During this week's eight-night Jewish celebration of Passover, which started Saturday at sundown, many Jews at Dartmouth will flock to Pavilion to find kosher meals that fit their dietary restrictions. Staffing difficulties, extensive food preparations and food-ordering complications have made it hard for Dartmouth Dining Services to accommodate the needs of Jewish students so far this week.
Pavilion manager Robert Lester said a shortage of meals Monday night was due to record numbers of students purchasing kosher-for-Passover food and to DDS' inability to change its kosher-for-Passover food orders during Passover. The numbers have risen from about 500-a-day last year to about 560-a-day this year, Lester said.
During Passover, many Jews require special kosher-for-Passover food, which differs from keeping kosher at other times of the year in that Passover dishes cannot have leavened bread as an ingredient. The only DDS establishment that serves this type of food is the Pavilion, and the kosher-for-Passover meals are expensive.
"I paid $9.60 for some chicken at lunch," Dana Silberstein '08 said.
Not only is the Pavilion DDS' only kosher-for-Passover server, but during dinner hours Monday evening the Pavilion also ran out of its kosher-for-Passover dinner.
DDS had to submit its final kosher-for-Passover food order by the end of January for April, Lester said. DDS' kosher providers shut down during Passover, thus preventing any last minute changes that DDS might need.
Melissa Rudd '08, who arrived at the Pavilion Monday night after the meal had run out, said that it had been difficult to find kosher food this week.
"Most people who thought ahead actually went to New York and bought stuff," she said.
Kosher-for-Passover food can, in fact, be found elsewhere on campus. Students keeping kosher can go either to the Chabad or the Roth Center, especially when the Pavilion is closed, Lester said.
Lester also explained why DDS could not avoid charging such high prices for its kosher-for-Passover food -- preparing kosher food is a significant undertaking that requires more than just cooking food without leavened bread. DDS must clean the whole area, removing all food and crumbs, and then either torch or boil all items in the room under rabbinical supervision before Passover cooking can begin, Lester said.
Furthermore, DDS' New York-based kosher food suppliers generally charge at least 25 percent more for kosher-for-Passover food than other foods, Lester said.
Lester also noted that DDS does not know the prices of Passover deliveries before making the orders. The food producers tell DDS the prices some time after the order, he said.
Many students have been frustrated not only by the high prices at the Pavilion, but also by the amount it cost students to attend Saturday evening's Passover Seder at the Roth Center.
Students paid $18 if they signed up for the Seder on time, and $24 if they missed the deadline.
Lester attributed the cost of the Seder to a variety of reasons. The ceremony was fully staffed by DDS for the first time in the past few years, bereft of the help of volunteers studying kosher food at the New England Culinary Institute, Lester said.
Furthermore, the Jewish Sabbath spans from sundown Friday night until sundown Saturday night. The Seder took place on Saturday night and as a result, none of the preparations could occur during the Sabbath, and the bulk of the food preparations needed to be finished before sundown Friday.
Serving the Jewish population on this campus kosher-for-Passover food involves much more than the preparation of most other food. This is reflected in the high prices and limited quantities of kosher-for-Passover meals this year.
"It's a lot of work, especially this year on Shabbat," Lester said.