Kevin,

Interesting story about the matzo shortage. It confirms the anecdotal evidence many of us have experienced this year...

Another odd story about kosher food in LA is the persistent inability, year after year, of the Dodgers to offer kosher hot dogs at the Stadium. Offering kosher hot dogs at baseball games seems to be relatively easy at ballparks across America-- from major stadiums to minor league ballparks. In L.A., however, with the nation's second largest Jewish community, the issue is a nonstarter. It is my understanding that the Dodgers have traditionally offered two explanations. First, they have a longstanding contractual commitment with Farmer John. I obviously don't know the details of that contract, but I do know that it did not prevent Jody Maroni's from opening its sausage stand a couple years ago (they may also sell dogs at the Gordon Biersch stand-- I can't recall). Second, they claim that it is simply too difficult and expensive to reconfigure the kitchens and storage space sufficient to build a proper kosher kitchen. That may or may not be true, but it does not explain why the Dodgers don't simply offer a kosher alternative (Hebrew National, Aaron's, Jeff's Gourmet Sausage) at their regular stands. That compromise would nor satisfy the most Orthodox, but it would satisfy thousands of less strictly observant, but still kosher, Jews.

Below is a link to a recent story on the issue in the Jewish Journal. It would be interesting to hear why this seemingly simple task seems to be so difficult for the Dodgers to accomplish. [Here's the link.]

Stuart Tochner