And I don't mean the meat from the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa which packages as much as thirty percent of the kosher beef consumed in this country. But according to today's New York Times, there are rabbis who disagree with me. They are coming perilously close to declaring that the meat from this plant, which meets the formal requirements for kosher beef, be declared un-kosher because of the labor practices of the plant's owners.
Don't get me wrong, I want increased ethical awareness. But I really don't want one more cause which empowers one group to identify another as "bad Jews". There are real areas of Jewish law which prohibit the abuse of workers, not paying them a fair and timely wage, and other crucial ethical obligations which are just as important as the fine points of kashrut. But the fact that they are just as important does not mean that one is a substitute for the other, or that the failure to meet one set of obligations implies that the other has not been met.
It is precisely that kind of logic, which allows one group of people to completely discount the religious authenticity of another group with which they have a disagreement about one thing or another. A good example in this case, since the movement against Agriprocessors is led by Conservative rabbis, is when Orthodox Jews speak about the "impossibility" of Conservative Jews "really appreciating Shabbat" because the latter group drives instead of walking to synagogue on the Sabbath. Such people confuse their disagreement with liberal Jews about operating a car on the Sabbath, with the idea that such Jews could understand the meaning and practice of it as well as those who do not drive.
Another example is when local boards of kashrut deny kosher certification to restaurants or hotels that allow New Year's parties or events at which men and women dance together. However objectionable such things may be to some, they have no bearing on the kashrut of the food. And politicizing kashrut that way, is never a good idea no matter how good the cause may be, as seems to be the case in Postville.
I have no problem with asking about whether one can ethically enrich a company that abuses its workers. In fact, depending upon what qualifies as abuse, the answer according to Jewish law is probably not. But confusing the issues propagates a dangerous trend. Why not argue instead, as these rabbis who lead Hechsher Tzedek, an organization committed to raising ethical awareness of the practices by which bring products to our tables, for a complimentary certification which praises those who not only follow all of the legal requirements of Jewish law, including labor practices?
Do they really need to take to picket lines to argue for a variety of other issues including declaring all those illegal immigrants who worked in the plant being declared legal? If so, then are they anything more than another version, this time from the left instead of the right, of those who insist that God has a politics and they are uniquely positioned to explain it?
I know that is not their intention, but good causes are funny things. They seduce us into all kinds of words and deeds whose seeming righteousness steamroll over all those who may disagree. What is it they say about the road to hell and good intentions?.....
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Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of 
If the allegations about the treatment of workers is true, then it is nothing short of a chilul hashem, a desecration of God's name.
The issues surrounding Agriprocessors are complex. Immigration reform is but one of them - though as American Jews, it should be an important one for us. After all, most American Jews are leading a fairly good life. Yet we would not be in such a fine situation had it not been for the fact that our ancestors - and therefore we - were, and are, the beneficiaries of open immigration policies. They entered this country through such portals as Ellis Island, where all they needed was to pass a physical exam and enter their name into the registries. Yet later in our history, our people were also the victims of the current highly restrictive immigration policies. On their account, millions of our co-religionists were condemned to death in Nazi Europe. It is no coincidence that it was a Jew - Emma Lazarus - who composed the poem the adorns the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty - "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me." So while it is but one issue, it should be a sensitive one for us.
Another issue is the violation of civil laws. While it is literally correct that such law was violated by the undocumented laborers, as Jews, our primary concern here should be in its violation by the Jewish management. Their civilly illegal behaviors - which include the hiring of undocumented laborers, the paying of substandard wages (which they would not even consider doing if the were truly unaware of the undocumented status of these employees), child labor violations, physicl abuse of employees, sexual abuse of female employees, extortion of funds from undocumented laborer, failure to provide any or adequate safety training or precautionary measures, bribing federal officials, and violations of cruelty to animal laws - are in direct violation of the Talmudic principle of "Dina d'malkuta dina - the law of the land is the law." Back when Ivan Boesky was convicted of insider trading, it was then argued that the money which he gave for tzedakah purposes to Jewish institution should not be considered tzedakah. Having been acquired by illicit means, its taint disqualifies it as tzedakah. Should not the same hold true for the production of kosher meat. If the meat is produced as a result of illicit practices, should it not also be disqualified from being designated as kosher?
Yet another issue centers on the ethics. It is all a matter of mitzvot. "Kosher" means fit. Fit where? Fit in the eyes of God. As Jews, we stand before God in all we do. Can one honestly argue that God would recognize the kashrut of meat that is prepared in strict observance of the ritual mitzvot but in devastating violation of the ethical mitzvot? I cannot help but believe that God would consider as treif any meat which is tainted with the tears and blood of abused laborers.
Then we come to the ritual issues of kashrut as well. As the Peta expose of 2006 clearly demonstrated - and as was confirmed by the citations leveled at Agriprocessors by the Department of Agriculture - the management at this plant had no compunction about administering a section cut, if the first cut did not prove fatal to the animal. That second cut would automatically render the meat non-kosher, yet it was sold as kosher.
All these offenses are only compounded - and compounded profoundly - by the fact that Agriprocessors is not just any meat packing plant, nor is it any meat packing plant that happens to be owned and run by Jews. But rather, it is a KOSHER meat packing plant. As such, what it does it claims to be doing according to the highest standards of the Jewish tradition. Yet their actions have time and again betrayed the Jewish tradition. The work of kosher meat preparation is sacred work, yet that have drowned it in truly sinful behavior. And to add insult to injury, they have fed the fires of antisemitism, giving substance to the claims of our enemies that we are a fundamentally cruel and abusive people.
Rabbi Hirschfeld criticizes those rabbis who would publicly condemn the actions of their fellow Jews. He states "But I really don't want one more cause which empowers one group to identify another as 'bad Jews'". I could not disagree with him more. As a Jew and a lover of Israel, I know that I do not stand alone when I express my deep disappointment in the failure of the Islamic community to speak out and condemn those terrorists that perform their evil deeds in the name of their faith. How can we criticize Muslim silence if we profess that Jews should likewise refrain from criticizing their fellow Jews in situations such as these? While Jewish loyalty is something to be valued and cherished, it cannot trump loyalty to the human values handed down to us through our tradition. If the prophets could speak out about injustices committed by Jews, then we, too, must sense that calling.
Rabbi Karp,
Most of the allegations you make have yet to be proved. Should they be proved, we can make any number of decisions regarding what our ethical obligations are in terms of buying Agriprocessors products or not. Until they have been found to be guilty of those ethical and legal misdeeds, there is no place in Halacha to determine that as of now the meat is not kosher. Your citation of a PETA propaganda film does not trump the supervision of Rabbis who are trained experts in the preparation of kosher meat, and who work for agencies independent of Agriprocessors. Please look at my previous post.
Jordan,
Actually, some of the "allegations" which I stated have been proven - back in 2006 - to the satisfaction of the investigators of the Department of Agriculture. Indeed Agriprocessors was cited and fined at that time for: 1) the hiring of undocumented workers (which they admitted to), 2) excessive cruelty to animals (the Peta FILM footage was considered irrefutable evidence - and as far as kashrut is concerned, if the mashgichim supervising the slaughter approved the taking of a second slaughtering cut rather than stunning the animals and selling their meat as non-kosher - as is required by civil law - then either their expertise or the honesty must be seriously questioned, and 3) bribing federal officials - offering meat inspectors gifts of meat in exchange for favorable reports.
Now Agriprocessors is hiring Somali immigrants, many of whom follow the Islam faith.
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