Shabbat in Kauai

For visitors wishing to join us for Shabbat (or Holiday) meals (or Minyans) we are currently in transition and not in immediate walking distance of hotels. With Hashem's help, soon we will have a permanent location, with this ability.

Looking forward to celebrating together and soon to share the good news of a more permanent location for our island community.

Shabbat Meals

Shabbat Meals at Chabad

We are happy to host you at our home for Shabbat Meals. If you're Shomer Shabbat and are staying at a hotel, it's not walking distance. 

We ask visitors to reserve for meals, this helps us with the cost of importing kosher, meal prep and our Shlichus.

Click here to RSVP for Shabbat/Holiday meals.

Order a Prepared Meal

If you'd like to order Shabbos food for your own meal visit OahuKosher.com - this is a kosher caterer on Oahu who preps the food of your choice on Thursday, and sends it overnight in a refrigerated cargo courier (Aloha Airlines), and you pick it up Friday morning at the airport.

Create Your Own Shabbat Meal

While there are no Kosher restaurants or Kosher Stores on island, many kosher items can be found in local stores. Besides for the hundreds of Kosher Certified products, with an "OU" or "OK" symbol on many mainland and international products (such as cereals, tuna, pastas etc.), there are some Kosher sections in the following supermarkets:

Safeway  - In Kapa'a & Lihue have a small Kosher "section" (more like a column) with some basics, like Kedem grapejuice, Manishewitz Matzah, Candles for Shabbat / Yartzeit, some soup mixes, bamba chips and other random Kosher products - including Chanukah Candles year-round ;-)

• Lihue Safeway - the Kosher section is in the aisle closest to the produce section, in the middle of the aisle, about halfway down. 
• Kapa'a Safeway - the Kosher section is at the back of one of the center aisles, the very last column!

They recently started selling 100% Kosher Challah (!) which they import. Varieties such as Egg Challah, Pretzel-flavored Challah, Round Raisin Challah, and Challah buns. Ocassionally they will also have Honey Cake or Babka near the Challah! The Challah is found near the Bakery Section (In Lihue, it's on the far left, in the back; in Kapa'a, it's in the far right at the back), on an island nearby.

Safeway also carries Kosher Wine - the blue Bartenura Moscato (only 5% alcohol, sweet) - in their wine section, on the left side of the store.

Kosher Items in Local Stores

Kosher Wines

As mentioned earlier, both Safeways (Kapa'a & Lihue) carry the (blue) Bartenura Moscato. Most local supermarkets (including Foodland and Big Save) carry Manishewitz Wine (oy). 

The Princeville Wine store (at the very south-end of the Shopping Center, facing the Library) is run by a Jewish man, Daniel Braun, and he sells several Kosher wines, from Baron Herzog to several Israeli wines. In Lihue, The Wine Garden sells some Kosher wines too!

Waipouli Spirits (Kapa'a) sells Baron Herzog wines too.

Fish

The Pacific Ocean is full of kosher fish 😀 so your best option is to go fishing in Hawaii!

Here is a list of Kosher Fish. If you're not sure, check for Fins & Scales. If it has those two signs, it's Kosher! If you purchase fresh fish, make sure it is whole, and not sliced. For perhaps the knives are used for other fishes too and have residue of non-Kosher. Ideally, if you want to purchase a whole fish from a local fisherman, bring him your own Kosher or new knife and cutting board and for a few extra bucks he can fillet it for you.

Smoked Salmon (lox) can be found in most stores, with a Kosher Certification. Costco has a great variety and bulk prices (of course!). You can also purchase a whole (refrigerated) salmon in Costco (even without a Kosher symbol) since it's identifiable by it's unique color and is kept separate. Nonetheless, we do cut off a small slice at each end before cooking or barbequing it. They also carry a bag of frozen slices of salmon.

We have roles of Gefilte Fish we import from Raskin's in Brooklyn, which is very delicious (unlike the bad reputation the Manischewitz brand on shelves has earned...). We can sell you a loaf which you can bake or slice and fry.

Challah

See earlier in this post about Challah sold in Safeway both Lihue & Kapa'a branches. If you don't find, please call us, as we usually have stock. Zissel also bakes a delicious home-made Challah, which with enough prior notice she can bake extra and you can pick it up from our home on Friday afternoon.

Bread

There are several breads which are "Pas Yisroel". 

• Ezekiel Bread (a sprouted grain health bread) available in Health Food stores, such as Papayas (Kapa'a), Harvest Market (Hanalei) or Living Foods (Poipu). Even Safeway carries it in their freezer section. There are many other breads with OU or OK which are Kosher, but not Pas Yisroel. Ezekiel bread comes in several flavors and also sliced loaves as well as buns. Check the freezer sections. There are also some other gluten-free breads - usually in the same area - which are Kosher and not a problem of Pas Yisroel (since they are gluten-free).
• Kosher Bagels can be found (!) in some stores. We have seen them in Big Save (Kapa'a / Hanalei) with a Kosher symbol and "Pas Yisroel", by a company called "Western". 

Chicken & Meat

While local stores do not carry Kosher chicken or meat (yet) - except an occasional Kosher Turkey for Thanksgiving! - we do import this in bulk from Western-Kosher in LA (we have a co-op, and we order as a group a couple of times a year). If you would like a frozen chicken, or ground meat we can assist you. We often has some Schnitzel (chicken breast) too!

Candle Lighting Times / Dateline

For Shabbat Candle-Lighting times, click here.

Which day(s) to observe Shabbat?

We often get asked which day (or days!) to observe Shabbat in Hawaii due to its location in relation to the International Date Line. Since the placement of the Jewish Date Line is a matter of Halachic discussion, visitors sometimes wonder whether Shabbat should be observed on Friday, Saturday, or both.

The established local custom across all orthodox Jewish communities in Hawaii is to observe Shabbat at the regular local times, from Friday evening through Saturday evening, in accordance with consulted Halachic authorities.

As there are differing Halachic opinions on this topic, visitors are welcome to consult their own rabbi for personal guidance.

For those interested in learning more, Chabad.org offers an explanation of the different perspectives: Shabbat, the International Date Line and Jewish Law.