I find it very gratifying whenever students approach me to say they believe that microwaves or tables in our lunchroom have become non-kosher. It’s a gratifying feeling – even if it creates a new action item of needing to fix the problem – because it demonstrates that our students have internalized the message of the importance of halacha in their daily lives, while also having the ability to recall and apply the lessons about halacha that they have learned in the classroom. In fact, every time students ask about eating dairy-equipment desserts after our scrumptious meat lunches – an increasingly common occurrence these days – it serves the same purpose of demonstrating how they have learned the material and content of halacha, and also developed a feeling for and commitment to halacha. I heard a few weeks ago about a recent graduate who upon arrival at university noticed a few kashrut issues with the food service there, and instantly contacted the campus rabbi to clarify and rectify the situation. What better fulfillment of a Maimonides education! Strength of character and courage to raise the issue, commitment to halacha to care about it, and knowledge to identify what needed to be done. Our school is one of the only ones in the world which studies kashrut (Chullin: Kol Ha’Bassar) as part of our high school Talmud program. It has been so for decades, going back to the time of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, our school’s founder, the Rav zt”l, who recognized the value of students mastering this always-applicable subject while in high school. Indeed, an educator who visited our school this week from Lakewood, New Jersey was impressed to see what our high school students are learning, and how they are becoming informed consumers in this very important area of Jewish law. To be sure, one year of high school Talmud focusing on this subject isn’t the same as rabbinical school, but our students become mini-experts in this topic over the course of that year. Perhaps the next time they accompany you to visit a neighborhood restaurant, the depth of your conversation, armed with deep Jewish knowledge about the questions that are relevant, will go far beyond what it had in the past. Shabbat shalom and leshana tova teikateivu ve’teichateimu! | 
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