The recent downturn of the economy has caused our family to revisit our budgeted expenses. Going to the kosher butcher has become a daunting experience for me.

As I stand in front of the display case and look over the selections and the prices, I find my choices shrinking. Surely the disgrace and final closing of Agri-Processors did nothing to help the healthy competition that is needed to keep our marketplace thriving.

Being a "practical sole provider" puts Empire and the few other kosher distributors in a unique situation. Do they choke the market by raising prices because consumers have nowhere else to go, or do they employ some compassion and thought of community by trying to keep the prices at a level where kosher is affordable to more than just the affluent?

Sadly the labels I see at the kosher butcher give the answer.

I grew up in a kosher home with a mother who taught that any person who had nowhere to go had a place at our table. I always built our home that way. Now I have gotten to the point where feeding our family has become a juggling act! Should I be in a position where I feel relieved that our family is naturally downsizing because now I can factor in fewer trips to the butcher?

Our synagogues encourage young Jewish families to keep kosher. How are they to do that with the prices so high? How do we continue to invite friends to our table when we are concerned with how to pay the bills?

I have willingly chosen many traditions of our religion to set an example for my children. This path has presented me with choices about the way we live. Now, considering what I need to give up to maintain my kosher home, I wonder why I should even have to ask myself that question. Barbara Collik Cherry Hill