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“Kashrut Sees a Resurgence Among Milennial Jews”
by Arutz Sheva   
October 1st, 2014
American Millennials are keeping Kosher at twice the rate of their parents.
More and more young Jews keeping it kosher
More and more young Jews keeping it kosher
Flash 90

Many Jewish leaders expressed concern about the results of the 2013 Pew Research Center Survey, which found high rates of intermarriage and assimilation among American Jews. 

But amid the doom and gloom some more positive trends went largely unnoticed. For instance, nearly a quarter of Jews from the millennial generation (born after 1980) are keeping Kosher - a rate of almost double to that of the their parents from the baby boomer generation, noted NPR. 

For Lisa Faulds, the change came only a few months ago. She says she grew up eating "bacon, ham, all that fun stuff. Seafood, shellfish." But now, in her early twenties, she has began to keep kosher. 

Margo Smith, another milennial, says that keeping kosher is about values, "taking the root idea of keeping kosher as an idea of being respectful and knowledgeable about the way in which your food is prepared and where it comes from and kind of combining it with the farm-to-table philosophy."

For others it's about identity and roots. Jeffrey Yoskowitz, co-owner of The Gefilteria, a New York company offering  high-end versions of gefilte fish, believes that Jewish food should not just be seen as hummus and falafel. As the descendant of Eastern European immigrants, he is concerned with preserving the food culture of Ashkenazi Jews. 

The combination of young people with kashrut has been very influential on high-end kosher cuisine. In addition to the Gefilteria, there is Mason and Mug, a hip, Kosher restaurant in Brooklyn which serves the traditional Vietnamese sandwich bahn-mi, as well as craft beer in mason jars. Kosher grass-fed beef and kosher free-range chicken are both now available, as well.

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