The NY Mets teach Jews to keep Shabbos

The New York Mets baseball team seems to becoming increasingly Jewish in culture. Recently they made the news and chatter when a kipa was spotted in the Mets dugout..

Now, the Mets are making sure their Jews keep Shabbos. I don't know about any players or staff that are Jewish that are keeping Shabbos, but they are forcing their concession stand owners to keep Shabbos.

According to the New York Post, Kosher Grill, a concession owned by Kosher Foods, Inc. signed a 10 year contract with the Mets to sell kosher food in the stadium at a stand. Now the Mets are telling them they can no longer operate on Friday night and Saturday at Citi Field.

The owners of Kosher Foods claims that the kashrus supervising agency has allowed them to operate on Shabbos, yet the Mets are not allowing them to. Rabbi Heinemann, head of the kashrus agency, claims that if they operate on Shabbos there is no way they can have a hechsher and he denies allowing them to operate on Shabbos.

But the Mets superseded the rabbis and caused a frankfurter fracas, never allowing the vendor to go ahead with the move, Kosher Sports claims in a lawsuit it filed last week against the team in Brooklyn federal court.

The Englewood, NJ-based company signed a 10-year deal with the team when Citi Field opened last year.

It allowed the company to sell food on Friday nights and Saturdays, when many Jews don't work and observe a day of prayer, the suit claims.

The Mets' decision cost the vendor more than $500,000 in lost profits last year, Kosher Sports -- which is seeking $1 million in damages -- claims in its lawsuit.

But the rabbi who monitors Kosher Sports' compliance with Jewish dietary laws denies giving the company the OK to operate on the Sabbath.

"There's no way they can be kosher if they operate on Friday nights and Saturdays," said Rabbi Shmuel Heinemann.

The Mets, owned by the Wilpon family, which is Jewish, said Kosher Sports' claims are "without merit."