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What's a good beer for talkin' Torah?
By adamg on Thu, 07/21/2022 - 11:19am
A Newton rabbi hopes to open a non-profit "Jewish tavern and house of learning" on Washington Street in Somerville, where the Kirkland Tap and Trotter used to be, Boston Restaurant Talk reports.
Rabbi Charles Schwartz's proposed Lehrhaus would be:
Part Jewish tavern, part house of learning, it's a welcoming, smart, sociable neighborhood watering hole that brings people together to tap into the ancient, profound, and transformative practice of learning through Jewish texts - all while cultivating community and savoring great food and drinks.
His filing with the Secretary of State's office further defines what he hopes to do:
The general character of the business of the company is to provide instruction in, popularize, and open access to the religious practice of the study of Jewish sacred texts, ideas, and wisdom, in a warm, inviting environment, and to hold Jewish religious worship service, through engaging programming, small classes, paired learning, public lectures, and through partnerships with other organizations and entities to provide additional learning opportunities and experiences, including operating a restaurant and holding a liquor license. The company may engage in any lawful business permitted by the act provided such business is permitted of the company's parent non-profit corporation and that the company is operated exclusively for exempt purposes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
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Comments
Probably not Maccabee...
Probably not Maccabee...
He’brew beer
Of course
Alas, no more He'brew
Sadly, Schmaltz Brewing shut down last year as their head brewer left to move on to other brewing projects. There is now an opening for a Jewish pun-themed beer line in the market.
Awww…
I liked that beer!
Imagine the food menu possibilities…
Beer-battered Gefilte fish? Latkes with dipping sauce from a Manischewitz-reduction? Challah Brisket Sandwich? Oy, and the pickles. Their better be a damned dedicated pickle menu.
Re: #1 - i.e., Gefilte fish
Re: #1 - Gefilte fish and chips?
Hopefully
They’ll finally be a good pastrami sandwich in this town
No love for Mamaleh's, Our Fathers or
Sam LaGrassa's?
You had to bring them up, huh?
Now I want a pastrami-on-rye from Sam LaGrassa's ...
Boston's best sandwich
Boston's best sandwich. I will die on this hill.
Mamaleh's is incredibly
Mamaleh's is incredibly expensive.
Quality house-made pastrami ain't cheap.
I don't eat a lot of it, but when I do, I don't mind paying $15-$22 for an 8-oz sandwich, which is the range for those places. Mamaleh's is actually in the middle at $19.75.
Your alternative is to eat some insipid, fat-free, oversalted commercial product like Boar's Head. I'd rather go without.
Other alternative
Pearl red pastrami, if you can find it. Made with beef navels. Superior product.
Star Market carries Pearl Red Navel
pastrami. With the caveat that I haven't bought it in years, I recall it being like most commercial pastrami products that you typically find in diners, sub shops and supermarket delis: way too lean for my preference. I'll give it another shot: the price is very attractive.
I'm guessing
No more trotters.
It will be interesting to see how kosher the menu ends up being.
And whether they are open on Fridays.
And whether there's a four drink limit.
And...
Why?
Are you one of those Jews who insists other Jews follow the Jewish laws the way you do?
I keep kosher and observe shabbat (though a small number of Jews would say I don't do these things sufficiently), but I have absolutely no issue with a Jewish establishment observing differently than I do. Most US Jews minimally observe these laws, and they are part of the community and welcome to gather in community as well. FYI there are a number of synagogues in this area in which Jews turn lights on and off on shabbat, write more than two letters, erase more than two letters, play instruments, etc.
So you're saying
trotters, then?
Alert!
It's so-you're-saying dude!
Why so defensive
@eeka - I don't understand your defensive reply. It was a legitimate question to ask, especially since this effort is being led by a rabbi. My first reaction to the news was to wonder if he was from Chabad.
If it is an establishment trying to be welcoming to all Jews, then it will be certified kosher and closed over Shabbat. Not out of an insistence that all Jews keep to the same standard, but to make it a place that all Jews will be able to visit and eat/drink in. JCDS and Gann, both trans-denominational schools, adhere to similar rules so that anyone from secular through Orthodox can be comfortable and feel respected there.
Why is this bar
different from all other bars?
No taxes…
Non profit. The money goes to the religious institution similar to how a Chabad center is run. Although that’s not mentioned in the IRS statute (religious exemption) so I’m not 100% sure
See it as a business opportunity
Friday nights could be by reservation only, pre-paid, and include some number of drinks with shabbat dinner.
Would following non-kosher rules make it unwelcoming?
It the place was open after Slsundown on Friday’s or in other ways was not kosher would that make it a place where kosher Jews would feel unwelcome?
Same applies to the application of other rules for keeping kosher. Are Jewish religious purity rules applicable to only individuals or must the business also adhere to purity rules?
I think of supermarkets that sell food certified as kosher. Yet the business practices do not follow any religious purity rules. On the other hand I remember “kosher restaurants” which do follow religious purity rules. Even to the point of listing the varying Friday evening closing times according to the time of sunset.
As aside: Does the Orthodox observance of Shabbat depend on the local sunset or should it depend on when sunset happens in Israel?
Whatever the case the whole idea sounds great! A bona tavern for learning about Judaism. I’ll be there!
Just gotta represent here
That's the food one type of Jews eat, but mine eat couscous, hummus, tabouli, shakshouka, etc.
Of all the fish,
That's in the Sea,
Gefilte fish is the fish for me!
Lowenbrau
Lowenbrau was a Jewish-owned beer company in Munich up until the Nazis came along, derided it as "Jewsbeer", and eventually killed the owner in a concentration camp and installed non-Jewish ownership.
Motley Crue
Not that I like them, got the idea for the umlaut in Crue from drinking Lowenbrau.
Also, Now that you have given me this fact about Lowenbrau, I will continue to never drink it.
Between myself and two other
Between myself and two other Jewish friends, we ended up having four different opinions on this.