As the saying goes: “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”  Well, in the case of one synagogue in Memphis, Tennesee, when life gave them BBQ, they made kosher BBQ.

Memphis is home to the annual World Champion Barbeque Cooking Contest, attracting over 100,000 attendees each year.  But with categories like “Patio Porkers” and “Whole Hog,” and more than 30 tons of pork cooked throughout the celebration, the event is far from kosher friendly.  Nearly two decades ago, the members of the Anshei Sphard – Beth El Emeth Congregation, asked the contest organizers if they might start a kosher barbeque section, and extend the festival one extra day, so Jewish BBQ aficionados could compete on Sunday instead of Saturday.

Undeterred when their request was rejected, they started their own BBQ contest in the shul parking lot, featuring kosher beef instead of pork.  This Sunday, they’ll celebrate the 19th annual Asbee/Kroger Kosher BBQ & Festival.

Former BBQ Chairman, Alan Harkavy, says the contest started out informally as a synagogue event, but grew to be a community-wide celebration for Memphis-area synagogues and organizations.  Before long, Harkavy and others campaigned to turn the day into a synagogue fundraiser.  That’s where Kroger comes in. 

The midwestern grocery chain opened a kosher meat counter to replace the local kosher butcher who had closed up shop.  Harkavay approached Kroger to be both a supplier and lead sponsor of the contest - they were in.  The Kosher BBQ Contest now has official sponsors for everything from the kosher pickles served, to the popular 3 on 3 basketball tournament and the “Cowsher Cafe,” which serves as a central meeting place throughout the event.

This year, the Kosher BBQ Contest is expected to draw more than 40 teams, who follow strictly kosher guidelines approved by Asbee’s Rabbi Joel Finkelstein, and whose goods will be judged by local celebrities (chefs, politicians, newscasters, etc.).  Harkavy reports that while the majority of contestants hail from the community, this year a hopeful from New York (Steven Weinberger of The Kosher Blog) will demonstrate his own grilling technique down south. 

Teams are judged in a variety of categories with two major themes: meat and showmanship.  (Harkavy says he personally enjoys a spicy ”wet rub” BBQ, while the judges tend to prefer a sweet, vinegary sauce.)  For many teams, the showmanship nearly trumps the meat itself.  “People do really elaborate booths,” Harkavy says.  They also come up with fitting team names like The Tent of Meat-ing, Grillin in Tefilln, The Alte Cookers, and Hog off the Grill.  One of the favorites this year is a team called Majyk that identified in last year’s contest as Pirates of the Cow-Rib-Bean. 

Hazon staff member, Nancy Lipsey, who grew up in Memphis, says her family competed for many years, dominating in the showmanship category.  The year Nancy spent in Israel, her family chose the theme of Animal House.  “My uncle found this house that was about to be demolished, and convinced the company to saw off the façade for us to use as our backdrop,” she said.  “They set up an entire front of a frat house in the shul parking lot, with a bathtub in front.” 

As the contest grows each year, new traditions take shape.  When I half-jokingly suggested that maybe I would compete next year with a kosher, vegetarian BBQ recipe, Harkavy (whose wife is a vegetarian) promised that if I made the trip, they’d start the category.  Asbee’s Kosher BBQ Contest is also gaining a national reputation.  Harkavy receives multiple phone calls each year from synagogues around the country who want to create similar contests in their communities.

And perhaps next year in Jerusalem?  Usually, when Harkavy tells out-of-towners that he’s from Tennessee he gets a standard reply, “Elvis!”  Last year, on a trip to Jerusalem, however, a mention of his home town got an entire different response.

Harkavy recounts with a laugh: “They said, ‘Don’t you have that kosher BBQ?’”