What is Lighthouse Kosher?
Lighthouse Kosher exists because kosher food should be a source of Jewish light that strengthens Jewish life and community.
Jewish tradition offers profound wisdom about food and the relationship between health, spirituality, environmental stewardship, ethical labor, culture, and local community.
Kashrut elevates eating into a sacred act that connects people more deeply with one another, the earth, and God.
Kosher supervision works best when it reflects that vision.
In many places, kosher certification has become prohibitively expensive and highly centralized, with systems that emphasize institutional oversight. These conditions contribute to higher costs, lower quality, fewer options, and reduced participation in Jewish food culture for many Jews and values-driven consumers. At a time of rising antisemitism and increasing polarization, Jewish practice has the opportunity to foster curiosity, inclusion, and meaningful connection.
Lighthouse Kosher offers a model shaped by those values.
We provide rigorous Orthodox kosher supervision grounded in halacha while embracing the ethical and prophetic vision of Jewish tradition. We believe kosher food should be accessible, relational, environmentally conscious, ethically sourced, and integrated into local community life.
Our model is intentionally community-centered:
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We are community-funded, allowing restaurants to participate without bearing the full cost of certification.
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We focus on vegetarian and vegan establishments and products.
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We cultivate transparent, collaborative relationships with restaurant owners.
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We use trained local mashgichim and community spot-check systems.
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We keep certification costs low so restaurants can invest in quality.
Our halachic standards include:
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Cooking protocols supervised according to Orthodox Jewish law.
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Careful inspection of produce for insects.
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Verification that ingredients such as wine vinegars and flavorings are kosher.
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A prohibition on outside food.
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Annual renewal and reverification of certifications, including after Pesach.
Our vision of kashrut also includes Jewish ethical responsibility:
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Products associated with forced labor or human trafficking are prohibited.
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Safe and dignified working conditions are expected.
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Environmental responsibility and sustainable sourcing are encouraged whenever possible.
We are proud partners of Uri L'Tzedek's Tav HaYosher and part of a growing movement that embraces kashrut as a source of holiness, justice, community, and human flourishing.
Who is Lighthouse Kosher?
Rabbi Barry Dolinger
Founder & Director
Barry Dolinger believes Jewish food can nourish far more than the body.
After entering the rabbinate in Providence, Rhode Island, he recognized a growing desire for kosher food that is thoughtful, ethical, beautiful, and spiritually meaningful. He also saw opportunities to make kosher supervision more accessible through lower costs, stronger relationships, and greater local engagement.
Lighthouse Kosher grew from a vision rooted in halachic integrity, human relationship, environmental consciousness, and vibrant local food culture.
Rabbi Dolinger began his work in kosher supervision as head student mashgiach at the University of Pennsylvania kosher dining hall. He currently serves as Spiritual Leader of Congregation Beth Sholom in Providence, Rhode Island, and is a member of both the Rabbinical Council of America and the International Rabbinic Fellowship.
His broader work explores how Jewish wisdom shapes contemporary life through spirituality, ethics, mindfulness, social responsibility, and community building. He is also a co-founder of Thrive, a Rhode Island center for mindfulness and well-being.
For Rabbi Dolinger, kashrut cultivates holiness through what and how we eat while expressing the dignity, justice, sustainability, and spiritual depth at the heart of Torah.
R' Emily Goldberg Winer
Director of Spiritual Engagement
Emily Goldberg Winer brings to Lighthouse Kosher a vision of Jewish life that is intellectually serious, spiritually alive, deeply relational, and warmly welcoming.
Ordained by Yeshivat Maharat and serving as Director of Spiritual Engagement at Congregation Beth Sholom, Emily grounds her work in the belief that Jewish practice cultivates dignity, compassion, meaning, and belonging. Her background includes pastoral care, interfaith engagement, prison chaplaincy, community organizing, and Jewish education. These experiences shape her understanding of food and hospitality as sacred expressions of community.
Emily has worked across diverse Jewish and civic settings, including Columbia/Barnard Hillel, Brandeis University, the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, and New York Presbyterian Hospital. As a Wexner Graduate Fellow, she has pursued deep Jewish learning alongside meaningful engagement across lines of faith and difference.
At Lighthouse Kosher, Emily helps articulate a vision of kashrut in which eating becomes an act of ritual observance, ethical awareness, environmental responsibility, spiritual presence, and human connection. She believes the Jewish table can be a place where holiness and human flourishing meet.