Shopping Kosher on the Web

I remember my first "Kosher" experience. It was a case of mistaken identity. Attending a seminar at a Jewish community center in Columbus, Ohio, a kind elderly woman approached me just as I raised a sandwich to my face from the box-lunch that was provided. "That isn't Kosher," the woman stated nicely as she pointed to my sandwich. "Thank you but I am not Jewish," I replied with a smile.

In the years that have followed I have come to appreciate and respect the "Kosher" process of food preparation. Living here in a country where the mechanization of food processing has run amuck, I find myself in search of better food choices for me and my family. I have noticed some of my choices are now, Kosher.

For the novice interested in the definition of Kosher, there are two web sites which gave extremely clear details. Check out www.ou.org/kosher/primer and www.star-k.org.

I discovered that finding the definition of "Kosher" was easy on the web but locating a single shopping mart for the family shopping "Kosher" was not. I located web sites like B. E. Kosher.com out of Miami Beach, Florida and Fischer Brothers & Leslie from New York that maintained a web presence but not an active shopping cart. I appreciated the disclaimer offer by Fischer Brothers & Leslie which pointed to their direct telephone number. They reminded web surfers that they were a "hands-on" butchery, grocer not necessarily focused on answering e-mails (although web orders are accepted).

I also appreciated the marts that identified the rabbinic supervision on their web site. I purposely left any name without such identification off this list. Another "governing" presence I found on-line was www.KosherQuest.org ; they have identified many of the sources I am sharing.

Rating as a web consumer, I found great promise in www.koshermart.com, a Maryland-based Kosher mart, Park East Kocher.com,

Speaking of gift boxes and Kosher, I loved the simplicity of BagelBoss.com. One product line; byline-"It's the food....they'll always remember." The site had testimonials' and their rabbinic letter within one click of the home page. "Nice job, Bagel Boss! My home address is......"

On the high corporate end with the "top shelf" web presence, I would suggest KosherGourmetMart.com and David's Cookies.com. Information on the David's Cookies web site identified the company as the Number One Web Bakery. I could see why! And Kosher, too-great tastes to come. I also liked surfing at Kosher Gourmet Mart. I loved the variety of products offered. While browsing, I gathered a sense of what it may take for a modern family to live "Kosher." It quietly reminded me that I was non-Jewish, shopping and writing a column. Others reading my work are committed to a lifestyle.

Keeping that in mind, I would recommend Kosher.com for the best overall on-line kosher shopping mart. It reminded me more of the "one-stop shopping" experience I have enjoyed here in America. Hopefully these suggestions will assist you with yours.