SOTW: Kosher in Indiana

The strange, funny and meaningful things that happen out in the trenches as Chabad representatives go about their business . . .

Shaindy Gluck, West Lafayette, IN

Episode 8/8

Shortly after we moved to Indiana, I went out for coffee with a friend from our community. While we were waiting in line to order our coffees, this lady was telling me about how Indiana is pretty much in the middle of nowhere as far as Jewish population is concerned. When it came my turn to place an order, I asked the barista if I could take a quick look at the bottle of almond milk. It’s a habit, and wherever I do this, the baristas think I’m looking for allergens, which is just as well. But here, at a coffee shop in the Wabash Township of Tippecanoe County . . . in the middle of nowhere on the Jewish side of things, the barista asked me if I’m checking for kosher certification. How’d she know, I asked curiously. “Oh, I keep kosher!”