A Jewish high school cafeteria in North Carolina became the first pre-collegiate institution to obtain an Orthodox social justice organization’s seal certifying its adherence to fair-labor practices.

The American Hebrew Academy in Greensboro, which touts itself as the only international Jewish college prep boarding school, recently received Uri L’Tzedek’s Tav HaYosher, an “ethical” seal for kosher establishments.

The academy was the first pre-collegiate school to seek the seal in a program that was launched in 2009. The Tav HaYosher program certifies 86 establishments, mostly restaurants in New York City and Los Angeles.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Several campus-based kosher dining halls, including at Barnard-Columbia, Yale and Ohio State universities, have the Tav HaYosher seal. Others are in the pipeline.

Yael Keller, Uri L’Tzedek’s director of programming, told JTA that the boarding school initiated the certification process after one of its board members saw a Tav HaYosher sign in a restaurant window.

“Until American Hebrew Academy contacted us, I had not thought about Jewish day school as a possibility, largely because the Jewish day school I attended didn’t have a cafeteria,” Keller said, adding that day schools are now an area that Uri L’Tzedek hopes to explore further.

The program enlists volunteers to visit kosher eating establishments and interview their employees to ensure their employer is in compliance with state labor laws concerning pay, overtime and safety.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re in the middle of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 22.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount