher species must be slaughtered by a "Schochet," a ritual slaughterer. Since Jewish Law prohibits causing any pain to animals, the slaughtering has to be effected in such a way that the animal is unconsciousness and death occurs almost instantaneously.
The move seems more than à propos, considering its proximity to the huge Chabad Jewish community in neighboring Crown Heights whose members are regular patrons of the museum. Nor is the decision the first kosher move for the museum; the new salad and sandwich additions will complement the already kosher snacks and beverages offered.
The Museum has partnered with Wolf and Lamb, an upscale kosher steak house located in Manhattan and Midwood, Brooklyn. Wolf and Lamb will cater and prepare all of the cafe's meals, using Glatt Kosher process and certification, which means that, in addition to the two above conditions, the meat must also come from an animal with adhesion-free or smooth lungs.
