Not Truly Vegan Food

Question

I am vegan, but not for religious reasons. I have a business associate who is an Orthodox Jew. I had lunch with him recently, and considering the limited number of kosher restaurants in town where he could eat, he took me to one that he said had some vegan dishes. As I know well, kosher restaurants can only serve dairy or meat but not both, and the one he took me to serves meat. And at the entrance, there was a sign on the door from the agency of certifying rabbis stating that all cooked food served at the establishment, including vegan dishes, require a 6-hour waiting period that Orthodox Jews follow between eating meat and dairy, and the only exception was fish, which I don’t eat. I am very familiar with that waiting period. What bothers me is this restaurant is labeling some of its food as ‘vegan’ when it actually does contain some meat, albeit small traces. For me as a vegan, that is not acceptable. All I was able to eat at this restaurant was a salad.

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    In truly empathize with your question! However, there may be a slight misunderstanding between the laws of Kosher and the Laws of Veganism. According to Jewish Law, any food cooked in pots and pans that have used to cook meat within the last twenty-four hours cause the food to be regarded as meaty, and one must wait the requisite amount of time even if the actual food did not contain any meat (the actual details are somewhat more complex than this). Not being familiar with all of the details of veganism, I do not know if eating vegan food that has been prepared in meaty utensils is a problem or not, but I assume that this is why the restaurant labelled certain foods as being vegan.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team