Kosher Klothes? « Rejewvenate!

Kosher Klothes?

July 31, 2008 at 7:46 am | In economics, ethics, halacha, kosher, orthodox | 8 Comments

Growing up, my father always expressed suspicion about kosher certification. As he saw it, a shochet (ritual slaughterer) was considered trustworthy, without need for supervision, unless he specifically did something to lose that trust. The Kashrut industry turns that presumption on its head, by insisting that nobody can be trusted without supervision, but even a non-Jew who never spent a minute learning the laws of kashrut can be trusted for many things, so long as the threat of an inspector coming exists.

What truly jaundiced my father to the whole business was when products like water and bleach began to receive the OU, and when chickens were sold as Glatt Kosher (a halachic category which does not apply to fowl). It was then that he realized that kashrut was a business, and had little to do with religious duties. At that time, perhaps twenty years ago, he said to me that a business like kashrut can only grow in one of two ways. The first is to increase the number of customers who keep kosher or are interested in buying kosher. This is relatively difficult, though the industry has had success in this area. The second, and far easier method, is to certify more goods, irrespective of the whether there is any halachic imperative to certify them.

Why do I bring all this up? Because, as The Wolf reports, there is a movement underfoot to create a Vaad Hatzniyut (Modesty Council) in Lakewood. In Israel, there already exist organizations that will give a ‘hechsher’ to clothing store. My father was right – the industry needs to grow (after all, proceeds from the kashrut business prop up the yeshiva world system).

What makes this even more bitter is the response to the Agriprocessors scandal from within the Orthodox community, and the hostility towards the Conservative movement’s Hecsher Tzedek, which would grant certification to businesses with ethical practices. The outcry from many corners in the Orthodox world has been that, for example:

The fact remains that no one has challenged AgriProcessors in terms of its conformity to the laws governing the production of kosher food. Rather, there have been attempts to graft onto those laws issues that, while important in and of themselves, simply do not relate to kashrut as it is properly and historically understood.

That from the Jewish Press. The stink of hypocrisy doesn’t only taint the Kashrut industry and its apologists, it is humiliating to the entire Kosher community. Here, the zealous guardians of my kashrut observance, who have made sure that I don’t eat non-kosher bleach, or lettuce, or even water, suddenly wake up to the ‘proper and historical’ understanding of Kosher to justify their cruelty to man and beast.

Where has this led us? Raids by the US government on the largest kosher slaughterhouse in the US. Exposes in leading magazines. Investigative articles in the New York Times. A Chillul Hashem. A Shande fun deGoyim, a black eye, a gift to antisemites, arrows in the quiver of those who seek to ban kosher slaughter entirely. A sickening, gut-wrenching parade of rabbis and community leaders lining up to defend a rotten conspiracy all in the name of cheap meat and easy money.

I’ve had it. I won’t touch a Rubashkin product again. Moreover, I will try to avoid purchasing products that have certifications when they are not required. That’s right. I will favor uncertified bleach! I will not drink OU water. I won’t even shy away from “untrustworthy” certifications. We all see exactly how far the trustworthy ones got me, whether with regards tot his scandal or the Monsey chicken scandal. At this point, if the old boys of the Kashrut industry don’t trust or like you, you must be doing something right.

8 Comments »

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Right on! Find the money, and you will find the source, i always say. but, the line we see as already having been crossed (from Kashrut as ritual and dietary separation to Kash-is-king) is for another the feedback of well informed rabbinical scholars finding new meaning to old text. The cloak of rabbinical authority is seemingly invincible.

Comment by Cheese — July 31, 2008 #

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New meanings to old text – that’s the real Pandora’s Box. Once you admit that ancient texts are open to reinterpretation, you have to control who is authorized to reinterpret those texts.

The resistance to the Hechsher Tzedek of the Conservative movement is not based upon halachic grounds. In Israel, an Orthodox movement called B’Ma’aglei Tzedek is already giving out such a Hechsher. For the Orthodox movement in America, the resistance is to acknowledging any legitimacy to non-Orthodox religious leadership. For example, see Rabbi Harry Maryles’ blog, where he says

“I would however agree that we should continue to follow the practice of not joining with the Conservative movement in anything even remotely connected to theology. Doing so would imply endorsement of their views. True, this kind of supervision would have nothing to do with Kashrus, per se but the perceptions that Conservative rabbis are in some way involved together with Orthodox rabbis in Kosher supervision of food could all too easily be misconstrued by the public.”

Comment by rejewvenator — July 31, 2008 #

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your father definitely was right. that was an interesting insight.

but i completely disagree with your take on hechsher tzedek, which was a stillborn idea from the get-go. at worst it was a bad publicity stunt.

you talk about hypocrisy? the whole notion of hechshesr tzedek coming from the conservative movement is the epitome of hypocrisy.

Comment by Lion of Zion — July 31, 2008 #

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Lion, can you tell me more about your opinions on the Hechsher Tzedek?

Comment by rejewvenator — July 31, 2008 #

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most conservative jews don’t pretend to keep kosher even at home. or to put it differently, there are 3 times as many conservative as orthodox jews in the US, yet how many products/restaurants are under conservative hashgacha? let HZ advocates convince their flocks to adopt the basics of kashruth before expanding its definition\

also, why the focus on kashruth? what about all the cheap immigrant labor that is employed privately by conservative jews as household help (nannies, gardeners, etc.) or the ones employed indirectly by conservative institutions (like through building contractors, caterers, etc.). how about a program to make sure these immigrants are not abused? (maybe make shul membership dependent on signing a promise not to hire cheap labor?) or is it easier to protect the ones hired by the guys with back kippot and payis.

this is like the athlete who cries about exploitation, yet wears clothing/sneakers produced by the exploited. or the liberal who doesn’t want oil drilling in alaska or offshore US, but has no problem pumping saudi arabia or mexico dry.

i’m not saying the HZ is wrong in principle (although again, it is not very practical) and i’m by no means an orthodox apologist (you can check out my own blog), but let the conservatives worry about their own (bigger) problems first.

Comment by Lion of Zion — July 31, 2008 #

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I think we could disagree about whether cruelty to animals and ethical treatment of employees precedes keeping kosher or not. The phrase derech eretz kadma latorah comes to mind.

Having worked in both Orthodox and Conservative institutions I can report that the Conservative movement is MUCH more concerned about proper treatment of employees. There’s a lot less paying people off-the-books, there is much greater concern for and compliance with labor and immigration laws, and far more generous health and disability plans. (YU doesn’t even have a maternity leave policy, for example…) I guess our different experiences lead us to different conclusions on intent.

I will say that ethical certification seems pretty practical to me, as seen through certifications like ‘fair trade’. It will need work, but I don’t see the structural problems you suggest might exist.

Comment by rejewvenator — July 31, 2008 #

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My family was in the wholesale food business at a time when they did “live kill” in the market. It was well known that if a customer wanted kosher chicken the only question was how much they were willing to pay for certification. Rabbi “X” would charge so much and Rabbi “Y” would charge less. It was only a question of how much you were willing to pay, no real standards were involved. Yidden in the business found the whole system corrupt and were disgusted but no one dared speak out against the Rabbis.

Comment by state of the Jews — August 1, 2008 #

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state of the Jews, you may enjoy a previous post I wrote on this topic: http://rejewvenate.wordpress.com/2007/05/03/halachics-of-kashrut/

Comment by rejewvenator — August 1, 2008 #

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