Of Church and Steak – Shechita, Kosher Slaughter, In The NY Times Again

Joan Nathan writes in the NY Times:

NEAR a prairie dotted with cattle and green with soy beans, barley, corn and oats, two bearded Hasidic men dressed in black pray outside a slaughterhouse here that is managed by an evangelical Christian.

What brought these men together could easily have kept them apart: religion.

The two Hasidim oversee shehitah, the Jewish ritual slaughtering of meat according to the Book of Leviticus. The meat is then shipped to Wise Organic Pastures, a kosher food company in Brooklyn owned by Issac Wiesenfeld and his family. When Mr. Wiesenfeld sought an organic processor that used humane methods five years ago, he found Scott Lively, who was just beginning Dakota Beef, now one of the largest organic meat processors in the country.

Mr. Lively adheres to a diet he believes Jesus followed. Like Mr. Wiesenfeld, he says the Bible prescribes that he use organic methods to respect the earth, treat his workers decently and treat the cattle that enter his slaughterhouse as humanely as possible.

“We learn everything from the Old Testament,” Mr. Lively said, “from keeping kosher to responsible capitalism.”…

Mr. Lively … slaughters about 45 steer a day at Dakota Beef. Larger facilities will slaughter 2,000 or more.

“We take time to be sure the animal has been processed humanely,” he said. “This is not only important for our humane handling standards, but it is also very much biblical in our minds.”

The slaughterhouse weds ancient practices with modern insights and technology. Much of the plant was planned with the help of Dr. Temple Grandin, a designer of humane livestock facilities and professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University. She suggested changes like shielding the animals from humans milling about and nestling them in a comfortable head-holder as Tal Ginter, the shohet, or kosher slaughterer, wields the knife that slices their jugular vein, rather than first stunning the animals, as is a common commercial practice.…

So far so good. Almost. The Lubavitcher shochet starts speaking:

“It is not a horrible thing,” said Mr. Ginter, who worked in the slaughterhouse until recently under the supervision of Crown Heights Kosher and the Orthodox Union. “It looks bloody, but according to the Bible and the Torah, you have to be mindful of the animal and let it die as fast as you can, to cause less pain.”

If that is true, Rubashkin shechita (Aaron's Best, David's, Shor HaBor, Supreme, etc.) would be non-kosher because Rubashkin follows slaughter practices that actually extend the dying time of cattle and increase suffering. (Meat hook throat-ripping and probing, for example, and upside-down slaughter in a Weinberg Pen, just to name three.) Instead, Rubashkin is the so-called top of the line of glatt kosher American and South American-produced meat.

The Crown Heights Beis Din, A.K.A. Crown Heights Kosher, if it took Tal Ginter's statement literally, would not put their imprimatur on Agriprocessors or Rubashkin. But CHK does – the primary endorsed source of meat for the Chabad community is indeed Rubashkin and Agriprocessors.

The good news is, if you're willing to eat Lubavitch shechita (with a nominal OU presence), Wise would seem to be a good choice.

An interesting piece of information brought out by Ms. Nathan is that a major force driving the move to a humanely produced diet is Evangelical Christianity. Where once hippies tread, the well-polished shoes of the Bible Belt now dominate.

Which brings Ms. Nathan to describe the Jewish movement for a humanely produced diet. She touches on Hazon, The Jew and the Carrot, the Movement for Jewish Renewal. And then she mentions the Conservative Movement's Hechsher Tzedek:

…Environment-minded Jews are asking the leaders of Conservative Judaism to rewrite their kosher certification rules to incorporate ethical concerns about workers, animals and the land.…

The operative phrase here is "kosher certification rules " as opposed to halakha (Jewish law) itself. "Environment-minded Jews" are simply insisting that all parts of Jewish law be followed, including the prohibition of causing unnecessary pain to animals (tzaar baalei hayyim) and the various strictures regarding treatment of employees. They argue – correctly, in my view – that putting the laws of kosher food above the laws that protect human and animal life has no biblical or halakhic basis.

Just as they want their food to be kosher, they want the workers that produce that food to be treated correctly and they want the animals that they eat or whose milk or eggs they consume to be treated humanely in all stages of processing, from birth through the ultimate slaughter.

While they welcome the Conservative Movement's Hechsher Tzedek initiative, they do not limit their requests for humanely produced kosher food to Conservative Rabbis – indeed, many have tried bring change within Orthodoxy, only to be stymied by powerful kosher food interests.

But most importantly, what is lost in Joan Nathan's turn of phrase is a very important point.

Judaism's stand on humane treatment of employees, day laborers – and, yes, even indentured servants and slaves – along with humane treatment of animals are as much a part of Jewish law, history and theology as the duration one's steak sits in salt before cooking. In fact, many of these laws governing treatment of workers and animals have a better provenance, so to speak, than the laws governing kosher food.

Many of the laws dealing with treatment of workers and animals are biblical or are directly extended from biblical law. But many of the "laws" relating to kosher food so strictly followed today are only stringencies (humrot) and have less standing, so to speak, in Jewish law than the laws governing humane treatment of workers and animals – laws that are now widely ignored.

For all those working to improve the treatment of animals used for kosher food or to improve the treatment of the workers who produce that kosher food, it is important to argue this clearly. Treating animals and employees well is not something new in Jewish law – it is something new in the kosher food and kosher supervision businesses.

Jewish law has always been ahead of the curve on these issues. It is kosher food producers along with kosher supervision agencies and the rabbis who staff them that inexplicably lag behind.

Comments

[levyason]

Finaly, is this real? A kusherin tup, mit ah kusherin lefel.

[John K. Diamond]

"Jewish law has always been ahead of the curve on these issues. It is kosher food producers along with kosher supervision agencies and the rabbis who staff them that inexplicably lag behind."

Absolutely.

But how to get "kosher supervision agencies and the rabbis who staff them" in line with Jewish Law seems to be an interminable challenge.

[steve]

It's all in the hands of the kosher consumer. If they demand it, then they will get. Simple economics of supply and demand. As long as they continue patronizing Rubashkin, the abuse, fraud and corruption will continue.

[Nachman]

Since we are soooooooo concerned about employee handling etc. I would also suggest to stop using a very famous Hareidi bus company who underpays, overworks, cheats and abuses their employees. Even after fair hikes the driver's did not get an increase in their meager wages. They also cheat their drivers out of tips comissions etc.
This is FAAAAAAR more important than "ANIMAL RIGHTS" at time of Shechita...

[Nachman]

Correction:
FARE hikes...

[oh yeah]

remember the OU cannot ceertify meshichis shochtim...

[Ma Rabbi]

It is well known in Crown heights and other Lubavitcher circles that Weiss meat is far superior to Rubashkin from the Kashrut viewpoint. My son, for example, only eats Weiss meat and David Elliot chickens.

[Neo-Conservaguy]

"It is well known in Crown heights and other Lubavitcher circles that Weiss meat is far superior to Rubashkin from the Kashrut viewpoint. My son, for example, only eats Weiss meat and David Elliot chickens."

Chas v'shalom, the Chabadnics and I have something in common. I've posted before recommending the Wise beef and chicken, because I got up off my lazy kosher ass and spend some time investigating their production practices. Any honest kosher consumer should do the same, given how only randomly one can trust the kosher certification agencies when it comes to meat. Too bad the Wise and David Elliot products are far more expensive than the average kosher consumer is willing to pay - especially when the meat from Postville is sometimes half the price.

[Lev]

Nachman, your ideas are good.
I won't stop here and tell why there are hareidi bus companies.
But it's a FAMILY buisness, and all employees are mostly hareidim themselvs.
Russian drivers are few and far in between; they hate hareidim to the point of violence, but they also mistreat all riders in the most obnoxious form.
I know, there is more to it.

[yona loriner]

dude ur nutz

[Nachman]

Lev N"Y
The drivers are under the guns at all times and are not compensated for their hard work. The drivers are merely FRUSTRATED. The outlet of all that buildup is unfortunately directed at the customer. Having said that, I conclude that ONLY the custumer is at fault. STOP USING THEM! Use mass transit! Mechitza is not required al pi halakha! They are selling FRUMEH SHTICK to the public so the FAMILY(and the holy Rebbe...) can cash in on it. The "FAMILY" is a disgrace to K'lal Yisroel. Everyone who knows them will agree.
Those who feel the need for a Mechitza and Minyan etc. should form their own company and TREAT THEIR PEOPLE RIGHT.

[Lev]

Yona, you are telling this to me?
Why?
Last time I was in chareidi neighborhoods in 2001.
Things might change since that.
Your ways are similar to "avrohom", insulting everyone.
Even in the LAST century when I hang there, I more and more used mass transit for reasons me and Nachman talked about.

[Nachman]

Shmarya!
Please do a piece on the bus company I mentioned. (email me if you don't know who I'm referring to)You'll do the K'lal a wonderful deed.
As usual I disagree with plenty a blog, but as my father related to me many times that every Shtetl had its crier... For the few times he saved the shtetl it was well worth it...

[Seraphya Berrin]

We find reasons all the times besides actual "kashrut" to grant or revoke kashrut certification.

For instance just today we had this

"A resident of Hibat Zion who described herself as "traditional, not religious," and who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that in the past few days the crematorium has been the focus of talk at the local market.

"Nobody wants that thing here," said the resident. "Whether religious or secular. It's opposed to Judaism, and it is simply disgusting."

The Hibat Zion resident who rented the space for the facility was approached by his neighbors to terminate the rental contract.

The landlord, who also owns a bakery that is under the kosher supervision of Bnei Brak Chief Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Leib Landau, was told by Landau that he would lose his kosher approval if he did not terminate the contract within a month. " - off of jpost (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1187779140897&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)

How can anyone actually opposed the hechsher tzedek or anything similar?

[John K. Diamond]

Great post, Seraphya!!!

If we had Rabbis of the stature of Chief Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Leib Landau in charge of the OU Kashrut Administration, all Rubashkin animal "horror houses" would long ago have been permanently put out of business.

[Nachman]

Kashruth is based on TRUST. When one can trust the owner of the establishment it is of little significance who the Rav Hamachshir is, If you can NOT trust the owner it is also of little significance who the Rav Hamachshir is.
My point? Once an individual has lost his CHEZKATH KASHRUTH he can no longer be trusted. If an authority ruled such and such and the person blatantly ignores the ruling (greed?) he is no longer trustworthy.
Rav Landau is a no-nonsense Rav. He has a long track record.

[John K. Diamond]

My point.

So long as Rubashkin has Hechshers on his stuff, ignorant Jews, who simply look for a Hechsher and buy his stuff, don't consider anything else.

Rav Landau, if he were head of OU Kashrut, would see to it that ALL Hechshers on Rubashkin stuff would be pulled permanently and that would be the end of it.

[Lev]

Does anyone remember that Menachem Genack is the Clinton's, imah shmoi, "personal Rabbi"
Russian proverb says: "the boyars are exactly like their Tsar".

[electrishon]

When will OU admit that they are contaminating the kosher meat supply by allowing rubashkin meat to be sold to other sausage makers that also have OU supervision? I see something alot more dangerous than the "monsey scandal".

[John K. Diamond]

Hi Electrishon,

"When will OU admit that they are contaminating the kosher meat supply by allowing rubashkin meat to be sold to other sausage makers that also have OU supervision? I see something alot more dangerous than the "monsey scandal"."

Do you have any documentation or URL sources re: this that can be shared with FM readers?