I don’t recall ever hearing that Memorial Day wasn’t a kosher holiday. It was never considered one of the goyishe holidays and I think I recall that the Rabbis in yeshiva had nice things to say about it. No, they didn’t like the fact that random alcohol checkpoints were flung about the city and everyone decided to play half naked volleyball in their front yards, but it seemed to be a holiday that frum Jews may even have permission to celebrate.
I always wondered about Memorial Day. How do veterans feel about the fact that it has become another excuse for men to brag about grilling skills and women to share tips on coleslaw dressing. How do veterans feel that Memorial Day may inadvertently lead to faster climate change due to the amount of beef consumed and miles driven to consume said beef?
I don’t really know how one is supposed to celebrate Memorial Day. I am going to work and then hit up a bbq/ birthday party in San Francisco, followed by a night ride around the city if I’m in the mood. I wonder if any of the conversations at the barbecue will have anything to do with Memorial Day.
Although, now that I think about it, Memorial Day is celebrating our freedom as Americans to do whatever the hell we want thanks to our veterans who fought for our rights to consume large quantities of meat, beer and condiments. I hope these people have good condiments – there is nothing quite like the average frummy barbecue where all they serve is a slab of meat and rarely do they even have utensils. At the bare minimum, I need some onions. tomato and good sweet barbecue sauce. If we want to get complex, some sliced bread and butter pickles, caramelized onions, garlic aioli and a nice cold Hefeweizen would do me right.
So is Memorial Day kosher?
The only two issues I can think of is the inordinate amount of pritzus at your local park and the likelihood that by celebrating Memorial Day, we are trying to be like the goyim. Well, if you want to get fancy, the fact people may forget to bodek their lettuce may be reason enough to not celebrate with food.