With sifrei Torah, crockpots, and puddle-jumpers, they pave the way for your Orlando stay

Photos: Dovid Chait, Personal archives

 The men who run Orlando Torah Academy have made it their mission to service the frum population — both the year-round residents and the snowbirds from New York. Together, the OTA staff founded Kosher Orlando, a frum “concierge service,” to ensure vacationers have minyanim, seforim, kosher utensils, matzah, Shabbos-friendly games for the kids, and even learning programs. And if your yarmulke flies off while riding Space Mountain at Orlando’s Disney World, these rabbis have got you covered

Who We Are

How Kosher Orlando Started

When we came here, Orlando was a rather remote destination for Pesach. The first few families who visited struggled to put together a minyan in the different areas. As more families started coming, we began helping them out.

One year, Mr. Ira Zlotowitz, a prominent businessman from Lakewood and a dear friend and supporter of the school, came to Orlando. We told him about our financial struggles, and he pointed out that we had a major source of revenue available — namely, frum tourists — that we weren’t tapping into enough. We needed to go all in.

Our initial inventory consisted of some basics people would need in their rental homes: urns, crockpots, hot plates. We borrowed an extra sefer Torah, bought a safe to house it, set up a website, and Kosher Orlando was born.

That initial inventory list grew tremendously over time. We noted what people asked for and began offering those items as well. While we do arrange for theme park tickets at discounted prices, all of our other services and items are centered around the specific needs of frum vacationers.

The Community

When we started the school 13 years ago, we had just 12 students. Now, as we approach our bar mitzvah year, our enrollment has swelled to 170 students from all levels of religious background and observance. It’s amazing to watch how students, families, and a community transform because of a strong Torah environment. The community also boasts a thriving shul, outreach organizations, and a girls’ high school. In exciting news, next Elul, we’ll be welcoming a Lakewood kollel with six full-time yungeleit.

Supporting Torah While in Orlando

Ira Zlotowitz was on to a good thing; Kosher Orlando turned out to be the biggest source of revenue to the school, from the income on rental items and our kashering services, from the proceeds of the aliyahs in our minyanim, and from general donations. Setting up a minyan house for just one Shabbos costs us thousands of dollars. We don’t nudge visitors to donate — we want them to enjoy their time here — but people are often excited to be able to contribute to a worthy cause, and their generosity goes a long way toward helping Torah growth in Orlando. We like to tell people that by utilizing our services, they’re turning their vacation into a donation.