Kosher Meets
Sheri ck
Young detectives
go on a hunt to
learn about kosher
certification -- and
enjoy tasty treats.
tiatIgrzixftamr
i
Lorne Newhouse, 7, of West Bloomfield decorates a hot pad.
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
AppleTree Editor
I t was the most fun any parent with young chil-
dren would ever have in a grocery store.
This past Sunday, March 30, JEFF (Jewish
Experiences For Families), a division of the
Agency for Jewish Education, hosted a Kosher Food
Scavenger Hunt at the Whole Foods Market in West
Bloomfield.
Sponsored by Whole Foods Market and the Jewish
Family Education Project of Metropolitan Detroit,
the event featured food tasting, arts and crafts- and a
storewide hunt for hechshers (marks of kosher certifi-
cation).
It all began at the front door, where guests (the
event was free) were asked to leave a bit of their own
food to be donated to Yad Ezra, the kosher food bank
in Berkley for the Jewish needy.
Each child was given a small plastic container to
hold recipe cards and an apron. Then the hunt was
on.
Cards were hidden on shelves, tucked between the
soy milk, the all-natural cereals and the tofu. Running
up and down the aisles, children would grab a card —
but not so quick. Before you got the recipe on the
back (for yummy treats like Funny Face Tortillas and
Three-Milk Cake), you had to read the clue on front:
Sugar and spice, and everything nice.
Cookie Monster would love these kosher products.
(The answer: cookies, of course)
Kari Levin, Congregation Shan rey Zedek's Jewish
family educator, wrote all the clues.
"It was a lot of fun," she said. "First, a bunch of us
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went around Whole Foods Market to find all the
foods with hechshers. Then I tried to come up with
something clever for each. I had a lot of help from
[JEFF program coordinator] Gail Greenberg."
But the most fun, Levin said, was "watching the
kids trying to figure out the clues. OK, some of
the rhymes were kind of cheesy [no pun intended;
The Jacobson sisters from West Bloomfield, Annie, 8, and
there were plenty of cheese samples for tasting].
Madeline, 5, share a hug.
Still, what we hope is that now, when the kids go to
the store, they'll be able to look for the hechshers all
cream, though she said her favorite part of the Kosher
by themselves."
Food Scavenger Hunt was all the healthy food tasting
"Our goal in developing this program was to give
(especially the cookies and cheese).
families a new, fun way to learn more about Judaism
This was no ordinary day for participant Naomi
and Jewish symbols," Greenberg said. "The event far
Craft of West Bloomfield. She decided to have her
exceeded our expectations, and we are looking for-
eighth birthday party at the . Kosher Food Scavenger
ward to developing more family programs like this in
Hunt. And so along with Mom and Dad and seven
the future."
pals, Naomi spent her day wandering up and down
Among the young detectives was Ruthie Klein, 4,
the aisles of the store.
of Oak Park. standing beside bottled carrot juice,
"My Mom told me about this," she said. "I wanted
Ruthie extolled the virtues of eating healthy (she firm , to have it here because it's cool."
ly shook her head from side to side when asked if she
The program was about half over and Naomi had
ever ate junk, saying that her favorite food is corn).
found 20 of the 23 recipe card/clues. She was deter-
She said the best part of the day was tasting pretzels.
mined to secure the rest, then looked forward to the
(All foods available for tasting on Sunday were
"art stuff."
kosher.)
"Art stuff" included the opportunity to color in
Zak Fisher, 9, of West Bloomfield, enjoyed "looking aprons and potholders while enjoying apple juice and
around for all the clues" and, actually, everything
hoping your name might be called for a drawing
about the program. "I can't decide what's the best
prize, like a JEFF calendar or a Whole Foods Market
part," he said.
T-shirt.
That the event was held at Whole Foods Market fit
At the end, each happy visitor received a goodie bag
Zak to a T Like Ruthie, he said he likes healthy food,
that included stickers and lots and lots of candy —
though he admitted to indulging in his favorite ice
wait, you didn't believe that now did you? Of course
cream, as well.
not. In fact, children left with stickers and — a fruit
Atara Lakritz, 11, of West Bloomfield also loves ice
snack. ❑