Let's Celebrate! Birthday Party Hosting Guide

LET'S CELEBRATE! BIRTHDAY PARTY H STING GUIDE

Let's Celebrate!

2

Scheck Hillel Community School

Let's Celebrate!

3

Scheck Hillel Community School

Many Students, One Community Scheck Hillel Community School is blessed to be one of the world’s largest Jewish community schools, which means having many students in each grade level within our nurturing, diverse community.

In consideration of all students when planning a party, please invite your child's entire class or grade, or all of the children of the same gender in the class or grade.

Extending this thoughtfulness, invitations to personal parties may not be distributed at school.

For your convenience, families’ contact information can be found in the in te parent section family directory once you log into in the parent section of eHillel.org.

To ensure all invited guests are comfortable, we strongly encourage families not to schedule parties on Shabbat or Jewish holidays and to serve only kosher food.

Let's Celebrate!

4

Scheck Hillel Community School

Jewish Holiday Calendar

Shabbat begins at sunset on Friday evening and ends at nightfall on Saturday night. Holidays begin at sunset the preceding evening and end at nightfall the ďŹ nal day. Please reference Scheck Hillel's annual calendar for Shabbat and holiday dates and times.

Let's Celebrate!

5

Scheck Hillel Community School

Kashrut: Frequently Asked Questions WHAT DOES KOSHER MEAN? The word “Kosher” in Hebrew means fit or proper, and is generally used to describe foods that are prepared in accordance with the Jewish dietary laws.

WHAT ARE SOME LAWS OF KASHRUT? Many rules exist within the laws of Kashrut, but here are some basic examples: - Kosher meat and fowl must be ritually slaughtered in a painless, humane fashion by a specially trained expert in order to be acceptable.

- Dairy and meat products, and fish and meat, may not be prepared or eaten together.

- Parve food can be served with either dairy or meat.

- Special laws relate to cheese, grape juice and wine production.

WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF KOSHER AND NON-KOSHER FOODS? Kosher

Non-Kosher

Meat

Bison, cow, lamb

Pork, rabbit

Poultry

Chicken, turkey, duck, goose

The United States does not permit consumption of most non-Kosher examples.

Fish

Mackerel, salmon, snapper, trout

Catfish, shellfish, octopus

MY FAMILY DOESN’T OBSERVE KASHRUT. CAN I SIMPLY PROVIDE SOME KOSHER FOOD FOR GUESTS WHO KEEP KOSHER?

CAN I PREPARE THE FOOD MYSELF? For food to be considered kosher, it must be prepared with kosher utensils in a kosher kitchen. If kosher food is prepared or served with non-kosher utensils or food items, it will be considered non-kosher, even if it was kosher at the start. The best idea is to keep food in its original packaging with proper kosher certification and to use new paper and plastic utensils to prepare or serve the food. Or, work with a certified kosher caterer, restaurant or other food service.

I JUST WANT TO SERVE VEGETARIAN PIZZA AND CAKE, NOT MEAT. WHY DO THESE THINGS NEED TO BE KOSHER? Most families who follow the laws of kashrut cannot eat any food unless it is prepared under kosher supervision and with the proper certification. Even uncertified vegetarian food may not be an acceptable option for some families. For example, many families will only eat kosher cheese and dairy products and would therefore not eat pizza or cake unless it was certified as kosher.

Let's Celebrate!

6

Scheck Hillel Community School

HOW DO I KNOW IF FOOD IS KOSHER? Food must bear a proper supervision symbol in order to be considered Kosher. The following symbols represent some of the labels on food that are acceptable:

Many pre-made products are under this supervision. See signs at stores and on packaging for details.

Let's Celebrate!

7

Scheck Hillel Community School

It’s A Party!

FOOD ALLERGIES Thoughtful of all of our students, Scheck Hillel is a peanut-restricted school. Please follow this policy at your party and be mindful of any other potential allergies guests may have when you host a celebration off-campus. Even the smallest trace of a substance, such as peanut butter, can cause a potentially fatal reaction in children who are allergic to peanuts.

Please plan your menu with sensitivity and safety in mind. Besides peanut allergy, children with other food allergies may be in your child’s class, so if you know that a child on your guest list has a food allergy, please consult with his or her parents about their wishes before ordering any food or assembling goody bags. If you have a caterer, be sure they understand an allergic child is eating their food.

GOODY BAGS To ensure that the treats you include in goody bags are Kosher, goods should be pre-packaged and have proper Kosher certification. Many candies are under Kosher supervision; just check the package.

Please note that many gummy candies are not Kosher because they contain gelatin, an animal product.

Do not choose candy items unless a Kosher symbol appears on the packaging.

Let's Celebrate!

8

Scheck Hillel Community School

For a list of kosher restaurants, caterers or supermarkets in the area please visit: kosherMiami.org Visit OUKosher.org to learn more about kashrut and Kosher food vendors.

Let's Celebrate!

9

Scheck Hillel Community School

Special thanks to our friends at Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School, whose How to Throw a Birthday Party inspired this guide.

Let's Celebrate!

10

Scheck Hillel Community School

Juda and Maria Diener Lower School Samuel and Henrietta Scheck Middle School Ben Lipson Upper School From early childhood through Grade 12, Scheck Hillel Community School educates and inspires students to become exemplary global citizens with enduring Jewish identity, values and a commitment to the State of Israel, through a college preparatory curriculum and meaningful co-curricular experiences, guided by Orthodox teachings and set within a nurturing, diverse community. Scheck Hillel is one of the world’s largest Jewish community day schools and a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. For information, please visit eHillel.org.

18 months - Grade 12 305.931.2831 eHillel.org North Miami Beach, Florida