Let My Cookie Dough

By David R. Cohen | david@atljewishtimes.com

What does a kosher cookie shop do during Pesach?

It keeps making cookies, just not the kosher-for-Passover variety.

During the holiday, the Ali’s Cookies (www.shipacookie.com) locations at Emory and Perimeter Mall will remain open but won’t be certified kosher for Passover. To get around selling a nonkosher product on Passover, Congregation Ariel members Alison and Jeff Rosengarten will give up ownership of those two stores for the duration of the holiday.

The East Cobb store will be closed during the eight days of Passover.

“My wife and I go through the trouble of selling the stores on Shabbos and on all the Jewish holidays so that we do not personally violate the Sabbath or the holidays,” said Jeff Rosengarten, the CEO of Ali’s Cookies. “It’s a violation to be conducting business on the Sabbath regardless of if it’s kosher or not.”

Rosengarten said he would like to offer a selection of kosher-for-Passover cookies, but it would be too difficult to kasher the three shops, all of which go through large amounts of chametz daily. Instead, the couple will take a leave of absence while observing the holiday.

As it is, the Atlanta Kashruth Commission does not certify the Ali’s Cookies locations at Emory and Perimeter as kosher because they are open on Shabbat. The only store certified kosher is the East Cobb location, which closes on Saturdays.

The AKC does, however, oversee all three locations for kosher ingredients.

Rosengarten said the time away from the stores during Passover helps him take a step back and refocus his efforts.

“I don’t normally get to enjoy the wonderful smell that’s in the store because we get used to it,” he said. “Over Passover, being away for 10 days, it’s so nice to come back in and smell what the customers smell. It makes us appreciate the cookies that much more.”