North Woodmere student keeps his full plate kosher

Most would agree that the rigors of college life, course work and all, would constitute a full plate, so to speak. Jeremy Rosenberg, 20, of North Woodmere has taken it to a different level. The 2011 North Shore Hebrew Academy graduate, who spent his post high year studying at Yeshiva Eretz HaTzvi in Jerusalem, serves as a mashgiach at Cornell University, where he is in the midst of his first year.

Cornell University’s expansive campus boasts its own full-service kosher dining room, 104 West, under the strict supervision of a resident mashgiach, or rabbinical supervisor, of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations. The kosher dining program, which is multicultural, serves the entire Cornell community and additionally accommodates Halal, Muslim, vegetarian, vegan, Seventh-day Adventist, and other diets for those who prefer or require specially prepared foods for religious, cultural, or health reasons.

The expansion of the program has created satellite locations, such as the one on North Campus, which is serviced by a dozen students, male and female, including Rosenberg. “It’s a meat only station, with all the food prepared at the kosher dining hall and transported over. I go to the food station, unlock the fridge and cold box, turn on the ovens, heater plates and steamers. I assist with putting the food out with the help of a student worker.” Rosenberg likes his job, which is a four-hour, once a week shift. “It happens to be the highest paying job on campus, and you get a free meal out of it.”

Rosenberg, whose family is one of the founding members of the Young Israel of North Woodmere, has always been active in Jewish communal life, with parents Ben and Jessica as role models. It’s no surprise to Rabbi Septimus of Young Israel of North Woodmere that Jeremy has taken his commitment along with him to college. “In the shul, he was a youth leader for many years. He was one of number of go to guys for minyan help, a baal tefillah (prayer leader), a baal crea (Torah reader)--excellent at both. He took on a leadership role in a very natural, unaffected, modest, practical manner. I had a conversation with Jeremy two to three to weeks into his college experience. I am impressed about how not only Jeremy filled existing Jewish infrastructure, but how he proactively created new Jewish infrastructure where he saw a particular need for it.”