Kosher food is not the first thing that springs to mind when most people think of Hungary, especially given its terrible history in the past century.
Although there is plenty of kosher food in Hungary, every time it comes up in conversation with friends, they are surprised to hear about it!
When I mention that in fact Hungary has a burgeoning kosher industry and a lively Jewish community, with the largest Jewish population in Central and Eastern Europe they all look incredulous!
Even though the Nazis deported almost every Jew from Hungary’s 750,000 pre-WWII population, today there are still nearly 100,000 living in Hungary, mostly in the capital and other larger cities in the countryside.
Even with only 100,000 residents, most of whom reside in Budapest, Hungary still has a Jewish hospital with kosher food and Jewish doctors, three schools with 1,000 students, a Jewish university to train rabbis and teachers and 26 active synagogues.
Keeping Quiet
This puts Hungary in the major league of Jewish populations in Eastern Europe, although most of the Hungarian Jews hide their true identity and never tell anyone about their family history.
This mentality is very well portrayed by the grandmother of Neo-nazi-turned-orthodox-Jew Csanad Szegedi, who said in an interview that it was best to “Keep Quiet”.
Not surprisingly, even Jews hardly know anything about Hungary’s rich Jewish past and present. In recent years, not in small part thanks to government support, many kosher industries have revived in Hungary. Some kosher food producers in Hungary even manage to export their produce as far afield as the US, UK, Israel and neighbouring countries – a testament to their success.
Kosher Food In Hungary
Hungary even has a rabbinic authority overseeing kosher food production and supplying kosher food certificates to kosher food producers in Hungary.
There is even a kosher walking tour of Budapest, organized by a young woman who recently decided to revive her Jewish identity and started observing Shabbat. She also writes a blog about kosher (and non-kosher) Hungarian cooking, which is very popular in Hungary.
Kosher Duck Slaughterhouse in Hungary
One major kosher establishment is a duck slaughterhouse where the firm, Quality Poultry Ltd, produces kosher duck liver, meat and other produce under the supervision of Chabad rabbis.
The duck factory in Csengele, Csongrád County in Hungary was opened by the United Hungarian Israelite Council in July 2017. Quality Poultry recently received permission to export kosher duck liver pate to the US, where they hope demand will be strong enough to maintain this plant.
According to their plans, 260 employees will process about 2,400 ducks per day, although there is capacity to process up to 4,000 per day. Making sure everything complies with kosher rules will be several rabbis flown in from Israel on a weekly rotation.
Hungary’s Kosher Vegetable Farm
Hungary is also home to a kosher vegetable farm where Agro Rehab Ltd. grows broccolis, cauliflower and various other vegetables not normally eaten by Jews. That’s because it is difficult to determine whether they meet high kosher standards. Agro Rehab has been growing broccolis and cauliflowers since 2014 and is also planning to expand its portfolio with spinach.
What distinguishes Agro Rehab is that it employs disabled people to help rehabilitate them into everyday life (hence its name “rehab”). It is also one of only a few vegetable growers that can guarantee an insect free cultivation area.
This is especially important as kosher rules prohibit the consumption of insects even if it is unnoticed. Agro Rehab markets its food products in the US, UK, Israel, Hungary and its neighbouring countries.
In a recent development, on 29 March 2018, Agro Rehab announced that it would build a logistics depo in Hungary which will help it serve its customers in Central and Easter Europe and further afield.
The warehouse will cover 6,000 square meters and will be large enough to store 4,000 pallets. The dry storage unit will have capacity store 3,000 pallets and there will also be a chilled and frozen storage unit.
Budapest Kosher Shops and Restaurants
In Budapest, there are now various kosher shops catering for the city’s large Jewish population. For example, Koser Piac (Kosher Market) is a relatively new addition to the Budapest kosher food scene with a wide variety of products on offer.
The community also helps its members by providing an annual calendar with a list of kosher products, explaining what makes it kosher and what certificates to look for on the packaging.
There is also Hannah’s Kosher Restaurant just up the street. In fact, most shops and cafes catering for kosher visitors are in the same area so as long as you are in the city center of Budapest you will never be far from a kosher shop or restaurant.
This thriving community gave famous people like media mogul Josef Pulitzer, scientists Edward Teller and Leo Szilard, conductor George Solti and George Szell, actor Tony Curtis, actress Zsazsa Gabor, director George Cukor and philantropist George Soros to the world. If you come from far away as a tourist or business visitor, you will have plenty of things to do and see in the Budapest Jewish district.
My Story
On a visit to Budapest’s Jewish district in 2011 I struck gold when, by total chance, I met the wife of an Orthodox Synagogue’s caretaker and she gave me a tour of the Budapest Jewish District.
I was showing a Jewish friend around in Budapest when we decided to take a break in a café. It was full but, as it turned out later, it was to our advantage. I asked a woman if we could share her table and she answered: “Yes, of course, I got my seat the same way an hour earlier!”
After a short chat, Katalin revealed she was Jewish and she offered to guide us around the district for two days. She showed us the synagogue her husband looks after, as well as the largest and smallest synagogues in Europe.
She took us to recently opened local Jewish restaurants, bars and pastry shops and she also introduced us to Rabbi Moshe T. Weiszberger, who was the Rav of the Budapest Orthodox community at the time.
Hanna’s Orthodox Kosher restaurant is open seven days a week, with a short opening on Saturday. The butcher shop, which sells everyday items and milk products is open most days of the week.
The shop and the restaurant was at the time administered by Zev Paskesz, Grand Secretary of the Hungarian Autonom Orthodox Israelite Council.
The Hungarian Autonom Orthodox Israelite Council’s building is next door, overlooking the local kosher restaurant and a large, functioning Orthodox synagogue.
“We supply the community with kosher food through our own kosher butcher shop and restaurant downstairs,” the orthodox rabbi told me when we met. “Until we opened the shop, religious Jews had to pre-order kosher food from a trusted butcher. Since we opened, more and more people use us as their local store,” the rabbi said.
“We started selling milk and dairy products in 2011 and our sales have gone up considerably. There has been an increased interest in traditional kosher food stuff in recent years.”
Carmel Restaurant and Tel Aviv Cafe
Since the fall of the iron curtain in Hungary in 1989 Jewish people have been able to practice their religion freely. As a result, many of the younger generation now want to learn about their past and traditions and shop kosher food.
Also, there are a lot of young people who do not know how to identify themselves as they were born in mixed marriages and now want to discover their roots.
This younger generation now has the opportunity to gather in cafes and meet up to talk about religion and everyday life freely. One of these cafes is Tel Aviv Cafe, which has a milk kitchen and the other is Carmel restaurant where there is a meat kitchen.
Visiting A Synagogue During A Trip To Budapest
“It is very hard to fill prayer rooms and synagogues during the week but at least on Saturdays young ones come too,” said elders present at an evening minyan I visited during my stay in Budapest. “Nowadays there are definitely more youngsters attending prayers on Saturdays than 30 or 40 years ago.”
The Budapest Jewish community is trying to lure the younger generations closer to the religion by organising free events with food and drink and weekend religious activities where young Jews can meet other people of their age.
Classroom Activities
There are also religious classroom activities and extracurricular projects where young Jews can learn more about their roots and the religion.
A place where there is a large emphasis on religious activities is the Wesselenyi Utcai Iskola. It is an Orthodox kindergarten, primary and high school in one building.
Here, there is morning prayer and classes are taught in Hebrew, English and Hungarian. The school in 2011 had 70 students, mostly from Orthodox families.
“We aim to provide the kids with an education that helps them develop strong ties to the Jewish community and religion. Only the young ones can carry on our traditions,” said Dov Levy, religious director of the school in 2011.
The Aftermath of War
Hungary was ravaged by World War II and it lost more than three-quarters of its Jewish population. In 1941 Hungary had a population of 725,000 Jews, 400,000 within the current borders, of which 185,000 lived in the capital city Budapest.
In the aftermath of the war a lot of the surviving religious Jews left Hungary. The remaining families did not encourage their children to get involved with anything that could identify them as Jewish for fear of discrimination. As a result, the third and fourth generations since the war have become greatly distanced from the religion and traditions.
The Newly Thriving Budapest Jewish Community
Today, there is a bi-weekly publication called Uj Elet (New Life), many cultural and youth organizations and a world renowned Jewish Summer Festival.
“The youth holds the key to preserving our traditions, so we must ensure they receive a strong religious education. The fruit of our labour may not be visible tomorrow – that’s why we think in generations,” Levy said.
“If we succeed in bringing at least some children back to the synagogues there is hope that they may pass on our teachings to their kids too,” Levy said.