The earlier you look for a venue and a kitchen for a kosher summer camp, the more choice you have - with time to plan, that is usually 9-12 months ahead. The menu, the mashgiach and the Shabbat plan can wait until 3-4 months before; the final headcount and product orders until the last weeks. The most common mistake is starting with the menu before there is a venue that will allow the kitchen. The plan below is a template, not a fixed rule: with less time, the steps can be compressed.
Ideally 9-12 months before: venue and kitchen together
- The kashrut standard from your rabbi - kosher, glatt or mehadrin, Chalav and Pas Yisrael. It decides whether catering is enough or you need a kitchen on site.
- A venue that agrees to an exclusive, koshered kitchen. This is a condition for any camp with an on-site kosher kitchen, not only for mehadrin.
- Halls: one large hall for meals and Shabbat for the whole camp, plus rooms for activities. Check nobody else has the hall on Saturday. When halls are short, a tent on the grounds can work - for activities, a synagogue or a shared Shabbat meal. Lit from inside (lights switched on before Shabbat), it is usable in the evening too. Comfort depends on the weather, so it suits the warmer months or needs heating.
- Exclusive use, or separation from other guests. Children and teens are active until late, and grounds closed to outsiders give organizers and parents peace of mind.
- Written agreements with the venue: who pays for the kitchen, power and water, whether venue staff help and from when.
From our practice: venues that run their own camps have few free summer dates. Ask them about next summer in the autumn before.
4-6 months before: program, menu, people
- Daily rhythm: wake-up time, whether there is lunch, how many days are trips. Children's and youth camps usually have four meals, with an evening snack.
- Know the group before the menu: age, where participants come from, what they like. Children eat differently from adults, and teenagers eat far more bread than the norms suggest.
- The mashgiach - who, appointed by whom, present whenever the kitchen works.
- Calendar: if the camp falls in the Three Weeks (Hebrew בין המצרים, Bein HaMetzarim - the mourning period before the fast of Tisha BeAv; in the last nine days many groups eat no meat) or on a fast day, plan the menu around the group's practice now, not on site.
- Shabbat: kiddush, meals, wine and juice, challot, platas and urns, an eruv if the rabbi requires one.
2-3 months before: anything with a long delivery time
- Printing and branded items (T-shirts, bottles, badges) - production and delivery take 4-6 weeks, often longer.
- Shabbat equipment and decorations in the group's colors - online orders take 2-4 weeks.
- Dietary list: allergies, vegetarians, anyone who needs separate meals. In writing, with names kept only in a restricted file.
- Questions for the venue: sockets and circuits, hot water, sensor lights, drinking water, equipment in the halls, internet.
2-4 weeks before: numbers and orders
- Final number of participants and staff, with the mashgiach and kitchen team counted separately.
- Imported products (Chalav Yisrael, meat, spices and extras from Israel, some items with a hechsher) are ordered well in advance: meat sometimes months ahead, because it depends on when the slaughter takes place, the rest usually a few weeks before arrival. Sometimes even something as basic as mayonnaise has to be brought in.
- Meal grid: day by day, meal by meal, number of portions, packed food for trips.
- Drinking water: tap, delivered bottles or buying locally - decide before the trip, it is a real cost.
The last week
- Koshering the kitchen two days before the group arrives - we agree the exact timing with each group.
- Meal times confirmed every day for the next day - the plan in the contract always changes on site.
- One contact person on the organizer's side and one in the kitchen, with a daily "what do you need tomorrow?".
When time is short
Sometimes a group already has a hotel but no kitchen, no agreements with the venue or no clear daily plan - because something went wrong along the way. We know these situations from practice. We start with what decides everything else: we look at the kitchen and halls at the venue, agree the standard with the rabbi, choose the model (kitchen on site or catering), and only then the menu. We also help shape the daily program so meals, packed food for trips and Shabbat fit into it. Not every date can be fully rescued, but often more can be done than it seems - it is worth asking straight away rather than waiting.
Winter seminars and conferences
A shorter cycle, usually 3-6 months, but the same steps. In winter Shabbat starts early in the afternoon, so Friday arrivals and the program have to be ready before candle lighting. A conference adds halls with equipment, coffee breaks and often a gala dinner.
Frequently asked questions
Can a kosher camp be organized in three months?
Often, yes - especially when the venue is already booked and agrees to kosher its kitchen, and a missing hall can be replaced by a tent. In peak summer there are few free venues, so a short lead time means less choice. It is worth asking straight away.
What do we book first: the venue or the caterer?
Both together. A venue that will not allow the kitchen is no use for a mehadrin camp, and the caterer needs to see the kitchen before confirming it can work there.
When do we give the final number of participants?
Usually 2-4 weeks before arrival, when imported products are ordered and shopping is planned. Before that, an estimate with a range is enough.
Is a winter seminar planned the same way?
On a shorter cycle, usually 3-6 months, but with the same steps. In winter Shabbat starts early in the afternoon, so Friday travel and the program have to fit an early candle lighting.
SEBIR runs kosher kitchens and Shabbat for camps, seminars and conferences in Poland and Europe, to the standard set by the group's rabbi.
Prepared by the SEBIR team. Since 2023 we have been running kosher kitchens and Shabbat for Jewish groups in Poland and Europe. Last updated: October 2026. If something here is out of date, write to info@sebir.pl - we will check and correct it.