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How many people keep kosher in Spokane/Eastern Washington?
Consider the math: One site that lists a breakdown of Spokanites by faith suggests that 0.17 percent of Spokane residents are Jewish. In 2013, Spokane’s total population was approximately 210,721. That means an estimated 358 people who live in Spokane are Jewish.
Based on my work as director of Spokane Area Jewish Family Services, that number doesn’t seem unreasonable. Now consider the results of the Pew Research Center’s 2013 “Portrait of Jewish Americans”: An estimated 10 percent of American Jews identify as Orthodox. Conservative and even Reform Jews may, of course, keep kosher, but I think it’s safe to say that the group most likely to observe kashrut are Orthodox or modern Orthodox. So maybe 35 Spokanites are Orthodox Jews, and all or nearly all of them keep kosher?
To get a more informed estimate, I consulted Chabad of Spokane County’s Rabbi Yisroel Hahn. Because Chabad sells kosher food at cost, I figured Rabbi Hahn would know a decent amount regarding local Jews’ dietary habits. He estimates that between 12 and 18 Jewish families in Spokane keep kosher. The rabbi added that some Christian families here also keep kosher to some degree. Of course, observance of kashrut can range from merely keeping Pesach to a strict, yearlong adherence to kashrut, which is how Rabbi Hahn practices. If you include Christians as well as Jews, he told me, then perhaps 24 to 30 families in the Spokane area keep kosher.
Keeping kosher in Spokane is a bit more complicated than that.
There’s another group among TBS members where they order kosher meat and kosher for pesach items. When I checked with the woman who runs that, I found there are about 10 families who purchase through her rather than Chabad. There are also a number of people who keep some semblance of kosher. Some are vegetarian, thereby eliminating the need for kosher meat. Some don’t keep separate dishes and utensils, but they don’t mix meat or dairy. Others don’t eat kosher meat because it can be tricky to find and extremely expensive, but they follow the other laws. Others skip the types of food forbidden in kosher households.
So there are actually more than 12-18 families who keep some semblance of kosher. It’s not a huge number, but is is more than that.
Thanks, Hyphen, I appreciate getting a fuller picture of kosher in Spokane, and I’m sure our readers will, too.