This is a job interview. Why are you worried about the menu? Eat afterwards.
Because I’m one of those old fashioned types who decries the lack of Judiasm in Israel. It is supposed to be a “Jewish” state, after all. I would prefer not having something so obviously not kosher being so available.
Complicated? Yes, it can be, but after one learns the basics, it’s really not so complicated. We ask the Rabbi if there is a problem - that’s what he’s there for. Ridiculous? Obviously, I don’t think so. Only the truly devout? That is untrue. There are many Israelis who consider themselves secular who still keep kosher, inside and outside their home, especially among the Sefardim.
If the alternative is not eating all day and having low blood sugar and crankiness because of it, yes.
I had an all-day interview for a academic library position a few years back. Was offered sweet rolls with casual chat mid-morning, lunch with two librarians, and dinner out with the director of the library. At no point was I truly “interviewed while chewing”, but I did eat less than either of my lunch companions by a fair margin–and only some of that was nerves.
And I’ve had at least one other interview which came with lunch.
Having said that, I’m not sure what’s so unbelievable (or so horrible) about being interviewed at the only non-Kosher coffeeshop in town (so to speak). Although I can relate to the not being willing to make waves by calling to request a different meeting place. Even if such a request would seem likely to be unobjectionable in Israel though not in many other places.
Because refusing the offer of food may look bad. I was once warned, after we first moved here, that I should always accept coffee, even if I don’t like it. Coffee and food are very tied into the business world here.
Why not just tell him you keep kosher? Surely you can’t be the only Jew in Israel who has declined an offer of food on that basis.
Are all the people in Israel Jews? Shouldn’t every individual in Israel decide for himself or herself how he or she wants to live? Do not individual Jews have the right to decide whether they want to keep kosher? Do not individual Jews have the right to decide what defines their Jewishness?
The big one I observed in Israel isn’t exactly a Kosher Law regarding Coffee, but a subtle consequence of the Laws regarding keeping Meat and Dairy separate–in Israel, it is common to serve Non-Dairy Creamer with Coffee after Dinner, but to serve Cream with Breakfast.
The restaurant at the Kibbutz we stayed at for a couple of nights (in a motel run by said Kibbutz) kept Kosher. The kitchen for the people who lived on the Kibbutz did not keep Kosher. It was strongly implied that the desire to drink Real Cream in one’s Post-Dinner Coffee was much more instrumental in making this switch than any desire to eat ham and cheese sandwiches. Or even just Bacon. Oh, and eat Real Ice Cream rather than non-Dairy Ice “Cream”–Israel has quite a variety of those.
Now remember, I was young and dumb and Christian, and the total length of my stay in Israel was 3 weeks, so my impressions should not be taken as Gospel (in a manner of speaking), but yeah, cream vs. non-dairy creamer takes on even more importance than it does to the Average Coffee Drinker when you add Kosher issues.
ETA: Obivously, Dinner often is a Meat meal and Breakfast generally a Dairy one. Though one can serve fish with dairy–and most of the places we stayed did. I did not eat it–fish for breakfast just didn’t appeal to me.
I’ll admit that I don’t know Israel from Madagascar, but I would imagine this is not so difficult in Israel, where there must be grocers/butchers/restaurants that (a) don’t sell pork,shellfish, etc. (b) don’t mix meat/dairy (c) are overseen by a rabbi, (d) kosher all their meats.
I ate at a kosher deli in Scranton once, and it would have been hard to not keep kosher there. (Unless I deliberately ate some dairy from my friend’s dish while I had a meat dish) And I’m not even Jewish.
Wow, you guys are being pretty harsh.
The OP said that he/she is a devout Jew living in Israel and you’re sort of giving them shit for wanting to be strictly kosher. Sort of like being shocked that an Italian person in Brooklyn wanted to avoid red meat on Fridays during lent.
Then she/he said it was the interviewer that wanted to meet for food AND that it’s customary in that part of the world, and you suggest that eating food at a meeting is silly.
I find the answers to be pretty odd for this site. Usually everyone is much more culturally sensitive, or at least open.
Well nothing like putting one’s ignorance out there for all to see! I knew pork wasn’t ok with the Jewish faith yet for some reason I had a brain fart and didn’t make the connection that ham=pork.
It sounds like living the kosher life is quite hard though! I commend you on your dedication 
Most of the Canadian Jews I know who keep kosher don’t seem to have much trouble explaining their situation… and given that a much larger percentage of the population in Israel is likely to keep kosher, I’d have expected it to be a total non-issue over there.
Actually, I’m surprised your interviewer didn’t think to ask!
I know you don’t want to start off on the wrong foot since it’s an interview, but better to be up front about it now and see if they can recommend a kosher-friendly place where you can have a bite to eat. Chances are, they’d feel worse if you kept it to yourself until you got there (or worse yet, after you got hired, should you get the job).
On an unrelated note, mmmmmm… Aroma. They opened up a franchise here in Toronto (though strangely enough, it’s nowhere near any of the predominantly Jewish or Israeli neighbourhoods, but rather in an area mostly populated by students/staff of the nearby university and artsy hipster bohemian types). I can’t get enough of their salads.
I suppose I’m repeating my last post, but my failure to side entirely with the OP amounts to:
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What do other kosher-keeping Jews in Israel do when faced with such a situation? Surely, it’s not considered unacceptable for a kosher-keeping Jew to decline an offer of non-kosher food.
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I found troubling the OP’s implication that there should not be non-kosher establishments in Israel or that either Jews or non-Jews in Israel should not have the option of not keeping kosher.
If your Italian Brooklynite also thought they shouldn’t sell meat on Fridays because Brooklyn is Roman Catholic, you might have a point.
Eh, if enough people want to ban certain foods because of cultural quirks, go for it. Is banning a few food items an abuse of human rights? In the USA we can’t buy horse, or cat, or dog. Objectively, if those animals were raised hygenically and treated as humanely as cattle, chickens, or sheep, what would be the big deal? If people don’t like it, they can lobby their representatives, boycott businesses, and engage in civil disobedience. All of these were employed in the recent Chicago foisgras (sp?) fiasco, and the law was changed.
PS: I love eating pigs and shellfish and dairy with other stuff and would surely fight (legally) for it.
Actually, to truly keep kosher, you’re supposed to not even wash your dairy dishes and meat dishes in the same sink. That means either a separate sink for the two sets of dishes or you can improvise and use a washbin for one or the other set. Keeping kosher is very difficult.
I agree with the other poster that it’s odd to give the OP shit about not wanting to go to a non-Kosher place for a lunch interview. If the OP asked my opinion, I would suggest that they tell the interviewer they keep kosher and suggest another place near the original place where they could go.
Of course, while it is complicated and outdated, keeping kosher is no weirder/stupider/stranger/whateverer than being vegan, being a Mormon who doesn’t drink coffee, being on a low-carb diet or any other voluntary dietary restrictions. Hell, at least there once were valid reasons to keep kosher (undercooked pork can kill you, seafood can kill you during red tides, undercooked meat because the dairy in the dish is overcooked can kill you, cross-contamination between meat and dairy can kill you, etc) – even if we know now how to avoid those issues, who cares if someone wants to continue to practice safety WRT food?
You have to remember that if you keep kosher, you need to do all that stuff in your home as well.
Surely he’d understand if you politely informed him you keep kosher though?
I’m surprised that no one else has mentioned this yet (unless they have, and I’ve missed it), but is it possible that the job interviewer is trying to avoid hiring observant Jews, and is using his choice of meeting places as a way of weeding out people who keep kosher without having to ask them up front about it? I know he has a “Jewish-sounding” name, but that doesn’t mean that he couldn’t be discriminatory towards observant Jews. Maybe he just doesn’t like them Maybe he is hoping to make the new hiree work on the Sabbath – who knows? His choice of eateries may not be a faux pas at all, but a deliberate attempt to skirt fair hiring practices (I don’t know if there are laws prohibiting discrimination against observant Jews in Israel, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were.)
Makes sense to me, anyway, but I’ve never been to Israel.
Don’t feel too bad! I was once dating this Jewish gal, and my parents were out of town, so I invited her over for dinner. I thought barbecued pork chops would be a good idea for the main dish. Apparently, I didn’t connect that pork chops = pork. :smack:
FTR, she doesn’t keep kosher, but also doesn’t eat pork, and the subject had never really come up before.
When my daughter was 5, she informed me that she was going to become a vegetarian. I told her that was fine, but it meant no more ham (her absolute favourite food in the world at that point) – needless to say, she decided she liked eating animals. There’s just something about pork that causes a disconnect for people, I think.
My boyfriend is vegetarian, and knows LOTS of people who are vegetarian…except for bacon.
Bacon, it seems, is the downfall of all philosophical attempts.
mmmmmm bacon…