Concerns about dining during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah loomed last weekend after Brandeis students and Aramark dining services were at odds over a possible shortage of food at dinnertime service.Students and Aramark dining services offered contrasting explanations of the situation for Brandeis students eating at Sherman Dining Hall Saturday, the second night of Sukkot, and Sunday.

Plans for the two-day holiday included student sign-ups for meals in Sherman during the previous week. Points or meals would be deducted from these students' cards and Aramark could determine the number of meals and amount of food required, according to Bennos.

Sherman Food Service Director Aaron Bennos said that the incident was not under Aramark's control.

"From the student sign-ups, more people came than anticipated, especially on Saturday," Bennos said

According to Bennos, extensive planning occurred prior to the weekend of Sukkot. Bennos met with members of Brandeis Hillel, as well as with Rabbi Chayim Zirkind, who oversees Kosher dining at Sherman.

"Rabbi Zirkind gave (Aramark) instructions on what we could and what we couldn't cook," Bennos said. "(Zirkind) said we cannot cook on Sunday, and we cannot use any electricity over the weekend, so we must prepare the food for the weekend by Friday."

Bennos said that he was certain that there was enough food prepared beforehand for the number of people expected to come on both nights, as well as for meals on Sunday. In addition to an unanticipated crowd, Bennos also cited a shorthanded staff and the need to slice additional cold cuts by hand rather than with a meat slicer as sources of the problem on Sunday.

But some students remain skeptical of these explanations.

"(Students) are going to lose their meals any way (whether or not they sign up), so it doesn't make sense not to sign up," Class of 2006 Senator at Large Jonathan Cohen '06 said.

Cohen also said he felt that there was no reason for Sherman not to accommodate the number of students coming to eat.

"There were less people there than normally.... A lot of people went home this weekend, and people can't eat (and) can't cook in their suites because they have to be in a Sukkah...so they have to be in Sherman," Cohen said.

Having eaten in Sherman on the Sunday afternoon of Sukkot, Cohen said that he noticed a significant lack of food.

Shabbat and Festival Meals Coordinator for Brandeis Hillel Elnatan Reisner '04 was absent from Brandeis over the holiday but spoke a few weeks before with Aramark and Director of Student Activities for Brandeis Hillel Cindy Spungin to ensure proper procedures would be undertaken during Sukkot.

"Apparently Sherman was unaware that there would be people coming for dinner late on Saturday night, despite the fact that I told them," Reisner said. "They also underestimated how many people there would be. They had to bring their food they had intended for Sunday out on Saturday, (so) there was not enough food on Sunday."

Part of the problem admitted by both parties involved was the unavoidable inability to prepare hot food because of Kosher requirements.

"(Sherman) can't have hot food on Saturday night and Sunday on a two-day holiday, so I understand that their hands are a little tied," Cohen said.

Bennos said students did not adhere to the sign-up list policy in Sherman contributed to the problem.

Cohen said any concern about the sign-ups is only relevant to when students bring guests to dinner and stressed that the source of the problem was with Aramark's management.

"It doesn't add up. Aramark dropped the ball, and there is no logical reason. They are just trying to cover for their mistakes," Cohen said.

Bennos, on the other hand, emphasized that any shortage of food was due to the obstacle posed by the presence additional people who had not signed up for Sukkot beforehand.

Cohen said that he and Bennos met last week concerning plans for the holiday to ensure that the predicament does not happen again. Both parties agreed that they would like to avoid situations like the one at hand in the future, regardless of the reasons for what actually happened.

"Did it go as smoothly as we would have liked it?" Bennos asked. "No, it didn't.