CNN’s Talya Minsberg filed this report:
Most religious dietary guidelines allow individuals to maintain a sense of holiness in their daily lives.
For many Jews, that sense was shattered in spring of 2006, when an Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa was raided and found to have hundreds of illegal immigrants and dozens of violations, from unsafe conditions to unethical treatment of workers. It was the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant.
In June, Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin was sentenced to 27 years of imprisonment on fraud charges, though he appealed his conviction earlier this month.
The scandal has done more than send Rubashkin to jail. When American Jews learned that workers at the Agriprocessors plant faced dire conditions, including receiving safety instructions in English even though many spoke only Spanish, the community entered a kosher crisis.
For an animal to be “kosher,” it must be slaughtered using perfectly sharp knife to cut the throat. The method is apparently painless and is recognized as the most humane method of slaughter. For that reason, some Jews feel that keeping kosher is as ethical as it is holy when it comes to meat consumption.
Following the Postville raid, Rabbi Morris Allen of Saint Paul, Minnesota argued to his congregation that keeping kosher is as much about workers as about animals.
“We needed to find a way to develop kashrut that is kosher and raised to the highest Jewish ethical standard,” Allen said in an interview. “If we were serious about kashrut (keeping kosher), it was time to understand the laws of kashrut that were not written in the Torah.”
Allen’s idea? A new kind of kosher.
Just like labels such as “fair trade,” a kosher label–called a hekhsher–certifies that the product is kosher. Allen proposed a new kosher stamp certifying that the treatment of workers is as kosher as the treatment of the food.
But creating a new kosher stamp has proved more difficult than it may sound.
“This was a systemic issue, not something that could be handled individually on one plant or another,” Allen said.
Since 2006, Allen has been promoting a new seal, called Magen Tzedek, through an organization of the same name. “The world’s first Jewish ethical certification seal,” the group says, “synthesizes the aspirations of a burgeoning international movement for sustainable, responsible consumption and promotes increased sensitivity to the vast and complex web of global relationships that bring food to our tables.”
Last September, Magen Tzedek issued a 154-page document outlining standards for the new seal, addressing everything from hazardous waste reduction to off site education for employees. The document covers employee wages, benefits, health and safety, animal welfare, and corporate transparency.
So far, food manufacturers and consumers have praised Magen Tzedek.
“Companies are always interested in whether the seal will sell more products, and we believe it will… it can restore the sense of kashrut in the American community,” Allen said.
Magen Tzedek and its Hekhsher Tzedek Commission have the garnered support from the Rabbinical Assembly, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the Nathan Cummings Foundation and Social Accountability International. Many kosher certifiers have also backed the new certification.
Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of the largest certifier of kosher food, OU Kosher, has publically said he would not object to having the Magen Tzedek affixed to products supervised by the OU.
“Clearly we have captured the imagination of American Jewish community. It’s not accidental that two of the major Hekhsher Tzedek players were recognized by Newsweek as influence rabbis,” Allen said, referring to Newsweek’s 50 most influential Rabbis in America of 2010.
Magen Tzedek hopes to have its insignia next to kosher seals early next year.
While he declined to disclose companies that he says are on board for the new seal, Allen say that “major names that people will recognize will be among the first to go forward with this.”
Companies can apply for the Hekhsher Tzedek seal online. Magezn Tzedek plans to hold webinars to educate consumers and advocates.
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15 Responses
I hope everyone takes notice, regardless of where they stand on the “Hekhsher Tzedek”, that she blatantly ignored the fact that R’ Shalom Mordechai was found innocent of any and ALL violations of immigration and child labor law. Worse! Her juxtaposition of these accusations and his 27 year sentence make it appear he was found guilty on those as well.
This piece is extremely damaging, but it is even more indicative of what we are currently facing and will be facing in this stage of our galus. We must not ignore this. We must cry out to HaShem!
Please note that the source of this “news report” is CNN, whose majority owner Ted Turner and wife Jane Fonda contribute heavily to Palestinian “causes.” Through CNN and its advertisers, they “earn” millions of dollars from perpetuating the Palestinian conflict against Eretz Yisrael. That is why their hatred of Orthodox Jews and Eretz Yisrael exceeds that of the New York Times, which is owned by the Sulzberger family, who are “assimilated” Jews; i.e., former Jews and (perhaps) some reform Jews.
we jews can think of many ways to make money (one of them being this)
Newsweek’s top 50 is a joke and to feel praised by it being in it is like being praised to be in a first grade class picture
In all due respect to Rabbi Genack from the “OU”..many of the “OU” member synagogues, especially out of town, are CONSERVADOX. So, honestly, do you expect Rabbi Genack to say something different? The Rubashkin case bears a strong resemblance to the Beilus case in Russia years ago. Curiously, the Torah Times has been, more recently, serializing that story. I wonder when im yirtza hashem, the truth about R’ Sholom Rubashkin and his mistreatment comes out and the appeal is successful…will all these dummies apologize?
whoever is smart should post a comment on the cnn site.
As far as I know, there is a chiyuv for bosses to treat their workers properly and ethically (though I assume what it means to treat a worker ethically might be different from a Torah perspective than from a secular perspective). If that’s the case, then why not have a seal of approval for this? I’m assuming kashrus organizations don’t give hechshers if an organization violates some halachos that have nothing to do with actual kashrus (like a glatt restaurant with extremely inappropriately dressed waitresses), why should this be any different?
I for one if it has this seal; Magen Tzedek and its Hekhsher Tzedek Commission; and orthodox heckshers back it will not buy anything with this hecksher. It is not the Kashrus organization to investigate every aspect of the companies buisness. The Kashrus organization does not need to know what benefits and how much they pay their workers. It is a slippery slippery slope which would require the employer to verify if he educates his employees on equal rights,right to die issue, abortion right issue; it will become ENDLESS. IT is part of the progressive agenda that is sinking america. Look what is happening today in America. Rubashkin was not convict of anything but suppose bank fraud; and the whole community has suffer to no end. The progresses on one hand are fight for illegal immigrants right to come to america and have jobs and then destroy jobs which they have because it is not unionize. It is deception all the way. Please people get a head and realize it is a dangerous issue.
Ted Turner sold CNN to Time Warner and hasn’t been the majority owner of CNN for almost 15 years, which is almost as long as he hadsn’t been married to Jane Fonda for (they divorced in 2001).
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it’s no use they’re anti-semites anyway, either it wont be put up or they’ll be comments bashing your comment.
ive noticed cnn’s comments are anti-israel and foxes are pro-israel (yiddishkeit is the same)
This is starting to sound like a shake-down to build up Heckscher Tzedek.
The irony is that the clergy who are insisting on placing their mark of approval on food products are paid by lobster-loving congregants who do not view temple leaders as their ethical compasses. One wonders how long it will take commercial food producers to recognize that their investment in an “me too” mark aimed at people who don’t care about marks doesn’t pay dividends.
On the other hand, there are hechsherim that persist in spite of their being “not recommended”, and I have never understood their staying power. For instance, here in Passaic we have a Dunkin’ Donuts that has a letter of hashgocha in spite of the fact that they’re selling bacon sandwiches. Not a Jew in the city would set foot in the place, even to go to the bathroom. You would think the proprietor would get wise after a while to the conspicuous absence of ANY Jews coming in the store, in a heavily Jewish neighborhood, and that he would stop wasting his money on the letter, which is really actually working against him (a rav here put out a letter saying it’s forbidden to go into the place with the letter there due to moris ayin). Yet these things do persist.
We should boycott OU if they go ahead and affix this sheker on their products. IMO, OU is much more of a political organization than a Kashrus organization. This article proves it.
4, You seem to know very little about the OU so I will try and enlighten you a tad. The OU Kashrus Division has little to do with most of the other divisions. If you walked into the OU Kosher Division any day, you will see chashuv rabonim of all branches of frumkeit working for a single goal. There are shreimlach, yeshivish in the traditional sense, “right wing” YU, “heimish,” etc in the office as well as out in the field.
As far as your comment – make that motzi shem ra – about OU shuls, once again you show your typical NY area ignorance when it comes to outside of your daled amos. How can you label OU shuls like you did?? I would have to chalk it up to your NY ignoramusness (yes, I made that word up!) and nothing more.
There is precedent for kashrus approval to be given only to establishments that stay within the realm of halacha. For instance, kashrus hashgacha has been withdrawn where belly dancing or chillul shabbos is ongoing during a kosher dinner. So too, if kosher food is manufactured or prepared in a setting which is in violation of halacha or where animal/people abuse occurs, the food has a p’gam and the hashgacha should be removed.
In the US’s free market any hashgocho is free to expand their level of oversight (some in fact do). But it is ultimately up to the consumer as to whether or not these hashgochos survive. More appropriately I believe some form of watchdog organization should be formed to investigate kashrus organizations and batei dinim to provide some sort of accountabillity to the public. Too many people take things for granted and turn a blind eye to these organizations. Although most of these organizations are operated under Torah law, there is corruption to be exposed. The OU is almost singlehandedly responsible for the fact that a majority of American Jewery don’t drink cholov yisroel milk. Do you think for a minute that milk producers would refuse to pay for mashgichim if it was neccesary. There is a reason that food companies get kosher certification – it is profitable.