The following article is written By Mayer Fertig, and will appear in tomorrows Jewish Star.
Every conversation with a kashruth professional about Streit’s Matzo –– on the record or off –– eventually winds up in the same place: no one wants to be disrespectful to the memory of Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik zt”l whose name was on the Streit’s box from the mid-50s until his death in 2001 — or to hurt his son, Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik, who gives the hashgacha (kosher certification) today — by publicly raising a concern that the quality of supervision at Streit’s has slipped in recent years.
Yet, less than a month before Pesach, the Vaad HaRabbonim of Queens decided to remove Streit’s Matzo and matzo products from its list of approved products. The Vaad HaKashrus of the Five Towns and Far Rockaway immediately followed suit. The result was that days before Passover the makers of Streit’s Matzo felt ambushed, Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik was embarrassed publicly and many kosher consumers are confused: is the stuff kosher for Pesach, or not?
Everyone seems to agree that it is.
The directive from the Queens Vaad was in no way meant to imply that the matzo is not kosher for Passover, said Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, co-president of the Vaad HaRabonim of Queens. “People asked me, ‘I bought Streit’s Matzo. Should I return it?’ I said no.”
“We’re not saying, chas v’shalom, that it’s not kosher,” said Rabbi Yosef Eisen of the Five Towns Vaad. “We’re just saying that there are certain concerns about the level of oversight.”
“No one here at all had any malice, any intention to hurt anybody,” he stressed. “The reason that this has been pushed off from year to year, although there have been certain concerns that this is a private hashgacha, but no one wanted to hurt, at all, Rabbi Soloveichik. [He] is a distinguished individual. In the end not wanting to hurt him, to be damaging to him personally” turned out to have the opposite effect.
“Streit’s matzos were held in very high esteem while they were under the hashgacha of Rav Ahron Soloveichik,” according to an expert in machine matzo production who spoke to The Jewish Star on the condition that he not be identified. “When the hashgacha went to his son the perception was that the same standards were not maintained.”
“Because it was Rav Ahron Soloveichik’s hechsher –– no one wants to mess with the Soloveichiks in general,” he explained. “There’s a feeling of reverence [for] the family.”
Among the problems that can occur on a matzo production line are the folded over matzo, called a kefulah, or the swelled matzo, called a nefucha, the expert said.
“And part of the job of the hechsher agency is to make sure these are removed prior to crush –– the making of all kinds of matzo meal products. Because once it’s crushed and turned into itty bitty pieces, you can’t tell if it was once kosher matzo or not.”
No one who spoke with The Jewish Star offered any cause for specific concern in those regards.
“Its very important that you understand that the question is not whether one trusts the Streit’s company,” said Rabbi Daniel Senter, the kashrus administrator of the Kof-K. “[They] are very honorable people. The question is … do they feel comfortable with an individual rabbi supervising something of this scale.”
For several years after Rabbi Soloveichik took over the hashgacha from his late father, he shared the responsibility with the Kof-K, a nationally recognized kosher supervision agency. The relationship ended amicably, according to both parties, after the company made a business decision to have just one hashgacha. For the past three years Rabbi Soloveichik has worked alone, with a team of five mashgichim (kosher supervisors).
For more than two years, it seems, either nobody noticed or they pretended to not notice.
“The Five Towns –– although the entire kashrus industry was aware of the issue –– we never delved into it,” Rabbi Eisen said, “and we allowed the product on the shelves all these years.”
“You’re asking why it took this long, perhaps that’s a valid question,” admitted Rabbi Schonfeld. “It’s possible that it was sort of swimming along, riding the crest of the Kof-K hashgacha.”
Would it be fair then for consumers to wonder about the level of supervision by the Queens Vaad, Rabbi Schonfeld was asked, given an apparent failure to note what turned out to be a significant change?
“You might be right,” Rabbi Schonfeld said, but the issue “arose when the matzos began to arrive and we felt that we just had to really think about this hard and we just felt that we weren’t comfortable accepting this matzo … If it was on borscht it’s one thing, but we’re talking about matzos.”
The problem with Streit’s lack of a national hashgacha is that “we don’t know enough about Rav Moshe Soloveichik,” Rabbi Schonfeld claimed. “He just doesn’t swim in the kashrus world … we’re not saying he’s bad; not at all. We just don’t know.”
“If this was a serious concern you don’t wait until four weeks before Passover to raise it,” retorted Alan Adler, the director of operations of Aron Streit, Inc. He’s a great-grandson of the company’s founder and one of three cousins who presently runs the business.
He invited the Queens and Five Towns vaads to inspect the plant, he said, but neither did so.
“We took a heck of a risk opening our doors to the local vaads. Anyone could come down and find a piece of dirt on the floor or something else they don’t like. They could have hurt our business. But we have enough confidence in what we do and in the Soloveichik supervision that we would take that risk,” Adler said.
The first hint that this year wouldn’t be like all other years came about a month ago when a kosher market in Queens called Adler to say the Vaad’s mashgiach would not allow him to take delivery of Streit’s Matzo. Adler called the Queens Vaad and said he was told that the lack of national hashgacha was going to be a problem.
“Rabbi Soloveichik always says if someone is acting in good faith and wants to examine our facility they’ll do it in the fall. They don’t wait” until right before the holiday.
“That’s an ambush,” Adler said.
“If something happened, if you became aware of a treif ingredient, of course you have to act, said Rabbi Soloveichik in an interview. “But to change a policy immediately before Pesach shows a lack of concern for other people. People were stuck with orders, with returns.”
“More than that, a person has to assume responsibility for not only what they say, but for the impression that they create. And when you do it at the last moment, the impression that one creates is that there was a question of chametz, a question of a treif ingredient, especially when this product was accepted up until this moment, every previous year,” he said.
“We regret if we caused any loss to anybody,” Rabbi Schonfeld said. The Queens Vaad had viewed its decision as “limited” and “parochial” but watched it take on unexpected weight, he explained. “It snowballed and people all over the country seemed to be riding the train. That was not our intention.”
The Five Towns Vaad and the one in Queens tend to mirror each other and act in concert, Rabbi Eisen said, due to proximity and similarities between constituencies.
Not everyone agrees the concerns about Streit’s warranted urgent action. One Five Towns rav told The Jewish Star that he is “very upset” about how the matter was handled; another pointed out that a private warning in time to act before Pesach would have been more appropriate.
A number of rabbis pointedly announced there is no reason to avoid Streit’s Matzo this Pesach.
In Oceanside, N.Y., Rabbi Jonathan Muskat first warned that due to “the great halakhic stakes involved” it would be better to buy matzo with a reputable national hashgacha. In a follow-up to members of his Young Israel he wrote that he had confirmed that members of the nationally-recognized Chicago Rabbinical Council (CRC) had “personally inspected” the Streit’s plant and “were satisfied that, for this year, their products met their kashrut standards,” and would be allowed in CRC-supervised stores. “Since I became aware of this new information, I believe that one may rely on the CRC’s stamp of approval and purchase Streit’s products for Pesach this year,” Rabbi Muskat wrote.
When the Kof-K began supervising the plant, “Streits spent thousands upon thousands of dollars making upgrades to accommodate the Kof-K,” said Rabbi Senter. The changes were part of an updated system of supervision he devised for the plant.
The fact that changes had been required was not particularly significant, he cautioned.
“I’ve never been to a matzo factory, regardless of who certifies it –– and I’ve been to many –– that there haven’t been changes that I would have wanted to make if I were to certify it. I would accept it the way it was but if you want it under my certification there are changes and systems that I would require.”
He has been inside the Streit’s plant in Lower Manhattan within the last month and said “to my knowledge” the system he instituted is still there.
The other critical component of kashrus is the quality of the supervision itself, Rabbi Senter explained. That he could not speak to, although he has fielded calls from many local kashruth organizations seeking insight into the situation at Streit’s.
“The Kof-K does not give direction to vaads and does not tell them what they should or shouldn’t do, nor does the Kof-K comment to the public on whether a specific certification is acceptable or not,” said Rabbi Senter, adding, “I don’t know the details of why this started now. My involvement began when Streit’s called me up and asked me if I could help them.”
The Orthodox Union has also been in the plant within the last week, confirmed Rabbi Menachem Genack, the rabbinic administrator of the OU.
That’s because Adler said he plans to engage a national hashgacha once again to work with Rabbi Soloveichik. “Fifteen years ago the Streit’s name stood by itself. Certainly the Soloveichik name did. Nowadays if people want a national hashgacha then that’s what we will give them.”
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20 Responses
it does seem odd , that when it comes to hand matzos no one complains about all these probloms . they just pay the price and eat them.
The main “problem” with Streit’s products according to this article is that they do not have a national hashgacha, only a private one.
Now what are the implications of this approach for the many heimishe products that have only a private hashgacha for Pesach and the entire year. For example, almost all Lieber’s products (manufactured in America) that I have seen do not have a national supervision. They are only under a private (heimishe) supervision.
I have heard people say, “An OU is not good enough. It must also have a Heimishe hashgacha to be sure that it is kosher.” It seems to me that based on this article, people should be saying, “A heimishe hashgacha is not good enough. It must have a national hashgacha to be sure that it is kosher.”
For the record, my policy is never to buy a product with just a private hashgacha. The idea of the supervising person being paid directly by the company he is supervising just does not sit well with me.
Yitzchok Levine
“We’re not saying, chas v’shalom, that it’s not kosher,” “No one here at all had any malice, any intention to hurt anybody,”
After the deliveries are made?!
I’m no mashgiach, but this stinks.
And Striets offered anyone to visit and they didn’t? Stinks even more.—-
“The directive from the Queens Vaad was in no way meant to imply that the matzo is not kosher for Passover, said Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld”
=== Doublespeak!!
“No one here at all had any malice, any intention to hurt anybody,” he stressed. == Well think before you act?
Rav Moshe Soloveichik is a dmus d’yukno shel aviv. Rav Aron Soloveichik zt”l fought battles for kashrus and kedusha in the Midwest. Rav Moshe follows every step his father took. This is a chutzpah and Hashem will surely repay those who ruined his reputation.
Destroying the reputation of a Rav who has and continues to look out for the small person is contemtable. There is a huge price to pay for this action of the two Vaad leaders done Shelo L’Shaim Shomayim.
To whom It May Concern:
It is utmost Chutzpah what is going regarding Streits. Let it be known for the record that Rav Moshe Soloveichik was responsible for the hasgacha at Streits while Rav Ahron was still alive as wel. One of the mashgiachim was there from the time that Rav Ahron was still alive as well and works very hard that everything is in order. To my knowledge no one from the Vaad of the 5 towns or from the Vaad of Queens went to visit the factory. It is my understanding that Rav Moshe called the vaad and is still waiting for a call back. It is a lot of hog wash to believe that a national hasgacha is better than the hashacha of Rav Moshe Soloveichik. If one had a questiion on Streits they should have directed all their questions to Rav Moshe who is very accessible and a very special person.If I were still to be living in NY I would have no qualms using Streits. Rav Ahron himself used the matzos from his hasgacha he was makpid for the rambam and would use shumrah for the entire Pesach but it was shmurah that was produced at Streits.
This smells like something political…not at all about Kashrus. The trouble is that the average consumer is made into the pawn. This is similar to the policy of some Kashrus organizations who place an ad in a newspaper casting aspersion on a certain place of business by making it sound as if THEY dropped them for some violation. Then, in the same paper, there is an ad showing the same place of business under a new hashgocho. Often, the NEW hashgocha is MORE RESPECTED than the previous hashgocho. So, in fact, the business decided to UPGRADE. On the other hand, today, times are bad and profit margins are tighter. There are many places that have decided to cut down and retain only one hashgocho. Not because of a problem or lowering the standards…just because of the high cost.
Still, the Yeshiva World should not have published this piece. They should not play into the hands of the politicians. Let’s not cast aspersions on the Kashrus of a product unless there is a legitimate reason for concern.
It sounds like a very good hecksher of the 1960s that isn’t keeping with the times. Today most people want a higher standard, including shumra, for all meals during Pesach. Two generations ago, it was more likely they were strict only for the seder.
In a capitalist system, products that keep up with the changing market prosper, and one’s that don’t understand the market is changing tend to lose marketshare, whether it be matzas or autos.
I remember watching Rav Aron zt’l walk to give shiur in YU; he would fly in from Chicago, and this was after his stroke. He would walk slowly into the building, a bit unsteady, relying on his cane – but if you passed the small shul in which he gave shiur and listened only from the outside you heard a vibrant, strong voice.
So, thank you YWN for prompting these memories. I often purchase Streits simply because it brings back those memories of Rav Aron zt’l.
We need to re-think this whole kashrus mess.
There have been major abuses by private one-man Kashrus organizations–especially those who accept money directly from the manufacturer.
There needs to be some kind of hechsher on the hechshers.
Absent this kind of control, caveat emptor-let the buyer beware. Pick one or two hechsherim who you trust and stick to them exclusively.
#3 since i dont know who you are so what do i care ‘for the record’?
There was a time when people only used matzohs and meat baked and schechted (respectively) by their own kehillo’s rov and shochet,not from companies with a supervision hashgocho. Each town and kehillo had (and many still do) their own chumros and their own trusted people. There are many problems with hashgochos today that do not satisfy the requirements of many groups. There is no “one-size-fits-all” hashgocho standard.
I happen to know the head mashgiach at Streits quite well. He is a yirei Shomayim and a Talmid Chochom too. Any issue that comes up he asks Reb Moshe. In addition, the comment made by #7 is true. One of the mashgichim currently employed at streits has been there since the days of Reb Ahron z”l.
The sad fact is that the agencies did not do their homework.The other sad fact is that they have not dealt respectfully with a company or a hashgocho in the way that they would like to be dealt with.
Would they like to have their gayrus, batei din or kashrus certification to be dealt with in the same backhanded, careless manner? Did they take into consideration the financial cost to the business or the hashgacha or machgichim – which have done nothing but provide kosher matso for the rabim. Is Yom Kipur mechaper for such sins?
They did NOT check things out so that they could be reasonably assured that things were OK. In fact no one has said that things are NOT OK. This is bullying of the most base sort. To deliberately insinuate deception, fraud or impropriety by implying the withholding approbation is low dealing.
In addition, I would think that kashrus organizations would have more morals than to be machshir an organization solely if it paid its $ dues to the “big boys club”.
This hashgocho is so bad that at least one of the “National Kashrus Agencies” made kosher matso meal at Streits this year (I think with the exact same hashgocho and methods as are used every single day – check it out!).
I know personally of a kosher business in Chicago that wanted to opt-out of a Midwest hashgocho agency and Rav Aharon advised the proprietor not to opt-out since there was a chazaka involved and the agency could legitimately take the business to din tora even to change to a “better” hashgacha.
How ironic that the son of such a tsadik (who is a talmid chacham and tsadik himself) is not given the same respect and trust as that higher standard that Rav Aharon taught.
Interestingly, I remember that when there was an attempt to consolidate hashgachos on ST”AM an absolute side-effect was to force ALL soferim to pay tribute to a national agency as well.
Kinas soferim is just not what it used to be.
Decency and Integrity
If these Rabbis would had a modicum of integrity or decency, wouldn’t they have contacted HaGaon Rav Moshe Soloveichik before restricting Streits’ matzos?
If this were not a set-up, why did it break right before Pesach so that there would be no chance for Streits to defend themselves?
Rabbis Eisen & Schonfield just might be decent individuals, but integrity should be the FIRST pre-requisite in running a Shul or Kashrus organization, not the LAST. If Chachomim have to be Zaheer in their D’vorim, what about local Town Rabbis?
After doing some research, I have been told that Rav Moshe Soloveichik is not only a Gaon in learning, but is very knowledgable particular in the intricacies of Halacha and is very meticulous in his work.
While Streits has been keeping Yoshon for several decades, as far as I am aware of, NONE of the MAJOR Kashrus organizations are particular except on selected products. I am not suggesting they are not acceptable, but merely pointing out that this Chumra was being applied QUIETLY, in spite of the cost due to storage of flour, etc. THIS is what I would call TRUE INTEGRITY.
As Rav Soloveichik was very involved with the Kashrus while his father was alive, I will enjoy my Pesach even more this year knowing that not only do I have a very reliable Streits Hechsher, but that I was also able, at least in my little way, to help a true Gadol and try to prevent an Avlah.
Chaim Oizer
The article says: >>
And if a company DOES have a national hashgacha, then they *would* know?
No, that’s not how it works. There’s nothing magically good about being national. It all depends on REPUTATION. A hashgacha (whether national or smaller) gets a reputation when people know about it from various methods. How does the Vaad know that they can trust the Kof-K? Because they know people on the Kof-K, etc etc etc. Can it really be true that no one in the kashrus industry knows Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik? That seems pretty hard to believe. It’s not like he is some kind of hermit.
Comment #19 was supposed to begin with this quote from the article:
The problem with Streit’s lack of a national hashgacha is that “we don’t know enough about Rav Moshe Soloveichik,” Rabbi Schonfeld claimed. “He just doesn’t swim in the kashrus world … we’re not saying he’s bad; not at all. We just don’t know.”
The article says:
For several years after Rabbi Soloveichik took over the hashgacha from his late father, he shared the responsibility with the Kof-K, a nationally recognized kosher supervision agency. The relationship ended amicably, according to both parties, after the company made a business decision to have just one hashgacha. For the past three years Rabbi Soloveichik has worked alone, with a team of five mashgichim (kosher supervisors). For more than two years, it seems, either nobody noticed or they pretended to not notice.
(End of quote from the article)
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I am one who DID notice.
I noticed when the name on the label changed from Ahron to Moshe. I was concerned, and wondered how good a job of supervising the son did. But when I saw the products in stores which have a good hashgacha, I presumed that the had looked into the matter, and decided that his level of supervision was acceptable.
I also noticed when the Kof-K was added to the label. I figured it was either a business decision to attract younger consumers, or perhaps Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik was beginning to ease himself out of the business.
I also noticed when the Kof-K came off the label. I was very curious why this happened, but given the established resputation of Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik, I figured it was not a big deal.
Now I’m very confused about all of this.
The article quotes Rabbi Yosef Eisen as saying: “In the end not wanting to hurt him, to be damaging to him personally, turned out to have the opposite effect.”
Duh! How did they think this wouldn’t hurt him personally? Don’t these rabbis know anything about Lashon Hara?
CONFLICT OF INTEREST:
The rabbis who de-listed Streit’s are consultants to the OU.
Could the OU please release a statement that they disavow and disapprove of the misguided actions of these rabbis. Thank you.
What an absolute Chilul HaShem! Rav Moshe’s integrity and seriousness of kashrut is beyond any question or reproach. There are absolutely no issues or questions regarding Rav Moshe’s hashgacha. This matzah is kasher mahadrin min’hamahadrin. The only thing trief about this is the suspect timing for the raising of these “issues”. Does the Vaad of the 5 Towns and Queens serious think that they can delegitimize a well known hashgacha by such petty actions? We see right through them.
What a slippery slope. What is amazing is that over the years disparaging comments have been made about the OU, Chaf K, and the OK. There is an entire Chassidshe community in America, and probably the entire Chereidei community in Israel that do not rely on these three Hechsheirum.
I heard a story, not verified, that at a wedding in New York, it was announced that the pop on the table (Coke or Pepsi) was not under the same Hashgocha as the hall. The implication was that drink at your own risk. I do not know if this story is true, however, I believe it could have happened.