Rubashkin Drops KAJ

Rubashkin has dropped KAJ supervision of its products. According to VIN, which is quoting from a Rubashkin press release given to them by Agriprocessors today, this is a "consolidation."

However, it appears all the other kosher supervisors remain on Rubashkin's payroll – Crown Heights Kosher, Maragreten, etc., and Rabbi Weissmandl's "Supreme Kosher." Rabbi Weissmandl replaced KAJ as the lead kosher supervising agency almost three years ago. KAJ was simply used as the haredi stamp of approval on retail packages bearing an OU as the primary kosher supervisor.

What appears to have happened is Rabbi Weissmandl has decided to allow his Supreme Kosher stamp to appear alongside the OU. Rabbi Weissmandl had long refused to allow this. It seems in return for changing his mind, Rabbi Weissmandl both moves out KAJ and gets more money.

Note the slap at KAJ and the OU from the press release:

Rabbi Weissmandl, a well known international authority in kashrus, was appointed three years ago to elevate the standards of kashrus in the whole plant…

This may very well be a Rubashkin response to KAJ's move a couple of years ago when it put its stamp on Empire chicken.

The OU is the only kosher certifying agency that has put any pressure on Rubashkin to comply with humane slaughter law and standards.

Note the above slap at the OU and then, this, also from Rubashkin's press release:

Rabbi Weissmandl, son of the legendary hero of hatzoloh in World War II, Rabbi Michoel Ber Weissmandl zt”l, is Rav of the Nitra kehilla in Monsey, the author of many scholarly Torah works on kashrus and other subjects, and a respected authority on glatt kosher and other aspects of kashrus.   The Orthodox Union, now in its second century of service to the Jewish community of North America and beyond, is a world leader in community and synagogue services. Its kosher certification mark, the , is the world’s most recognized kosher symbol and can be found on over 400,000 products manufactured in 80 countries around the globe.

Rabbi Weissmandl is depicted as a scholar who is the son of a hero. The OU is depicted as a social service organization without mention of any scholarship of its leaders.

UPDATE 1-1-08 11:PM – It seems there may be another layer to this story. Comments like this are popping up on various blogs reporting the story, including here:

I heard from a member of the washington heights community (aka KAJ) that their leader Rabbi Gelley made an announcement last shabbos after mincha that the KAJ is giving Rubashkin until april to get their act together or their dropping their supervision. (as a side note, KAJ hasn't actually been doing any supervising at all for months rather relying on the OU & accepting payment for their endorsement). It seem like rubashkin preempted them & fired them first to save face.

The throat-ripping at Agriprocessors took place under KAJ's watch. But KAJ then had a different head of shechita, Rabbi Chaim Kohn. Rabbi Kohn, a Ger hasid, permitted throat-ripping against the wishes of others in KAJ and the OU. He was quietly removed in the wake of the first Rubashkin PETA Scandal.

Rubashkin then brought in Rabbi Weissmandl, in part to shore up the plants failing reputation and in part to gain control over another market.

Rubashkin could not drop KAJ then because Rabbi Weissmandl would not allow his kosher seal to appear on commercially available meat and poultry with the OU.

It seems that now, as KAJ began to move to withdraw from Agriprocessors, Rubashkin was able to convince Rabbi Weissmandl to change his policy and put his kosher mark on products with the OU.

More on this as it develops.

UPDATE 1-2-08: A KAJ letter to Rubashkin, dated 12-28-07 reiterates an earlier decision made in October of 2007 to stop supervising Rubashkin products because of what seem to be kosher-related issues. You can read the letter here.

The entire press release is posted after the jump.

December 31, 2007   Agriprocessors Consolidates Kashrus Supervision in Marketing Move   Postville, Iowa…Agriprocessors, one of the world’s largest purveyors of glatt kosher meats, moved this week to consolidate its kashrus supervision behind the Orthodox Union and Rabbi Menachem Meir Weissmandl shlit”a, the Rav of Nitra of Monsey, NY. Rabbi Weissmandl, a well known international authority in kashrus, was appointed three years ago to elevate the standards of kashrus in the whole plant and to specifically certify the production of products under the Supreme Kosher label.   According to Sholom M. Rubashkin, “the company made a marketing decision to expand the certification role of Rabbi Weissmandl to include products manufactured under the Aaron’s Best brand in addition to the longstanding certification by the Orthodox Union.” The combination of the two hechsheirim, explained Rubashkin “will position the plant to be under the strictest kashrus guidelines of the Torah and Chasidic world.”   In making the announcement, the Rubashkin family pledged to continue “to do its utmost to provide consumers with the highest quality products under the strictest kashrus guidelines.” Agriprocessors also expressed its gratitude to Khal Adas Jeshurun for its past certification of products produced buy Agriprocessors.   In accepting an expanding role, Rabbi Weissmandl praised the Rubashkin family “for its uncompromising support for the highest standards of kashrus and for granting supervising rabbonim the full autonomy they need to provide the ultimate kashrus.” Rabbi Weissmandl, son of the legendary hero of hatzoloh in World War II, Rabbi Michoel Ber Weissmandl zt”l, is Rav of the Nitra kehilla in Monsey, the author of many scholarly Torah works on kashrus and other subjects, and a respected authority on glatt kosher and other aspects of kashrus.   The Orthodox Union, now in its second century of service to the Jewish community of North America and beyond, is a world leader in community and synagogue services. Its kosher certification mark, the , is the world’s most recognized kosher symbol and can be found on over 400,000 products manufactured in 80 countries around the globe.

Comments

[steve]

I think it's the other way around, that KAJ decided to drop Rubashkin in order to save what's left of their reputation as a reputable kashrus agency. We all know that since Rabbi Kohn was barred from Postville, that the KAJ did not have an actual representative their and the money they were receiving from Rubashkin was basically a licensing fee. Losing this endorsement will no doubt hurt Rubashkin's business. This may be the beginning of the domino effect many of us predicted a while back. Stay tuned.

[Binyomin]

"Steve" as in Stephen G. Bloom, author of Postville, A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America?

[Shmarya]

Not the same Steve.

[Mark]

As per previous comment by steve. That is also what i read that KAJ dropped Rubashkin

[Binyomin]

Oh well. Thanks for the clarification.

[Shmarya]

The KAJ denied this yesterday.

[steve]

Notice how Rubashkin tries to put such a positive spin on this by calling it a "marketing decision". There you have it, Kashrus in the 21st century, all based on "marketing decisions" and multi million dollar licensing agreements. Absolutely nothing to do with kosher dietary laws, honesty, integrity and humane treatment of workers and animals. I can picture Menachem Lubinsky working feverishly now to come up with his own positive spin on this. He may be due for a raise, along with Weissmandel.

[Shmarya]

I think Rabbi Weissmandl got that raise, and I suspect Lubinsky or Lubicom wrote that press release.

[Archie Bunker]

Interesting that Rabbi Yudel Shain at the Yudelstake blog is so conspicuously quiet today. He will have a lot of information from insiders when he resurfaces.

[Archie Bunker]

http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2008/01/confused-or-convinced.html

Just in a few minutes ago.

Rabbi Shain says that KAJ dumped Rubashkin and implies it was because of kashruth problems.

I heard from a member of the washington heights community (aka KAJ) that their leader Rabbi Gelley made an announcement last shabbos after mincha that the KAJ is giving Rubashkin until april to get their act together or their dropping their supervision. (as a side note, KAJ hasn't actually been doing any supervising at all for months rather relying on the OU & accepting payment for their endorsement). It seem like rubashkin preempted them & fired them first to save face.

[milchig]

Soon the OU will see that when you play with fire you get burned and lose credibility.

[Charlie Hall]

Why do they need so many hechshers?

[Yosef ben Matitya]

sort of funny. by hareidi distorted standards, would that leave rubashkin in the same category as sinai 48 or hebrew national? so much for their vaunted chassidishe shchita. yiikes. i much prefer the opening of chulin:
א,א הכול שוחטין, ושחיטתן כשרה--חוץ מחירש שוטה וקטן, שמא יקלקלו בשחיטתן; וכולם ששחטו, ואחרים רואים אותם--שחיטתם כשרה. ....השוחט בלילה, וכן הסומא ששחט--שחיטתו כשרה; השוחט בשבת וביום הכיפורים--אף על פי שהוא מתחייב בנפשו, שחיטתו כשרה.
what went wrong since?

[Neo-Conservaguy]

"Soon the OU will see that when you play with fire you get burned and lose credibility."

That should have happened long ago when the scandal first occurred. Remember, the OU line heard from many MO rabbis was something like, "there was no problem and now we've improved the situation in which there was no problem". The OU should have fessed up, done public tshuva, and had their members kasher their keilim to impress upon everyone how seriously they took the situation.

The sad truth appears to be that most "Modern Orthodox" Jews these days will believe almost anything the OU claims - because they want/need to be able to trust their institutions. In a strange irony, the Orthodox laity are actually the sacrificial lambs.

[Shmarya]

Why do they need so many hechshers?

It's all about market reach. Each "hechsher" brings its own exclusive market to Rubashkin. In turn, each supervising rabbi makes it harder for their local butcher shops and grocery stores to carry any other brand except Rubashkin.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

The sad truth appears to be that most "Modern Orthodox" Jews these days will believe almost anything the OU claims - because they want/need to be able to trust their institutions. In a strange irony, the Orthodox laity are actually the sacrificial lambs.

U R right, Neo-Con, I would even go further: never mind what OU did or did not do. I have taken upon myself to avoid kaj, crc-de-satmer (not that of chicago), shchitat chabad and other freak institutions food.
Unless under extreme duress, such as no other coffee creamer given in my shul.
Further, if plain tea requires no hechsher, I will prefer tea without a hechsher. Simple, anybody who does not eat my rabbis approved food, i will not eat their food. Neither should anybody. in this election year in the U.S. we should have pin buttons identifying ourselves as those who do not eat those freaks food.
One sure sin those idiots do, is 'ovrim 'al lo tossifun'.
In fact, we should not even invite them to our simcha halls, lest they steal the parnassa of our rabbis, or spoil our children deceitfully.
When Chabad comes to the public solliciting it to adhere to common denominators in the name of achdus, by which they mean to lead the public into using them as benchmark, we should reject these cheap tricks, as they are out to eradicate anything normal in judaism.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

In turn, each supervising rabbi makes it harder for their local butcher shops and grocery stores to carry any other brand except Rubashkin.

if so, in turn, it is our holy duty to inform grocers of our reluctance to use them.

[Archie Bunker]

http://www.kashrut.com/Alerts/Rubashkin2.tif

This just in. A copy of the letter from KAJ Rabbis Gelley & Mantel informing Rubashkin that he is toast.

[Archie Bunker]

You need Apple Quicktime software to see the letter. You then need to upgrade to the paid version to be able to save it.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Yosef: I agree with you. I wouldn't eat food of people who would not count me in a minyan.

[Neo-Conservaguy]

Ah, but that's the rub: most people have no idea just how many Chabad (and other chassidic) rabbis are involved in the kashruth business, and not just for the OK agency. As one Chabad rabbi smugly told me, (my paraphrase, not his), you couldn't get rid of them all without the entire sector collapsing.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

"you couldn't get rid of them all without the entire sector collapsing."

Neo Con,
there is no collapse. much of what they do is redundant. much of the food being supervised needs no supervision. they induce phobias in the public to justify their raison d'etre. If they (Rubashkin, Kaj, CRC-Satmar) collapse it would be a blessing from heaven for which he have to bench hallel bivracha.
As to their penetration of the industry, they have to be weeded out like bad weeds in one's backyards.

[steve]

In the KAJ letter dated 12/28 informing Rubashkin of the termination effective April 15, it states that Rubashkin made more than one appeal NOT to be terminated. In fact, AA Rubashkin was sent a letter in October 2007 warning him of the termination. I think the KAJ should make that letter public and inform the masses why they are removing their logo from Rubashkin products. Shmarya, please read this letter carefully and change your heading to "KAJ Dumps Rubashkin".

[Neo-Conservaguy]

"there is no collapse. much of what they do is redundant. much of the food being supervised needs no supervision. they induce phobias in the public to justify their raison d'etre."

99% agreement, but certain processed food and meat do reasonably require some supervision, and the penetration of Chabad in those areas appears to be significant.

[Semi-maivin]

The obvious explanation seems to be eluding you, the non-profit kashrus organizations are always hungry, and they need much larger sums to sustain their large payrolls than the little guys do. KAJ is undoubtedly soon going to emerge as endorsing agency on another brand. Is it Solomon's, A & H, Alon, Rosenblatt or any other of the smaller kosher meat guys with dreams of expansion? Only time will tell. One of the other players will enter into partnership with the hungry guys in Washington Heights where most major decisions are voted on by a handful of decrepit German-accented lay people... they will soon be voting on which other slaughterhouse should have the privilege of underwriting the empty classrooms of the Breuer schools.

[Leah Chana]

B"H

Unlike many of the posters here, perhaps KAJ's rabbeim care a little about loshon hora, and don't wish to have everything they say or think publicized.

I am horrified by some of the comments above. For the record, I am neither decrepit nor German, though I fail to see how that (or lay status) disqualifies someone from participating in the decisions of the kehilla, or being respected as a Jew and a human being.

For shame.

[Chef Scott]

How much more dammage can we do to ourselves? Feuding certifying and supervising organizations, interpetations that continue to places elements of the community at odds all are both self destructiive and further the view of the outside comminuntiy that is mostly negative. There are so many elements at work here that we may never sort them out and behind it all-we do not trust each other, the work of Ha-Shem and therefore have no trust in him. NO MORE BS PEOPLE.