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Kosher Thoughts: The OU Threatens to Pull Agri’s Certification

by Rabbi Avi Finegold · September 9th, 2008

Agriprocessors, D'var Torah, Food Justice, Kosher, Meat, Spirituality

The fact that an announcement about the OU threatening to pull its certification from Agriprocessors came out during the month of Elul is too poignant to overlook.

Shortly after Iowa’s attorney general filed criminal charges against Agriprocessors’ owner, Aaron Rubashkin (for child labor violations), The Orthodox Union decided that unless management is replaced very soon (the quote from Rabbi Menachem Genack claims to have two weeks as its very latest point), they will no longer see the company as fit to bear its stamp of approval. Many people couldn’t be happier.

In the first of many emails I received about it the OU’s decision today, the sender framed it as the OU bowing to market pressure. I actually fear that many people will see it as such and applaud their boycotts and outraged blog posts. Now, I have stopped eating Agriprocessors meat for quite a while (ever since the first PETA video, and its subsequent rumblings), and have made my share of outraged statements, several times in very public fora, but I firmly believe that making statements about the OU caving to market pressure is counterproductive and bordering on the offensive.

First of all, any response that goes against the OU’s understanding that their halachic framework is guided by anything other than a higher authority might cause them to immediately back away from any future activity that they might follow in this new era of increased ethical awareness in Kashrut. Secondly, I think that any similar statements point to the speaker’s internal failure to give a fellow human the benefit of the doubt that they are acting with integrity.

Aside from the automatic assumption that this should be the case, one could point to the fact that the OU decided to act only after criminal charges were filed, and they could be certain that there was enough problematic activity to warrant a change of policy. I actually spoke to a senior official at the OU months ago and he told me that if charges were filed that this would in fact be the response from the OU. I trusted his statement then and I still do. Placing blame on the OU for taking so long to respond only puts us in the same situation, because kashrut goes far beyond what we eat.

Elul is regarded as a stock-taking opportunity before the New Year. As Jews, we don’t have New Year’s resolutions, we have pre-New Year resolutions, where we show God and ourselves that we are capable of change so that when it comes time to ask God and ourselves for a good year we can demonstrate that we deserve it. What does it say when all we can show is that we are capable of pointing fingers at other organizations but not at ourselves, and deny ourselves the ability to think positively of others?

I would say that we haven’t leaned the lessons of kashrut that we have been preaching over the past year. We demand the best for the workers at the meatpacking plants because that is what they deserve as fellow humans, and we ask of our CSAs that our food be grown by good people who are our neighbors because we want to support their endeavors. I feel that we should follow suit with the OU and assume that they are acting in accordance with their increased awareness of the ethical considerations involved in Kashrut in the 21st century and we should applaud them for their statement.

Read the full story about the OU’s decision here.

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8 Responses to “Kosher Thoughts: The OU Threatens to Pull Agri’s Certification”

Rabbi Shmuel Says:
September 9th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
well said R Avi!

A guten Elul
Eric Schulmiller Says:
September 9th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
I think you are correct that this is not a case of the OU bowing to outside pressures. However, just because their motives are “pure” doesn’t change the fact that their decision (for months now, according to your post) to draw the line at criminal charges speaks to the OU’s continued willingness to give the Rubashkins far to much benefit of the doubt, to the detriment of the animals and workers who were abused and mistreated, and consumers who might be potentially sickened due to their numerous health violations. Before the OU could even begin to do teshuvah, they would have to acknowledge that their approach has been wrong all along, and this is not at all what they believe.
Michael Croland Says:
September 9th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
well said, Eric!
Rabbi Shmuel Says:
September 10th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Eric – WADR you miss Avi’s nuanced and delicate point (this theme was beaten to death in David Seidenberg’s screed) on a larger level, Elul is a time for self-searching and personal breast beating not fingerpointing and book thumping and a “J’accuse” mindset – Actually, the OU drew a line in the sand and said if that line was crossed they would act – the line was crossed and they have given the terms of their action – so ironically, they have been consistent throughout the whole thing.
Ben Murane Says:
September 10th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Their line was weak. It was an overwhelming level of evidence. Discerning readers gave them the benefit of the doubt long ago — before the PR firm was hired, before the federal raid, before the boycotts.

The line they should have drawn was long ago.
Rabbi David Seidenberg Says:
September 10th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
In case anyone wants to read my “screed”, just go to http://jcarrot.org/agro-about-agriprocessors/. It seems that events are proving the position I advocated. There is good reason why the halakhah (Jewish law) teaches us to be suspicious of a butcher who claims to have done t’shuvah in order to restore his business, as I wrote about there.

It is also a shame that Rabbi Shmuel continues to attack style, instead of dealing with the substance of the article. There’s some halakhah to reckon with Reb Shmuel! There’s also a matter of showing mutual respect, even in disagreement. If the sages of old could do it, then why can’t we?

I agree with Avi’s basic point: probably the OU is doing what it said it would do all along–withdraw certification in the face of charges.

The problem is, it’s almost impossible to imagine that OU’s inspectors never noticed all the under-age workers, any more than it’s possible to imagine they never saw tracheas being torn out of animals with hooks. Just like teachers in schools, mashigichim should consider themselves “mandated reporters” of ethical violations, tsa’ar ba’alei chayim, abuse of workers, etc.

The bigger problem is, if the OU had threatened to withdraw certification long ago, they could have gotten Agriprocessors to shape up before all this fiasco unfolded, prevented a lot of chillul Hashem and perhaps prevented a lot of abuse, and headed off what now looks almost inevitable: the bankruptcy and dissolution of Agripricessors.

It would help to restore the OU’s credibility if they would develop stricter guidelines to deal with future situations in the face of this ethical crisis.

(Rabbi) David
Meatloaf Says:
September 10th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
cross posted on JewSchool:

The OU Board was always split on the issue of Agriprocessors. The preponderance of evidence that has come out pushed those in the middle over the edge. The OU should be applauded for moving in the right direction on this, but much will depend on what action they take over the next few weeks. I think the OU also realizes that more charges by government agencies are still to come.