How important is kosher food to Jewish older adults looking for retirement living?

Not as important as you might think, according to a recent article in Tablet, a daily online magazine of Jewish news, ideas, and culture.

The article includes a candid appraisal of the state of kosher dining in senior living, offered by providers, including several LeadingAge members.

The Views of Leadingage Members

Chris Newport, executive director of the 3-year-old Sinai Residences, a LeadingAge member in Boca Raton, FL, said his organization scrapped initial plans for a kosher kitchen after surveying several hundred prospective residents who are Jewish.

“They said having a kosher option was great, but being completely kosher would deter them from moving in,” Newport told Tablet writer June D. Bell. All of the community’s 234 independent-living apartments are occupied, and more than 60 people are on the waiting list, Bell reports.

The Levin Palace at MorseLife, a LeadingAge member in West Palm Beach, FL, has both a kosher dining room and a non-kosher dining room, according to Tablet. About half of the 220 Palace residents opt for a kosher dinner each night, but only about 45 eat solely kosher food, says Keith A. Myers, president and CEO of MorseLife Health System.

Stuart Almer, president and CEO of the Gurwin Jewish Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, a LeadingAge member in Commack, NY, reports that about 20 of the community’s 460 residents eat nothing but kosher food. At Parker Jewish Institute, a LeadingAge member in New Hyde Park, NY, 20 of about 525 residents consistently ate food prepared in the kosher kitchen when Almer worked there.

Driven by Consumer Preferences

In the end, the decision to offer a kosher menu comes down to consumer preferences.

“The preferences of our senior-living residents are what’s really going to drive our business model,” Newport said. “As long as the residents are able to have the things they want in their lives, that’s what’s going to really trigger them to move into senior living.”

Martin Goetz, CEO of River Garden Senior Services, a LeadingAge member in Jacksonville, FL, agrees.

“If there is a trend, it’s away from kosher or ‘kosher is optimal,’” he told Bell. “That’s for survival.”

Cost is also an issue. A non-kosher meal costs $15 to make, and a kosher one costs $27, adding an extra $70,000 a year to expenses at Moldaw Residences, a LeadingAge member in Palo Alto, CA. Kosher food costs River Garden an additional $300,000 each year, reports Bell.

Philosophical Commitment

Despite trends in cost and consumer preference, some communities will continue offering kosher dining, even if it is an option that only a small group of residents select.

Alexander Ben-Israel brought Moldaw Residence’s kosher program in-house when he became executive director 3 years ago. The community had been serving prepackaged kosher entrees that didn’t get high marks from residents. After the switch, participation in the kosher dining program doubled to about 25 residents.

“We had a philosophical commitment to the residents to offer kosher dining,” Ben-Israel said. “It’s just the right thing to do, that people who lived a kosher life all their lives would be able to continue to do it. … We call ourselves a Jewish facility, and it would feel kind of funny not offering it.”

Read the full article, “Jewish Senior Residences Shift Away From Kosher Food,” on the Tablet website.