How to Create Kosher Gift Baskets

To an outsider, the rules for kosher eating seem difficult to understand and somewhat arbitrary. No pig but you can have beef-what's that about? Something about shell fish? And different rules for Passover? Sometimes when we don't understand something, we tend to discount its importance.

For people who keep kosher, however, these rules are of the utmost importance and they must be respected. After all, the rules for what can be eaten come from the Torah (essentially the first five books of the Old Testament)-they were part of the law that Moses brought to the people while they were all out in the wilderness. Most of us are aware of the Ten Commandments but don't realize that there were a whole lot of other laws that Moses was given (check Leviticus and Deuteronomy).

There are a couple of different approaches you can use to create a kosher gift basket. The easy way, but perhaps not very personal, is to use a search engine to find "kosher gift basket" and order from there. There are a number of companies who create very nice-looking baskets and you won't be embarrassed later on to find that your gift wasn't used because it went against kosher law.

A more personal way to create a kosher gift basket requires you to learn something about kosher law; when you do so, however, you will be communicating something important to the recipient-that you care enough to do the research and to make an individualized basket. It's another way of saying how much you care.

This is not as hard as it sounds. Again, use a search engine and you will find many websites that explain how to keep kosher. You need to be aware that in addition to forbidden types of food, such as pork, kosher rules also cover what foods can be eaten together. For instance, kosher households keep the meat of an animal and its milk separate. It would be a good idea, then, to avoid making a basket that contained both cheese and some kind of meat.

In addition to websites, your town may have a grocery store that specializes in kosher foods. Or, your grocery may have a section of kosher foods. The internet will show you the markings that can be found on all food packages that are appropriate for a kosher household. Some of these markings will even specify whether the food might be considered dairy or meat within kosher law.

Finally, there are some times of years to be careful about. It would not be appropriate to give a food basket for Yom Kippur, since that is the Day of Atonement and Jews fast on that day. Passover, which celebrates the time when a mark of lamb's blood on the door of each Jewish household protected the Jews from one of the plagues brought about on the Pharaoh, has its own special rules. During Passover, for example, Jews are not allowed to eat anything with yeast in it. A Passover basket with a loaf of bread would be inappropriate. Again, if you need to give a basket during this holy time, consult the Internet for specifics.

Giving a lovely and thoughtful gift to a person who keeps a kosher household is not really difficult-and your generosity of spirit as well as the kindness of the gift will be appreciated.

TheBasketSpot.com makes the Jewish Holiday Hanukkah very fun and exciting. Our Kosher gift baskets are 100% kosher certified. If you can't afford the big gifts, give your recipients custom Kosher baskets Toni Young is the owner and operator of The Basket Spot, who also offers unqiue wine baskets that cost less and ship fast.