Kosher tailgating

Kosher tailgating at MetLife Stadium? Who knew?

Actually, maybe you knew, if you attended a Giants or Jets game in the past few weeks and saw the Chabad tent. But since I have not been to a game recently (and to be fully honest, I actually never have attended a football game in my life), I had no idea. And if you told me about it, I might have wondered: is it kosher to tailgate?

Thank G-d, last week, as I was driving back from Brooklyn after a full day of programming at the Kinus Hashluchim, the international conference of the rebbe’s shluchim (emissaries) from all over the world, I gave a ride to Rabbi Ephraim Balter. Rabbi Balter joined the team at Chabad of the Meadowlands a few months ago.

“I estimate there are 6,000 Jews attending each game,” he told me. “And if there are Jews, Chabad wants to be there as well.”

So, at first, he opened a tefillin booth. It was successful, but soon enough he realized that more was needed. “People spend hours in the parking lot at tailgate parties,” he explained. “So I thought to myself, we need to create our own kosher tailgate party!”

And that is exactly what he did.

For the past few weeks, every Sunday, he buys dozens of hot dogs, prepares kosher burgers with his wife, packs some drinks and a grill, and heads to the game.

“People are in an incredible mood,” he said. “They are much more open to connecting with their Judaism, and of course, we are glad to offer them kosher food, all for free, though many people leave donations. Every week, yeshiva students come to help me wrap tefillin, and over the past few weeks alone, we have celebrated bar mitzvahs with 14 people who had never done this mitzvah before!”

Now they are putting the final touches on a mitzvah tank dedicated to this program, giving people a space to come in and learn more about Judaism.

Interestingly, Rabbi Balter, like me, had never attended a game before this initiative. But after spending enough time in the MetLife parking lot, he realized that while tailgate parties might not seem like the most Jewish concept, they can be “stolen” and transformed into something meaningful. With kosher food, tefillin, and Torah discussions, it is a tailgate with a higher purpose.

Then a thought struck me. This is exactly like the famous biblical story.

The elderly Yitzchak wants to bless his son Esau, the wild and impulsive firstborn, before his death. But Rivkah, aware of Esau’s behavior, knows the blessing truly belongs to their younger son, Yaakov. She instructs Yaakov to disguise himself as Esau, dressing in his brother’s clothing and covering his hands and neck with goat skins to appear hairy like his brother.

The plan works, and Yaakov receives the blessings.

The way I see it, Rabbi Balter at MetLife learned from Yaakov’s tactics. He found a creative and unconventional way to take something that might not seem to be the holiest thing, and made it into something beautiful that brings people closer to G-d.

Next time you go to MetLife, make sure to look for his tent, grab a kosher hot dog and say hi from me!

Mendy Kaminker is the rabbi of Chabad of Hackensack and an editorial member of Chabad.org. He welcomes your comments at rabbi@ChabadHackensack.com