Tzvi Rudin

Illustration by Esti Saposh

When I was eleven, I was supposed to go to sleepaway camp. Instead, I came down with mono. I wasn’t too devastated about staying home, because, to be honest, I hadn’t wanted to go in the first place. I have zero reference point of what going away for the summer is like, but this Soundbites installment subject has been kind enough to clue me in.

Tzvi Rudin has seen it all, with his many positions in different aspects of employment in the food industry — and he’s loved them all. He’s been a caterer, camp and yeshivah cook, mashgiach, you name it. Deep-diving into his food experience is a virtual reality tour for this intrepid non-sleepaway-camper writer.

How did you come to work in the field of food service?

For many years, since I was very young, I worked in a camp under my uncle. Later, I went to Kosher Culinary Academy, a culinary school in Israel (which no longer exists). It worked well for me because it was an English-speaking program, and I got the added benefit of receiving certification to be a mashgiach.

After I returned to America, I worked for a restaurant and did some odd jobs. I got married and moved to Israel with a plan to start working in the industry.