Agripocessor has reassured its kosher customers that it “takes its responsibility to provide kosher customers with quality kosher meat and poultry products very seriously.” Rabbi Menachem Meir Weissmandl, the Rav of Nitra of Monsey NY, who is the rav hamachshir at AgriProcessors said that schechita is being conducted at the plant and is confident that there will the supply of quality glatt kosher meats and poultry will continue.
Agriprocessor was the subject of a worksite enforcement action yesterday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other agencies. Government reports indicate that over 300 individuals were arrested.
In its comments on the raid, Agriproceesor noted: “Our company takes the immigration laws seriously. We cooperated with the government in the enforcement action. We intend to continue to cooperate with the government in its investigation. Agriprocessors will also inquire further into the circumstances that led to yesterday’s events. We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the families whose lives were disrupted and wish them the best. We are deeply committed to meeting the needs of all of our customers and are operating again today.
(Press Release Submitted to YWN by Lubicom)
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21 Responses
Dont give an explanation! Push it under the rug!
I understood Rav Weismandel is the Rav Hamachshir . Why is he being used as a public relations spokesman. Perhaps internally they feel this happend because they lost the other prominent hashgocho of KAJ?
No one criticized the kashrus or the shechita. The rabbi is responsible to see to it that it is 100% kosher. The business practices and the illegal activities that the government was investigating was the reason for the story that we’ve been following.
Hmmmm that line is interesting: “Our company takes the immigration laws seriously.”
What does he mean by that? “Seriously” meaning a “serious” inconvenience?
How could so many have been using obviously false IDs. How could multiple employees use the same false SS card with the same fake number? That is what I want to understand. Makes me wonder ….
#4
Have you read any of the articles about this situation? I have. No one ever said that the same number was being used for multiple people.
Oh puleeeese!
As if you don’t hire a cleaning lady for “cash”! Or avoid state tax on purchases for cash in heimishe stores!
OH GREAT!! They had to hire a publicity company (Lubicom)!! That’s not good!!
It sounds very dangerous to me when the Rav Hamachshir gets involved in the “business” part of the company. It becomes too personal. How can he give a hechsher without negious when he is personally involved in the company?1?
Personally, the immigration issue does not bother me. It does not really bother anyone who has his priorities straight. Either management did not know about this, or took it in stride. No one really knows what to do about this whole issue, from the President, to any decent person, who has a concnsience. The same with “p.e.t.a.”. Even though there may be some legitmate points to what those demented, corrupted “people” have to say, it does not come from a balanced approach to the issues. Animals were more important to the original group, as documented, than Jews. Moralilty is not what they are very big on, as can be seen by various news reports, which are well documented, and should not even be printed in
frum news media.
That the Rabbi had to say the shechita is still being done (after presumably goyim were arrested) sounds a little funny, doesn’t it?!
PbP
1. “Personally, the immigration issue does not bother me. ”
Why not?
2. “It does not really bother anyone who has his priorities straight.”
Huh?
3. Why are you using PETA as a red herring (no pun intended)?
#9 Its simple. Even though there are hundreds of less, meat packers, shechita is still going on. I see no problem with this.
I do not see R Weissmandel as a spokseperson. Reread the press release. Its only the bottom 2 paragraphs, whole the Rav is qouted in the first paragraph.
#6
If I am paying help with cash I have done no crime.
It is the hired helps responsibility to report their income – not mine.
As to not paying sales tax in heimishe stores – I don’t know where you have been shopping but the heimishe stores I shop in never “offer” me the option of not paying tax.
Is it possible that you suggested to them the possibility, and not wanting to lose a sale, pay the tax out of their own pocket?
This is not a “heimishe” thing but something that many stores sometimes do to make a sale with haggling (read: miserly) customers.
I am surprised by the surprise of most commenters to the comments of Rav Weissmandl. The thought process to me is:
1,000 employees > 300-700 taken out of commission > Customers must assume production is paralyzed > Must assure customers production continues > Can’t have “John Doe” assure, as customers will–rightfully–question the standards that can be maintained under the circumstances > Have Rav Hamachshir make statement confirming his active and continued involvement to the same high standards.
In fact, his statement said exactly that: “[S]hechita is being conducted at the plant and…the supply of quality glatt kosher meats and poultry will continue.”
As well, any company of this size would do well to have a PR firm at the ready. This is a national story; “Anyone who represents himself has a fool for a client.”
Let’s say we have to deal with lowered standard with respect to dina demalkhusa dina and enabling someone else to avoid taxes…
Child labor?
Ignoring a meth lab? (Possibly: paying in meth?)
Carrying firearms?
Promising minimum wage and paying $5/hour?
Violating industry norm (which your Mexican and Gautemalan staff doesn’t know) by cleaning machinery while operating — thus having multiples of the usual levels of workplace injury?
Hazings, in which a worker is scared into shutting up by having her eyed duct-taped shut and a meathook hit (not hard enough to injure) at her head?
Of course, these are the charges. That’s different than saying every allegation is true. But it’s not simply immigration law.
And the fact that they know that a typical Orthodox Jew only needs reassurance that the food will still be coming, and will still be kosher, is an outrage and a condemnation of our community.
I had rabbeim who called low income nachriim of various ethnic groups “beheimas”, and the gov’t is telling a story of that teaching being put to practice.
Because the kosher market is a closed community, we can’t simply agree to funnel money into a company, keep it financially afloat, if we had reason to believe we were funding basic violations of bein adam lachaveiro. Saying “it wasn’t us” won’t wash when we could have stopped it, and didn’t.
And, for those too caught up in this mindset to remember that derech eretz is the prerequisite for Torah, and thus the Torah is meaningless without it… Let’s phrase this in bein adam laMakom terms…
If even 10% of these allegations are true, this will be the greatest chilul Hashem in the history of Jewish America. How could use not use boycott to prevent it?
Think of it… The Conservative Movement actually has a board that checks if companies are acting righteously. The Torah observant world, on the other hand, abdicated our role as role models of ehrlachkeit. And sure enough, it won’t help convince our straying brothers that the Torah is as we teach it. (“They have this, we have kashrus. It’s just a matter of which mitzvos one picks. And our agenda focuses on the more important ones.” You know that’s what will come out of this.)
-Micha
As a PR pro, I agree, the Rabbi should NOT be the spokesperson – at least not to the general public (to the Yeshiva world, yes). The accusations levied are serious -ranging from meth amphetamine production at the plant to illegal workers and identity theft. Each of these charges should (in my opinion based on many years of PR experience) be addressed separately by someone who can either deny them completely or explain how, a Torah-based business can POSSIBLY end up in such a Chilul Hashem position. The press response whitewashes the situation. Hopefully more answers will surface. But I agree, the spiritual questions should be handled by the Rav while the criminal and business allegations should be handled by someone else. Judith Lederman – JSL Publicity & Marketing
They are frum jews just like most ppl on this site. Why is there so much gloating going on? Just because someone works hard and becomes matsliach, and then has an unfortunate event happen to the business they have put their sweat and blood into, does not give ppl a right to find every possible angle to critisize them.
Just take a moment and think before you post another baseless acusation of ppl that prior to restarting the plant (back in the 80s) built a mikva and bought a building for a shul…
16, AFAIK the employer doesn’t have to worry if paying less than X (not sure what the X is, I don’t have cleaning, lawn, etc. help) per quarter.
one of my clients had an interesting opblm a year ago — the computer did not accept a new employee because his soc sec num was someone else who was already employed (or maybe was employed a while ago). meaning you cant really tell. there is a federal pgm that checks soc sec nums for employees, and it is full of errors, too.
2. i’m surprised no one mentioned that the “good” employees were running a methamphetines lab in the plant. (i know, they’ll try to blame it on the rubashkins, but i dont think so.)
3. also, it seems that some of the schochtim were taken in (from israel, via canada. how about blaming the canadians?)
4. if its the hashgacha’s issue to check other matters (such as the conservative “rabbinate”) how about checking for “excessive” profiteering, pricing, other issues? maybe a caterer should be barred because he caters “unworthy” events (true issues that caterers face all the time.)
#16
Not true. #6 (Goldenpupik) mentioned cleaning help.
Any service contractor who works in my home does not become my employee. This is especially so with cleaning help.
They are self employed.
No plumber, mechanic, repairman, etc. gets a 1099 from those that hire them.
Any tax professionals out there care to confirm?
If the owners of the company had no knowledge of what was going on in their H.R. Dept and in their factory (DRUG PRODUCTION???), they STILL have to take responsibility. They also have to set up operational procedures going forward to ensure that things are monitored. There is no excuse for improper management. Not in the secular world and not K’halacha. Read Pirkei Avot – no excuses. The higher we rise, the more responsibility we have to assume.
This kosher meat supplier is teaming up with a major Iowa employer and sending their foods to help local victims of the recent floods. No matter how many outside problems they have, they still care about their community and it shows. This gives me more reasons to keep on enjoying their Shor Habor foods that my brother and I always buy for our family dinners.