Menachem Lubinsky's Roswell Moment – To Rubashkins, A Love Letter

Menachem Lubinsky, the truth-challenged Gerrer hasid who handles much of Agriprocessors PR and who is a member of Agudath Israel's Governing Board and a former VP, spins an incredible tale of alien landings and, no, strike that, a massive conspiracy to…

…stop shechita and hurt Agriprocessors, led by?

The evil, evil union and its dupes in the non-Orthodox Jewish community.

Before you read this tale of Elvis sightings and the Trilateral Commission, I want you too see an especially important quote from the tale:

Strangely, I watched some of this unfold after the positive media coverage of the visit of the 25 rabbis on July 31st which followed a similar visit by Sue Fishkoff of the JTA, with essentially the same positive findings.

Fishkoff was given unprecedented access to the plant and to Sholom Rubashkin, its VP and (former? maybe not) CEO.

Why did Fishkoff get that access?

Because she wrote what pretty much everyone in the book and news businesses calls a love letter to Chabad – her book on Chabad after the Rebbe, which is, to say the very least, remarkably light on messianism, inter-Chabad fighting, and any negative information on the movement or its former leader.

And then we have another reason: Sue Fishkoff is a very close friend of George Rohr, who is Chabad's major US funder.

Past her access, Fishkoff's reports on Agriprocessors – not nearly as favorable as Lubinsky claims, by the way – do one consistent thing: They never mention Chabad or Lubavitch. In Fishkoff's reports, Agriprocessors owners are either "Chassidim" or "Orthodox" and from Brooklyn, but never Chabad or Lubavitch.

Fishkoff is writing, I'm told, a book on the kosher food industry. To do that she needs cooperation from the Orthodox and haredi Jews who produce kosher food – and to get that, she need cooperation from Lubinsky.

That Kosher Today is allowing Lubinsky to write about Agriprocesors, a company he works shills for, is unethical. But to allow him to smear non-Orthodox Jews and unions on the pages of Kosher Today in defense of his client Agriprocessors is remarkably corrupt.

And that is a true indication of the state of kosher food and kosher food supervision today.

And now, ladies and gentlemen – Elvis is in the shtiebel:

My Sixth Sense

Menachem Lubinsky is the founder and co-producer of Kosherfest, the annual trade event for the kosher food & beverage industry and is the editor-in-chief of KosherToday. The views expressed in this column do not represent the opinions of KosherToday's publishers and are those of the author alone.

To comment on My Sixth Sense editorial, please email: editor@koshertoday.com

How the UFCW duped the Jewish community into becoming its agents - August 11, 2008

As the head of the PR firm that represents Agriprocessors, I poured over many documents the other day to make sense of the continued vendetta against the glatt kosher meat and poultry processor. I especially felt the urge to do a bit more probing following my visit (along with some 25 rabbis) to Postville on July 31st where I and the other visitors left with the feeling that something smells here, and it wasn’t the meat. What we saw was a clean, well-run plant with many happy employees. So here’s my theory on why the Agriprocessors just refuses to go away:

I believe that the event that triggered the onslaught against Agriprocessors was the infamous PETA video back in 2005 that allegedly showed the abuse of some animals, albeit that it was never flagged by the USDA, which supervises every aspect of production. While the plant was never shut down by the government, the company called in experts and made significant improvements in the months that followed, all of which are plain to see. This occurred at about the same time that the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) had lost large amounts of its members over a period of several years. It had not succeeded in getting the management of Agriprocessors to agree to come under its wings and the company’s membership also did not seem enthusiastic, as was evidenced by at least one vote. The UFCW also had its share of problems with other large livestock companies, namely Smithfield Foods, and it was even at loggerheads with the mega Wal-Mart chain that also refused to come under its umbrella.

The reaction to the PETA video by the Jewish community was music to the UFCW leadership. Jews, led by the secular media, most notably the Forward, historically a left-leaning Labor Yiddish publication that eventually became an English-language weekly, were outraged. Taking the high moral ground, they were prepared to throw Agriprocessors, which had already been vilified in a book by Steven Blum and in other media for its Chasidic invasion of an Iowa hamlet, to the dogs. Even the Orthodox appeared lame in their defense of Agri. The UFCW probably could not believe their luck that Agri was essentially without a strong base. For the first time in a long time they found a powerful ally, a group that also had the ear of the American media, that would help them win, and win they must. What followed was a series of Forward articles charging abuse of workers and the unofficial creation of a new coalition that included the Forward, the St. Bridget’s Church in Postville, and a group of Conservative rabbis led by Rabbi Morris Allen of Minneapolis. For a while the UFCW did its own dirty work, placing ads in Jewish newspapers and even making electronic phone calls that an OSHA report of gross violations amounting to $182,000 showed that the kosher food produced by Agri was not safe (the violations and fines were subsequently reduced and the fines totaled $42,000). Then came the departure of Khal Adath Jeshurun as one of the main kosher certifying agencies at Agri, which (while a business decision, as KAJ itself said) again became the basis for an ad campaign and the calls to Jewish households in many Orthodox neighborhoods. They were told that KAJ left because they did not trust the kashrut.

The UFCW ultimately had followed its own manual (outlined in a lawsuit by Smithfield against the UFCW) in getting the grassroots to fight the battle on their behalf. The Forward and by now a whole slew of other press were pouring it on, so much so that Agriprocessors was ultimately referred to as a “Medieval plant” and a “kosher jungle” in major media outlets like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. The May 12th raid by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was a bonanza that the Unions could only gloat on. The affidavit that accompanied the raid included some ridiculous accusations of drug manufacturing and bomb-making and it quoted the Forward, almost unprecedented for a government agency to support such a document. The scope and brutal nature of the raid were attacked by none other than the New York Times, amongst others, that questioned the immigration policies of the Bush Administration. What followed was almost choreographed. St. Bridget’s would release names of minors to the local Iowa media with graphic details of abuse, the Forward and often the JTA (which did ultimately make an attempt to present a fair and balanced picture) would keep up its attacks, Rabbi Allen would push his Heksher Tzedek to stress that Agriprocessors could not be trusted in its treatment of animals and workers, all to the delight of UFCW officials who were by now convinced that Agriprocessors was on the cusp of either caving in to a Union that would save them or shut down altogether, delivering a powerful message that UFCW will not be intimidated, even if you are Smithfield or Wal-Mart. The victory seemed at hand. All that was still needed was an indictment by the Feds in the aftermath of the May 12th raid.

Strangely, I watched some of this unfold after the positive media coverage of the visit of the 25 rabbis on July 31st which followed a similar visit by Sue Fishkoff of the JTA, with essentially the same positive findings. We saw a new willingness to tighten up all compliance and credible officials who were put in charge. Only days after the visit, the Iowa Department of Labor (headed by a Commissioner who is a former Union official) recommended to the Iowa Attorney General that he indict Agriprocessors for employing 57 minors. Ironically, the Department did its own audit in April ‘08 and found none. It refused to give Agri attorneys the names of minors, if any, so that they can follow their policy of firing underage workers. Agri, in fact, fired four underaged workers in its sausage department when it became aware of their ages. When Agri explained this to the media, a reporter found three new underage workers, but the information most likely again came again from the Church, where many of the immigrants and their families hung out for assistance and where they were allegedly feeding the St. Bridget officials with inflammatory information implicating one another, particularly Agriprocessors. When it wasn’t underaged workers, it was that the company was employing the homeless and most recently Somalis. The UFCW smile must have grown from day to day, particularly after a march on July 27th captured national attention. Their surrogates were doing a great job.

In the meantime, shortages of kosher meat and poultry persisted and prices went sky-high, all because the moralists and ethicists in the Jewish community never suspected that they were being duped by a ferocious union into becoming their agents. No, Agriprocessors is far from perfect, but it is making changes and those who eat kosher certainly deserve better. History will yet judge this strange episode in American-Jewish history as one of the Union’s finest moments. I certainly have gained a great deal of respect for the Union, while questioning so many in the Jewish community. What a shame! (All that remains is for an investigative reporter with courage to put the pieces together.)

Comments

[Archie Bunker]

Maybe Yochanan can transliterate the tune from The Twilight Zone or X-Files. Lubinsky left out the parts about Area 51 & "Super Soldiers".

[Archie Bunker]

I have never seen Lubinsky's name on any Agudah stationary or lists indicating he's on the governing board although you can bet he's in cahoots with them anyway.

An even more suspicious connection is that Avi Shafran and Pesach Lerner were in Ner Yisroel together at the time when molesters were running rampant in the dorm. Both of their organizations are at the forefront of covering up for many child abusers, some of whom they know from the early days.

[Archie Bunker]

I'm not finished with Juda Engelmayer by the way. I am looking into whether the guy is really orthodox and if it may be a Hisachdus policy violation for them to certify Kossar's Bialys.

Shmarya can you write us a song like back in the old days, before Chabad ruined your life?

[Ariel Sokolovsky [ Blueprint for a better world => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cTD6sN5DtA]

B"H
Shmaryah, you've got to admit that the UFCW - the union that is trying to unionize Agri is essentialy a criminal enterprise more so than anything Agri is even accused of:

Arizona - Judge Rules: UFCW Unions [same union that fights Rubashkin] Can Be Sued

Published on: 08-07-08 at 11:04 AM

Arizona - Bashas’ Family of Stores can move forward with its lawsuit against the United Food & Commercial Workers’ union and many of its operatives, according to a decision handed down by the Superior Court of Arizona last week.

Judge Douglas Rayes denied the UFCW’s request to dismiss the lawsuit, which was filed last December. The suit accuses the UFCW, its local 99 affiliate, as well as several of its agents, of defamation, intentional interference with business operations, extortion and trespass.

Named in the suit are the UFCW International; the UFCW Local 99 (including Hungry for Respect Coalition, a front organization designed to publicly disparage Bashas’ Family of Stores); La Campesina radio station (88.3 FM); Michael Nowakowski, City of Phoenix Council Member and General Manager of La Campesina; Alfredo Gutierrez, community activist turned spokesperson for hire, and talk show host of La Campesina; Rev. Trina Zelle whose organization receives most of its funding from unions; William McDonough, Executive Vice President and Collective Bargaining Director for UFCW International; and James McLaughlin, President for UFCW Local 99, amongst others.

“This ruling is a positive first step towards clearing our company’s good name,” said Mike Proulx, Bashas’ president and chief operating officer. “Through this lawsuit, we hope to once and for all put an end to the ugly and malicious lies that the UFCW has spread about our company and our members (employees) through its slick, negative campaigning.”

Bashas’ Family of Stores operates Food City, AJ’s Fine Foods and Bashas’ supermarkets. The grocer, selected earlier this year as a “Best Place to Work” by its members, employs more than 13,000 people, making it an attractive target for the UFCW. (If every Bashas’ member paid dues to the UFCW, the UFCW’s revenues would increase by more than $4 million each year.)

The goal of the UFCW’s smear campaign against the family-owned and -operated grocer is to pressure management into signing a contract that would eliminate the right of Bashas’ employees to vote, by secret ballot, whether or not they want a union.

“The UFCW has said that it intends to either extort Bashas’ into surrendering to its campaign or destroy Bashas’ as a viable business,” said Mike Manning, the attorney representing Bashas’ in this lawsuit.
“In pursuit of that scheme, the UFCW and its operatives have repeatedly delivered false and defamatory statements about Bashas’ treatment of its members; the health and cleanliness of its grocery stores; and Bashas’ regard for and treatment of Hispanic customers and employees.
This ruling allows Bashas’ the right to protect itself from the UFCW’s extortion.”

The judge also ruled that a coalition of union members and community activists called Hungry for Respect could not be sued because it is not a distinct legal entity. “This is what Bashas’ has been saying all along — that Hungry for Respect is nothing more than an empty store front for the UFCW,” said Manning.

The UFCW’s smear campaign has included promoting a class action lawsuit; filing charges with the National Labor Relations Board; distributing negative flyers, door hangers and direct mail pieces; crafting, distributing and publicizing inflammatory and false reports; accusing the company of selling expired products, then planting expired products on store shelves; calling in false reports to governmental agencies alleging health code and other operational violations; organizing public demonstrations both inside and outside of stores, with the goal of disrupting and discouraging business; arranging “town-hall-style” meetings to publicly attack Bashas’; sending thousands of pieces of junk mail to Arizona families spreading lies about Bashas’ and Food City; paying prominent and recognizable media outlets to defame Bashas’; handsomely funding vocal mouth pieces to serve as spokespersons against Bashas’; and making personal home visits to encourage shoppers to boycott Bashas’ and Food City stores.

Bashas’ was founded more than 76 years ago by brothers Ike and Eddie Basha, Sr. Since then, it has become the largest family-owned grocer in Arizona, and the 8th largest employer in the state. Bashas’ is the 15th-largest privately held supermarket chain in the nation. Bashas’ owns and operates more than 160 grocery stores in Arizona, California and New Mexico. Since its inception, the grocery chain has given back more than $100 million to the communities it serves.

http://www.vosizneias.com/19063/2008/08/07/arizona-judge-rules-ufcw-unions-same-union-that-fights-rubashkin-can-be-sued/

[Paul Freedman]

a) The Union tried to forestall the May bust, it didn't encourage it and there's no evidence of collusion between the state government, the Union, and Jewish leftists.

b) Was there an audit in April that gave AgriP a clean bill of health? my impression was that there was a walk-through inspection by a close-mouthed group of inspectors who declined to communicate with management at that time which would mesh with

1) the fact of the May raid, that it happened
2) the results of the raid
3) that the state agencies are comfortable considering futher action

The overall tone of this kind of incoherent apologetics is "AgriP did nothing wrong and anyways they're fixing what they might have done wrong, anyways the illegal aliens who weren't really there illegally but were oppressed by the May raid are liars anyways" --that isn't enough imo to hang one's hat on the argument that somehow the Forward and the Catholic Parish are willing dupes of the union and a bunch of good-for-nothings who have nothing better to do all day than hang out in the Church spreading lies about their bosses

Friends of AgriP can play this however they want. Kol HaKavod. I presume that if the state does not move ahead to indict AgriP can get on getting on--but the crunch won't come with whatever Jewish leaders are convinced by which ever other Jewish leaders that AgriP is saintlike/terrible/binoni but how the state proceeds.

btw, the New York Times has switched the tone and focus of its coverage from concentrating on the raid as a blow to immigrant harmony to reporting on the very charges ridiculed here

[Ariel Sokolovsky [ Blueprint for a better world => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cTD6sN5DtA]

B"H
My point is that the above article shows they are not above smearing an innocent company.
Thus one has to ask the obvious question perhaps at least some of the alegations against Rubashkins are also fabrications of this union.

[Paul Freedman]

Ariel, the judge permitted the company lawyer to make the case, he didn't say the family's account was accurate. Even if the union are thieves and mamzeriim, the problem for that line of argument is not only are the worker complaints reported independent of the union but that they are corroborated for now by the secular state government-- there is no evidence that contrary to the story above there is a causal tie between the union itself and what befell Agri--and invoking as bogeymen secular Jews, unions, and whomever really just seems as spin directed parochially at Orthodox Jews, for whatever reason I can only guess. Is anybody in the Orthodox community at thtis time recommending boycott or non-recognition of the kashrus?

[Sam]

From http://blogs.jta.org/telegraph/2008/08/11/1266/lewin-herzfeld-assertions-are-fallacious/

Nat Lewin, the Washington attorney representing Agriprocessors, just sent us a response to Shmuel Herfzeld’s New York Times op-ed last week. And get this: Herzfeld is Lewin’s rabbi!

Read the response after the jump.

REPLY TO RABBI SHMUEL HERZFELD

by Nathan Lewin

In a front-page article asserting that minors had been hired to work in an Iowa kosher meat-packing plant and in an editorial calling the plant the modern equivalent of Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle,” the New York Times joined the media frenzy that has, over the past two months, with very little basis in fact, pilloried AgriProcessors, the country’s leading kosher slaughterer and packer of beef, and driven federal and local law-enforcement personnel to threaten dire consequences to its owner and employees. Insult was heaped on injury when an Orthodox rabbi in Washington, D.C., joined the vigilantes and published an Op-Ed piece in the Times of August 6, claiming that the news accounts “call into question whether the food processed in the plant qualifies as kosher.”

This nationally published challenge to the kashruth of the AgriProcessor product contradicts the unanimous opinion of highly respected and universally recognized kashruth-certifying agencies that have repeatedly endorsed – even while the media attack was ongoing — the ritual acceptability of AgriProcessors’ product. Nonetheless, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld of Ohev Sholom Synagogue in Washington (where the author of this response has been a member for the past 40 years) – a young rabbi who has achieved great success in reviving, for Jewish residents, a neighborhood that had been abandoned by its Jewish population and has electrified the entire Washington Jewish community with innovative programs – raised ”questions” about AgriProcessors’ kashruth in this widely read forum.

Rabbi Herzfeld’s column cites the following three grounds for questioning the religious suitability of AgriProcessors’ meat: First, he says that “there is precedent for declaring something nonkosher on the basis of how employees are treated.” The precedent he cites is that Rabbi Yisroel Salanter, the highly respected 19th century founder of the “Mussar” movement, is, according to Rabbi Herzfeld, “famously believed to have refused to certify a matzo factory as kosher on the grounds that the workers were being treated unfairly.” Rabbi Yisroel Salanter is as gold-plated an authority as one can imagine. If he actually said that unfair treatment of workers renders a product non-kosher, one would have to give that ruling great weight.

Second, Rabbi Herzfeld cites allegations in an affidavit filed by the immigration authorities who raided the AgriProcessor plant in Iowa on May 12 to arrest illegal aliens employed there. He says that the affidavit alleges “that an employee was physically abused by a rabbi on the floor of the plant.” Rabbi Herzfeld says that “this calls into question the reliability and judgment of the rabbi in charge of making sure the food was kosher.” If, in fact, the “rabbi in charge of making sure the food was kosher” did assault an AgriProcessors employee, I would share Rabbi Herzfeld’s doubts regarding that rabbi’s “reliability and judgment” on issues relating to kashruth.

Third, Rabbi Herzfeld points to the arrest of “two workers who oversaw the poultry and beef division” for “helping illegal immigrants falsify documents.” He says that if these supervisors “were willing to break immigration laws, one could reasonably ask whether they would be likely to show the same lack of concern for Jewish dietary laws.” This is a reasonable question if, as one might assume from Rabbi Herzfeld’s description of the arrests, the arrested supervisors had any responsibility whatever for AgriProcessors’ compliance with “Jewish dietary laws.”

But it takes a little digging beneath the surface of Rabbi Herzfeld’s assertions to demonstrate how fallacious they are.

First, the Reb Yisroel Salanter story that he describes as “famous” does not appear in any biography of Rabbi Salanter that I have been able to find. Rabbi Hillel Goldberg’s marvelous history of the Mussar Movement titled “The Fire Within,” which has a comprehensive section on Rabbi Salanter, tells only of his having advised his students that, when they were preparing matzos for Passover, they should not overwork or make excessive demands of the female workers who were kneading the dough and otherwise preparing for the matzo baking. That same account appears in a Hebrew volume titled “Bikkurei Shai,” written by the Chief Rabbi of Givatayim, Israel.

I e-mailed Rabbi Hillel Goldberg to ask him whether he had ever heard that Rabbi Salanter had refused to certify the kashruth of a matzo factory because it was unfair to its workers. He replied that the only story on this subject that he knew of was the one that had appeared in his book. He added that it was not likely that Rabbi Salanter would ever have given a certification (“hashgacha”) on matzo because he “famously” avoided acting as a community rabbi. And I myself wonder whether it is not an anachronism for Rabbi Herzfeld to ascribe to the mid-19th century the community practices of today. At a time when all matzos were being hand-baked (and the rabbinic controversy over the kashruth of machine-made matzos was still several decades in the future), what “matzo factory” was seeking the “certification” of Rabbi Salanter?

Second, a closer look is warranted at Rabbi Herzfeld’s assertion regarding the case of the abusive “rabbi.” Nowhere in the government’s affidavit is any accusation reported against any rabbi whose job was “making sure the food was kosher.” The term “rabbi” is used interchangeably throughout the affidavit with the term “Hasidic Jew.” Obviously, any employee on the floor of the AgriProcessors plant who had a beard and wore a yarmulke was described by the government’s Guatemalan informant as a “rabbi” or “Hasidic Jew.” If one such Jewish employee – with no responsibility for kashruth – abused an employee, it does not “call into question the reliability and judgment of the rabbi in charge of making sure the food was kosher.”

Third is Rabbi Herzfeld’s reliance on the arrest of two supervisors. Would the arrested supervisors – who, one assumes from Rabbi Herzfeld’s question, are either certifying rabbis or, at least, Hasidic Jews responsible in some manner for kashruth –show the same disdain for Jewish dietary laws as for American immigration law? Rabbi Herzfeld does not tell us that the two arrested supervisors were named Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza and Martin De La Rosa-Loera – supervisors at AgriProcessors whose concern or lack of concern for Jewish dietary laws is as irrelevant as one can imagine.
At a time of the year when we recall that vicious reports to authorities led to the destruction of the Temple, Rabbi Herzfeld might take a more careful look at the grounds for his public allegations.

[Sam]

A stunning response!!

[Archie Bunker]

"A stunning response!!"

Sam, sorry to hear you are so stunned by a high priced lawyer who is an expert in spin. Snap out of it.

[Archie Bunker]

Lewin is the payroll of both Rubashkin and the Agudah. He is PAID to dispute his own rabbi.

[Sam]

Archie,

Your comments don't negate the substance of his response. When you finally hear the truth and accurate statements, you go on a spin.

[Archie Bunker]

I'm sick of Nat Lewin and his hysterical hyperbole.

"frenzy ... very little basis in fact, pilloried AgriProcessors ... driven federal and local law-enforcement personnel to threaten dire consequences (oh so the NY Times gets everyone to jump up and press criminal charges?) ... Insult was heaped on injury ... the vigilantes ... contradicts the unanimous opinion of highly respected and universally recognized kashruth-certifying agencies that have repeatedly endorsed ... it takes a little digging beneath the surface of Rabbi Herzfeld’s assertions to demonstrate how fallacious ... vicious reports to authorities led to the destruction of the Temple"

[Archie Bunker]

Lewin is really desperate. Of course Rav Salanter did not give a personal hechsher on a bakery. I'm sure Lewin is smart enough to figure that out. Lewin then asks misleading questions to smear Rabbi Herzfeld. I heard the story in yeshiva the way Rabbi Herzfeld intended that Rav Salanter was disqualifying something based on the circumstances.

[Archie Bunker]

Sam, the actual facts negate the possibility that you have a functioning mind of your own. You sir, are in a tail-spin.

[Der Nister]

V' Shushan Nevuchah

[C-Girl]

"That Kosher Today is allowing Lubinsky to write about Agriprocesors, a company he works shills for, is unethical. But to allow him to smear non-Orthodox Jews and unions on the pages of Kosher Today in defense of his client Agriprocessors is remarkably corrupt."

Lubinsky is the editor in chief of Kosher Today. He can can allow himself to write about whatever he wants because he *is* Kosher Today. He is also Kosherfest, btw. Sweet, huh?

[Shmarya]

Lubinsky does not own Kosher Today or Kosher Fest. He sold out awhile ago.

[C-Girl]

Just above the article it reads:

"Menachem Lubinsky is the founder and co-producer of Kosherfest, the annual trade event for the kosher food & beverage industry and is the editor-in-chief of KosherToday. The views expressed in this column do not represent the opinions of KosherToday's publishers and are those of the author alone."

The publisher is Brian Randall, an employee of a generic, non-Jewish communications corporation. Do you think he really has an opinion about this subject?

[Shmarya]

And Archie is clearly correct.

Rabbi Salanter's position isn't that it is bad to exploit workers but, hey, in the end, I'm using that matzo for my seder!

Lewin is a fool.

[Sam]

++Sam, the actual facts negate the possibility that you have a functioning mind of your own.++

Archie, there you go again. You're ready to spit out just about any nonsensical statement. If you criticize the substance of his response, then perhaps, your opinions will gain some credibility. As long as you avoid doing that, you would've been better off keeping quiet.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Is Iowa a "right to work" state? If so, even an organized union would have limited power. So much for an omnipotent UFCW.

[Paul Freedman]

Sam, so it's kosher. The state of Iowa's planned actions don't get into that for purposes of secular law and one could plausibly decide both that the testimony regarding the supervisors did not speak to the actual policies of rabbinic supervision at the plant, that R. Salanter never said what he is reported to have said or said it in a different context. Fine AgriP is as ritually kosher as the leap year is long.

Tell me, let's say indictments are passed down and fines are levied. By the arguments brought forward against the Op-Ed that sill shouldn't make a difference.

OK. But walking the yo-yo back the other way, the economic interests of Orthodox produce distributors to one side, that the food is arguably kosher may not be the big deal here in evaluating/anticipating judgments on the firm's ethical suitability.

[Sam]

Granted, Paul. However, the immediate discussion is regarding Herzfeld vs. Agri, not Agri in the larger picture. We all agree and it is undisputed that Agri has much to revamp on all four corners of its operation. The issue is the extent of the guilt of the Rubashkin family. It is my position that they are not as guilty as Shmarya and others would like to think (or as they claim 'know') and that much of the allegations circulating are just that, mere allegations and not fact.

[Yochanan Lavie]

I looked it up. Iowa is a "right to work" state.

Title XVI. Criminal Law and Procedure
Subtitle 1. Crime Control and Criminal Acts
Chapter 731. Labor Union Membership

§ 731.2 Refusal to employ prohibited

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, association or corporation to refuse or deny employment to any person because of membership in, or affiliation with, or resignation or withdrawal from, a labor union, organization or association, or because of refusal to join or affiliate with a labor union, organization or association. (Enacted April 28, 1947; Recodified 1977.)

What that means is, even if the union was ratified at Rubbishcan, union membership would be voluntary. This is different from a "closed shop" situation where every worker has to join the union as a condition of employment. So even if the UFCW organized Postville, its power would be strictly limited compared to a state like New York.

Lubinsky's idea that an omnipotent union orchestrated a vast conspiracy (esp. during a Republican administration) is more worthy of an Elders Of Zion theory than a Roswell theory. At least the Roswell Greys were cute and possibly benign.

[critical_minyan]

What Lewin, Lubinsky and Getzel are beginning to realize is that they cannot defend Rubashkin and Agriprocessor's ethical actions. Lewin's only defense of Rubashkin is that Herzfeld's version of a mussar story is too ambitious. The purpose of Mussar was to correct ethics, a lesson that Lewin clearly has not learnt in all his historical research on the Rabbi Yisroel Salater story.
Rubashkin's behavior violates the spirit of the bible. A book that was originally written to protect worker and animal righs is now being distorted to protect the abusers.
Getzel, Lewin and Lubinsky the more you talk, the more your corrupt philosophy is exposed.

[Jack]

The response from Nat Lewin is sweet!

He wiped the floor with this Rabbi Herzfeld - his rabbi!

Funny!!

[Jack]

critical_minyan - "Lewin's only defense of Rubashkin is that Herzfeld's version of a mussar story is too ambitious."

In all fairness - you would have to admit that this is a very strong defense:

"Third is Rabbi Herzfeld’s reliance on the arrest of two supervisors. Would the arrested supervisors – who, one assumes from Rabbi Herzfeld’s question, are either certifying rabbis or, at least, Hasidic Jews responsible in some manner for kashruth –show the same disdain for Jewish dietary laws as for American immigration law? Rabbi Herzfeld does not tell us that the two arrested supervisors were named Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza and Martin De La Rosa-Loera – supervisors at AgriProcessors whose concern or lack of concern for Jewish dietary laws is as irrelevant as one can imagine.
At a time of the year when we recall that vicious reports to authorities led to the destruction of the Temple, Rabbi Herzfeld might take a more careful look at the grounds for his public allegations."

[critical_minyan]

jack,
I don't agree that this is a strong defense at all. Are you saying you would knowingly eat food that is technically Kosher but was prepared by Jewish widows that were not being paid a fair living wage and were forced to work long hourly wages and beaten by their employers.
Meat that is prepared that way is a nevelah, just a nevelah b'rishus (permission) hatorah, and Nevelah b'rishus (evilness) hatorah.
Herzfeld is right even if his version of the Salanter story is different than the one that the Lewin is using as a proof.
I doubt Herzfeld made up the story, probably just heard a different version than Lewin.
How wrong is Lewin to contradict his Rabbi in public in order to defend one of his paying clients. He should be ashamed of himself. Shame on Lewin for doing that. He should have had someone else write that article. He definitely is a Nogea b'davar,

[Jack]

You did not answer:

"At a time of the year when we recall that vicious reports to authorities led to the destruction of the Temple, Rabbi Herzfeld might take a more careful look at the grounds for his public allegations."

[Sam]

Critical,

Your comments show a double standard. Why do you find fault in Lewin for publicly criticizing his Rabbi (not in any way sinful or wrong when legitimate) but find the Rabbi innocent of any wrongdoing when it was clearly shown that he made less than careful and inaccurate public allegations against another Jew. In fact, it would've been wrong for Lewin or any other member of the Rabbi's congregation who knows of the inaccurate statements to not criticize. After all, shouldn't a Rabbi be meticulously careful about careless statements? Isn't that what this blog is all about? Showing and exposing Rabbis who don't quite live up to their title?

[critical_minyan]

sam,
what i am critical of is Lewin's criticism for cash. He is getting paid to defend Agriprocessor but daven's in Rabbi Herzfeld's shul.
In this case he should not have used his diminishing prestige to defend his paying client against his spiritual leader.
The only question, in my opinion, is whether Rubashkin meat is a nevelah b'rishus hatorah or a nevela without the rishus hatorah.
This story is analogous to an cow that was slaughtered and a baby cow was found inside. Technically, the baby cow does not need to be slaughtered because it was inside an already kosher animal. However, I believe the Halacha is that we have to slaughter it anyway.
In this case the way the animals and workers are treated put into serious doubt whether or not the meat is kosher. However, we should all agree, even if it is kosher it is a Nevelah B'rishus hatorah and should therefore be avoided not to be a chilul hashem.

[sage]

Mr. Lewin has a historical difficulty in telling the truth.

In November, 2006, he had a debate on "Shechita and Other Matters" with Bruce Friedrich of PETA in an Orthodox Synagogue in Manhattan.

Three separate tape recordings were made of this debate, which were furnished to me and during December, 2006, I was able to splice these into the only complete audio record of the complete debate, which I burned into two audo CD's.

These are freely avaliable.

Those interested in receiving a copy can email the webmaster, whom I give permission to send my home email address.

Simply send your name and mailing address, which I will keep confidential, and you'll receive the CD's.

Listening to this debate, will give you an objective insight into Mr. Lewin.

[Paul Freedman]

sam, I would still hazard a guess that the underlying conceptual machlokes between Herzfeld and Lewin is separable from the adjudicable responsibility of the Rubashkin family management for labor conditions (or animal welfare considerations) at that plant-- both men for their purposes are conflating the issues, one to presume guilt and "push" a certain line of ethical activism, the other to presume innocence

[Archie Bunker]

Does this explain all the lawsuits against Rubashkins?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/12/24/RV129918.DTL

Sholom Rubashkin and his fellow Hasidim haggle ruthlessly, demanding to pay the lowest possible price for goods, then delay any payment at all until legal action is threatened.

[Yochanan Lavie]

I am starting a new game show: "Let's Defend the Indefensible!" Winners will receive an underaged slave, a locker full of Rubbishcan meat, and an all expenses paid trip to Postville.

[Shmarya]

I am starting a new game show: "Let's Defend the Indefensible!" Winners will receive an underaged slave, a locker full of Rubbishcan meat, and an all expenses paid trip to Postville.

ROTFLMAO!

[Carol Ann Varley]

The trigger was Agri's animal mutilations. The PETA videotapes simply exposed the atrocities.

It was the shecht heard 'round the world.

[Sam]

++Sholom Rubashkin and his fellow Hasidim haggle ruthlessly, demanding to pay the lowest possible price for goods, then delay any payment at all until legal action is threatened.++

Oh, and now you know exactly how they conduct their internal business affairs as well. That goes along with the rest of your baseless, senseless and spiteful comments.

[Archie Bunker]

Sam, in case you missed it, that was an excerpt from a major newspaper, not my own comment.

[Archie Bunker]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/08/12/kosher.management.ap/index.html

Uri Lezedek will be in Postville this week but Rubashkin still won't let in Rabbi Shain because they are terrified of anyone who actually knows where to find the problems.

[Archie Bunker]

Also, if the SF Chronicle report is correct, Sam is completely out to lunch if he thinks someone who acts like a behayma in PUBLIC won't do so in his back office as well.

[sage]

+++but Rubashkin still won't let in Rabbi Shain because they are terrified of anyone who actually knows where to find the problems.+++

If Rubashkin had any cojones, he would insist on Rabbi Shain making a detailed inspection.

But as the saying goes, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."

[critical_minyan]

comment at the onion
http://www.theonion.com/content/amvo/kosher_plant_cited_for_child_labor?utm_source=slate_rss_1

[Sam]

++Also, if the SF Chronicle report is correct, Sam is completely out to lunch if he thinks someone who acts like a behayma in PUBLIC won't do so in his back office as well.++

Archie,

Allegations are not based on thoughts. Of course one who acts dishonestly in public can do so in private as well. But i do not raise allegations based on thoughts and on what one can or may do. Perhaps, and it increasingly seems so, you do.

[rebitzman]

++If Rubashkin had any cojones, he would insist on Rabbi Shain making a detailed inspection.++

Seriously (assuming the plant PASSED) - this would be enough to get you back into the Rubashkin fold?

[Archie Bunker]

Sam, I have no idea what you are talking about regarding "thought". But it's just as well as I suspect it's another one of your inane comments in support of Rubashkin.

[sage]

++If Rubashkin had any cojones, he would insist on Rabbi Shain making a detailed inspection.++

Seriously (assuming the plant PASSED) - this would be enough to get you back into the Rubashkin fold?

Posted by: rebitzman | August 12, 2008 at 08:00 PM

It wouldn't affect me, as I have been a vegan for almost 10 years.

My posts re: this issue are on behalf of meat-eating Jews, who do not deserve playing Kashrut Russian Roulette everytime they make a meat purchase, with 5 out of the 6 chambers in the revolver loaded.