March 8, 2007
Dunkin Donuts Outside of DC Remain Kosher, for now
The Forward has an article entitled 'No Donuts, No Peace,' Cry Kosher Protesters, which details the DC area Dunkin Donuts loss of kosher certification and the subsequent fury of the kosher-donut-consuming populace. In the article, it is noted that the decision to force the DC franchise to adhere to the standard Dunkin Donuts corporate menu only applied to the DC area for demographic reasons, and would not become standard corporate policy. In other words, Baltimore, New York, Boston and others, can breath easy and continue inhaling donuts.
The article also contains what I thought to be poigniant psychological insight into just why Dunkin Donuts is so gosh-darned important to the kosher community:
For observant Jews, though, Dunkin’ Donuts and a few other coffee chains are among the only points of access to mainstream, chain-restaurant America.“The sad fact of life is that we are in the kosher community. We don’t get access to the other world very often,” said Rabbi Binyamin Sanders, director of field operations for the Washington rabbinical authority, or Vaad, that provides kosher certification for local Dunkin’ Donuts branches.
“The other world is the world where you can have a Dunkin’ Donuts product,” Sanders added. “It’s not like those regular kosher stores. It’s a national thing. It’s something you can feel like part of the rest of the world. You’re not so isolated.”
Ironic, as it's more than likely that the function of kashrus is to isolate its adherents from outside cultures. For more, read R. Meir Soloveitchik's excellent article on the meaning of Kashrut.
