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A View of the Victims of the “War on Kosher”

by Ben Murane · December 2nd, 2008
Agriprocessors, Kosher, On The Web

No warOver at Jewschool, Borough Park-born blogger “chillul Who?” covers the email chain letter promoting a petition by supporters of the Rubashkin family, condemning (denying?) the events as the “War on Kosher.” As of almost 1 pm today, it has over 10,500 signatures.

But more interesting to me than the content of the petition are the comments of the signatories. Ranging from the persecuted panic to the phenominally ignorant to the poetically philosophical, the thousands of pages contain jewels of understanding of a world almost totally un-JCarrot. Enter the dramatis personae:

The conspiracy theorists: 

Name not displayed, New York
What started out as a PETA tactic to stop the slaughtering of as many animals as they could, became a government witch-hunt far disproportionate to any alleged crimes committed.

The clever: 

Raphael Chudaitov, New York
DONT HATE THE PLAYER, HATE THE GAME.

The panicked:

Ayela Krispine, New York
i truely feel that this entire trial is an act of antisemitism!!! At the rate its going the jews in the U.S. will not have any way of eating properly kosherd meat!!!! I would also like to add that as a jew in this country I now feel unsafe and that this is a direct threat to our entire comunity! Ayela.

Allen Licht, Florida
In 1934, the Nazis began their prosecution of Jews by shutting down their ritual slaughter houses. Please don’t allow it to happen in the USA.

Mendel Groner, Australia
I am very upset by these anti semitic people who want any excuse to prosecute Jews.They should be ashamed of themselves.

The lawyers and legalists:

Ella Gorelick, New Jersey
I think that it is very unfair what is being done to the defendent. There are double standards being used in our court system, and it’s about time that it stopped. We will not stand by idly and let this happen.

Baila Mandelbaum, New York
i think agriprocessors has been dealt with very unfairly - in this fair country we must first establish facts - firsthand - then have due legal process - and only then can justice be served. This case reeks of slander and hate and must be investigated further in a systematic fashion before any fingers are pointed.

The pragmatic (although Tilly has forgotten that the government can read these posts): 

Tilly Friedman, New Jersey
I am not going to condemn the US government. It is not a just thing to do. From all our years of History, the USA has been the safest haven for us yiden so far. PLEASE DO NOT MISINTERPERT MY WORDS C”V. My heart goes out for the Rubashkin family and it is my sincere will that they get out of this safe and sound and get back on their feet - and lead the peaceful lives they used to have, and should only know of more joy and happiness. Still, if we want to help this cause, our approach should not be “anti semitisim”. This could only aggrivate the government further, and accomplish the opposite. WE WANT THE BEST. Though the Rubashkin family is 1000% right, we have to try to deal with this in a civil manner. May we all be zoicha to the final redemption SPEEDILY, May Moshiach take us in his wings and bring us home. AMEIN!

The loyalists: 

Aharon Hiley, New York
As i know the Rubashkin Family very close, i can say with no guilty concision, that; the way this case is being handled against the Rubashkin Family is more to satisfy and justify the Peta org and those who were looking to shut down Agri due to jealousy and antisemitism, and not for the actual crimes that were “supposedly” done.

Name not displayed, New York
Please acquit these innocent families!!

The direct: 

Yehuda Schwartz, Israel
WHAT CHUTZPA

The anti-PETA: 

M Lieberman, New York
It’t obvious from the force and veracity of the raid on Agri that the motivation was based on Bigotry. What the people at PETA dont understand is that the Shchita process is much less painfull to the animal being slaughtered. If they took an eaqual interest in the Human condition as they do to the animal kingdom many of our problems would vanish. Their misplaced concerns only show their ingnorance and the fact that they have to much time on their hands. As for the Politicians, we all knlow that only the lowest form of human being would choose of his own free will to be a politician. They go which ever way the wind blows and speak before they think.

My favorites, however, are the educated and clearly well-informed minority who throw us JCarrot readers very serious philosophical and navel-gazing questions back into our courts:

Anonymous, New York
This whole thing is absolutely ridiculous. Further evidence of the liberal wing of this country sacrificing real world conditions for unreachable idealistic goals.

Are we expecting too much? Is it a pipe dream to think that enough meat can be produced by the world humanely? Or enough food at all? Is it less dreamy to imagine that we can reform industrial meat? Where does the right to religion intersect with a gritty reality — and which takes precedence? I’m not a vegetarian, but I should be able to answer these questions.

Anonymous, New York
Just another instance of Compassionate Liberal Idealism gone awry. Anyone that actually has functional knowledge of how large companies are run will tell you that what happened here is STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE for the vast majority of even the most prestigious companies. It is obvious beyond the shadow of a doubt that Rubashkin is being singled out for harsh treatment.

Have the Jews involved in this pillioring of Agriprocessors reacted overly harsh because Rubashkins was one of our own? I would say it’s more important to clean our own house before searching the homes of others — but who is to say that the house of orthodoxy is under my jurisdiction?

Then there is the “right back atcha”:

Anonymous, New York
I wonder - how come the conservative and reform so called rabbis never complained to the owners of non kosher restaurants about thier help. They eat non kosher food in non kosher restaurants, and the busboy’s, dishwashwers are all non-documented workers, probably receiving wages below the minimium wage, without any benefits. Why have they not begun a protest against these restaurants where they enjoy their traif food ?. Perhaps, the answer to this question- the owners are not Orthodox Jews, and therefore are not subject to their ongoing harrasment of torah observent jewry. Something that is definately lacking in their lifestyle.

Let she/he/ze who is without sin throw the first stone. Where have I been buying my lunches recently?

Lastly, comes the realist, who might shed a bit of redeption upon the other signers of the petition:

Anonymous, New York
There is no question that the situation Agri got out of hand. However, they have already paid a heavy price and have learned their lesson. What’s the point of beating a dead horse? It just worsens the situation for the employees, residents, lenders and consumers with no benefit to anyone.

The reputation of Rubashkin — outside of the most kosher-centered sectors perhaps — is in the trash, the company is destroyed. The head of the family is likely headed to jail. Meanwhile, kosher meat prices have soared and many, many more comments plead simply for production to resume.

I think I have more in common with some Palestinians than I do with the world of these signers. A very un-JCarrot world and a glimpse into a community totally unlike my own.

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11 Responses to “A View of the Victims of the “War on Kosher””

  1. marmar1028 Says:
    December 2nd, 2008 at 3:57 pm

    Reading an article in the Jewish Chronicle on the topic at my parents house over Thanksgiving, I had a strong urge to write a letter to the editor asking Jews to look at the opportunity this presents, namely incorporating more vegetarian and even vegan elements into their foodstyles. I know about the commandment to eat meat and I am aware of its symbolism, but I am also aware of high rates of obesity (and frankly, ignorance about health) the religious Jewish community is experiencing. This is temporary - another company will take Agri’s place and soon enough everyone will have their brisket back. In the meantime, maybe its time to go back to the sources and question the commandment to eat meat…or barring that, just embrace the vegetarian lifestyle for a little while and see if it fits.

  2. Gersh Says:
    December 2nd, 2008 at 4:04 pm

    What makes the “right back atcha” fellow think that every worker in kosher restaurants is documented and paid a living wage?

    Also, remember what happened the last time Jews cried out for meat? :–)

  3. marmar1028 Says:
    December 2nd, 2008 at 4:08 pm

    (edit)
    By commandment, I meant halakhic tradition ;)

  4. Karen Says:
    December 2nd, 2008 at 4:17 pm

    well, I was with you all the way until your last paragraph. what does this have to do with Palestinians? I guess you were reaching for something so opposite that your meaning was clear, but all it did was make me wonder if you think Palestinians don’t like kosher meat? Probably a lot of Palestians living in the states buy Agri products to help them eat halal! Maybe that’s an angle we can investigate further - how do halal meat eaters feel about the Agri situation?

  5. Kirby Says:
    December 2nd, 2008 at 10:42 pm

    I’m (modern) orthodox, and I hear opinions like the ones you selected from this letter going around all of the time, from totally nutty (though I judge no man!) to rightly critical of knee jerk liberalism. I keep kosher, I’m really liberal in comparison to most of my fellow congregants, and I used to live about 15 miles from Postville, IA. I don’t want to see Postville suffer, neither immigrant workers, the Jews who moved there to support the processing plant or the long-time residents. I also think it’s true that Orthodox Jews, all Jews, are subject to a high standard of ethical behavior, whether we like it or not. So it becomes our job to live up to that standard. Standard Operating Procedure for large corporations or not, the Rubashkin family messed up.
    They should be held accountable.
    This isn’t anti-Semitism. The entire meat and poultry industry’s chickens (pardon the pun) are coming home to roost.

  6. Fern Says:
    December 2nd, 2008 at 11:01 pm

    I condemn what happened at the Rubashkin plant in the harshest terms possible, and don’t think the government raid had anything to do with a war on kashrut.

    That being said, there is a double standard being applied. I work in HR and know that it is nearly impossible to not hire illegal aliens in certain industries. The documents illegal aliens have are really, really good. Add into that mix low level managers actively helping illegal aliens get hired, and sometimes all I can do is throw my hands up in the air. Likewise, the rules for what can and cannot be deducted from a paycheck are tricky, and easy to violate. I would venture to guess that everyone who reads this blog has had something improper done with their paycheck at least once in their working lives. My husband works for a large company and I can tick off five things that I know their HR department has done improperly just off the top of my head. You would think that large corporations would have more sophisticated HR departments, but the laws are so complex and constantly changing, that it is impossible to be perfect all of the time.

    I’m not saying that all this means that Rubashkin’s should be let off the hook. I am saying that other companies should be held to the same standard. Every industry that relies on minimum or low wage workers is hiring illegals. And any company with more than one employee has done something improper with their payroll.

    What I really find ridiculous is the customer “outrage.” I guarantee you that if you eat food that you did not grow yourself, you have supported businesses that know or should have known that they hired illegal aliens. Farms, meat packing plants, food processing factories, restaurants. All of them are huge illegal alien magnets. If you are really serious about the issues surrounding the Rubashkin controversy, grow all of your own food. Otherwise your outrage is just talk and no walk.

  7. The Shmethicist Says:
    December 4th, 2008 at 1:43 am

    I appreciate the shmethical issues that Ben raises at the end of this post.

    At the same time, it’s important that we be clear-eyed in any soul-searching we take on.

    This country routinely makes a show of punishing undocumented workers - while letting the companies that profit from their labor remain in a position to continue illegal practices. If we are seeing a move to holding those with greater power responsible, that’s not a bad thing - even if one of the first cases involves a Jew.

    Moreover, the case against Agriprocessors includes over 9,000 incidents of child labor violations. That’s pretty significant, and much more egregious than just “looking the other way” when a potential employee is undocumented.

    So yes, if I knew that any food source had those kind of processes, I would boycott it. Just like I didn’t eat that snickers bar my neighbor offered me, filched from her kid’s halloween candy.

    So do I respond to this case differently because the alleged perpetrators are Jewish - and because the crime is directly linked to Jewish religious practice? Well, perhaps it’s time to recall the old-school Hebrew National commercials: we answer to a higher authority.

  8. patti Says:
    December 4th, 2008 at 2:32 am

    the issue is not merely that rubashkin’s hired undocumented immigrant workers. if press reports have been accurate, they had obviously underage employees on the slaughtering floor, regularly had employees working up to 18-hour shifts 6 days a week, and sent injured employees directly from the emergency room back to the plant floor with just-stitched, still-bleeding wounds, among other egregious examples of employee mistreatment.

  9. Rabbi Shmuel Says:
    December 4th, 2008 at 8:35 pm

    “Ranging from the persecuted panic to the phenominally ignorant to the poetically philosophical”

    Wow - what a pompous and pathetically prolix attempt to be patronizing and to pander to the pampered, proud and the prosperous.

    Look Ben - your trademark smarminess is duly noted and to be expected. What I find curious however is your own double standard - you profess to have an “I do my thing - you do your thing and if we meet it’s beautiful” type of headspace. But beyond Ortho-bashing, what do you offer? It seems it’s your way or the highway - that anyone who dares disagree with you becomes the target of your contempt and derision. That’s hardly a “live and let live” deal - you have your opinion they have theirs - you see this debacle through your prism and experience and they through theirs. Carful now - when you start with the “I’m right, they’re wrong” mentality you end up sounding like just as much of
    fundamentalist as they do - Heaven forfend!

    More critically howver, as the last letter writer brought up, you’re basically beating a dead horse. But last week, a nice young guy, not much older than your YCT Food Conference shochet - who was shechting locally raised birds for the hundreds of visitors he hosted weekly (how many guests- and I don’t mean friends - have you hosted in the last week?) and whose wife was baking local breads to feed those in need (appx 800 per week) were brutally and savagely murdered - but not a peep from you. But the opportunity to regurgitate last week’s lunch about Rubashkin kicks you into a frenetic high gear. Strange days indeed! Maybe your hyperbolic Palestinian reference runs deeper than even you are aware.

  10. Zepo Says:
    December 6th, 2008 at 2:59 pm

    What shameful comments by the Jewish community in regard to still blaming the messenger, PETA, instead of the guilty, for the obscene cruelty to animals that existed in this hell hole, so-called “kosher slaughterhouse.” Many Jews are appalled at the lack of compassion for helpless animals shown by the broad Jewish community, and I am one of them. Always accusing animal advocates for “picking on the Jews” is so ignorant and absolutely incorrect. PETA and other animal advocates don’t give a damn if you are Jewish, Hindu, Muslim or Moses - Bringing unnecessary pain and suffering to animals is WRONG, as well as the mistreatment of employees, the hiring of illegal workers so they can be paid less, abused and treated like dirt. Oh yes, AgriProcessors needs your defense - looks as if the major part of these comments would eat anything an Orthodox rabbi told them was kosher. Very sad, and a blight on our Jewish traditions of compassion to animals.

  11. Posh Jew Says:
    December 8th, 2008 at 5:57 pm

    Who says that a vegetarian - and even more (less) so, a vegan - “lifestyle” is a healthful lifestyle? Exactly the opposite is true. Moderate amounts of meat are much more healthful than no meat or poultry or fish at all.

    As for obesity, I used to know a vegetarian who dieted on cake (pareve - so it was vegan, of course) more than anything else and wasn’t exactly slim. I also used to know a self-proclaimed vegan who dropped dead in her early 60s; while not fat, she certainly wasn’t the greatest speciman of health.

    On the other hand, my in-laws are both into their 90s; they never met a good piece of meat they didn’t like.

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