After accompanying her grandmother a few times for these cheesemaking demonstrations, Cohen was hooked. “When I graduated from high school, I decided to start a cute business using this recipe. I called it ‘Grandma’s Cheese’ because it was my grandma’s recipes,” she recalled. “I began making it in my mom’s kitchen and I delivered it to my friends and neighbours. It was really a very hard process; it is not only time and energy but also heat involved and lots of burnt fingers! But people wanted it, so I kept going.”

Cohen’s business was an instant success. “I hit a point where very soon I was delivering to 50 houses a week. At that point, I hit a ceiling, I could not do it all by myself,” she said recalling the early days of her fledgling business. “My dad actually got me into a local store. He said: ‘hey look, my daughter sells cheese, these are her customers, can she sell it here?’ at that point I had all the requirements, but I needed someone to believe in me. So, at Ouri’s Fruit in Brooklyn, I had a little stand in a shelf with Grandma’s cheeses. Everything was handmade. Even the labels!”

From these humble beginnings, Grandma’s Cheese is now stocked in over 30 supermarkets in the tri-state area, several outlets in Texas and Florida, and is even shipped to Panama. With over 10 flavours of braided mozzarella including black caraway, za’atar and olive, a new line of kosher burrata cheeses, and even a kosher restaurant that is dedicated to showcasing the cheeses in all its dishes, Cohen’s business is booming and expanding.

And in a twist of fate, Cohen met her husband Max through her kosher cheese business.

“I met him through [cheesemaking], because I had built a name for myself in my community for being the ‘cheese girl’. I saw him at a party and used my cheese as a way to introduce myself to him. He didn’t know of me at all or my brand, until I reached out again later, asking him to try my product. Our relationship started when he came to my house and he tried it there,” she laughed, recalling the origins of their relationship.  He later joined her business, and these days, they both work full-time creating their lines.

Interestingly, Max and Florence Cohen are part of a brand-new wave of cheesemakers that are producing high-quality kosher cheeses that were never traditionally available to kosher consumers.

Kosher cheesemaking can be difficult, with added expenses for kosher supervision and difficulty obtaining cheesemaking supplies such a certified rennet or cheese cultures that comply with kosher requirements.

Factories are also sometimes reluctant to produce kosher cheeses, which are often small production runs and include extra requirements such as intensive cleaning which may interfere with larger orders. Small businesses may also find the costs of kosher cheesemaking prohibitively high, especially if there is mashgiach [kosher supervisor] present to supervise the milking to ensure compliance with the highest level of kosher requirements such as Chalav Yisrael.

All these additional challenges may present insurmountable hurdles to kosher cheesemaking, which is already a highly technical art.

While the Grandma’s Cheese does not use rennet, and achieving formal kosher certification was not overly difficult, it is still an expensive additional cost.

“For us, becoming kosher was not a challenging process. It was just expensive,” said Max Cohen. “Usually, it comes with getting a commercial kitchen. These days we have our own commercial kitchen, but that was a whole journey.” Despite the efforts involved, the Cohen’s are happy their product has resonated with so many people, noting, “we love it, we eat it all the time.”

As for Florence Cohen’s grandma, the nachas continues, “She’s still alive. She’s young. When she walks into supermarkets, she points to our cheese, and says: ‘I’m the grandma!’”

The Cohens are not the only ones making kosher cheeses accessible to the masses. In supermarkets across the country, including Wholefoods, one can find kosher certified cheeses from That Cheese Guy.

The man behind the brand is Brent Delman who owns a wholesale speciality food company. About 30 years ago, when he adopted an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle and started keeping kosher, he felt there was a lack of kosher cheeses.

“I created a brand and started going to trade shows and taking cheesemaking courses. I started to partner up with small producers who had never been kosher. I live in New York in Yonkers. So, I started to partner with Vermont and New York State farmers, and I started to get some of them to produce kosher. I found myself having to source bacterial cultures and rennet and buying cheesemaking equipment like brine tanks and cheese moulds” he said. 
 
While Delman makes kosher cheeses, he considers himself more of an affineur, someone who is an expert in ageing and maturing the cheese. These days, his brand produces more than 50 types of artisan kosher cheeses, including many organic, raw milk, grass fed cheddars and parmesan as well as burrata and goat cheese. 
 
“I do not own a farm. I go in and make cheese at creameries and farms. I bring in all the ingredients other than milk. I also bring the mashgiach [kosher supervisor] and then I take the cheese that is made, and I age it,” he said. 
 
As his business has grown, he has commanded a unique niche in the market where he produces the largest range of kosher high-end speciality cheeses, outside of Israel. As part of his work, he travels to farms around the world, sourcing the best materials and ingredients to make his high-end artisan kosher cheeses. 
 
One of his top sellers is an American made Parmesan cheese.  “We aged it over 4 years and the way we age it, it retains some creaminess and has a nuttiness and sharp flavor profile that’s almost sort of reminiscent of an aged cheddar. It is just an incredible umami flavour with cheese crystals. You bite into it and get these crunches which come from the amino acids that are crystallising in the cheese,” he said. “When I started this, about 18 years ago or so, there was no sharp cheddar or fresh mozzarella in the United States. We probably had 5 or 6 varieties in total of kosher cheeses in the market. So, my goal has really been to bring the finest cheeses in the world to the kosher pallet palate and do so within the framework of Jewish law,” he explained. 
 
Despite the challenges involved in kosher cheesemaking, Delman is happy to be able to be able to provide high-quality kosher cheeses that bring so much joy to so many people. 
 
“People send emails saying that it brings their families and friends together. One of the things I hear often about my products is that the quality is such that it’s acceptable to anyone, kosher or non-kosher as well as those with other dietary or ethical restrictions. Sometimes there are family members who find it difficult to come together and agree upon common foods, but my cheeses have done that. It is one of the best things.”

The post The Art of Kosher Cheesemaking appeared first on Jewcy.

However, it didn’t take long for Zara Zahava to soon find success, with her third video hitting almost half a million views, after she posted a clip recounting an experience she had as a resident advisor at college. “I told the story from when I was a resident advisor at my school, and how we would leave out free condoms and lube to promote safe sex. One day I overheard this conversation between two people, where one asked the other: ‘do you think this is enough lube to slide down the hall like a penguin?’  When I ran out of my room to tell them not to, they were already gone along with a 2-gallon tub of lube. I retold the story on TikTok and said that I live in constant fear that I will see them sliding down the hall like penguins.”

That clip was the start of Zara Zahava’s viral TikTok fame.

Growing up in the Conservative movement and attending a Solomon Shechter school in Massachusetts, Zara Zahava is highly knowledgeable about Judaism. However, in her first few months on TikTok she did not speak at all about her Jewish identity, but when she hit 40,000 followers, that changed.

“The first video I posted about Judaism, was a clip discussing whether a vampire could keep kosher,” she recalled. Her TikTok about “whether Furby is Kosher” generated hundreds of thousands of views and hilarious comments and feedback.

Zara uses her platform with great success to provide Jewish answers to obscure and often crowd sourced questions. These questions come from a variety of sources, often from comment responses to her previous videos.

“When I posted my first TikTok about Judaism it was in response to one of the comments. But people said the answers were fascinating and asked me new questions. Most of these questions come from complete strangers,” she said.

In addition, she has many non-Jewish friends. “They love learning about Judaism in a fun way, so sometimes they will comment their questions knowing I will see it,” she enthused. Despite having excellent Jewish knowledge, her answers are often the result of extensive research.

“I fact check everything I say, even if I think I know the answer, I appreciate that it is always possible that I was taught incorrectly. I also like to provide quotes and citations. I also try my best to be as non-denominational in my answers as possible,” Zara Zahava said, noting that she will cover off a range of Jewish perspectives.

However, being on TikTok as an openly Jewish creator is not all fun and games. In addition to cyber bullying and nasty comments, there is blatant antisemitism. It is for this reason Zara Zahava preferred that Jewcy not use her full last name, as she has previously been doxed and sent antisemitic abuse when people have been able to link her account using it.

“I get comments about blood libel. I always thought people stopped believing that” she said. “Sure, there are antisemitic stereotypes that exist, but in person I have never experienced the antisemitic accusations of blood libel. I thought it was known to be definitely fake! But it come up all the time on TikTok. So, then I wonder: is it the product of misinformation?”

She also takes precautions against antisemitic comments, including utilizing a TikTok feature that allows her to ban certain people from her comments section. In addition, she has banned antisemitic words from appearing in her comments section and will block those who use such words against her.

Zara Zahava also ensures she takes regular breaks from social media to ensure her sanity.

“It’s hard because, because for every 100 comments I get, maybe 5-10 are bad, but the bad ones are really bad, so sometimes I have even considered quitting TikTok because of how those comments stick with me,” she recalled.  “When that happens, I’ll take a few days off TikTok for my mental health.”

But her TikTok fans certainly hope she won’t be quitting any time soon! In the past few weeks, her rise on the app has been meteoric.

“I hit 50,000 followers in January 2022 and then I hit 100,000 followers by February 2022,” she said.

But despite her success, she has no plans to monetize her content which is clearly resonating. While she knows she has the capabilities to pivot and do something in social media, for now, she wants it to remain a hobby. 

“I don’t think it interests me, not every hobby has to be monetized,” said Zara Zahava. “Our generation thinks that you if are good at something you should make money off it. But this then creates huge pressure that makes these hobbies less fun,” she reflected.

Zara Zahava isn’t sure what her next step with TikTok will be, but she has some new job prospects to consider. “I have gotten comments that I should become a rabbi. In response, I made a video about why I don’t want to become a rabbi,” she recalled. But the response to her video was even more interesting. “A person stitched the video I made saying that I could bring so much to the community. Originally, I thought people were saying it as a joke but then I realized that people were being serious.”

When asked whether she is considering a potential new career in the rabbinate, Zara Zahava was reflective, “it’s still something that I don’t think is my path in life, but I have received comments from rabbis and cantors telling me that if I genuinely want this as a career we can talk.”

At least for now, Zara Zahava will stick with her TikTok content creation, “I don’t fully care if it keeps growing, as long I get to keep saying what I am saying, and people think it’s cool!”

The post The Mashgicha of TikTok appeared first on Jewcy.

However, about two years ago things started to change for Tilchen.

“During the pandemic a lot of Jewish people started to feel a surge in antisemitism. It was a mix of things, partially because it felt like the world was crumbling and [partially because] people needed a scapegoat and Jews have historically been used as the world’s scapegoat,” she said.

Active on Instagram and Twitter it was a slow process realizing that there was, as she says, “a dire need for activism in these spaces.” While previously she had been focused on posting what she deems “normal, day to day content,” she pivoted her content to educate people about antisemitism where she has quickly become one of the new and emerging prominent voices in this space.

Her content took off quickly.

“I have a solid understanding antisemitism and how it functions. I felt a responsibility to use my voice to show that antisemitism exists everywhere,” she said.

A Long Island native, Tilchen has visited Israel, and although she doesn’t have immediate family there, she feels a strong connection to the country and has many friends living there.

 “I started to see how antisemitism exists across the political spectrum and how the libel claims against Israel have really affected Jews , not just in Israel but in the Diaspora,” she said.

The content on her feed is a particularly enticing mix, including regularly trolling antisemites with viral memes, poking fun at Israel’s ban on foreign tourists but also more serious content that calls out antisemitic behavior and providing education to people who may not know too much about Israel or Jewish people.

While Tilchen finds a lot of meaning in the work she is doing, being a public advocate against antisemitism can at times be a difficult gig.

“I get a ton of abuse in my DMs with conspiracy theories. You have to develop a thick skin. You have to be strong in your Jewish identity and know who you are,” she reflected.

Her social media presence has a track record of resonating with young people around the world, but despite her success, she is just one person. Tilchen thinks that larger better resourced Jewish organizations could do a better job at being active on social media platforms where young people are congregating.

“I’ve called out the legacy Jewish organizations on Twitter. I think they don’t properly understand how to reach young people. I think Jewish organizations should be doing everything they can to help young people understand their Jewish identities before the non-Jewish world tells them who they are,” she said.

“If you don’t have a basis of knowledge, it’s easy to absorb non-Jewish ideas of who Jews are. That’s dangerous. If you start believing the conspiracy theories, it gets messy. We are so outnumbered. You don’t want to be a Jewish person who has internalized non-Jewish identity.”

Tilchen is sometimes surprised at the level engagement that her account has with people who don’t know much about Jewish or have never met Jews. “When I started my advocacy work, it felt like I was trying to change the minds of antisemites, absolutely toxic antisemites, in the comments sections. It really burnt me out. I like talking to people who have nothing against Jewish people but are curious,” she said.

Echoing this thought is Rabbi Shlomo Litvin, the Chabad rabbi of Lexington Kentucky.

He was one of the first Jewish leaders to join the audio-only app Clubhouse in 2021. Like Tilchen, he fell into antisemitism activism accidentally.

“Immediately after I joined Clubhouse, students started pulling me into [private chat] rooms [on the app], asking for advice on how to respond to Clubhouse antisemitism,” he reflected.

“I am a Yad Vashem trained Holocaust educator and up until that point I had mainly used social media to just share positive events.”

However, seeing the need for advocacy in this space, Litvin stepped up to the challenge. His regular use on ClubHouse drew him to Twitter as well.

“There is something extraordinary about Twitter that allows people to have conversations,” he said, recalling an incident where he was able to deliver Hannukah candles to someone who he didn’t know personally, but had connected with him via Twitter.

“She was sick with COVID, located across the country. I got her address, and I contacted the Chabad Rabbi at UC Irvine who delivered her menorah and candles and sufganiyot,” he said.

However, with his new public role on social media fighting against antisemitism, Rabbi Litvin has experienced some scary incidents.

“I was listening to a conversation in the Israel-Palestine room on Clubhouse, and someone spoke up and said that no one knows how to respond to the points I was bringing up about Israel, and then another person piped up and read out my address and said that someone should do something about me,” he recalls. He has also received some nasty letters to his home.

Like Tilchen, Litvin thinks that legacy Jewish organizations could be doing more to use their resources to fight back against antisemitic hate on social media.

“If they haven’t woken up to Twitter yet, then they haven’t woken up to the internet,” he said. “The President of the US has a Twitter account. The excuse that it’s “new” has gotten “old.”

The beauty of the internet is that it requires no geographic boundaries for people to become connected.

In Melbourne, Australia, 22-year-old Josh Feldman is a new and emerging voice on social media that has written op-eds for major Australian and international newspapers about Israel. He is also active on Twitter where part of his bio describes himself as a “Falafel enthusiast.”

While he is still growing his following, he knows that doing so may come at a personal cost.

“I’m not yet a public figure. The Blake Flaytons and Eve Barlows, people know who they are, and they cop a lot more abuse. If I become a bigger figure, I am sure I will get more abuse, and then it becomes a question of how to manage it,” he said.

While he receives occasional insults for his work educating people about Israel (some nasty DMs and emails), overall, he believes in the pieces he is writing and enjoys the unexpected benefit of his advocacy on social media.

 “Occasionally you will write a piece, and someone will reach out to say something nice and that starts a relationship which is a cool part of it that I wasn’t expecting.”

When asked whether she will continue with her public advocacy, despite some of the hardships, Tilchen is steadfast in the belief of what she is doing.

“It’s kind of crazy to think that I have so many more friends now than before COVID. With the friends I have made [from Twitter and Instagram] we have lit Hannukah candles over zoom. We have gotten together over shabbat. I have friends across the world and in Israel,” she said.

Tilchen reflected on a particularly meaningful experience she had a few months ago when many of the advocates who like her, post content fighting back against antisemitism, decided to all go out for brunch in New York City.

“We posted the picture. There was horrible abuse for 2 or 3 days straight online. Abuse about what we looked like. Abuse about how much we tip. Abuse about our noses. However, despite all the abuse, no one could take away the joy that we had meeting each other, because we know who we are. That’s a beautiful thing. We are just people on Instagram and Twitter that use their voices for good” she said. 

The post Jewish Activists Can Take the Heat appeared first on Jewcy.