Harvard Enhances Kosher Dining Options in Response to Antisemitism Task Force Recommendations

Harvard University has significantly expanded its kosher dining options, enhancing the culinary experience for students who observe Jewish dietary laws. Now, students will have hot kosher meals for lunch and dinner six days a week at the Hillel dining hall at Harvard, as well as two undergraduate dining halls — Annenberg Hall and Pforzheimer House. On Shabbat day, all three dining halls will have cold kosher food. The development comes after a decades-long advocacy effort for kosher food and is in line with one of the preliminary recommendations of the task force on antisemitism after the uproar in the wake of protests resulting in attacks on Jewish students.

According to Harvard Hillel Executive Director Jason B. Rubenstein, the expansion is a “tremendous step” for Harvard’s Jewish community. Rubenstein stresses that the move not only improves the quality of life for Jewish students but also integrates them more fully into the social fabric of the university.

With the 2024-2025 academic year about to begin and tensions in the Middle East still flaring, moves like this may move the needle, but there is apprehension about how universities such as Harvard will handle flare-ups that escalate into threats, intimidation, or “monopolizing” public spaces on campus by protestors.