A new kosher vending machine is now available for kosher consumers in Istanbul Airport, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported.
Istanbul Airport is one of Europe’s busiest airports, serving almost 40 million people in 2021, but up to last month, there were no kosher options for travelers, who often have to spend long hours in the airport waiting for connecting flights or due to schedule changes or canceled flights.
The Kosher Food Point Machine, installed last month, now offers sandwiches and drinks, and hot kosher meals are sold in some of the airport’s lounges. The food is certified by OU Kosher as well by the local Denet Gida, a branch of the Turkish Rabbanut. The food is provided by the La Casa caterer, which donates the proceeds to poor Jewish families in Turkey.
Rabbi Mendy Chitrik, Turkey’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, helped organize the arrangement. “There are more flights to Tel Aviv than to London,” he told JTA. “It’s definitely a very important hub where hundreds of thousands of kosher-eating Jews pass through, and sometimes they stop over, sometimes they get stuck.”
Rabbi Chitrik said that the arrangement takes a huge weight off his shoulders as hungry kosher travelers often called him in search of kosher food. “For many years I had the habit of bringing kosher food with me every time I went to the airport, to give out to people there,” he said.
After one too many of these incidents, he expressed his frustration in a tweet in November: “Why is there no Kosher food available in the Istanbul Airport?” he wrote. “Every time I fly – I bring with me food for stranded and hungry Jews who missed their flight. Isn’t it time for Istanbul Airport and Turkish Airlines to assure that Kosher food is available for purchase and in the lounge?”
Why is there no Kosher food available in the Istanbul Airport?
Everytime I fly – I bring with me food for stranded & hungry Jews who missed their flight.
Isn't it time for @igairport and @TurkishAirlines to assure that Kosher food is available for purchase and in the lounge?
— Rabbi Mendy Chitrik (@mchitrik) November 10, 2021
Rabbi Chitrik was shocked when airport authorities actually reached out to him and helped him arrange the provision of kosher food at the airport.
Rabbi Chitrik said that not only does the initiative help hungry Jewish travelers but it’s a positive sign of coexistence. “It’s a statement of comfort, of welcoming, of tolerance and coexistence,” Chitrik said. “And that’s a good thing. It’s a sign of the normalization of Jewish life in the Muslim world.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
This is part of a more general trend in several Arab/Islamist countries who still regularly “bash” EY for local political consumption while quietly engaging with EY for business/commercial reasons. Turkey has always has their weird hot/cold, on/off relationship with EY depending on Erdogan’s political problems at home (aka when his poll numbers drop, hype the anti-Israel rhetoric) but the Emirates, Saudis, etc. are increasingly engaging with EY on a wide range of issues while still castigating the settlement policies, etc.