KOSHER KIBOSH
Jewish lesbian comic: Threat to pull B’klyn eateries’ religious stamp canceled gigs
It may be kosher — but it’s not right.
A popular Jewish comic from Brooklyn was booted from two different eateries because the local kosher police threatened to yank their religious stamp of approval on the food if a lesbian performed there.
Leah Forster, 36, whose standup schtick features the insular Orthodox world she grew up in, had planned to hold a New Year’s Eve bash in her Brooklyn neighborhood — but both owners canceled once the “Kosher Nostra” put on the squeeze.
Forster’s life as a Jewish lesbian isn’t part of her act, but rabbis from the Vaad Harabanim of Flatbush, the kosher certification organization, still decided hosting her event would be a violation of Torah law.
Now the eateries may face pressure from a different front. The city’s Commission on Human Rights told Forster they may probe the alleged discrimination, she said.
Forster, a big hit on Instagram, first booked her New Year’s Eve event at Brooklyn’s Garden of Eat-In in Flatbush.
She sold 20 tickets at $80 a pop last month — and was excited about performing at one of her favorite restaurants, she said.
But two days after she announced the event online, Chaim Kirshner, the restaurant’s owner, said he was forced to back out by the Flatbush Vaad. “(The rabbi) said that you’re a lesbian, and you represent that, and we can’t let this go on,” Kirshner told Forster in a phone call that she recorded and shared with the Daily News.
Kirshner said that he has nothing against the LGBT community and “doesn’t care” who hosts events at the restaurant.
But losing his kosher certification would kill his business, Kirshner added. “They operate like the Mafia,” Forster said. “If they pull your
hechsher (kosher certification), you are screwed. They tell other places not to give you a hechsher.”
Kirshner was not available when The News visited the Garden of Eat-In on Sunday.
Forster was ready to give up and stick to secular gigs where her sexual orientation would not be an issue.
But a friend, whose mother owns kosher restaurant Orchidea in Borough Park, said they would love to host her New Years event. “I had a newfound sense of confidence,” said Forster, noting she sold out the 60 spots available.
But the kosher kibosh found her again, this time through an online petition that urged community members to call Orchidea and protest the event.
“One of the performers is openly lesbian,” the petition posted on multiple WhatsApp groups says. “Every part of this event is against (Jewish law) and against every moral fiber of our community.”
It’s unclear who started the WhatsApp petition.
But another rabbinical group — different from the Vaad Harabanim of Flatbush — also pressured Orchidea to drop the event, Forster said.
Orchidea owner Mazal Werzberger reluctantly relented.
“I feel really bad. I really wanted to work it out,” she said Sunday, noting she got “hundreds of phone calls a day.”
“I need to have the rabbi’s certificate,” she added. “If I don’t have (it), I have nothing.”
Forster filed a formal complaint with the Commission on Human Rights on Friday.
“I am being stripped of my basic human and civil rights solely based on my sexuality plus my religion or lack thereof,” she said.
It is illegal for New York City employers to discriminate against current or potential employees based on their sexuality. In this case, Forster would be considered an independent contractor, which is also covered under the law.
She says a Human Rights Commission lawyer called her to discuss the issue last week.
“We had a long conversation,” Forster said.
A commission spokesman declined to discuss the matter.
“The commission doesn’t confirm or deny open any potential investigations,” said spokesman Seth Hoy.
The Vaad Harabanim of Flatbush did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Forster said she has never publicly talked about her sexuality “out of a mixture of respect and fear” for her community. “I never want to shove anything in anybody’s face,” she said. “I don’t want to be remembered for being a trouble maker. I want to be remembered for someone who makes people laugh.”