Jewish Travel: Keep it Kosher!

An email arrives in your email box from an airline you frequently fly with. It is advertising vacation packages all over the world. It is very appealing - exotic locations, wonderful scenery, luxurious hotels, but there is one little problem. The food and facilities. You and your family can't go on a vacation like this, because they don't keep Kosher. Has this ever happened to you?

If you are an observant Jew, it probably has. Year after year you and your family cannot go on vacation unless the location has Kosher facilities. And how many places in the world have Kosher facilities (aside from Israel, that is)? You could go to large cities with significant Jewish populations, such as London or Paris, you could perhaps go on a house exchange vacation, trading houses with another Jewish family and cook all your own food, but still - Choice of vacation spots is very limited. After all, how many Jewish families can you find in Costa Rica or Alaska, right?

Finding travel plans that meet kosher requirements is always a hassle for observant Jews. Most of the world does not observe Kosher law, and tours rarely observe Shabbat. Booking flights is never a problem, after all, most airlines do offer a Kosher meal, or at least a vegetarian one. The issues arise upon arrival - hotels, restaurants, tours. How is it possible to go on an exotic Safari vacation and still observe G-d's law?

Jewish travelers have found creative ways to overcome these issues. All-Jewish groups could book private tours, thus ensuring that they observe Shabbat. It is possible to arrange private catering. These tours were often quite pricey and the group could still not eat in the comfort of their hotel. Other Jewish tourists limited their travel to Israel and major European cities where they could easily find Kosher food. For many years, observant Jews had to make do with any solution they could come up with.

However, in recent years, some travel companies have begun to specialize in Jewish travel. Jewish tours, designed for observant Jews are arranged with hotels that keep Kosher, a rabbi for Shabbat services often arrives locally or with the group, and the plans always include a rest day on Shabbat and a service before Friday dinner. There have even been some all-Jewish cruises, where the entire ship became Kosher and checked by the Rabbinic Kosher Court. Shabbat is a full rest day, and all the delicious cuisine is Kosher. Tours at the different stops along the cruise will often visit local Jewish places of interest, as well as the regular sites and tourist attractions.

A great sea of options has opened up in regards to Jewish vacations. The observant Jew is no longer limited to locales with Jewish places of interest - after all, Jewish tours to Europe have existed for years to places including Amsterdam (the Anne Frank house), Poland (Auschwitz and other concentration camps), London (the D'Israeli residence), and others. However, Jewish tourists can travel to places they had never dreamed of - the Far East, South America, Africa, as well as different locations in Europe.

It's time to forget all the restrictions that prevented you, as an observant Jew, from traveling all over the world. Have you been dreaming of visiting China? South Africa? Perhaps you've been daydreaming of the perfect wilderness trip to Alaska? It is time to stop dreaming - your Kosher Jewish vacation may be just around the corner!