This should not be an issue

Sometimes I can't believe that I work for a Jewish organization. Certain issues come up, that really shouldn't. For example, Jews keep kosher (well, some Jews), and especially so on Passover (side note: it's interesting, even though many people don't keep kosher at all during the year, it seems that a lot of Jews make a concerted effort on Passover). I was totally appalled that my supervisor, who is a Rabbi, was unaware and unconcerned when I pointed out that we had not made the microwave kosher, and therefore could not heat up left overs for lunch tomorrow. He suggested cleaning the microwave now, which is a problem for a number of reasons:

1. You aren't supposed to have chametz (leavened products) in your possession during Passover. If chametz is in your possession, it absolutely should not have anything to do with food preparation during the holiday.

2. If you went through that strange loophole of selling your chametz (a lot of Jews sell their leavened products to a neighbor or other organization, whereby through a legal contract they no longer own the chametz. They can leave it in their houses and simply buy it back after the holiday) you don't own those items anymore. Because we sold our chametz, we cannot, because of the legal contract we made, touch any of it. Which means no microwave cleaning.

3. It is dishonest in that the holiday started over the weekend and we advertised Kosher for Passover meals for all the students that come to the lounge during the week. So, we should be able to provide actual Kosher for Passover meals, and not just say we do. Furthermore, these are people's religious beliefs and practices! It is absolutely NOT alright to skimp or be lazy about these things, simply because it's easier.

4. This is not what pluralism is about. I have previously complained that pluralism is not about the frummiest common denominator, but I also have to say that it's not about the most convenient denominator. Just because my supervisor is a Reform Rabbi does not mean that he should expect everybody else to practice Judaism the same way he does. We need to make everybody comfortable here, not just the reform students and (ahem) staff. If we really want to be pluralist, we must accommodate observant students as well as non-observant students. That's what pluralism means. Or should mean, anyways.

This just really grinds my gears. I realize more and more that this is not the right organization for me, and that I really disagree with my supervisor about SOOO many things. It seems ridiculous to me that this is my first real work experience, and that I already understand that this really is not the way to do things.