New Ethical and Legal Guidelines by Orthodox Group Echo Central Principles of Hekhsher Tzedek - Affirm Importance of the Magen Tzedek

Conservative Movement’s Ethical Certification Seal In Final Stages of Development

January 22, 2010 (New York, NY) – The Magen Tzedek ethical certification seal for kosher foods received an important vote of confidence yesterday as the Rabbinical Council of America released its Guidelines to Enhance Kosher Food Producers’ Compliance with Jewish Legal and Ethical Teachings.

Launched during the summer of 2007, Magen Tzedek is a joint project of the Hekhsher Tzedek Commission of the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

“We heartily salute the RCA for developing these guidelines which obviously come in response to recent serious abuses within the kosher food industry,” stated Rabbi Morris Allen, founder and director of Magen Tzedek. “We are gratified to have the core principles of Magen Tzedek affirmed in their guidelines and feel supported in our effort by our counterpart organization in the Orthodox world.”

“The power of a good idea is magnified when it gains support from all corners,” said Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly. “The observance and promotion of kashrut is a commonly-shared value of both Conservative and Orthodox Judaism. The Rabbinical Assembly looks forward to working with the rabbis of the RCA so that our joint efforts can insure that kashrut is a kiddush Ha-Shem, a sanctification of Gd’s name for the Jewish People.”

The RCA’s announcement comes at a critical time in the development of Magen Tzedek as the Hekhsher Tzedek Commission is about to sign a contract with a major social auditing firm that will take its two years’ work on the development of standards and guidelines and transform them into objective and verifiable means to certify companies that their ethical practices meet appropriate standards of conduct in the production food, reported Rabbi Allen.

“The RCA’s announcement underscores Magen Tzedek’s message,” said Rabbi Schonfeld. “While Magen Tzedek constitutes a unique expression of our unflagging commitment to the integration of ethics and ritual, we are pleased that our Orthodox colleagues have begun to develop their guidelines.”

The world’s first Jewish ethical certification seal, Magen Tzedek will help assure consumers that kosher food products were produced in keeping with the highest possible Jewish ethical values and ideals for social justice in the area of labor concerns, animal welfare, environmental impact, consumer issues and corporate integrity.

It is designed to coexist with other rabbinic kosher seals.

The development of the Magen Tzedek seal came as a response to the egregious violations of human and animal rights at the AgriProcessors Meat Processing facility in Postville, Iowa, the largest producer of kosher meat and poultry in the US. As an expert witness on the ground, Rabbi Allen had an intimate knowledge of the situation and advocated for much-needed changes, developing Hekhsher Tzedek in the process.

The basic principle of Hekhsher Tzedek is that the ethical underpinning of kashrut is inextricable from the ritual observance.

The Magen Tzedek seal will be awarded to kosher food companies based on a number of criteria having to do with such matters as employee health, safety and training; wages and benefits; the company’s environmental impact; corporate transparency and product development, among others.

“More than anything, the RCA’s new ethical and legal guidelines demonstrate that Magen Tzedek has captured the hearts and minds of American Jews, reflecting deeply-held social and religious values,” said Rabbi Allen.

In the Diaspora: 'Hechsher tzedek'

Samuel Freedman , THE JERUSALEM POST
November 29, 2007

Midway through his now-famous letter from the city jail in Birmingham, Alabama, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. defended the ongoing protest marches against segregation by quoting the prophet Amos: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." At another point in the letter, he referred to the passage in the Book of Daniel in which Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, under threat of death, refuse to bow before the gods of their Babylonian conquerors.

King meant his letter primarily to chastise the moderate clergymen of Birmingham, most of them Christian, who considered the movement's direct action too radical. And in doing so, he cited many religious figures in the Christian sphere, from Jesus and St. Thomas to Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich.

Even so, then and now, King's words carried an unexpected, unintended rebuke for Jews committed to social justice. One of the whopping paradoxes of the civil rights movement was that the Jews who comprised a disproportionate share of white activists and volunteers were largely ignorant of the theological roots of their idealism. With some rare rabbinic exceptions like Abraham Joshua Heschel and Jack Rothschild, they had to learn their own Bible from the black Christians in the campaign.

The divide between religious knowledge and social action persists in American Jewish life. In the parts of the Jewish spectrum with the strongest involvement in tikkun olam, particularly among the secular and unaffiliated, there is the least awareness of the Judaic foundations of that concept. (In fact, there is often an antipathy to religion itself as mere superstition.) In the parts with the deepest knowledge of text and tradition, particularly the Orthodox sector, a formidable apparatus of charities exists almost entirely to serve internal needs.

ONE OF the reasons that American Jewish World Service under the leadership of Ruth Messinger has become such a phenomenon, I am convinced, is that it has overtly connected activism (in the form of Peace Corps-like projects in developing nations) to a disciplined, ongoing study of Jewish texts. It has taken its young volunteers past that inchoate, uninformed sense that there's something sort of Jewish about doing social justice.

Occupying the unstable center of American Jewish life, a place defined more by what it isn't than what it is, the Conservative movement has struggled over the years to reconcile contemporary Jewish political impulses with traditional Judaic religious injunctions. Now at least a partial reconciliation is at hand, and it is one with relevance and resonance far beyond the Conservative movement alone.

A rabbi in suburban Minneapolis-St. Paul, Morris Allen, has led the movement to create a new form of kosher certification, which he calls a hechsher tzedek. As the name implies, this certification would reflect a commitment to justice on behalf of kosher food companies rather than solely their adherence to the laws of kashrut in food preparation.

Put another way, the hechsher tzedek puts the treatment of human beings at least on a par with the treatment of an animal. Many of the humans in question are Latino immigrants who have filled the labor vacuum in slaughterhouses across the United States and been the victims of both exploitative bosses and nativist bigots. The plant that first caught Rabbi Allen's attention several years ago is Agriprocessors in eastern Iowa. The facility, which is owned by a Lubavitcher family and produces the most kosher meat of any plant in the United States, has been controversial for nearly a decade. First the journalist and author Stephen Bloom, in his book Postville, depicted the Hassidic owners and managers not as the rescuers of a depleted local economy but as harsh, rigid outsiders. A series of articles by Nathaniel Popper in the Forward detailed the below-market wages and dangerous conditions in the plant.

While Agriprocessors inspired the hechsher tzedek, if "inspired" is the word, the certification plan would cover the entire $11.5-billion-a-year industry. To earn the hechsher tzedek, an employer, meaning in most cases a large corporation, would have to pay wages consistent with regional rates, provide employees with health care and vacation benefits, and offer safety training to workers in a language they understand, among other requirements. The hechsher tzedek would augment rather than replace existing certifications, most of them issued by Orthodox va'ads.

AT THIS point, the plan is moving gradually yet steadily closer to becoming reality. The Rabbinical Assembly, the organization of Conservative rabbis, has formally endorsed it. The Nathan Cummings Foundation, a respected institution in Jewish philanthropy, has given a $50,000 grant. At its biennial meeting this week, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the movement's congregational arm, is taking up a detailed paper citing the textual bases for the hechsher tzedek in the Tanakh, the Talmud and Shulhan Aruch.

Those citations, at least as I read them as a lay person, make a sensible, unforced link between Judaism and this particular form of social justice. As a theological treatise for labor rights, it reminds me of the papal encyclical Rerum Novarum, a cornerstone of trade unionism in the 20th-century West. It helps, too, that Rabbi Allen was a prominent advocate for increasing kosher observance in Conservative circles before taking up this cause. No one can accuse him of discovering kashrut just in time to change the rules.

I have a hard time imagining that more Jews would become kosher as a result of hechsher tzedek, but the size of the kosher food market suggests that many Jewish consumers, while indifferent to most of the dietary laws, still buy kosher meat for reasons of sentiment, solidarity or perceived quality. How many of them naively think that glatt - a concept, indeed a social construction, that barely existed in the United States before World War II - connotes some higher kosher status, when it's more like higher price?

So just as idealism and commerce have fruitfully commingled in the booming sales of hybrid cars and the campus protests against sweatshop labor, this kind of cross-pollination could find its Jewish expression in hechsher tzedek. It could provide a living object lesson in the relevance of tradition to modernity, and of the inextricable interplay of Judaism and what we like to think of as a Jewish set of values.

And, for once, we wouldn't need a Talmud Torah lesson from a Baptist preacher to get the point.

Eco-Kosher Fulfills Law On All Levels

ALAN COOPERMAN
The Washington Post
and CLAUDIA BAYLISS
Tribune Staff Writer

South Bend Tribune September 6, 2007


First she had to find an organic cattle farm near home. Then a "shochet," a person trained in kosher slaughtering, who was willing to do a freelance job. Then a kosher butcher to carve the beef into various cuts, and other families from her synagogue to share it.

All told, it took Devora Kimelman-Block of Silver Spring, Md., 10 months to obtain 450 pounds of meat that is local, grass-fed, organic and strictly kosher. It was a lot of work.

"Here I am, leading this meat thing, and we don't even eat meat in our house," she said.

As a part of a budding movement sometimes called "eco-kosher," which combines traditional Jewish dietary laws with new concerns about industrial agriculture, global warming and fair treatment of workers, Kimelman-Block's effort does make sense. Part of the greening of American religion, eco-kosher is an indication of how rapidly environmental issues are entering the mainstream of religious life.

For many people, the primary daily impact of rising environmental consciousness is on the food they eat, which they want to be produced locally, sustainably, organically and humanely. Increasingly, religious people view this as a religious obligation, not just a matter of good health or ethics. The trend is advancing particularly fast among Jews, who have a long tradition of investing food with religious meaning.

A new ethical standard

Rabbi Michael Friedland, of Sinai Synagogue in South Bend, sees the movement as a response to the realities of modern food production, which has become more and more complex. "Many of us were affected deeply by the book 'Fast Food Nation,' " he said during a recent phone conversation. He remembers feeling disgust on learning that "the meat is produced with no respect for the animal" and workers in meat plants are not treated well.

Nigel S. Savage, who keeps a kosher household and edits a Web site, The Jew and Carrot (www.jcarrot.org) shares Friedland's sense that such

practices do not meet the requirements of his faith. "I would no sooner bring eggs from caged, battery-farmed hens into my home than I would shrimp or pork," Savage says. His Web site is devoted to what he calls "the new Jewish food movement."

The most dramatic expansion of eco-kosher principles is likely to come in the next few years as Conservative rabbis and congregations, which occupy the middle ground between Orthodox and Reform Judaism, create a new ethical standard for food production.

Justice certification

The Conservative seal of approval will not be based on traditional kosher requirements, such as separating meat from dairy products, avoiding pork and shellfish, and slaughtering animals with a sharp knife across the throat.

Rather, the Conservative "hechsher tzedek," Hebrew for "justice certification," will attest that a particular food was produced at a plant that meets ethical norms in six areas: fair wages and benefits, health and safety, training, corporate transparency, animal welfare and environmental impact.

Rabbi Morris Allen of Mendota Heights, Minn., head of the committee drafting the rules, said he hopes to have enforceable standards in place by Rosh Hashana (which begins at sundown on Wednesday this year). Within a year after that, he said, the justice certification should begin to appear on packaged foods.

The hechsher tzedek, Allen said, is meant to supplement, not replace, the traditional kosher certification, which is most often supervised by Orthodox agencies. But he does believe that if given the choice between a kosher item and a kosher item "produced by a company that respects its workers and the environment," most Jews will choose the latter.

The dark side

Friedland, a Conservative rabbi, pointed out that "with cow and veal, to keep the meat soft, the muscles soft, they don't let the animals move." Penned up, basically chained -- "It's not the way animals should live," he said.

"A person who takes 'kashrut' (kosher) seriously would say, 'You know, kashrut is not just what I'm sticking in my mouth, but "How did the animal get to be that way? How was the animal treated?" ' " Friedland said. And beyond that, he added, "Are the companies that produce this kosher food, do they follow decent labor practices?"

Kimelman-Block, who is married to a Conservative rabbi, recalls feeling ashamed after reading articles last year in the Jewish newspaper the Forward about the treatment of workers and cattle at a large kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa.

"I know that (the Iowa plant) is probably no worse than the other U.S. food processors, but they're doing it in the name of Judaism, in the name of holiness," she said. "That's the thing about kashrut -- it's supposed to be ethical, and it ... has this dark side that either people don't know about, or if they know about, they think it's irrelevant."

Broader definition of kosher

What it comes down to, Friedland said, is that "You understand kashrut in a very narrow way as just 'Food I'm putting into my mouth is following dietary laws.'

"Or, do you understand kashrut in a greater -- a broader way. That 'What I'm eating has been produced with respect for human beings, with respect for the animals, because eating is a way that I draw close to God.'

"It's one of the most mundane activities we do every day, and yet kashrut suggests that I can raise that mundane activity up to holiness and drawing close to God," Friedland said.

Visiting a slaughterhouse where immigrant workers were poorly trained changed the thinking of Allen. "Having promoted kashrut for 21 years and made it a central part of my rabbinate, all of a sudden it made sense to me: How could I be satisfied if the ritual aspects of kashrut were being followed but the way the workers were treated was degrading and contrary to Jewish ethical norms?" he said.

The whole process

It's much easier to buy food that follows the minimum kosher guidelines for putting food in your mouth, Friedland said. Milk and meat are kept separate. You know that not even a trace amount of a dairy product has been added to the bread of your meat sandwich to make the bread whiter or softer. The meat is kosher according to Jewish law.

But, Friedland added, "By limiting yourself to that narrow focus, you have to wonder if that is what God is really demanding of you. Or is there something more important?

"The prophets in the Bible used to rail against the people because they would offer sacrifices. We're coming up to Yom Kippur. In the biblical period, a key element of Jewish worship was offering an animal for various reasons.

"On the High Holy Days, we read a passage from Isaiah, where Isaiah basically says, 'I don't want your sacrifices.' " God didn't want the people's sacrifices, Friedland explained, and Isaiah railed against the people because they were "fraudulent toward one another. They would show disrespect to the poor and the needy in their community. Their society was corrupt." After bringing their animals to be sacrificed, Friedland said, they would say, "Now I'm clean."

Following the law in that strict or narrow sense is not enough, Friedland said. It does not fulfill its spirit.

"I think that's what the hechsher tzedek movement is trying to say. We really have to think, now that we know how complex the modern methods for food production are. We really can't pretend that it's just about limiting ourselves to the end production. We've got to be concerned with the whole process. Because how we eat connects us to God."

Affordability, keeping track of the labor practices of companies around the world, tracking down all the additives available and often used to enhance food, and discovering even the tiniest amounts of dairy products in foods, which the FDA doesn't regulate, are only some of the issues -- the pieces of the puzzle -- that kosher- observant Jews face.

Sinai Synagogue has created an environmental committee, Friedland said, to begin looking more closely at these issues. Whether they can afford to buy food with the hechsher tzedek label is "something we'll have to think about."

"I am grateful for what Rabbi Allen is doing," Friedland said. "The more transparency you have, the more you can control your own ethical choices. I think that's really important: that we should know what we're doing. And not knowing is convenient, but it's not right.

"And it's not what God expects of us."

Certifiably Ethical

(09/06/2007)
The Jewish Week

Social action group offers seal of approval to hundreds of establishments with kosher business practices.

Michele Chabin - Israel Correspondent

Jerusalem — When Anat Bibi, co-owner of the Anna Ticho House restaurant, recently remodeled her eatery’s spacious, serene garden, she made sure to include gently sloping ramps to accommodate strollers and patrons in wheelchairs.

“People are more aware of the need for accessibility and ask for it,” Bibi said, pointing to the garden’s multi-level deck, reachable by ramps. “Accommodating people’s needs is good business, but it’s also the right and ethical thing to do.

”Ethical kashrut, an idea that socially minded Jews in Israel and the U.S. have been advocating — with varying degrees of success — for decades, is finally catching on in Israel, largely thanks to a program run by the social-action organization Bema’aglei Tzedek (Circles of Justice).

Launched in late 2004, the “Social Seal” initiative encourages restaurants and wedding halls to adopt a conscience in two specific areas: accessibility to the disabled and workers’ rights. Those that meet the program’s criteria are awarded a certificate, which the owners display prominently next to their kashrut certification.

More than 300 establishments in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Beersheva, Maaleh Adumim, Kfar Saba and smaller locales have been awarded the seal, which minimally requires owners to deal fairly with their workers and to install wheelchair ramps and print menus in Braille.

“There’s a gigantic difference between the laws passed by the Knesset and what’s happening in reality,” says Gideon Rosenberg, director of the Social Seal Program, explaining why his organization exists. “There are only 19 people in the entire country enforcing labor law and 90 percent of public buildings aren’t accessible to the disabled.

”Bema’aglei Tzedek launched the seal program at the urging of Rabbi Avi Gisser, the spiritual leader of Ofra, an settlement in the West Bank.

“Rabbi Gisser was participating at a wedding,” Rosenberg recalls, “and one of the waiters told him he wasn’t being paid a legal wage. He felt that just as there is kashrut certification, there should also be certification based on values. So we convened a group of social activists, legal people and rabbis and worked out the criteria.”

To meet the criteria, participating restaurants must make every effort to treat both employees and disabled patrons with respect. Workers must receive the wages, number of breaks and vacation time mandated by law, and should not be forced to work past midnight, when public transportation is virtually non-existent. Physically and mentally challenged diners must be able to enter and navigate through a restaurant and have their needs met in a timely, respectful manner.

While Rosenberg says that many restaurants and halls have been eager to join the program, many others aren’t prepared to invest the time and money necessary to implement change.

That’s where social action comes into play.

“One well-known Jerusalem restaurant owner told us quite plainly he wasn’t prepared to pay his Arab workers the same wage he pays his Jewish workers,” Rosenberg relates. “A year later he changed his mind after several of his customers told him they were upset by the wage discrepancy, and he began to pay more.

”Patrons can learn whether their favorite establishment has received a “tav” (seal) from the organization’s Web site (www.mtzedek.org.il/en.asp). If it’s not on the list, they may feel compelled to quiz the restaurateur.

The group's efforts are similar to an initiative in the United States. Rabbi Morris Allen, of Beth Jacob Congregation in Mendota Heights, Minn., who is spearheading the Hechsher Tzedek program of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Rabbinical Assembly, said, “We’re in the process of developing guidelines by which we will evaluate whether already heckshered food is deserving of a hechsher tzedek.”

Rabbi Allen said that his organization has been in touch with Bema’aglei Tzedek, mainly by e-mail, but that the two groups have not yet begun to collaborate on projects.

“We’re very much aware of their work,” he said. “I think it’s significant that in both America and Israel Jews are addressing the multifaceted nature of what it means to keep kosher in the 21st century. Increasingly for Jews it is not enough to be concerned about ritual aspects of keeping kosher; it is also an ethical demand incumbent upon us as Jews.”

Chana Zora, manager of Kav LaOved, a worker’s hotline that assists both Israeli and foreign workers to assert their rights, says that Bema’aglei Tzedek has done a great deal to raise awareness.

“The fact that they educate both workers and students, who will themselves one day become workers, is very important” Zora says, referring to the hundreds of workshops Bema’aglei Tzedek conducts annually with employees, high school students and members of youth groups.

While Kav LaOved appreciates the organization’s educational outreach, it is less enthralled with the Social Seal Program.

“I don’t think that someone who treats his workers well deserves a prize,” Zora says flatly. “They’re only doing what the law and morality require.”

A spokesman for Access Israel, an advocacy group for the disabled, questioned the Social Seal Program’s effectiveness.“There’s no doubt that Bema’aglei Tzedek is helping the community at large but it’s been less helpful for the disabled community,” the spokesman says. “They lack the legal knowledge and expertise needed to bring about the change we’re seeking. It’s not enough to ask that a ramp be built if the ramp doesn’t meet the proper specifications.”

In response, Rosenberg said, “Access Israel is concerned solely with the rights of disabled people and they’re right not to make compromises. However, as a social justice organization, we’re also involved in educating the public and we’ve realized that in order to precipitate change you have to make some compromises. To expect a restaurant that previously had no awareness of the disabled community’s needs suddenly spend NIS 30,000 [$7,000] isn’t realistic. If we limited the Social Seal only to restaurants that had wheelchair-accessible bathrooms, maybe five Jerusalem restaurants would be eligible.

”The Ticho House, whose garden and indoor dining room are accessible, earned a Social Seal despite the fact that diners must walk up four steps to the bathroom, whose main door and stalls are too narrow to accommodate a wheelchair.

“We’re housed in a 100-year-old protected-heritage building and aren’t allowed to make any changes,” Anat Bibi, the owner, said apologetically. “We’ve asked for a permit to install an accessible bathroom but so far, nothing.”

Bibi is nonetheless proud of her restaurant’s inclusion in the Social Seal Program.

“We cared about our workers and disabled people long before the Seal Program, but now the public knows it, too. We know that certain customers come here because they consider us socially conscious, and that pleases us.”

Heksher Tzedek and Ki Tetze

by Rabbi Joel Wasser
Congregation Kol Ami
Tampa Florida

My initial forays into the world of kashrut were interesting, to say the least. Years ago, I had the honor of serving as a mashgiach at Camp Ramah in the Poconos. It was a huge operation. A not so simple 800 meals a day prepared ongoing – morning, noon, and night. And my job was to make sure that every single product was kosher, that every recipe was kosher, and to ensure that a fork left over from one meal wasn’t accidentally used at the next meal, of a different variety.

And because the institution was so very committed to kashrut, as well it should have been, I was given further instructions. Namely, I was told not, under any circumstances, to trust anything other than particular certifications. What that meant was that if a product harbored a kosher symbol other than the normative “OU” marking, that I had to call the company and do a background check on the rabbi who provided the certification. Who was he? From where did he receive his ordination? What were his stances on certain minutia of Jewish law? In the end, based on the answers to these questions, I was informed by my superiors in New York to dismiss many products that indeed did have formal - and what I believe were - legitimate kosher certifications. The level of scrutiny involved in the policies and their application left a terrible taste in my mouth, as the Camp in essence got caught up in political, as opposed to religious issues regarding the permissibility of the food. At that point in my life, I thought I had seen it all. But, as the famous line goes, “never say never”.

A few years later, Kashrut Magazine, a large, national publication, came out with a warning about… romaine lettuce, of all things. In the article, published by a noted mashgiach and Orthodox rabbi, the claim was advanced that romaine lettuce could not be used, unless it was first examined closely under heavy-duty lights and amidst intense scrutiny. The thinking went, that it was possible that infinitesimal bugs might make their way onto the back-side of the leafy vegetable, rendering it un-kosher. And as much as I am not a fan of infinitesimal bugs of any type, I couldn’t help but ask the reasonable question, “Well, why stop with heavy lights. Why not use a microscope as well?” Indeed, I thought I had seen it all. But, again, as the famous line goes, “never say never”.

Since moving to Florida, I have consumed more water daily, than ever before in my life. Look, we’re running around in the sun all day, the cars are 140 degrees inside most of the year, and dehydration is a constant concern to anyone who cares about health and wellbeing. And especially recently, I have noticed two things about the bottled water that we all drink aplenty. One, that it costs more than gas – which isn’t so easy to do these days – so, don’t ask me how. And two, that the vast majority of these water bottles have hasgacha – that is to say, that many companies pay some rabbi from some national organization to come in, watch over the production, and offer – mind you for a hefty fee – that the water (the WATER people!) is actually kosher.

The whole messy scenario reminds of the story of the tzadik who dies after a long, fruitful, and righteous life. The man gets to heaven and God himself meets the individual at the old pearly gates. The holy man says, “Gee, Hashem, I can’t believe that you are here to greet me! God responds by saying, “Look, you’ve led such a pious a wonderful life tat I just had to meet you here Myself. And even, better news…we’ve prepared a banquet for you. The fellow goes in to this grand hall, laden with every possible delicacy, herring and egg kichel included. Before they sit down to eat however, the very religious fellow turns to God and says, “Sorry to have to ask you, but who is the mashgiach here?” Hashem turns around and says, “Why, it’s Me of course”. The pious fellow reflexively responds- “We’ll, I’ll have the salad”. I guess he was confident of the absence of romaine lettuce!

Yet, being kosher, my friends, undoubtedly comes in various forms and guises. While principally and most commonly it has to do with food and pervasively dictates what we as Jews ingest, there are other applications as well, one of which finds a central place in this week’s Torah reading.

In our pasrha, Ki Tetze, we encounter an interesting mitzvah about environment. The portion reads:

"When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard you may eat of the grapes until you have enough at your own pleasure… when you come into your neighbor’s standing corn, you may pluck ears with your hand… "

At first glance, the commandment may seem merely like some bizarre license for theft or freeloading. But of course, this is not the case, nor the essence of the teaching. In her commentary on the Torah, the famous 20th century Israel exegete, Nahama Leibowitz, elucidates the hidden context. Citing the Torah Temimah, she suggests that the commandment is present to address labor law. Specifically, she offers that what the commandment is addressing is the case of a worker and his job place. What the directive is teaching is that an employer harbors an ethical obligation to allow his or her employees the benefit of rest and sustenance while at work - even if those provisions have to come out of he employer’s own pocket. She writes:

"The Torah grants the laborer this privilege on the grounds that it would raise his morale, physical and spiritual, thereby improving his efficiency and productivity, in the interest of the owner himself. He will work with greater drive if he des not have to use his own wages on his own food."

The point of this teaching is not merely to address whether or not the company buys it’s workers lunch here and there, or whether the boss hosts a come as you are holiday party at a particular season. Obviously, our economic context is far different than that envisioned in antiquity. Yet, the eternally compelling aspect of this teaching has to do with how Biblical law sought to create safe and dignified contexts for all of our employees. Indeed, later codes, specifically the Shulchan Aruch, have enormous volumes dedicated to the importance of business ethics and codes that inform proper dealings with employees. Everyone should be treated with respect, dignity, and honor.

Recently, there has begun a unique national initiative under the auspices of the Conservative Rabbinate in this country. Created and motivated by a colleague in Minneapolis, the project seeks to create a new type of hasgacha – a new type of kosher marking. Yet, instead of commenting merely on the products and their suitability for the kosher consumer, the program seeks to investigate if the given companies are treating their employees in an ethical and just manner. As such, companies that employ child laborers cannot receive this marker, no matter how kosher their ingredients might be. Companies that abuse foreign workers cannot receive the marker, no matter how suitable their by-products may be for those who are punctilious. Companies that refuse to pay overtime or take advantage of the simple laborer in any fashion, similarly, cannot receive this marker, called a hechsher tzedek.

Only the future will tell if this interesting ethical initiative will take hold; or, on the other hand, if the kosher consumer will actually even stop to care about its lofty goals. Be that as it may, what the bold project does do, is challenge us to consider the meaning of the term “kosher” on its broadest of levels. Sure, the food we eat can be kosher or not. But, the manner in which we speak, act, and do business, can also, according to our tradition, be deemed “kosher” or not.

In the end, the point is that what we see transpiring here is a most lofty goal. It asks us to appreciate that the concept of being kosher is really, really big in Jewish life. But, in it’s most authentic and comprehensive form “kosher” is not only about ritual, but it’s about ethics as well. “Kosher” is rooted in how we deal with our responsibilities to God, but it applies to our interaction with mankind as well. “Kosher” is surely about the transcendent, but never at the expense of immanent obligations and duties.

By challenging companies to be completely kosher, the hechsher tzedek program is also challenging each and every one of us to consider how kosher are we? Not merely in terms of what we eat. But, in terms of how we deal with people, with immanent realities, and with the complexities of a world situation that might otherwise be disinterested in the broadest of applications.

Of Church and Steak: Farming for the Soul

While Of Church and Steak: Farming for the Soul is not directly speaking about Hechsher Tzedek, it is being posted here to show how the relationship between religion and food is changing, and not just in Judaism. The Conservative movement has already succeeded in being taken seriously even as the Hechsher Tzedek rules are further refined and developed. There is much yet to do before the first Hechser Tzedek is placed on the first product, but as the following article clearly demonstrates, the work which we are doing is sacred work and is making a difference in terms of how people understand the religious imperative of what makes something truly fit for consumption.

By JOAN NATHAN
August 22, 2007 New York Times

Howard S.D.

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.”

Humane, sustainable practices like Mr. Lively’s are articles of faith for many Americans concerned with the way food gets from farm to plate. But they are even more deeply held matters of faith for a growing number of farmers and religious groups. In the past few years protecting the environment has emerged as a religious issue. Now, something similar is taking place in the way people of faith view their daily bread.

Christians, Jews and Muslims who see food through a moral lens are increasingly organized and focused on showing their strength. The Religious Working Group on the Farm Bill, a national coalition of more than a dozen religious organizations, is lobbying Congress for legislation to help small farms. The National Catholic Rural Life Conference is helping congregations and universities in the Midwest buy local produce from family farmers.

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. Hazon, the Jewish environmental organization, has set up community-supported agriculture programs, or C.S.A.’s, in which customers purchase shares of a farm’s harvest.

“This is the first time I have seen such a deep and growing involvement of the faith community,” said Brother David Andrews, who is on sabbatical from his job as executive director of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference and has followed these kinds of issues for 30 years.

If this nascent cause was taken up by large numbers of churches and synagogues, the economic effect alone could be profound. “The religious movement is a huge force,” said Arlin S. Wasserman, the founder of Changing Tastes, a consulting firm in St. Paul that advises food companies and philanthropic organizations on trends in food and agriculture. “Already, religious institutions oversee the production of $250 billion per year in food if you bundle together halal, kosher, and institutional buying.

“Religious leaders have been giving dietary advice for decades and centuries, telling us to eat fish on Friday or to keep kosher in your home. What we are seeing now are contemporary concerns like the fair treatment of farm workers, humane treatment of animals and respect for the environment being integrated into the dietary advice given by the churches.”

Religious officials say agricultural issues seem to be particularly appealing to younger people.

“Food and the environment is the civil rights movement for people under the age of 40,” said the Rev. John Wimberly, pastor of the Western Presbyterian Church in Washington.

The church recently helped restore a small farmers’ market called the Fresh Farm Market at Foggy Bottom, using its facility to house tents, signs and carts. At the end of the day parishioners glean the food left at the market for their soup kitchen.

The ideas behind faith-based farming relate to the principles of several popular diet books that take inspiration from the Bible, like “Holy Cow! Does God Care About What We Eat?” by Hope Egan (First Fruits of Zion, 2005); “What Would Jesus Eat?” by Don Colbert (Thomas Nelson, 2002); and “The Maker’s Diet,” by Jordan S. Rubin (Siloam Press, 2004). All advocate a return to what they see as the healthy eating practices and humane livestock treatment described in the Bible.

Mr. Lively, who follows the Maker’s diet, 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.

“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.”

Many of the ideas in the faith-based agriculture movement were expressed 30 years ago by advocates of eco-kashrut, a Jewish environmental consciousness movement. Jewish groups like Kosher Conscience in New York and blogs like the Jew & the Carrot (jcarrot.org), which is sponsored by Hazon, are still in the forefront. Two years ago the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, which has long been involved in agriculture issues, gave the Alliance for Jewish Renewal a two-year, $200,000 grant to start the Sacred Foods Project, which developed ethical guides to food buying.

For some religious people, change starts from the ground up, beginning with the way they treat the land. Dr. Adnan Aldayel, a Saudi Arabian financial consultant living in New Rockford, N.D., runs what he believes is the nation’s only organic halal producer, Dakota Halal. “We try to raise our animals the proper way, the right way,” he said. “We are the custodians of the ground.”

Environmentally sensitive farming has been taken up by at least 50 orders of nuns in the United States and Canada. Their number has increased about fivefold in the past decade, said Sarah McFarland Taylor, who recently published a book about this movement, “Green Sisters: A Spiritual Ecology” (Harvard University Press, 2007).

Among them is Sisters Hill Farm, a seven-acre organic farm in Stanfordville, N.Y., operated by the Sisters of Charity of New York. When they began working the land in 2000, it had not been cultivated since 1940. The sisters sell some of their vegetables at a stand on the farm and some through a C.S.A. based at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx.

“We decided to revive this farm so that the sisters could have a place to go to from the city to do something in a sustainable way to care for the earth,” said Sister Mary Ann Garisto, director of ecological concerns for the Sisters of Charity.

For many who farm according to religious principles, the treatment of animals is a great concern. Catherine and Myron Horst of Dickerson, Md., wrote about the problem on their Bible study Web site, biblicalresearchreports.com, in an article called “Farming Based on the Word of the God.”

“The secular corporate business world and the state universities have dismissed God from the farming picture,” they wrote. The Horsts wanted to alter that picture when they took over a 38-acre farm seven years ago.

“We asked the Lord what we were to do with the farm,” said Mr. Horst, a born-again Christian.

So he and his wife put their chickens out to pasture during the day, gather the eggs by hand, and move them back to shelters at night. It is far more work then keeping them cooped up or caged, but for the Horsts the Bible’s promise of dominion “over every living thing” entails responsibilities as well as rights.

Faith-based farming can also mean taking responsibility for the hired hands. Roy Brubaker, a Mennonite who grows strawberries, blueberries and vegetables on his 20-acre farm near Mifflintown, Pa., said: “My faith tells me that workers should be fairly paid. I have never paid the minimum wage. That is not the biblical standard for a living wage.”

Joel Salatin, who is considered a guru of organic agriculture, said he has seen a change in the people who visit his Polyface farm in Virginia.

“Ten years ago most of my farm visitors were earth muffin tree-hugger nirvana cosmic worshipers,” Mr. Salatin said. “And now 80 percent of them are Christian home schoolers.”

Ramah Campers Visit Postville

The Conservative Movement has undertaken the task of creating a "righteous certification" a Hechsher Tzedek for the production of Kosher food. Kashrut is central to the life of the Jewish people. The following is taken from the work of Camp Ramah this summer in its teaching about Kashrut and Hechsher Tzedek and what it means to be an informed Jewish citizen.


Zachary Silver

This summer I arranged a trip exploring American Jewish communities for tenth graders from Camp Ramah in Wisconsin. Using the state of Iowa as our canvas, I sought to have the campers explore their identities in all of the various arenas of which they are a part — Jewish, American, teenage, gender, aidah (age group) and camp. Nowhere did the questions of overlapping identities arise more than in the community of Postville, the first stop on our whirlwind tour throughout America’s heartland.

Before the trip, many of the chanichim (campers) read Steven Bloom’s book Postville, a journalistic account of the struggles between the Iowa natives and Hassidic Jews centered around the Agriprocessors meat plant. Rabbi Morris Allen of St. Paul, Minn., also came in to speak with the aidah about his various experiences with the Postville community, largely, but not exclusively, centered around his efforts with the new Hechsher Tzedek initiatives. The campers and staff had an intellectual idea of what they were getting themselves into, but only on that level.

We began by having a panel discussion with several members of the Postville City Council, as well as two recent graduates of Postville High School. For us, it was a chance to hear about the actual interactions between native Iowans and the Jews of Postville, which the panel universally claimed were fine. Sure, City Clerk Darcy Radloff can’t understand why the Jewish community doesn’t mow its lawns, but other than that, only positive interactions; Mayor Bob Penrod is personal friends with the Rubashkin family, who owns Agriprocessors. The one Jew that goes to Postville High has integrated like any other kid in the class.

Merle Turner, who has been in Postville since 1944, pointed out, though, that no matter how “positive” the interactions may be, that as long as they were unable to get together around food, the relationships would only go so far. And as Merle said, food is a central part of Jewish life, so not to be able to join them in any locations but their houses was quite difficult for general integration. If you can’t go out to coffee with your neighbors, what can you do?

While Steven Bloom portrays a story of polarities in his 2000 book, the members on the panel were insistent that this story simply was not accurate — people overlap inherently in their interactions. To portray two cultures colliding, as Bloom does, sensationalized the town for the purposes of selling books, according to members of the panel. As they pointed out, the picture on the front of the book, of three elderly men sitting on a bench watching a stereotypical Hassid walk by, is not a photograph at all, but rather a painting. That picture never actually happened, but certainly does look like the stereotypical vision that would fit the polarity version of the story.

More than the influx of Jews into the society, we learned that Postville’s integration of the Hispanic population is the real story for the now-famous small town — 900 of 2000 residents are Hispanic workers at Agriprocessors. This has led the community to develop what seems to be a model for bi-lingual education, one which the two students on the panel said was simply a sociological reality of what they had, so it was normal for them. Hispanics go to school and so do native-Iowans; at this point, they would find it weird for this not to be the case.

As for Hechsher Tzedek? Tears came to Merle Turner’s eyes when I mentioned the effort, spearheaded by Rabbi Allen and the Conservative Movement. “I would really appreciate your efforts,” said the woman who tutors Hispanic school-children multiple times a week. For everyone else, though, they see the conditions as being part of tough factory life, like it is everywhere, whether it involve clothes, plastics or foods.

Just how tough factory life is became painfully clear right when we walked into Agriprocessors, our group collectively looking like a pack of Ooompa-loompas, wobbling along with over sized white coats, hard hats and foot booties. We were in the building for a total of about an hour, and walked through the process of kosher chicken slaughter, from seeing a full truck of chickens pull into Agri, to the slaughter all the way to the industrial-sized boxes of chicken being stacked in the warehouse (though not in that order).

Two things still directly stick out, one month after going through the factory — I saw white faces in two situations. One was when we got to where the USDA inspectors stopped us and made sure that our entire party was wearing hair nets, and the other was the 15-ish rabbis who were making the cuts to the chickens’ necks. Hispanic man held the neck, rabbi sliced, pass on the chicken, repeat.

The other fact dawned on me over the course of the three minutes I was standing in one location, as I watched one man open up boxes and throw them over to the conveyor belt. I looked over, and a group of people sliced extra fat off of the chicken breasts across the room. All of this, continual, for what is probably eight-hours per day. And that is the life of a factory worker — repetition over hours. If that includes tools which cut chicken cartilage, so be it. That’s factory life.

Before we went in, the girls from our group implored us to put on two pairs of foot booties — the hat wasn’t necessary, but GET EXTRA BOOTIES! Inside, liquid of all kinds flows across the concrete floor, some red, some water-like, some unidentifiable. Yes, thank you girls for the advice.

After our “tour” and a mincha service (afternoon prayers) in the quasi-shade of our WisconsinTours bus, we went to the open hall, across the street from Postville’s Kosher Community Grocery. On the menu? General Tsao’s Chicken and Pepper-Steak. Mordy doesn’t have a Chinese apprentice in the kitchen, but wow. Small-town Iowa doesn’t get Chinese food like this. The campers now knew where they got their meat from — every piece that they would eat in the Midwest.

What to do now? It’s an open question in my mind. Certainly we suggested that supporting Postville’s workers is of the utmost important. So now it is figuring out how to do that. Which is where we are now. Whether it be the tyrannical government of Burma or the business practices of Agriprocessors, I’m convinced that boycotting is not the answer, but rather visiting the place and educating as many people as possible about the situation. And so we continue this process in Postville, one that by definition is not a “Presto” kind of event, but one that presses people to think and act throughout their lives. It’s a community that needs and wants help. That’s where we come in.

Camper's Comments:

When I think about walking through the Meat Plant, I think about boxes of meat and machines. I was shocked to see the openness of the factory, for Kosher reasons. I mean anyone could just touch the chickens. Somethings in the factory did bother me, how the treated the animals, and the conditions of the way the treated the workers.

I am also very much for the Kashrut seal that Rabbi Morris Allen talked about because us Jews, and the reasoning behind “kosher” is to treat the animals with respect. I liked going to the slaughterhouse because that’s where the meat that I buy at home comes from. So I like seeing how it was done. (B.C)

Something that I leared from this experience even though we are all Jews we do not all agree with each other’s institutions. (J.D.)

As I was walking through Agriprocessors I was surprised at the amount of garbage and meat on the ground. I had expected it to be very clean and dry. The group was covered with water, blood, organs and meat. The cleanliness or rather the lack of cleanliness was very disturbing. While walking through the factory I noticed how close we were to the food which was also bothersome. I felt that anyone could easily spit, sneeze or touch the food therefore contaminating it with germs that could infect the food and hurt a person who eats it. At the end of our tour, we were allowed to the actual shechting (killing) of the chicken. The killing was very quick, but even more upsetting was the absence of respect for the workers.

The workers in the Agriprocessors plant work in harsh conditions. They are at high risk for having limbs cut off because of the machinery and work in freezing conditions. There was probably no interaction between the workers and shochets. It was as if the workers were less superior. I had hoped for at least some sort of relationship but a saw only indifference. (D.S.)

Relying Solely On The Government

The goal of Hechsher Tzedek is to have a 'righteous seal' placed on those kosher food products which have met certain standards in six areas:

wages and benefits
health and safety
training
environmental impact
product development
corporate transparency

When the Hechsher Tzedek initiative was proposed, the initial response from its opponents was the assertion that the government is responsible for oversight in these areas. If there are any problems, the various government agencies will properly handle them. We need not have any further concern. All is well, all will continue to be well.

This refrain has been repeated over and over and over, even as reports of problems continue. Today it was an article in the Forward about unsanitary conditions and noncompliance with USDA regulations designed to protect the health and safety of consumers . A few weeks ago the reports were of mistreatment of animals during shechita. Last year it was reports of mistreatment of workers. And before all of these came reports of environmental issues. What is next?

As this latest news report shows, the government can only do so much. We need to to be vigilant. These violations, 250 non-compliance records from the USDA, five of them for inadequate safeguards against Mad Cow disease and multiple others for fecal matter in the food production area, are a serious issue which, while occuring over a year ago in many cases, illustrate the danger of solely relying on government inspectors to safeguard Jewish values.

In the coming weeks, Conservative Judaism will hopefully be announcing specific standards for the Hechsher Tzedek certification. The kosher industry should welcome the opportunity to reassure customers that we don't have to wonder about the food we are purchasing but can instead be assured of safe and healthy products which meet the laws of kashrut and are produced by workers who have been treated with dignity according to Jewish law as it relates to employers and employees. At this point in time we have no assurances and we are indeed wondering.

Conflict of Interest

by Marlene G. Solomon
Letters to the Editor
American Jewish World August 3, 2007

As a former resident of the Washington, D.C. area for more than 40 years, I learned that the proper term for a "consultant" employed by a specific business for whom they are proselytizing is "lobbyist."

Regarding Rabbi Zeilingold's defense of Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa, he should recuse himself because of his stated conflict of interest.

I do not know what the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) report means when it states that "The plant compared favorably with other plants in the industry." Does that mean that other plants need to be overhauled, also?

As for hechsher tzedek (justice certification), how fantastic that Jews would be living justice. If the Orthodox object, perhaps it's time for some self-evaluation. I was taught that Judaism is not simply about performing rituals, but it's a way of living one's life.

Heksher Tzedek Expresses Judaism's Compassionate View of Humanity

Readers Response to Hechsher Tzedek Will Divide Conservative and Orthodox Jews
by Jeanine Lange
American Jewish World August 3, 2007

Hechsher Tzedek, the initiative to insure that ethical laws are given just as much consideration as ritual laws in the production of kosher food, has struck a chord across the Jewish world and beyond. Hechsher Tzedek is a ray of hope in a world where big business is king, where it seems workers, the environment and animals are just so many commodities to be used and discarded. Hechsher Tzedek shows the world that Judaism is about compassion for the stranger, caring for the other, treating people decently even if these people are used to a lower standard of living having come from countries poorer than our own; Hechsher Tzedek shows the world that Judaism is concerned about our environment and concerned about the treatment of animals. Hechsher Tzedek shows the world that religious people aren't just interested in their own personal observances but are also totally engaged with and concerned about the world around them.

Jews and non-Jews, from all backgrounds have come forward to say they support Hechsher Tzedek. Non-Jews are even talking about how they can incorporate justice, ethical standards, into their observances in ways that would be meaningful to them. Jews are speaking up, embarrassed to read in the papers about allegations of mistreatment of workers and animals. "What good does it do to follow kashrut if I do so at the expense of others, at the expense of the world around me, at the expense of my conscience?" Sweeping allegations under the rug, rushing in to try to squelch the story, trying to push the responsibility off on government agencies already understaffed and overworked, is not going to increase observance of kashrut. Combining ethics, letting us know that the food we are required to eat has been produced with consideration for the laws between one person and another as well as the laws between us and God, could well be the key to increasing the observance of kashrut.

Hechsher Tzedek is not driving a wedge between Conservative and Orthodox Jews. Hechsher Tzedek is instead bringing kashrut front and center to many of our lives, sometimes for the first time. Hechsher Tzedek is drawing people together across religious boundaries to say, we want to know which kosher food producers consider ethics to be just as important as all the details required by ritual. We can't pretend any longer that everything is fine, and will remain fine, in the world of kashrut. Allegations have been made and we want to know what is going on. If there are no problems in the world of kashrut, if all the allegations are false, then there will not be any problem affixing a Hechsher Tzedek to these products. We just want to know. We will not go back to quietly living our own lives, business as usual, nor should anyone ask us to do so. It is a sad thing that there are some who would try to keep all of us from being able to easily know the truth about the food we are purchasing and consuming. We're all on the same side. Hechsher Tzedek is a good thing, for the Jewish world and for the world around us.

“Kosher” Certification of a Different Kind

Written by Jeremy Wimpfheimer
Aug 03, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Florida Jewish News

Israeli restaurant owners are well accustomed to the question "Do you have a Teuda?," referring to the official certificate deeming all food and food preparation to be kosher in accordance with Rabbinical guidelines. Yet, as a result of the efforts of Bema’aglei Tzedek, a Jerusalem based non-profit organization, consumers are now on the lookout for a second type of certificate indicating that the restaurant conforms to a completely separate set of ‘kosher’ guidelines - good employment practices and accessibility for the disabled.

Called the Social Seal or Tav Chevrati in Hebrew, the certificate which is now being prominently displayed in over 300 Israeli eateries from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and various other locales was introduced by Bema’aglei Tzedek to combat what the organization’s director Asaf Banner calls "an all too often ignored, yet deeply troubling aspect of Israeli society."

Banner, who was among the organization’s founders in 2004 says, "The way that tens of thousands of workers all over Israel are being treated without regard to their most basic human rights was a situation that demanded to be addressed. We saw that the social seal was a great way of bringing attention to this issue." While the campaign began locally in Jerusalem with organization representatives using the seal as a means to promote the good labor practices of shop owners, it has quickly gained steam and spread across the country.

Roey Zisman who manages the popular Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Café on Jaffa Road in downtown Jerusalem believes that the seal is something many of his customers greatly value as well as acting as a motivating factor for employers to improve worker conditions. "The Social Seal is very important in our relationship with our workers," says Zisman. "I hear many people coming in and asking about it and we feel that there is a large clientele that comes to eat with us because of it."

Since its founding, Bema’aglei Tzedek has been active within the Israeli school system and in the country’s numerous youth movements. According to Marla Haruni, a New York native and Jerusalem resident, it was her children who taught her about the seal and since that time the family will only visit eateries that have received the organization’s approval. "My children have really come to view the Social Seal with the same level of importance as the kosher dietary certification," the mother of four said. "I think it’s crucial that people recognize that a restaurant being truly kosher requires that they act in accordance with all Jewish values beyond just ensuring that the food is prepared properly."

In order for an eatery to receive the seal, representatives of the organization will visit the restaurant and observe overall conditions as well as speak with the workers. According to Banner, several seals have been revoked after it was reported that workers’ rights were being repeatedly violated. Violations include cases where workers are being denied breaks or being paid below the legal minimum wage or where the restaurant is lacking appropriate access for the handicapped.

The seal has also gained the attention of many members of the Israeli Knesset across the political spectrum. Amir Peretz, who until recently served as Israel’s Defense Minister and was the longtime head of the Histadrut national union said the seal is establishing a new standard of ethical practice in Israeli society and that "highlighting the issue of worker’s rights will create a better future for the people of Israel." Zevulun Orlev, a member of the Mafdal party, notes that this effort brings to the forefront an issue which is of critical nature to the national and Zionist cause. "In order for us to be a fair and just society," he says, "it is necessary that workers have the assurance that they will receive the proper treatment and compensation they deserve."
As one of the numerous events throughout the year advancing this cause, Bema’aglei Tzedek recently held a conference at Jerusalem’s Rose Garden across from the Knesset entitled "Fighting the Exploitation of Custodial Workers."

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Chief Rabbi of Efrat who addressed the conference which attracted approximately 1500 according to police estimates, said that despite often being pushed to the side of the social agenda, workers rights is something which is deeply entrenched in Jewish values. "The Torah teaches again and again that our ability to stay on this holy soil of Israel depends on our being a holy people specifically in the realm of human relations - including those between employer and employee," he said.

Several of the conference attendees were North Americans visiting Israel over vacation. Rabbi Chaim Sidler-Feller, Director of the Hillel at UCLA said the lessons being conveyed by this organization were important ones for a younger generation that often could feel alienated by Jewish traditions. "This effort serves to show the ‘operationalization’ of Judaism by displaying how values are not just in the mind but need to be acted upon."

Asaf Banner believes that the Social Seal truly has the potential to change how an Israeli society often ambivalent about these types of issues views the question of how its workers are being treated. "For every additional restaurant or café that joins the ranks of those bearing the social seal we feel that we’re making that much more of a difference," he says. "As more and more consumers become familiar with this seal, we know business owners across the country will begin to take notice and at that point anything is possible."

Jeremy Wimpfheimer is a freelance journalist based in Beit Shemesh, Israel. In a parallel development here in the US, the Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism under the leadership of Rabbi Morris Allen of Beth Jacob Congregation in Mendota Heights, MN is currently developing a ‘Hechsher Tzedek’ or ‘Justice Certification’ that would accompany the supervision certificates of kosher establishments.

For information visit: http://rabbimorrisallen2.blogspot.com or call Shira Dicker at 917-403-3989 or e-mail:

Expanding the definition of 'kosher'

By CARLY ETTINGER AND DANIEL OPPENHEIMER, The American Jewish World
Sunday, 22 July 2007

Rabbi Morris Allen of Beth Jacob Congregation in Mendota Heights, a suburb of St. Paul, Minn., is passionate about both kashrut (Jewish dietary laws) and social justice. These concerns have developed into the Hechsher Tzedek (justice certification) movement, which brings social justice in the workplace into the discussion of kashrut.

"I really do believe that kashrut is a central part of Jewish life," Allen told the AJW.

For the better part of the past year, Rabbi Allen has worked steadily as part of a five-member committee to raise awareness about Hechsher Tzedek. The initial focus of the local committee was the welfare of immigrant workers employed at Agriprocessors, the largest kosher meat processing plant in the United States.

After the Forward newspaper published an article that charged poor working conditions at the plant in Postville, Iowa, Allen and the committee visited to determine the truth of the allegations.

"One of the things the committee has been interested in is immigration and it became known that in terms of kosher meat production, many of the workers are immigrants," said Peter Glick, co-chair of the social justice committee at Beth Jacob.

The committee's findings confirmed some of the Forward's allegations. The Postville plant remains at the center of ongoing debate.

"It is not enough anymore in the 21st century to say that a product is kosher according to the ritual debate," Allen said. "It is also necessary to ensure that a product matches our ethical debate."

The Hechsher Tzedek program will seek to certify foods that are produced in proper and healthy working conditions. Products that are certified will be stamped with the official seal.

To evaluate the social justice standards in the kosher food industry, the program will look at six areas: wages and benefits, worker health and safety, animal welfare, corporate transparency, employee training and environmental impact.

Jewish Community Action, a local social justice-oriented non-profit organization, has also been active in the movement. Its executive director, Vic Rosenthal, served on the five-member committee, and noted the cooperation between JCA, the Beth Jacob Social Justice Committee and Allen to implement the Hechsher Tzedek project.

"Our hope is that there will be an initial list of businesses that will want to work with us on moving this forward," Rosenthal said. "Ultimately, what is going to make this work is that there are going to be Jewish consumers who are interested in purchasing kosher foods and who believe that having a Hechsher Tzedek is going to be important to them."

This local initiative has grown quickly in scope and has been supported on the national level by the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, umbrella groups of Conservative rabbis and congregations, respectively. As for press coverage, both the New York Times and the Washington Post have reported on the Hechsher Tzedek concept.

Despite its growing national recognition, Hechsher Tzedek has produced a significant controversy.

Rabbi Asher Zeilingold, of Adath Israel Congregation in St. Paul, oversees adherence to kashrut at Agriprocessors as mashgiach. In that capacity, he has also visited Postville. Zeilingold branded the Forward's allegations as "malicious falsehood"; and he believes that the Hechsher Tzedek program is unnecessary.

"Orthodox Jews will consider it as something that takes away from what kosher is all about," Zeilingold said, "I do not think it will be successful because it I don't think it has any bearing in reality."

Zeilingold worries that Hechsher Tzedek would overthrow the traditional definition of kashrut that is derived from halacha (Jewish rabbinic law). He is dedicated to preserving the traditional halachic interpretation of kashrut.

"I don't see how it [Hechsher Tzedek] could be modified as long as they are talking about a hechsher to include areas which are not within the limited boundaries of kashrut," Zeilingold said.

Allen disagrees.

"We are not interested in replacing traditional hechshers; our goal is essentially to supplement the fine work in determining the narrow definition of kashrut into something much broader," he said.

Both Rosenthal and Allen noted a growing spread of the scope of Hechsher Tzedek beyond the Conservative movement, and even beyond Judaism.

"We are capable of adding to the discourse in American religious life in general about what it really means to be a person of faith," Allen said. "Our goal is to demonstrate the holistic nature of Jewish life. All religions, Jewish and non-Jewish, are increasingly narrow in their focus."

Although the full extent of Hechsher Tzedek may take a few years to implement, Allen aspires to finalize provisions of the program by Rosh Hashana.

For information on Hechsher Tzedek, visit Allen's blog at: rabbimorrisallen2.blogspot.com.

Carly Ettinger and Daniel Oppenheimer are editorial interns at the American Jewish World in Minneapolis, Minn.

The Growth of a Concept-Heksher Tzedek takes off!!

It has been a busy time for those of us working on Hechsher Tzedek. Last week, while I was at Camp Ramah-Wisconsin, I had the opportunity to teach about Hechsher Tzedek in a variety of settings. The excitement and the response was truly moving. We are hopeful to be able to post some of the responses to a recent trip to Postville by a group of 15-year old campers. They were able to see the many positive things happening inside the community as well as better understand the reality of what it means to be a line worker in a factory setting.

On Tuesday night, July 17, I participated in a Hechsher Tzedek forum at Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minnetonka. It was a very exciting gathering. On a humid summer night, well over 70 people came to hear about the importance of Hechsher Tzedek. The crowd was diverse and the enthusiasm was very real. Clearly, the concept of making explicit the connection between mitzvot bein adam lhavero (commandments between one person and another) and mitzvot bein adam lmakom(commandments between a person and GOD) is something that touches the neshama of Jews. For too long, ritual and ethical commandments have been seen as independent categories that need not influence one or the other. But Judaism does not want us to live our lives that way. Rabbi Aaron Brusso, in introducing the program, quoted Rav Kook, the first chief Rabbi of Israel who decried the notion that there were Jews who saw passion in ritual life and ignored the pleas of humanity , and there were other Jews who heard the cries but found so little meaning in ritual living. Hechsher Tzedek is a powerful means of demonstrating the possibility of linkage. Hechsher Tzedek is a way to demonstrate that kashrut animates the life of the Jew in all of our ways of experiencing the world.

The only sad moment in the evening was when one individual wanted to know why we were so involved in "attacking other Jews." In truth, we have done everything possible to refrain from any attacks. I pointed out to the questioner that the only attacks I have seen have been from certain rabbis who have chosen to vilify and slander me and the Conservative movement for raising these issues. We have chosen and will continue to choose to stay above the line. We believe that the support for Hechsher Tzedek will come from all streams of Jewish life, and that the vast majority of Jews see in Hechsher Tzedek an opportunity for demonstrating that beauty of Jewish belief and practice.

We are hopeful that by Rosh Hashana, the objective, verifiable standards that can be used in evaluating for the Hechsher Tzedek will be announced. At that point, the next phase of this sacred undertaking will begin. As we focus during these days leading to Tisha B'av, let us not lose sight of the famous gemara in Bava Metzia that said the Temple was destroyed because judges could not understand the full meaning of the law they were asked to judge. By limiting their rulings to the letter and not considering the ethical dimension of the law, they created the fertile ground for the Temple's destruction. It was the gemara's way of saying that the separation of ethical demands from ritual demands can be disastrous. Let us never fall prey to that thinking again.

PETA VIDEO AND THE NEED FOR HEKSHER TZEDEK

I am teaching this week at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin. Access to the internet is limited, but discussion concerning Hechsher Tzedek is going full speed ahead. The classes and sessions I have been privileged to share in this week so far have convinced me that Hechsher Tzedek will be a powerful and positive addition to the kashrut industry. I will write more about this in the coming days.

My morning has been taken up with calls concerning the latest PETA video which was released concerning Agriprocessors. Their plant in Gordon, Nebraska has come under similar surveillance to the Agri plant in Postville circa 2004. In a video which states it was taped in May of 2007, terrible violations of humane treatment of animals following shehita are shown. What this video demonstrates is just how important it is for the Hechsher Tzedek to move forward as quickly as logistically possible. The need to address the following areas in an objective and verifiable way remains an important and necessary undertaking. The Conservative movement's foray into these areas will elevate the observance and meaning of kashrut. The six areas necessary to address are a) wages and benefits; b)health and safety; c)training; d)corporate transparency; e) environmental impact and f) animal welfare. The Peta video clearly demonstrates that unless this last area is considered part of the Hechsher Tzedek process abuse of animals will continue. And yet, unless the first three areas are considered, abuse of human beings could also continue.

Eco-Kosher Movement Aims To Heed Tradition, Conscience

By Alan Cooperman

Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 7, 2007; A01

First she had to find an organic cattle farm near Washington. Then a shochet, a person trained in kosher slaughtering, who was willing to do a freelance job. Then a kosher butcher to carve the beef into various cuts and other families from her synagogue to share it.

All told, it took Devora Kimelman-Block of Silver Spring 10 months to obtain 450 pounds of meat that is local, grass-fed, organic and strictly kosher. Which is a lot of effort -- and a lot of meat -- for someone who keeps a kosher vegetarian household.

"Here I am, leading this meat thing, and we don't even eat meat in our house," she said.

The only way to make sense of Kimelman-Block's effort is to understand that she is part of a budding movement, sometimes called "eco-kosher," that combines traditional Jewish dietary laws with new concerns about industrial agriculture, global warming and fair treatment of workers. Eco-kosher, in turn, is part of the greening of American religion -- the rapid infusion of environmental issues into the mainstream of religious life.

Notoriously drafty churches are insulating their ceilings and buying renewable energy through a ministry named Interfaith Power & Light. Synagogues are switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs. The vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals drives a Toyota Prius, and more than 50 other evangelical Christian leaders have pledged to neutralize their "carbon footprints" through energy conservation.

But, for many people, the primary daily impact of rising environmental consciousness is on the food they eat. They want it to be produced locally, sustainably, organically and humanely. Increasingly, religious people view this as a religious obligation, not just a matter of good health or ethics. The trend is advancing particularly fast among Jews, who have a long tradition of investing food with religious meaning.

"I would no sooner bring eggs from caged, battery-farmed hens into my home than I would shrimp or pork," said Nigel S. Savage, who keeps a kosher household in New York. He edits a Web site, the Jew and the Carrot, that is devoted to what he calls "the new Jewish food movement."

Since going online in November, the Jew and the Carrot has vaulted from 300 hits a month to 300,000. But the most dramatic expansion of eco-kosher principles is likely to come in the next few years as Conservative rabbis and congregations, which occupy the middle ground between Orthodox and Reform Judaism, create a new ethical standard for food production.

The Conservative seal of approval will not be based on traditional kosher requirements, such as separating meat from dairy products, avoiding pork and shellfish, and slaughtering animals with a sharp knife across the throat.

Rather, the Conservative hechsher tzedek, Hebrew for "justice certification," will attest that a particular food was produced at a plant that meets ethical norms in six areas: fair wages and benefits, health and safety, training, corporate transparency, animal welfare, and environmental impact.

Rabbi Morris Allen of Mendota Heights, Minn., head of the committee drafting the rules, said he hopes to have enforceable standards in place by Rosh Hashanah, in September. Within a year after that, he said, the justice certification should begin to appear on packaged foods.

Allen emphasized that the hechsher tzedek is meant to supplement, rather than replace, traditional kosher certification. Still, the idea has stirred attacks from some Orthodox authorities, who contend that it will cause confusion about what is truly kosher.

"We're not trying to muscle ourselves into the business that others have developed" of certifying kosher foods, Allen said. "We do believe that most Jews, if given a choice between 'This item is kosher' and 'This item is kosher and also was produced by a company that respects its workers and the environment,' that most Jews will choose the latter."

Only about 15 percent of the nation's roughly 5.2 million Jews keep kosher. Yet their buying power, plus the appeal of kosher items to some other consumers, has resulted in a huge market. Kosher certification now appears on 100,000 food products, made by 10,500 companies, worth $225 billion a year, according to Menachem Lubinsky, editor of the trade publication KosherToday.

In consumer surveys, less than a quarter of the shoppers who deliberately choose kosher products are observant Jews, Lubinsky said. That statistic is not lost on Conservative rabbis, who acknowledge that their new certification could appeal to both Jews and non-Jews.

Kimelman-Block, who is married to a Conservative rabbi, recalled feeling ashamed after reading articles last year in the Jewish newspaper the Forward about the treatment of workers and cattle at a large kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa.

"I know that [the Iowa plant] is probably no worse than the other U.S. food processors, but they're doing it in the name of Judaism, in the name of holiness," she said. "That's the thing about kashrut -- it's supposed to be ethical, and it . . . has this dark side that either people don't know about, or if they know about, they think it's irrelevant."

Allen voiced similar feelings after he and other Conservative rabbis inspected the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa, in March 2006 and found labor practices that they suspect are also common in non-kosher plants.

"We found people arriving from the mountainsides of Guatemala on a Tuesday and being on the front of the production line on Wednesday," Allen said. "We saw people who could barely read Spanish getting training in English and having no idea what was said to them."

Agriprocessors says the allegations were false or overblown and have been resolved, and Orthodox inspectors have reiterated that the plant's output is strictly kosher. But Allen said his visit to the slaughterhouse changed his thinking.

"Having promoted kashrut for 21 years and made it a central part of my rabbinate, all of a sudden it made sense to me: How could I be satisfied if the ritual aspects of kashrut were being followed, but the way the workers were treated was degrading and contrary to Jewish ethical norms?" he asked.

As the movement catches on, the number of products certified as both kosher and organic is rising fast. The Jew and the Carrot Web site has spawned 10 community-supported agricultural cooperatives, in which Jews around the country have bought shares in local farmers' organic harvests.

One of them is Kimelman-Block's group of about 25 families at Tifereth Israel Congregation on 16th Street in Northwest Washington. Three years ago, they began obtaining fruits and vegetables from a farm in Brandywine. This year, they arranged for free-range kosher chickens and grass-fed kosher beef as well.

"I'm very interested in my children having a relationship with where their food comes from," said Kimelman-Block, 36, who has two daughters and a son, ages 2 to 7. "I just think it's an important part of what I'm teaching them that we go out to this farm and we know the farmer and we help plant the potatoes and help pick the strawberries."

Since many eco-kosher Jews are reducing or eliminating meat from their diet, Kimelman-Block is faintly embarrassed to be moving in the other direction. But after 14 years of mostly vegetarian eating, with occasional fish for protein, she is excited about consuming small quantities of beef and chicken -- as long as she knows its origin.

"Environmental issues used to depress me. It was just bleak," she said. "Doing something makes me feel much more positive."

Heksher Tzedek and Torah

I've just been thinking about the deal with Moses and the mountain. After spending many days on the mountain, Moses came down carrying the two tablets. When he finally came into range of other people again, he became so enraged at what he saw that he smashed the tablets on the ground.

Perhaps it is that the more time people spend on mountains, the less they can relate to everyone else, the less patience they have with human failings. There's the story in Judaism of the rabbi and his son who studied Torah for years as they hid in a cave in order to escape the Romans. When they came out they were so lacking in compassion that God made them go back into the cave until they could change their attitudes, which to my way of thinking means they finally truly learned Torah.

It seems to me that when those who claim to be very religious isolate themselves from the world, they merely become more and more critical of everyone who isn't them rather than becoming more holy. There seems to be little patience with differences and the language used when talking about others? Truly appalling. Is that really what it means to be religious? In my view these actions have again left Torah shattered on the ground only the people around don't even seem to realize. They guard these broken pieces like hawks and hinder anyone who attempts to climb the mountain to get whole tablets again.

Perhaps Hechsher Tzedek will get us past these obstacles so that new, whole tablets will finally reach all the people; tablets which will be carried with compassion and righteousness rather than with derision towards, and judgment of, others.

Maybe that's the story of the red heifer, too. It's not the impure that makes pure, the pure that makes impure, it's the perception. In order to be truly pure, truly holy, you have to be around what you might consider 'impure'. If you try to stay away from the 'impure' because you think you're so pure, you yourself will become the truly impure. Perhaps the story of the red heifer has nothing to do with actual purity or impurity, but is only about what happens to us depending on how we interact with those around us.

Happy To See This Blog

I can't tell you how happy I was to see that a blog has been started for Hechsher Tzedek. This is a movement that is long overdue - although I've heard that no other religion has so far taken an active, formal stance to promulgate the protection of the human beings involved in food production. Many faiths have proscriptions and prescriptions regarding the consumption of food, but we can be proud that our Conservation Movement - starting right here in Mendota Heights, MN - is also evincing an interest in the workers that bring that food to us. This is true moral involvement. It is also a fitting and mature response to the terrible working conditions suffered by many of our Jewish immigrant grandparents a century ago.

I am puzzled only that some of our coreligionists are not joining with us enthusiastically. I understand that Orthodox Jewry may feel a bit threatened. They have held the rights, so it speak, to certification of Kashrut status for a long, long time. But this movement, if I understand correctly, seeks only to add a layer of certification in an entirely new area - to try to halt some of the abuses of slaughterhouse workers that everyone knows are real in at least some places. I, for one, would like to be sure that the food that I eat comes from places that have been honestly examined and are free of worker abuse. It would be wonderful if Jews of all persuasions could join together immediately and agree that this idea, at least, is firmly rooted in the texts that all of us respect and love.

MosherMosher

How does God require employers to treat employees?

Rabbi has initiated the conversation with a unique proposal
by LYN JERDE (Telegraph Herald - Dubuque, IA)

I'm not 100 percent sure of the proper pronunciation of hechsher tzedek. But I'm so intrigued by the concept, I wonder if it ought to extend beyond Judaism and be embraced in some form by all religious faiths.

A hechsher tzedek is a declaration that Minnesota rabbi Morris Allen proposes to include on kosher food products -- that not only were the slaughtered animals treated humanely in accordance with Jewish law, but also that the workers in the slaughterhouse were treated with justice.

The idea stemmed from Allen's visits to Agriprocessors, a world-famous kosher meat production center in Postville, Iowa. Originally, he came to the Agriprocessors plant to lobby for the availability of less expensive cuts of kosher meat.

But, when Allen talked to an employee on the killing floor, the employee said he had worked around rabbis for 10 years -- and while the rabbis always were concerned about the humane treatment of the animals that were being slaughtered, they'd never asked the worker, "What's it like for you to work here?"

Humane treatment of employees is at least as vital a component of Jewish ethics as humane treatment of livestock, Allen suggested in an article written by Pam Miller, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune's top-notch religion reporter.

Miller also reported that Agriprocessors takes issue with assertions, published in a 2006 edition of the Jewish newspaper "The Forward," that its workers are mistreated. With only third-hand information, I'm in no position to judge that specific workplace.

But I applaud Allen for raising a question that rarely makes its way into current religious rhetoric: What does God require in terms of how employers treat employees?

I'm not talking strictly about legality. Lawmakers and lawyers are mired in sticky job-related issues, including wage and benefits, workplace safety, unions, immigration, the Family Medical Leave Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act and the power and limitations of labor unions.

I'm talking about the one-on-one relationship between God and anyone who, in any way, benefits from the labor of others, from the CEO with an eight-figure income to the homeowner who pays a neighbor kid to mow the lawn.

If one wanted to label one's products, or oneself, as conforming to hechsher tzedek -- as meeting God's standards for justice -- what would be the criteria?

I believe it would require more than minimal conformity to the letter of existing secular statutes regarding wages and working conditions.

I believe it would require, at times, that an employer utter a business blasphemy -- that justice for workers has a cost, but some things matter more to God than the amount on the bottom line.

And, yes, I believe it must inevitably include a conversation about God's requirement that workers treat their employers with justice, too.

If Allen were to implement his idea -- if Jewish authorities were to start stamping kosher products with some sort of hechsher tzedek seal of approval -- it would be a daunting task to establish the standards and oversee their enforcement.

But it's a good work, a mitzvah, that Allen even initiated the conversation.

I hope it prompts people of all faiths, whether they're employers or employees or both, to search their scriptures and their souls.

Hechsher Tzedek On Wikipedia

Today has been an interesting day. As I was doing my usual look around the net to see if there was any new talk about Hechsher Tzedek I found an addition to the Hechsher Tzedek page on Wikipedia. Since most of the additional 'information' was personal speculation about Rabbi Allen's motivations and connections, I read the rules for removing such material by reverting back to the article prior to new revisions. Personal attack was listed as a valid reason for reversion and so I set the page back. But, it seems that even very basic factual information about Hechsher Tzedek is not going to be allowed to stand. Rather than letting readers form their own opinions after reading all the press that has been generated by Hechsher Tzedek, C. Carbonera, who you will remember wrote an article on his trip to Postville last summer, has decided it is his right to include his own opinions in what is supposed to be a purely factual encyclopedia and has accused me of vandalizing the site.

You can read for yourselves since it's online for all to see anyway:

Controversy

The idea of a Tzedek Hechsher has been criticized by many. There are various debates that remain open:

1.There is a big question on the need for a religious certification on Social Justice. One of the main points against the certification is that there are Governmental Agencies that supervise all matters of labors: OSHA, Department of Labor, etc. These Governmental Agencies have been empowered by the Government of the United States of America to enforce all matters of law. [3]

2.Some people have the opinion that the Group lead by Rabbi Morris Allen has a particular antipathy towards Agriprocessors. In particular, the group stated that they have serious concerns with Agriprocessor in matters of safety, but not on Empire Poultry. A search in the OSHA database indicates that Empire Poultry has more citations than Agriprocessors in a similar period of time. A consultant to Agriprocessors who works for OSHA, visited Agriprocessors and did not find the plant to have any issues out of the ordinary relative to the meat industry. As a matter of fact, quite the contrary, he found that Agriprocessors has a very positive attitude towards the safety of employees, and is constantly improving the working conditions of its employees. [4]

3.The means used by Rabbi Morris Allen to infiltrate into Agriprocessors has been deemed as “decietful” and “dishonest” by Rabbi A. Zeilingold. In an interview, Rabbi Zeilingold stated that he was promised by Rabbi Morris Allen to visit Agriprocessors with the sole purpose to determine whether the allegations against Agriprocessors by the Forward in an article written in May 2006 were true or false. Although in a recent interview, Rabbi Morris Allen admitted that he could not validate the claims of the article published by the Forward, he has not made a clear point on the pitfalls of the article as he promised Rabbi Zeilingold. [5]

The qualifications of the Group Lead by Rabbi Morris Allen has been greatly questioned because of the reasons given above. In summary, many questions remain open:
1.What business has a religious group of unqualified individuals with labor issues?
2.Is Rabbi Morris Allen working for Unions or PETA?
3.If there is an accident in a meat plant certified by Rabbi Morris Allen as safe, will his rabbinical group that certified the plant be liable to a lawsuit?
4. How is Rabbi Morris Allen going to oversee that a plant is fair to workers or not?
5. How will Rabbi Morris Allen determine what is fair or not fair in matters of labor?

On the discussion page for Hechsher Tzedek:

I have added the section titled CONTROVERSY to present a second view of the Hechsher Tzedek. I am surprised to find out that some people are so intolerant that would remove the section. I hope we are all open minded enough to allow every party express their ideas.

C. Carbonera

My response:

The Controversy section added is merely a personal attack on the character of Rabbi Allen, not new information on Hechsher Tzedek itself, and therefore has no place in an encyclopedia. The many links included on this page to newspaper articles already show there is a difference of opinion. There is no need to add personal speculations about motivations and connections.

Open minded is one thing, standing by while someone is defamed is another. This page is for factual information about Hechsher Tzedek, Hechsher Tzedek came about due to ... by ... from .... It is not a forum for airing grievances against individuals. Such things should be discussed elsewhere and indeed have been.

As far as my 'rosy' view of Hechsher Tzedek? I have only contributed a newspaper link to this page. My opinion about Hechsher Tzedek is expressed elsewhere since I
realize that an encyclopedia is not the place for personal opinions.

Yael2370 01:16, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

I also received this personal message from him to which I did not respond.

Yael,
I hope that you are open minded enough to tolerate other points of view besides yours. All the statements in the section titled CONTROVERSY have a valid reference, and all I did was summarize portions of the article and write then in that section. I have sent an e-mail to one of the editors about your activities that, if you read the rules, will see are considered vandalism. If you have another view, please, feel free to add it, but do not take away valid points just because they don't fit your rosie view of the Hechsher Tzedek.
Sincerely, C. Carbonera

Blogs are for airing personal points of view, not encyclopedias. Valid references were given for such terms as:

Some people
A particular antipathy
Infiltrate
Deceitful
Dishonest
Unqualified
??????

Valid references were given as to who this mysterious OSHA official was who gave the plant a clean bill of health? Was the report containing his name and credentials referenced?

Valid references were given for the speculation about Rabbi Allen’s ‘connections’ to unions or PETA?

I must have missed all of these references….

Yes, there are many questions about how Hechsher Tzedek will be implemented, I have them myself. Attacking the messenger because someone does not like the message is not the way to handle such questions, and just because a task seems daunting and perhaps still quite unclear does not mean we abandon it and carry on with business as usual.

And since the never ending litany of "it's the government's job, not ours" continues, let me refer people to a very different Orthodox response, Jewish Law Says WHAT?.

Am I trying to cover up all criticism of Hechsher Tzedek? Take a look over in the Hechsher Tzedek: Talk On The Net section and you will see links to sites which contain criticism. I do not censor on the basis of comments being for or against since the purpose of that section is to show what people are saying. Take a look at the section Hechsher Tzedek In The News. Links are included to ALL newspaper articles I could find on Hechsher Tzedek whether favorable or not. The full articles are there for all to read; not summaries, not my spin.

I will repeat: there are many forums online for airing opinions, criticisms, and grievances. An Encyclopedia is just not one of them.