(JTA) — Despite security concerns, Berlin is about to get a new kosher supermarket.
The Daily Markt in the Charlottenburg district adds an option to those already existing in Berlin, including the Kosher Life supermarket, which opened in 2008 in the former East Berlin, as well as a few smaller shops and bakeries.
The newest addition is the result of cooperation between the non-Jewish businessman Asan Mytev and entrepreneurs within the local Jewish community, assisted by Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, an official rabbi of the Jewish community in Berlin.
A partner in the Daily Markt, store manager Evgeny Bort, said in a statement that he was optimistic that despite security concerns and the recent European Union decision to require the relabeling of products made in the West Bank and Golan Heights, people would patronize the shop.
“We can’t let terrorism stop us and interfere with our lives,” Bort said. He also said that he does not worry about the politics of labeling, and is only concerned with making it easier to purchase kosher food in Berlin.
Berlin’s Jewish population has about 11,000 official members; it is estimated that at least twice that number live in the city but are unaffiliated with the Jewish community.
