Kosher Berkshires

Kosher food is available in Berkshire County, but you have to know where to look.

Kosher meat and groceries:

• Stop & Shop on Dan Fox Drive in Pittsfield (@US-7/20) (fresh meat & poultry)
• Market 32 on US-7/20 in Lenox and off Hubbard Street in Pittsfield
• BJ's on Hubbard Street, Pittsfield
• Big Y, Lee, on MA-102 near the Mass Pike entrance

The Stop & Shop on Dan Fox Drive usually receives kosher meat shipments once a week on Thursday afternoon. Fresh Empire chicken, ground beef, Hebrew National products and frozen chicken and turkey are often available. It is unusual to find roasts or steaks. Cheese made under rabbinic supervision is the most challenging kosher product to find locally, and many locals who keep kosher choose to eat cheese made with microbial rennet, even if it is not made under kosher supervision.

Many KI congregants take advantage of a monthly special order delivery to the Lenox Market 32 from the Colonie (Albany, NY) Price Chopper/Market 32 kosher store, call your order in 1-518-456-2970 ext 6.

Stop & Shop (the Dan Fox Drive store) stocks well for Passover.

The next closest stores where it is easy to find kosher food are the Price Chopper/Market 32 in Albany's Colonie neighborhood, which hosts a kosher butcher and deli, and several supermarkets in West Hartford, Connecticut, including the Crown Market. All of them carry a wide range of kosher meats, prepared foods, breads, cheeses and other products.

Kosher Bread

Pittsfield Rye Bakery, under the supervision of K-V-H Boston, on US 7-20 at the southern tip of Pittsfield above Guido's Market. A fourth-generation kosher bakery owned and operated by the Robbins family of Knesset Israel, Pittsfield Rye opens to the public on Friday mornings for purchase of artisanal rye and other breads. All products are kosher, pareve; dairy-free, nut-free, and egg-free; and challa is taken. When you find Pittsfield Rye products supermarkets across New England, look for a "K-V-H" symbol on the package; some stores buy from the bakery, while others bake the loaves in-house in kitchens that are not supervised for kashrut.

The Stop & Shop, BJ's and Price Chopper/Market 32 stores mentioned above sometimes have fresh or frozen, ready-to-bake breads (ciabatta, sourdough, multigrain, baguette) in stock in their bakery displays. BJ's Warehouse Club on Hubbard Avenue, Pittsfield, carries kosher-certified challah, cookies and rye bread in its bakery. The Pittsfield and Lee Big-Y stores also carry kosher bread products and pareve baked goods (Zomick's, Lily's, Green's).

NEW: Guido's Market (route 7/20 on the Pittsfield-Lenox town line) now carries kosher-certified challah.

The closest bagel bakery under rabbinic supervision is at the Price Chopper in Colonie, NY.

Kosher Wine

Selections of certified kosher wines are available at Spirited Liquors on US 7-20 at the corner of Holmes Rd. in Lenox and at Nejaime's in downtown Lenox.

••••Kosher Lunch Program

The Jewish Federation of the Berkshires operates a reservation-only kosher lunch and takeaway meals program for seniors on Mondays, Tuesdays (not during July and August) and Thursday, hosted at Knesset Israel. Please call for reservations 413-442-2200 before 9:00am the day of the meal.