Keep Kosher With Braves May 3
By David R. Cohen | david@atljewishtimes.com
Baseball fans longing for a kosher hot dog at Turner Field will have their chance with the return of Kosher Day on May 3.
During the Atlanta Braves’ game against the Cincinnati Reds, kosher food items including hot dogs, chips and cookies will be available from Goodfriend’s Grill on the club patio of the ballpark. The Atlanta Kashruth Commission will certify all food items.
You can buy discounted food vouchers in advance from the AKC, along with game tickets.
Because it’s a Sunday, children will be allowed to run the bases after the game.
“One of the really nice things about this event is that it’s communitywide,” said the AKC’s director of supervision, Rabbi Reuven Stein. “It draws a very interesting mix from the Jewish community. It will draw people from the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform communities. It’s just a fun kind of event that attracts a lot of sports fans.”
Kosher Day is a tradition that Jewish fans started more than 10 years to enjoy kosher food while watching the Braves. All profits traditionally go to youth organizations.
To prepare for the event, members of the AKC go to the park a few days early and use blowtorches to kasher hot boxes used to store food. Other items necessary for food prep are brought into the stadium.
The Braves’ Cobb County stadium, SunTrust Park, set to open in 2017, raises the possibility of a dedicated kosher concession stand similar to what Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park and Marlins Park offer.
“There’s always been talk about getting a seasonwide kosher stand,” Rabbi Stein said. “Now it’s being talked about even more with the new stadium opening up. The challenge is that a kosher stand would be closed on Saturday games, and people that run the concessions really don’t like to have a stand that’s closed once a week.”
Even without a kosher stand at SunTrust Park, fans will have Kosher Day to look forward to. Rabbi Stein said the AKC plans to continue the event for the foreseeable future.
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What: Kosher Day
Where: Turner Field, 755 Hank Aaron Drive, downtown
When: 1:35 p.m. Sunday, May 3
Tickets: $10 ($8 until April 24); 404-634-4063 or akc@kosheratlanta.org
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