The kosher community has recently suffered several huge losses.

At 3:56 a.m. on Tuesday, July 28, a fire devastated the Agri Star Meat & Poultry plant in Postville, Iowa, one of the largest kosher meat-processing facilities in the United States. The fire began accidentally in the plant’s laundry room and destroyed approximately 75 percent of the facility, leaving more than 600 employees without work.

This is not only an enormous loss for the local families who depend on that plant for their livelihood, this will hurt kosher consumers all across America, limiting supply and raising the cost of kosher meat, especially with the High Holidays approaching.

Then, early Shabbos morning, August 1, a fire gutted Nöam, a popular kosher dairy restaurant on Décarie Boulevard in Montreal. Surveillance footage appears to show an individual starting the blaze and fleeing.

Although Montreal police have not yet classified the fire as a hate crime, it is impossible to see a kosher restaurant deliberately burned and not feel shaken. At a time of rising antisemitism, even a place where Jewish families simply gather to eat and enjoy a kosher meal has suddenly become a target.

Then, on Tuesday, August 4, another fire destroyed Jerusalem Pizza in Lawrence, New York, along with the empty storefront next door. The cause of that fire remains under investigation, although preliminary reports indicate the fire may have started from a refrigerator in the building’s basement.

As I read about these fires, of course, my first thoughts were practical. What will this mean for the cost of kosher meat next month? How much freezer space do we have now?

Then I began to wonder if, after years of turning our synagogues into guarded and fortified facilities, we now need to worry about the safety of our kosher stores and restaurants as well?

But then a deeper, more theological question entered my mind.

Should a Jew be eating meat for pleasure at all? Is it even proper for us to go out to a restaurant for a pleasurable evening of eating together?

Perhaps a truly holy life should be more........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)